(Via ITV) The Japanese government is ‘looking into’ a video purporting to be from Islamic State militants claiming to have killed one of two Japanese men being held hostage.
In the clip posted online – which features only a still image and audio – journalist Kenji Goto Jogo is shown in an orange jumpsuit as a narrator claims that fellow captive Haruna Yukawa has been murdered.

“You did not take the threats of my captives seriously and you did not act within 72 hours. To my beloved wife I love you. And I miss my two daughters. Please do not let them do the same in my case. You must continue to pressure our government.” (link)

In the video statement, which is read in English, the militant group is now demanding the release of an Islamist prisoner – named Sajida al-Rishawi – in his exchange for Jogo’s release. (more…)

It was only a few months ago when all evidence indicated that Erdogan’s henchmen killed an American female journalist who was about to expose his alignment and support for ISIS.  Now another woman is targeted by Turkish authorities....
(Via Breitbart) Turkish authorities have arrested former Miss Turkey, Merve Buyuksarac, 26, because she quoted a poem on social media that insults President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The arrest is the latest in a crackdown on free speech in Turkey that has worsened since two radical Islamists slaughtered twelve people at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France.
Buyuksarac, an industrial designer and writer, quoted the poem “The Master’s Poem” from weekly humor magazine Uykusuz on her Facebook page. The poem criticizes “the president through verses adapted from Turkey’s national anthem.” She deleted the post after a friend warned her about the government’s intrusion on freedom of speech.
“I shared it because I found it funny,” she claimed. “I had no intention to insult (Erdogan).” (more…)

Yes, yes he actually said that – today.
Beyond the insufferable willful blindness to avoid calling Radical Islam “violent extremism”, and against the backdrop of ISIS today holding two Japanese hostages under specific threat of beheading, our Secretary of State:

“Today we are witnessing a criminal form of anarchy, a nihilism which illegitimately claims an ideological and religious foundation. Against this enemy we are increasingly organizing and fighting back. But in doing so we have to also keep our heads.

(more…)

It’s always cute when the media thinks they are telling us something we don’t know because they’ve hidden the truth for so long…
(Via MediaIte) NBC’s chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said on Friday that President Barack Obama‘s statement on the passing of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud was ironic and just an attempt at being polite because in reality, the late king “could not stand” President Obama.
According to Engel, Saudi Arabia was against the “democratization” that the U.S. encouraged with its support for the Arab Spring and its opposition to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

“One of the big ironies here is that President Obama, in his statement, said how close he was to King Abdullah — King Abdullah did not like President Obama,” Engel said. “In fact, a lot of people I know that are quite close to the late King Abdullah said that the king could not stand President Obama.” (link)

Prayers for the families of the hostages.  It is impossible for us to appreciate the depth of their emotional anxiety; however, we can pray for a resolution which unites them -and- a comfort to surround them.
(CNN)—ISIS will reportedly release a statement “soon” about the two Japanese men it’s threatening to execute Friday.  Japanese broadcaster NHK said it has been in contact online with a spokesman for the militant group who made the assertion.

When asked whether ISIS has been in negotiations with the Japanese government, the spokesman said he wouldn’t comment, NHK reported.
ISIS has threatened to kill the two men — Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa — unless Japan pays the group $200 million. The Japanese government says it estimates that ultimatum expires at 2:50 p.m. Friday, Tokyo time (12:50 a.m. ET Friday). (more…)

King Abdullah was a key financial supporter of Sisi’s Egypt and an ally against Islamic extremism. Abdullah was also the first head of state to visit Cairo after Sisi’s election win last May. In August 2014 al-Sisi reciprocated with a trip to the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah for talks with Abdullah.

على صحة الملك، بمدينة الملك عبدالعزيز الطبية الأمير سلمان يستقبل الرئيس المصري عبدالفتاح السيسي خلال اطمئنانه

“On the king’s health, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Prince Salman Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi receives through confidence in”.  Jan, 19th

Earlier this week the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made a lightning stop in Riyadh (Monday night 1/19 pictured above) to visit the ailing Saudi King Abdullah, official media reported.
The relationship between al-Sisi and King Abdullah was instrumental in convincing the gulf Arab states to unite and pressure Qatar leveraging a change in political outcome away from extremism. (more…)

Given the current corner the administration has painted themselves in to…. This little non-reported side story around Iran holds all the customary predicative elements of Team Obama constructing a White House photo-op. Watch carefully and let’s see if Abedini is released in the next two weeks for all the reasons one would expect….
(Via WFB) President Barack Obama will meet with the family of a U.S. pastor imprisoned in Iran on Wednesday in Boise, Idaho, an administration official has confirmed.
Obama will visit with Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of Saeed Abedini, along with their two children as he travels to Boise to discuss proposals from his State of the Union address.
Iranian authorities initially detained Abedini in September 2012. He was later sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to his Christian faith.
Naghmeh Abedini said in a statement that she had repeatedly attempted to either meet with the president or talk with him on the phone for the last two years. (more…)

It is with a profound sense of concern and fear, we share a documented belief President Obama is intent on allowing Iran to fulfill its nuclear ambitions.

[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur. (link)

So the new White House position is that any “agreement” they make with Iran regarding nuclear ambitions or sanctions are not technically “treaties” per se’.

(Via Wall Street Journal) The Obama administration collided with Congress Wednesday over Iran sanctions, and both sides were girding for a brawl that appeared likely to stretch through the year.
Lawmakers from both parties vowed at a Senate hearing to press ahead with legislative plans for new punitive measures—over President Barack Obama ’s veto warnings. Top administration officials, meanwhile, disclosed at the hearing that the international talks over Iran’s nuclear program may extend beyond an end-of-June deadline. That would be the third such extension. […]
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the White House doesn’t view an agreement with Iran as a treaty that requires Senate approval, but a matter of “executive prerogative.” (read more)
President Barack Obama pledged during the 2012 campaign, and since, that he will not let Iran develop nuclear weapons.   This is one of the broken promises that WILL HAVE  massive geopolitical consequences
Here is a timeline of the Obama administration’s Iran policy, as the world’s most dangerous nation and leading state sponsor of terrorism moves inexorably towards acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapon.
(more…)

Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted Speaker John Boehner’s invitation. President Stompy Feet says he will not host a visit; John Kerry follow’s Stompy’s lead.

(Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday he would address the U.S. Congress in March, saying in a statement the invitation tendered by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner was bipartisan.
Blindsiding the Obama administration, Boehner announced the invitation to Netanyahu on Wednesday, drawing White House complaints that protocol had been breached.
(more…)

The entire governmental apparatus of Yemen just resigned.   Outta’ here like a fat kid in dodge ball !!

(New York Times) SANA, Yemen — President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen abruptly resigned Thursday night and his entire government stepped down, leaving the country leaderless and possibly opening the way for armed Houthi rebels to take control.
A United Nations official confirmed that Mr. Hadi had resigned immediately after a meeting with his Houthi political opponents, hosted by the United Nations envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, in an effort to resolve the political crisis that has gripped the capital, Sana, for days. Just one day earlier, the two sides had reached an agreement to end the fighting, and aides to Mr. Benomar said he had hoped to ensure that the agreement was carried out.
With Houthi fighters already in control of much of the capital and many areas of northern Yemen, it seemed likely that they would take at least de facto control of the government.

Mr. Hadi’s resignation came less than an hour after Prime Minister Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah said on his Facebook page that he and the entire cabinet were stepping down. (more…)