In the Name of Islam: In an appalling new act of barbarity, Islamic State executioners released a video showing them burning to death a captured Jordanian fighter pilot. The video shows Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, 26, being set on fire as he is locked in a cage.

A Jordanian military spokesman confirmed the death saying, “Our punishment and revenge will be as huge as the loss of the Jordanians.” Jordan nearly immediately executed a woman captured in a suicide bombing plot and a man who had been an al Qaeda senior commander.

Kaseasbeh was the first pilot from the US-led coalition fighting ISIS to be taken prisoner when his F-16 crashed in northern Syria on Dec. 24^th.

The video is professionally produced with graphics, telling a tale of Jordan’s involvement with the US in the fight against ISIS. Kaseasbeh is shown walking through the rubble of a bombing attack, as if to be confronted with the damage he did, before he is locked in the cage and put to death.

Nation: A crowded Metro North commuter train hit a car on the tracks north of New York City last night, killing the driver of a jeep and five people on the train. The collision in Valahalla, NY caused a fiery explosion that burned out the first car in the train. At least 15 people were injured and 400 were evacuated.

According to initial reports, the crossing gates came down on the car which then became stuck on the tracks.

World: A TransAsia passenger plane clipped a bridge shortly after takeoff in Taipei today and crashed into a river. Twenty-three of 58 people on board were killed. Survivors were pulled out of the river. Dashboard video from a car shows the plane rolling over, its left wing hitting a taxi and then the bridge.

>After heated debate the British parliament has approved a medical procedure with which babies can be made from the DNA of three people. The procedure is designed to free parents from passing along inherited genetic disorders.

BookBeat: Harper Lee, the 88-year-old reclusive author of the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” is publishing her second novel in July, her publisher announced. The book “Go Set a Watchman” is a sequel, although it was written in the 1950s before she wrote “Mockingbird.” The story takes place 20 years later when Scout Finch goes home to visit her father Atticus.

Lee said that reading “Watchman” her editor was fascinated with Scout’s childhood stories and told her to go write a new novel from Scout’s perspective. “I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” Lee said in a statement. “To Kill a Mockingbird” still sells about a million copies a year and has sold 40 million copies since it was published in 1960.

But already there are questions as to how willing Lee really is to have the book published. She’s deaf and nearly blind and her late sister said she had reached the point where she would sign anything put in front of her by someone she trusted.

Intrigue: A draft of an arrest warrant for the country’s president has been found at the home of Argentinian prosecutor Albert Nisman, who was found shot dead in his bathroom Jan 18. The 26-page warrant was in the garbage. According to the document Nisman planned to charge President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner with helping to cover up for Iran in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center. Nisman was scheduled to testify about his accusations the day after his body was found.

We’ve Got That: The Staples office supply chain has agreed to buy its rival Office Depot for $6.3 billion. The deal will have to pass anti-trust review.

MVP: Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady was awarded a new Chevy pickup truck after the game Sunday night, but he says he’s giving it away … to Malcolm Butler, the rookie who made the game-winning interception. Now Butler is intercepting a whole truck.

Congressional Action: Demonstrating once again that they really mean it, the House of Representatives voted yesterday for the 56^th time to repeal Obamacare.

-30-