Permawar: The US-led coalition carried out 26 airstrikes today against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq following an unverified claim that an American woman hostage died in an earlier Jordanian bombing raid.

Islamic State extremists say that the woman since identified as Kayla Mueller, 26, an aide worker taken in August 2013, died in a building collapse. The group did not offer any actual proof of Mueller’s death and Jordanian officials say they don’t believe it.

A statement from ISIS said, “The failed Jordanian aircraft killed an American female hostage. No mujahid was injured in the bombardment, and all praise is due to Allah.”

Ukraine: French President Francois Hollande says a peace plan drawn up by France and Germany is “one of the last chances” to end the civil war in eastern Ukraine. The proposal includes a demilitarized zone around the current front line and would give autonomy to eastern Ukraine. And in an effort to avoid escalation of the conflict, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also wants to persuade the US not to give new weapons to the crumbling Ukraine military.

Anchor Weighed: In the feeding frenzy on the credibility of NBC news anchor Brian Williams, a New Orleans newspaper has already attacked and then backed off with questions about Williams’ reporting in Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans Advocate questioned whether Williams might really have seen a dead body floating outside the Ritz Carleton Hotel because, the paper said in its first report, the streets around the hotel were dry. Further reporting confirmed there was water outside the Ritz … enough to do $100 million in damage … and plenty of floating bodies were found in the city.

   But it’s evidence that the press piranhas are hungry for Williams.

As for Williams’ embellished account of his experience in the Iraq war,

NBC News President Deborah Turness wrote in an internal memo to the staff that she has people investigating what happened and, “We’re working on what the best next steps are.”

But in his apology earlier this week Williams lost the opportunity to replay his original reporting … in which he made no claims of facing Iraqi fire … and try to make the case that time and memory played tricks with his head.

Revolving Door: Rosie O’Donnell has quit the ABC morning talk show “The View” for the second time in eight years. Her publicist says that Rosie’s three-year marriage to Michelle Rounds has broken up and the queen of nice wants to be with her five children.

Gotta Have: A Paul Gauguin painting of two Tahitians girls from 1892 has sold for $300 million, making it the priciest piece of art ever. It’s been owned by a Swiss collector. The buyer has not been publicly identified, but some news reports say it is a museum in Qatar.

Shades of Grey: A California woman has filed a class action lawsuit against 50 Shades of Grey author EL James and a British sex toy company claiming that the Fifty Shades of Grey Come Alive Pleasure Gel for Her failed to deliver the mind blowing experience described on the package. We’re just relieved she’s not blaming the guy.

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