Globe Trot: Deadline on nuclear talks with Iran postponed until June

IRAN: Tehran and six Western nations involved in more than a year of negotiations toward limiting Iran’s march toward nuclear weapons capability have missed a deadline today and given themselves seven more months to reach a deal.

KENYA: Somali militants executed 28 non-Muslims—including at least 19 Christians—all handpicked from a bus the gunmen stopped in northern Kenya on Saturday. A survivor confirmed that those who could not recite the Quranic shahada, a profession of Islamic faith, were ordered to lie on the ground, then shot. Kenyan authorities on Sunday said they killed dozens of al-Shabaab militants in response to the massacre.

NATIONAL SECURITY: The Associated Press is reporting that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will resign—just 21 months after taking over the post from former secretary Leon Panetta (who held the cabinet position for less than 18 months). Hagel’s rocky tenure reflects the obvious gap between the White House and military brass on national security, as the generals repeatedly have been overruled on decisions on exit strategy from Iraq and now Afghanistan.

Over the weekend, U.S. officers speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum underscored the tension. Gen. John Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said in reference to Iraq, “We handed [U.S. political leadership] a win, and they lost it,” and told the gathering “no one in this room will be alive” when war with ISIS is over. The HISF gathering brought out agreement between Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine on the war with Islamic State in Iraq.

“[Obama] should have brought an authorization to us, and let us on [the Senate committee on] foreign relations debate. … We shouldn’t have adjourned for seven weeks before the midterm election, with a war going on and no vote,” Kaine said. “It’s ridiculous.”

The conclave of international security experts also drew out growing support among Democrats in Congress for dispatching small numbers of U.S. combat forces to the front lines of the fight.

ISIS must’ve thought the event was important, as it hijacked the hashtag (#HICF2014) at one point to send terrorist videos to participants.

VATICAN CITY: An extended speech on marriage and family by Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, brought those gathered at last week’s Vatican colloquium to their feet.

“What was new and remarkable in the Hebrew Bible was the idea that love, not just fairness, is the driving principle of the moral life. … And that love is a flame lit in marriage and the family. Morality is the love between husband and wife, parent and child, extended outward to the world.”

Sacks, by the way, has been a vocal spokesman on behalf of persecuted Christians.

WORLD’S DANIEL OF THE YEAR: Anticipating our 2014 Daniel of the Year, here’s a profile of WORLD’s 2012 Daniels of the Year, imprisoned Chinese Christians and their loved ones, most still waiting for their family members’ release.

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