Globe Trot: Yemeni rebels raid U.S. embassy after ambassador leaves

YEMEN: The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized American embassy vehicles after the U.S. ambassador and diplomats closed the facility yesterday and left.

ISRAEL: Members of the Congressional Black Caucus say they will boycott Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint speech to Congress, scheduled for March 3. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, extended the invitation to Netanyahu, who plans to make his case for not negotiating a deal with Iran over its nuclear program. That puts Democrats, even those who support Israel, in the tight spot of choosing to side with President Barack Obama, who wants a deal. Question: Is a showdown over Israel over a deal that won’t happen anyway the priority? We get that the president doesn’t understand the security threats facing the United States, but do Republicans in Congress?

NIGERIA: The election commission has postponed national elections for six weeks, saying security for voters in northeastern Nigeria is not sufficient. This we already knew.

STATE DEPT: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to appoint this month a diplomatic envoy to promote the rights of homosexuals abroad. The move is meant to “bolster U.S. efforts to address discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities overseas.” The State Department said in a statement the appointee will be an openly gay career diplomat.

SYRIA: U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller was confirmed dead by her family yesterday on the basis of information they received from ISIS militants who held her in Syria. A profile of her humanitarian work overseas, plus a final letter to her family, show a young woman dedicated to serving the needs of others.

Some news outlets report the compound where Mueller was held, the same one hosting about eight other Western hostages (including beheaded journalist James Foley), was pinpointed and known to the White House for seven weeks before the president authorized a special operation to carry out a rescue attempt.

CRUSADES: President Obama’s remarks at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast combined with his softball interview with Vox this week keep the Crusades (remarkably) in the news, and pastor Kevin DeYoung has a cogent look at what the Crusades were really about. And for a feisty summary of why this controversy won’t go away, watch talk-show host Mark Levin, who pretty much sums it up by suggesting what would’ve happened if Abraham Lincoln had followed Obama’s logic and told Americans not to “get on your high horse” over slavery.