Jordan vowed revenge following the gruesome murder of its captured pilot, Lt Muath al-Kaseasbeh, purportedly by members of Islamic State.

Early on Wednesday local time, Jordanian state TV reported the execution of two convicted terrorists, including Sajida al-Rishawi, the jailed Iraqi would-be suicide bomber whose release had been demanded by IS in recent days as part of a non-existent hostage exchange.

 (image: Jordan State TV/CNN)

As anger swept his country, Jordan’s King Abdullah met with President Obama in Washington before cutting his trip short to return home. In a statement, the King said:

Today we stand shoulder to shoulder with the family of the martyr hero Moaz, with our people and our armed forces in this tragedy. At these difficult times it is every Jordanian’s duty to stand together in the face of crises and ordeals, which will only make us stronger.

Earlier, the US State Department had announced an expansion of its funding to Jordan over the next three years, in part to help combat IS. The developments came as Congress was told of the latest global threat assessment by the Pentagon’s top intelligence official.

* WORLD * At least seven people were killed on Tuesday night when a Metro-North commuter train hit a car on the tracks in suburban Westchester County, north of New York City.

At least eight people were killed in Taiwan when a TransAsia Airways plane crash-landed in a river. There were some dramatic dashcam images.

(Eduardo Woo/YouTube/Channel NewsAsia Singapore)

Speculation is growing that a nuclear agreement between Iran and the West may be getting closer.

The mystery surrounding the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman deepened after investigators said he had drafted an affidavit seeking the arrest of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

After an historic vote in the House of Commons, Britain will become the first country to legalize IVF treatments using biological material from three different people.

Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis meets the ECB President Mario Draghi on Wednesday in Frankfurt. Here are answers to five crucial questions about the complicated relationship between the indebted nation and the financial institution.

* POLITICS * The House of Representatives once again voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Greg Sargent at the Washington Post explains why this time may be more than simply symbolic. Meanwhile, the legislation is headed for a crucial airing in the Supreme Court on March 4.

* MEDIA * Twitter is working on a new homepage aimed at visitors who don’t have their own account. The company’s fourth-quarter earnings call is set for Thursday afternoon.

Joseph Lichterman has an interesting piece at the Nieman Lab on how BuzzFeed grew its Latino audience – with content.

Variety reports on an agreement between Newsweek and Aspire Entertainment to develop magazine stories for TV and movie content.

* BUSINESS * The highest-grossing animated film of all time, Frozen,  helped Disney to strong revenue gains in its first quarter of 2015. (Meanwhile, here’s a first look at the new Frozen short, via HuffPo)

Snack foods company Smucker is to buy Big Heart Pet Brands, maker of Meow Mix and Milk-Bones, for more than $3bn, Reuters reports.

Outbrain, the Israeli sponsored content company, is headed for a much-anticipated IPO, says Bloomberg.

* CULTURE * Harper Lee, the 88-year-old author of To Kill A Mockingbird, is to publish a second novel this summer. The long-lost manuscript of Go Set A Watchman – a sequel to the Pulitzer prize-winning Mockingbird – was apparently discovered by the author’s lawyer. The Guardian described news of the publication as a literary “bolt from the blue.”

Wednesday is the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Rosa Parks, and the Library of Congress will unveil thousands of documents, including notes, manuscripts and photographs, from her personal collection.

Finally, February 3rd 1959 was the “day the music died.” Poynter looks at how the news was delivered.