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The Islamic State is claiming one of its hostages, a 26-year-old American female aid worker, is dead, according to the Site Intelligence Group, a website that monitors extremists The terrorist group claimed she died when a Jordanian aircraft struck the building in which she was located in Raqqa, Syria. Jordanian fighter jets bombed Islamic State sites on Thursday, after the militants burned to death a captured Jordanian pilot. The State Department told Sky News earlier this week it was working "very hard" to free the aid worker.

Speculation only.

Islamic State militants have released a statement claiming that a female American aid worker has been killed during a Jordanian air strike, it has been reported. The 26-year-old woman is understood to be the last US hostage held by the terror group, which had been demanding $6.6 million for her release. Her death is not yet been verified by independent sources and it is unclear when she might have been killed by missiles from a Jordanian war plane or whether she was executed by militants, the Site Intelligence Group reported.

FORT HUACHUCA — A woman held a sign as she sat on a bleacher in the Barnes Feld House Wednesday night. It read: “I’d wait for you forever, but 292 days is long enough.” Little did she know the sign should have read 293 days, because that is the length of time she actually had to wait for her soldier to come back home, after spending more than nine months in the troubled areas of the Middle East and Afghanistan. It wasn’t until after midnight — precisely 15 minutes into Thursday morning — before the unnamed soldier was one of...

SIERRA VISTA — As a piper played “Going Home,” the cremains of 13 veterans were carried by soldiers, sailors and airmen, and placed on a table on the amphitheater stage at the Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery. It was time Saturday afternoon to give the final salute to the 13, whose remains had not been claimed except by the Arizona part of the Missing in America Project (MIAP). It was not the first time such a ceremony has been held at the state-operated cemetery, on land which once was part of Fort Huachuca, until the Army turned the acreage over...

FORT HUACHUCA — The Renegades of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion are leaving. Well at least 60 percent of the 500 soldier-strong battalion are heading to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on a nine-month deployment. The last remaining battalion of the 11th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade on the fort, the 40th has been deployed to global hot spots, even prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States. Symbolically, the battalion’s commander Lt.Col. David A. Thomas and the unit’s Command Sgt. Maj. John E. Reinburg cased the battalion’s colors held by Spc. Edward...

FORT HUACHUCA — It was about 9:57 p.m. Wednesday when a Delta commercial jet touched down at Libby Army Airfield. Inside the plane were 257 soldiers of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion returning from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The plane’s main cabin door door opened at 10:07 p.m. and soon the soldiers began walking down the steps to be greeted by senior post officers and others of the 40th who were on hand to welcome them back to their home turf. At the bottom of the steps was the commander of...

And now for a lighter moment from last night’s debate, or at least the weirdest moment. Jim Hoft calls this Ron Paul’s Checkpoint Charlie moment, but it’s really more like an apex of Paul’s paranoid band of libertarianism. In this exchange, Paul opposes building a border fence because he doesn’t believe it represents American values, which is a fair enough argument that one usually hears from Democrats. He then tips over into hilarity when he suggests that the US government might use it to stop Americans from fleeing to, er, Mexico:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO I immediately noted on...

Rep. Ron Paul has a problem with the idea of a U.S. border fence.“The people that want big fences and guns, sure, we could secure the border,” the congressman noted. “A barbed wire fence with machine guns, that would do the trick. I don’t believe that is what America is all about.” “Every time you think about this toughness on the border and ID cards and REAL IDs, think it’s a penalty against the American people too. I think this fence business is designed and may well be used against us and keep us in. In economic turmoil, the people...

(CNSNews.com) -- Speaking before the House Judiciary Committee on the issue of illegal immigration, Sheriff Paul Babeu, from Pinal County, Ariz., said up to 30 percent of the roughly 120,000 illegal aliens apprehended every year at the southwest U.S. border around his county have some kind of criminal record in the United States, adding that “the border is not more secure than ever” as President Barack Obama has stated. Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr) He also said the situation is so lawless in some areas it is like a war-zone on American soil, where “local law enforcement...

Warren Sapp should have gone to sleep. The 42-year-old Hall of Fame defensive tackle, who was covering the Super Bowl for NFL Network, was arrested early Monday at a hotel in Phoenix for soliciting a prostitute — around 7 a.m., according to TMZ. In addition to solicitation, Sapp also was arrested for assault. NFL Network suspended Sapp indefinitely, without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation, a network spokesperson said.

Conservative lawmakers are officially rolling out a new group aimed at advancing a conservative agenda in the House of Representatives after they expressed discontent with the direction of the Republican Study Committee.“Our main hope is that we can represent the voids and valleys for our constituents back home,” Rep. Raúl Labrador of Idaho told The Daily Signal today. “With a small group that is nimble and able to work on issues that are of importance to our constituents, we can make a difference in Congress.”Called the House Freedom Caucus, the group serves as a conservative alternative to the Republican Study...

How would Sarah Palin do if she decides to run for president? According to her former top-of-the-ticket running mate, quite well. "She's very interesting. And I'm sure she'd do great," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told The Washington Post Wednesday in a brief interview. After the 2008 presidential election, McCain has consistently praised Palin, despite her clash with his campaign team. Palin has also defended McCain. The former Alaska governor campaigned for the senator in his 2010 reelection bid....

- 4:42 PM (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Thursday that contrary to what attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch said in her confirmation hearing on Wednesday that illegal aliens do not have a right to work in the United States and that by printing work authorizations for them the Obama administration is effectively “counterfeiting immigration papers.” CNSNews asked asked Cruz: Do you believe illegal aliens should have a right to work in the United States as Loretta Lynch told Senator Sessions? Cruz responded: Federal law is unequivocal. Those who are present in this country illegally are barred from working....

Health officials in Arizona, host state of Sunday's Super Bowl, have asked people who may have been exposed to measles to isolate themselves ... Seven cases have been confirmed and 1,000 people across three counties may have been exposed .. Two of the seven confirmed cases are in Maricopa County, which is hosting the NFL championship game, the county's health department confirmed Tuesday. Because the highly contagious virus can linger in the air for two hours, health officials have asked those who may have been exposed to avoid doctors' offices, emergency rooms or urgent-care centers

U.S. experienced record number of cases last year. A measles outbreak whose spread originated at Disneyland has grown to 95 cases. ... 79 of those in infections are in California and 52 of them can be linked directly to Disney Parks. The rest are in Michigan, Arizona, Utah, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska and Mexico. ... The U.S. experienced a record number of measles cases last year, with 644 infections from 27 states despite being largely eliminated in 2000.

Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the media is ignoring his statistics that prove President Barack Obama’s claims of the highest deportation rate is bogus. According to Arpaio, this is because the criminal illegal immigrants are turned over to ICE, are deported, reenter the United States, commit crimes, are returned to his jail cells, and the process restarts. Arpaio said, “I did a survey for a whole year. I think I talked to you about it. Nobody will publicize it. But we had 4,500 people in jail, illegal aliens charged with many...

PHOENIX — Federal authorities say an immigrant was out on bond and awaiting deportation hearings when he killed a Phoenix-area convenience store clerk over a pack of cigarettes. Apolinar Altamirano, 29, pleaded guilty in 2012 to a burglary charge but did not serve time in prison. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement took Altamirano into custody on Jan. 3, 2013, after learning of his conviction in Maricopa County in Arizona. But after reviewing his case, ICE found he was eligible for bond, a spokeswoman said in a statement issued Monday.

....the mayor of Glendale, Arizona - home to Super Bowl XLIX - is questioning the money-making potential of this year's big game, CBS News' David Begnaud reports. "I think if you looked in the till at the end of the day, I think you'll have less money in it than came in," said Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers. Weiers suspects that when the sun sets on Super Bowl XLIX, the only real loser may be his city. "I'm sure that we're going to spend $3 million," Weiers said. "I would hope, in tax revenues, that we can actually account for well...

PALOMINAS — After a day of round table talks with ranchers and a tour of the U.S./Mexico border in Cochise County on Saturday, a group of 21 congressional representatives have a broader view of border problems. Initiated by newly-elected U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-Arizona) and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas,) the largest group to ever come to the local border saw for themselves just what Border Patrol agents and Americans living in this area have to deal with on a daily basis. “To hear from the ranchers first hand about the threats that come from across the border, shows the...