A new Italian film that attempts to defend wartime Pope Pius XII against accusations he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust has been panned by the Vatican as well as Catholic and Jewish media. “Shades of Truth” is the account of a fictional present-day American journalist who starts off as a critic of Pius…
Iran on Tuesday rejected as “unacceptable” U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years, but said it would continue talks aimed at securing a deal, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported. “Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted…
(Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to escalate his campaign against U.S. President Barack Obama’s Iran diplomacy on Tuesday in a speech to Congress whose staging has put unprecedented stress on the two leaders’ already strained ties. Although cold-shouldered by the administration, Netanyahu has offered an olive branch, saying he meant no disrespect…
The U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers on Tuesday began a second day of talks on curbing Iran’s nuclear program with the aim of securing a framework agreement by the end of March. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were meeting in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux as…
A nuclear deal with Iran must include access to its nuclear facilities even after the expiry of restrictions, which would last at least ten years, Susan Rice, the U.S. national security adviser, told AIPAC. Rice, addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday, the second day of its annual conference, said expectations that Iran…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) became the sixth Jewish lawmaker to say he will not attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress and that has been maintaining a count of lawmakers who say they will skip the speech Tuesday, on Monday added Franken to its…
President Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu clashed over Iran nuclear diplomacy on Monday on the eve of the Israeli prime minister’s hotly disputed address to Congress, underscoring the severity of U.S.-Israeli strains over the issue. Even as the two leaders professed their commitment to a strong partnership and sought to play down the diplomatic row,…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Brad Sherman withdrew from a forum for skeptics of President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear strategy, saying an ad for the event was “vulgar.” “I cannot appear at a forum which was advertised using an unwarranted incendiary personal attack,” Sherman (D-Calif.) said Monday in a statement titled “Congressman Sherman Condemns Vulgar New…
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina said documents found in the safe of the late AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman contradicted his own allegations that she had covered up Iran’s role in the 1984 Jewish center attack. Kirchner in a nearly four-hour televised address Sunday at the opening of a…
Despite controversy over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress, more Americans view him favorably than unfavorably, according to two separate polls. Nearly twice as many Americans viewed Netanyahu favorably, 45 percent, as unfavorably, 24 percent, according to a Gallup poll taken Feb. 8-11 — after Netanyahu had accepted the invitation from House Speaker…
The Palestinians plan to file their first complaints in International Criminal Court on April 1. The complaints will concern last summer’s Gaza war with Israel and Israel’s settlement activity, a Palestine Liberation Organization leader told the French news agency AFP. The Palestinians moved to formally join the Hague-based court in January, spurring Israel to retaliate…
