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Paris (AFP) - Former US president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday the West should not impose sanctions that would hurt the Russian people over their leaders' actions in Ukraine. "So far, we have limited the sanctions to the leadership of Russia, and I think that is the proper approach," the Nobel peace laureate told AFP on the sidelines of a discussion in Paris on climate change. "I don't think we would go so far as to impose The statesman was taking part in a meeting with students as a member of The Elders group set up to promote human rights around...

The grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who is running for governor in Georgia, suggested Monday that if he wins the gubernatorial race he will not stop the state from issuing license plates featuring the Confederate battle flag. During an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” state Sen. Jason Carter, a Democrat, said people have the right to sport the Sons of Confederate Veterans-backed license plate, which features an image of the Confederate flag. He also said he would rather have people focus their attention on the role that Georgia and its leaders played in the civil rights movement.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter joined nine other Nobel Peace Laureates in sending a strongly worded letter to President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, urging them not to approve construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The letter opened as follows: "You stand on the brink of making a choice that will define your legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced – climate change. As you deliberate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, you are poised to make a decision that will signal either a dangerous commitment to the status quo, or bold leadership that...

Chris Matthews for an interview on Hardball Wednesday and made some news by saying he does not think the United States should bomb Iran even if they were to succeed in building an operational nuclear weapon. This statement differs not only from recent comments made by former Vice President Dick Cheney but also from the stated position of President Barack Obama. “I never have felt that Israel had a capability militarily to go 1,200 miles or more and bomb Iran effectively and then return back to Israel,” said of Cheney’s suggestion that Israel could attack Iran unilaterally. “The only country...

Former President Jimmy Carter championed racial equality Tuesday evening, saying "there's no difference with people in the eyes of God" during a 50th anniversary celebration of the Civil Rights Act. Carter, 89, hailed the landmark 1964 law that outlawed discrimination against minorities and women as a stepping stone, but insisted there's still more work to do. "We're pretty much dormant now. We accept self-congratulations about the wonderful 50th anniversary — which is wonderful — but we feel like Lyndon Johnson did it and we don't have to do anything anymore," said Carter, the first president to speak at the three-day...

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Monday expressed support for the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) move to seek membership in international organizations, reports the Ma’an news agency. “The decision by the Palestinians to exercise their right to join international organizations should not be seen as a blow to the peace talks,” Carter said in a statement. “I hope that, on the contrary, it will help to redress the power imbalance between Israelis and Palestinians, as we approach the 29 April deadline set by Secretary Kerry,” he added, according to Ma’an. …

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — The Senate approved a bill Monday to bar a former hostage-taker tapped to be Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations from entering the United States. By voice vote, Republicans and Democrats united behind the legislation sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that reflected congressional animosity toward Tehran and its selection of Hamid Aboutalebi. Iran’s envoy choice was a member of a Muslim student group that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days in the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran....

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Monday seeking to bar Iran's proposed U.N. ambassador, Hamid Abutalebi, from entering the United States. The legislation, introduced by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, would prevent "known terrorists" from entering the United States to serve as U.N. ambassadors. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the measure by a voice vote. The possibility that Abutalebi may have played a role in the 1979-1981 hostage crisis has outraged some of the U.S. Embassy workers held by the Iranians for 444 days. Several lawmakers had said they were infuriated that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would make such...

Former President Jimmy Carter yesterday said he is supportive of letting a known member of a terrorist group, Hamid Aboutalebi, into the United States as Iran’s newest ambassador to the United Nations. Aboutalebi was a member of the Muslim student group who held 52 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for more than a year beginning in 1979 during Carter’s presidency. When asked in an interview if the United States should block Aboutalebi’s entrance to U.N. headquarters in New York, Carter told radio station WTOP: “You know, those were college students at that time, and I think that...

Jimmy Carter weighed in on Friday on whether Jonathan Pollard should be released from prison as part of current Middle East peace talks, saying he would support freedom for the spy if the Israelis were to fully accept the deal from Secretary of State John Kerry. Carter said in an interview that he would agree to the release of Pollard, the U.S. naval intelligence analyst currently serving a life prison sentence after a 1987 conviction for providing classified information to Israel, only if certain conditions were met. “If the Israelis would agree to accept John Kerry’s proposal, if Pollard was...

Hostages captured after the 1979 siege on the US Embassy in Tehran are seen in this undated file photo.Former American hostage Barry Rosen, held by student extremists at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for more than a year, said Monday it would be an “outrage” and “disgrace” if Washington gave a visa to one of the militants recently named by Iran as its new U.N. ambassador. “It may be a precedent but if the president and the Congress don't condemn this act by the Islamic Republic, then our captivity and suffering for 444 days at the hands of Iran was...

Former President Jimmy Carter has a new crusade: the fight for the human rights of women and girls worldwide, particularly against oppression driven by religious zealotry. It is a worthy cause -- but unfortunately compromised by Carter's insistence that modern Western democracies are just as guilty of sexism as authoritarian regimes dominated by medieval fundamentalism.

On March 22, NPR flagged this comment by Jimmy Carter:“The fact that the Catholic Church, for instance, prohibits women from serving as priests or even deacons gives a kind of a permission to male people all over the world, that well, if God thinks that women are inferior, I’ll treat them as inferiors. If she is my wife, I can abuse her with impunity, or if I’m an employer, I can pay female employees less salary.”Carter said practically the same thing on Charlie Rose on March 24 (it was reaired last night), and on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on March 24.Bill...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: According to media reports, President Obama met with Pope Francis for 52 minutes in the Vatican. Obama didn't intend to show up there. He looked at the word quickly and thought it said "vacation." And when they were pulling up to St. Peter's, Obama said (impersonating Obama), "What -- what -- what -- what are we doing here?" "Sir, you said you wanted to come to the Vatican." "No, I said vacation." So once they were there, they were committed. Giant entourage shows up at the Vatican. So Obama went in there, and he met with Pope...

Republicans say the “liberal media” has two world powerhouses all wrong: Barack Obama — and the pope. Democrats believe Pope Francis is their guy, arguing he’s softened the Catholic Church stance on gay rights and abortion and taken GOP economic theories to task. When he meets with Obama in Rome on Thursday, they’re hoping it’ll seal the deal. But many big-name conservative Catholics say Francis is no liberal, only painted as one by a biased media that wants a liberal Holy See alliance — even though it doesn’t exist. “What I’ve learned to do is ignore what the newspapers write...

Pope Francis and US President Barack Obama speak during a private audience at athe Vatican, March 27, 2014. Credit: ANSA/OSSERVATORE ROMANO. Vatican City, Mar 27, 2014 / 11:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- U.S. President Barack Obama’s March 27 meeting with Pope Francis comes at a time of tension between his administration and the Church over religious liberty, several Catholic leaders have said. “There has been a great deal of acrimony over issues related to religious freedom. This is something new and quite serious, since it affects the ability of the Church to carry out its mission,” V. Bradley Lewis, a philosophy...

On Tuesday, Breitbart TV, former president Jimmy Carter stepped forward to remove all doubt as to whether he remains the implacable horse’s ass he has been since his days in the White House. In this brief video, Carter suggests Hillary, once elected president, might be “embarrassed” to pursue a strong campaign in favor of women’s rights issues given that she is also a female. Of course, she might also be criticized for bias, though certainly NOT by our national media. (1) And to make his point, Carter offered the example of Barack Obama who he apparently believes to have been...

James R. Schlesinger, a Republican economist who advanced rapidly to some of the highest positions of government power in the 1970s but whose abrasive leadership style led to conflicts with presidents, bureaucrats and the American public, died March 27 at a hospital in Baltimore. He was 85... Mr. Schlesinger specialized in the economics of national security, which helped propel his rise during the Cold War from academia to influential jobs in the federal government, including CIA director, secretary of defense and the nation’s first secretary of energy...

Former President Jimmy Carter isn’t exactly known for withholding his opinion, so it wasn’t surprising on Wednesday to hear him say he typed out and mailed a letter to Pope Francis challenging the pontiff on the status of women in the Catholic Church. “He promised me he thought women should have a greater role,” the 39th U.S. president told an audience during an appearance at The Washington Post. Carter was promoting his new book “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power.”Answering questions from journalists David Ignatius and Sally Quinn, Carter talked about the intersection of religion and gender...

Television history was made last night when a guest on “Late Show with David Letterman,” for quite possibly the first and last time, used the words “murdered” and “aborted” in the same sentence. The person doing the talking was former president Jimmy Carter, who’s making the rounds to plug his new book, “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power.” (Video after the jump) Any conservative saying what Carter said, which was profoundly disturbing, would be immediately condemned by the left as an extremist – jimmycarterLETTERMAN: Things are contained in this book that I was completely ignorant about and...