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Tony Miano, a retired deputy sheriff from Los Angeles County, Calif., was arrested in London, England, earlier this week for preaching on abstaining from sexual immorality, both heterosexual and homosexual, in downtown Wimbledon. He was found to be in violation of Public Order Act Section 5, for "using homophobic speech that could cause people anxiety, distress, alarm or insult," Miano said in a YouTube video posted on Wednesday. Preaching from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, Miano spoke about sexual sins for 25 minutes before being cut off by Metropolitan Police officers who said that although preaching in itself is not an offense,...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is reaching out to Jews around the world to listen to the “Arab point of view” on stalled peace talks with Israel. … Palestinians say they will not talk unless Israel stops building Jewish housing in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which they claim for their future state, along with the Gaza Strip. …

A $4 billion foreign investment package to boost peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will not be considered unless US Secretary of State John Kerry succeeds in bringing the negotiating parties back to the table, The Times of Israel has learned. “[This package] is not intended as a substitute for the political process,” a Western diplomatic source told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. “It will be launched either in parallel or after the political track is resumed, as judged by John Kerry.” Kerry is scheduled to return to Israel later this week in an effort to relaunch negotiations...

President Obama placed the Middle East at the forefront of his first hours in office yesterday as he sought to make good on his promise of “ushering in a new era of peace”. In a flurry of telephone calls from the Oval Office, he reached out to leaders in the region and vowed to engage immediately in pursuit of a permanent Arab-Israeli settlement. The spokesman for President Abbas revealed that Mr Obama had told the Palestinian leader that their conversation was his first with a foreign statesman since taking office. Mr Obama also spoke to President Mubarak of Egypt, Ehud...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied Saturday that he is only pretending to seek a two-state solution, as Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon hinted broadly in a weekend interview. Danon’s comments “do not represent the position of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the government of Israel,” sources in the Prime Minister's Office told the Times of Israel in response to Danon’s interview, which the same news outlet published Thursday. The sources said that the prime minister “is interested in a resumption of negotiations without preconditions,” and that his positions regarding support for a two-state solution remain in force. .....

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to return to the negotiating table without preconditions. “Since he doesn’t speak Hebrew, and my Arabic isn’t great, I will turn to him in a language we both understand,” Netanyahu said at a special Knesset session dedicated to the Israeli-Arab conflict. “I say: Give peace a chance,” he said, alluding to the title of John Lennon’s 1969 classic. snip Appearing in the plenum because 40 MKs had signed a petition forcing him to address the topic of the Arab Peace Initiative, the prime minister said...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday issued a stark warning to Israel to resume long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, saying that if efforts fail now they may never get another chance. "We are running out of time. We're running out of possibilities... If we do not succeed now, we may not get another chance," Kerry told a forum held by the American Jewish Community, according to the AFP news agency. Kerry’s warning came amid reports that he is planning to return to the Middle East region within days, for his fifth trip to Israel since he...

<p>JERUSALEM—Israel’s defence minister on Tuesday signalled that his military is prepared to strike shipments of advanced Russian weapons to Syria, in a rare implied threat to Moscow.</p> <p>Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon issued his warning shortly after a top Russian official said his government reserves the right to provide Syria with state-of-the-art S-300 air defence missiles.</p>

DEAD SEA, Jordan — Hoping to use economic promise as a bridge to a peace deal between Palestinians and Israel, Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced an estimated $4 billion economic development proposal for the West Bank on Sunday that he said could cut the 21 percent unemployment rate by two-thirds. “The greatest existential threat and the greatest economic threat to both sides is the lack of peace,” Kerry said. “To not try to head these off would be tragic, and it would be irresponsible.” International business leaders rallied by former British prime minister Tony Blair will propose new...

A report by the Church of Scotland, published this week, denies any special privilege for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. The church, which in recent years has jettisoned its once philosemitic character, opened a wide rift with the Scottish Jewish community with the report. Among other controversial statements, the report argues that, “Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jews, or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory.” The report, titled “The inheritance of Abraham? A report on the ‘promised land’”, was prepared for the general assembly of...

ROME, April 30 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Pope Francis in the Vatican Tuesday, inviting him to Israel and seeking help restarting the Palestinian peace process. Peres told Francis he has a unique and potentially very helpful role in restarting the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. "The citizens of Israel see in you a leader of peace and good will," Peres said. "The sooner you visit the better, as in these days a new opportunity is being created for peace and your arrival could contribute significantly to increasing the trust and belief...

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday thanked the emir of Qatar for the "excellent relationship" between the two countries with respect to security and trade. "Qatar has been a center of innovation," Obama said after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. "We've seen enormous progress within the country on everything ranging from education to health care. And I think His Highness has shown extraordinary leadership over the last many years in helping to guide this country. "Obviously, Qatar is also an important country in the region, and has an influence that extends beyond its relatively...

A Cornerite e-mails: I wanted to call your attention to the fact that the dead Boston bomber’s website contained links to Muslim end-time (Madhist) websites discussing the prophecies about the “Black Banners of Khorosan”. Charles Cameron at the Zenpundit blog has been writing specifically about Madhism and end-time prophecies as a factor in terrorism for years now, and is a very informative source. See for example this post (http://zenpundit.com/?p=3205) or just go to Zenpundit.com and do a search on “Black Banners”. The fact that they are Madhists is probably more important than that they are Chechens.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicated on Wednesday, at his press conference with President Barack Obama, that Israel is "fully committed" to resolving the decades-long conflict with the Arabs with a solution which involves two states for two peoples. During the joint news conference, Netanyahu said the U.S. president's historic visit presented "an opportunity to try and find a way to advance peace" with the Palestinian Authority. "My new government was sworn in two days ago. I know there have been questions regarding what the policy of the new government will be towards peace with the Palestinians,” said Netanyahu. “So let...

After his trip to Israel, it is clear that President Obama’s strategy in regard to Israel has changed but his goal remains the same. He is still trying to convince the Israelis to take suicidal risks and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the pre-1967 borders, which includes dividing Jerusalem.It is true that we are a nation that feels isolated, unaccepted, and hated in our neighborhood and are condemned and boycotted almost daily by the world. But are we so psychologically damaged and insecure as a people that after one speech and two days of flattery, adoration...

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas welcomed President Barack Obama’s speech in Jerusalem on Thursday, while Hamas condemned Obama for “adopting Israel’s position”. "President Abbas welcomed President Obama's speech in Jerusalem saying that achieving peace and the option of two states on the 1967 borders are the way to bring security for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples," the PA’s peace negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP. Gaza’s Hamas terrorist leaders, meanwhile, criticized Obama and condemned Abbas’s Palestinian Authority for cooperating with the U.S. government. Referring to comments made by Obama during a joint press conference with Abbas in Ramallah, Hamas spokesman Sami...

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. (Joel 3:1-3)Joel the prophet predicted that in the last days God would bring all nations...

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of...

President Shimon Peres held out hopes Wednesday of seeing the Middle East draw inspiration from the European Union by one day turning a region long at war into one at peace. Praising Europe for overcoming 1,000 years of conflict in six short decades as he visited EU headquarters, Peres said, "You have the gift of a united hope even if you have a divided economic situation." "I hope the time will come when the Middle East will become a peaceful united region like you," he added. Peres, on an eight-day tour to Brussels, Paris and Strasbourg, said he believed there...

One of the goals of U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Israel is to deliver a message to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, not to carry out any "military surprises" against Iran while the U.S. in engaged in negotiations with it.