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(Vatican Radio) The following is a joint statement of the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine at the conclusion of their plenary meeting on 26th September 2013. "On 26 September 2013, the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine, which is working on a Global Agreement following on the Basic Agreement, which was signed on 15 February 2000, held a Plenary Session in the Vatican to acknowledge the work done at an informal level by the joint technical group following the last official meeting held in Ramallah at the Ministry of...

The US-brokered peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have reportedly reached an impasse due to an Israeli refusal to discuss land-swap and border issues, an Israeli newspaper reported Sunday. According to an unnamed, senior foreign diplomat with knowledge of the discussions, during the latest round of talks, the Israeli team of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu adviser Yitzhak Molcho made it clear to the Palestinians that Israel intends to keep some of the settlement blocs inside Israel as part of a final agreement, but refused to name which areas or discuss possible compensation to the Palestinians for...

Reuters and other news agencies are reporting that the Pope has capitulated on several issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception. The PopeÂ’s remarks were taken from a 12,000 word interview with the Jesuit periodical, Civilta Cattolica, (Catholic Civilization) the most prominent statement reaching news agencies is his declaration that the church needs to shake off its obsession with abortion and homosexuality. The Pope has pleased the liberal factions of the Catholic Church and sickened and worried the conservative members of the church. Few have reported on the prophetic implications of the PopeÂ’s remarks and with some exceptions, such as...

There’s an astronomical tall tale from the Middle Ages that seems to get recycled as factual every time a “great” comet rolls around. This week, we thought we’d look at a story that just won’t die, as well as a new twist in comet conspiracy that’s rolling around ye’ ole ‘Net.

As talk and rumors of an impending Western attack against Syria mount, a top Syrian official said Monday that if attacked, his country would react – against Israel. Speaking to an Arabic-language radio station operated by the United States, Syria's Deputy Information Minister Halaf Al-Maftah said that Israel would face not only Syria in the event that the US, Britain and France attempted to unseat Bashar al-Assad. A coalition consisting of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria would respond to any attack against Assad with a response against Israel. In addition, terrorist groups in Syria and Lebanon would attack Israel with...

U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will result in dramatic Israeli decisions, the chief Israeli negotiator predicted on Tuesday. Tzipi Livni coupled her forecast with acknowledgement that at least one partner in Israel's right-wing coalition opposed the goal set by the United States, which is brokering the talks, to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. Livni, speaking on Israel Radio, said "there will be dramatic decisions" by Israel at the end, and negotiators had agreed not to disclose details about their deliberations in order to build trust. "We are arguing, but we are arguing inside the...

In the wake of the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat’s angry letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry about Israel’s new settlement building amid the resumption of peace talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his own letter to Kerry over the weekend, lambasting the Palestinians for failing to curb incitement against Israel. Netanyahu wrote to Kerry that leading Palestinian Authority officials were calling for Israel’s destruction even after peace talks resumed on July 31 in Washington — the first major effort since negotiations broke down in 2008. Incitement and peace don’t go together,” Netanyahu wrote, explaining that new generations...

The top US military officer is scheduled to arrive in Israel and Jordan next week, in a visit which will focus in part on Iran and the war in Syria, the US military said Wednesday. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet in Israel with his counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, to discuss advances in Iran's nuclear program, which Israel regards as an existential threat, given the Islamic regime's declared ambition of destroying the Jewish State, and continued support for anti-Israel terrorist groups. "In Israel, the chairman expects to discuss the United States'...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas laid out his vision on Monday for the final status of Israeli-Palestinian relations ahead of peace talks that have resumed in Washington for the first time in nearly three years. Abbas said that no Israeli settlers or border forces could remain in a future Palestinian state and that Palestinians deem illegal all Jewish settlement building within the land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the imminent start of renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Monday, but urged both sides to approach them with honesty, AFP reported Monday evening. "The most difficult work of these negotiations is ahead, and I am hopeful that both the Israelis and Palestinians will approach these talks in good faith," he said. Obama thanked his own top diplomat, Secretary of State John Kerry, for organizing the talks, which were to begin later Monday in Washington with an initial exchange between top negotiators. "I am pleased that Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu and [Palestinian...

MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) – Head of the Russian Orthodox Church warned Western governments on Sunday against legalization of same-sex marriages what he called a sign of approaching end of the world. Patriarch Kirill said during a service at Moscow’s major cathedral that the recent initiatives in a range of countries to legalize same-sex marriages “is a dangerous and apocalyptic symptom” that should not spread over to Russia, according to Russian media reports. While those who “fight the laws imposed by the minority are subject to repressions,” Kirill, who leads the Church known for its conservative views, was quoted...

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! ( Isaiah 5:20)The various reactions to the recent George Zimmerman verdict indicate just what a violent, morally inverted, topsy-turvey, ‘inmates running the asylum’ kind of world we currently live in. From the complicit silence at the White house, as boisterous gangs of young afro-American criminals beat senseless any unfortunate whites they come across, for Trayvon” of course, (without making any distinction between men, women or children), to revelations that the U.S.”Justice” department...

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>