Free Republic

Nobel prize-winning German author Günter Grass, declared persona non grata by Israel over a poem saying the country threatened world peace, has published another work, this time praising a man jailed for leaking Israeli nuclear secrets. In one of a collection of 87 new pieces, Grass hails whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, who served 18 years in prison for leaking Israeli nuclear secrets to a British newspaper, in a poem entitled "A Hero in Our Time". He describes former nuclear technician Vanunu as a "hero" and a "role model", according to extracts published by the German news agency DPA. Earlier this year,...

Freed Israeli nuclear spy Mordechai Vanunu said in an interview published today that Israel was behind the 1963 assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, prompting some Israeli officials to hope aloud the far-fetched comments will hurt Vanunu's credibility. Vanunu, a former nuclear technician who was recently released from Israeli prison after serving an 18-year sentence for exposing Israel's nuclear program at Dimona to Britain's Sunday Times, has been barred from leaving the country, talking to the media or meeting with foreigners. But the London-based al-Hayat newspaper published an interview yesterday it claims is the first Vanunu has given, in...

<p>OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has received 150 nominations for the 2003 award, with a majority of nominations coming from North America, committee secretary Geir Lundestad said Tuesday.</p> <p>Nominations, which had to be postmarked by Feb. 1, are made by past laureates, committee members, university professors and select organizations. They're kept secret for 50 years, although those making them often announce their choice.</p>