New York – Somewhere in the shadows of federal bureaucracy, there was an issue about the drinking habits of Augusto Pinochet. The National Security Archive, an advocate for open government, had for years tried to gain access to intelligence files about the Chilean dictator, his human rights abuses and his ties to the United States. [...]

Paris – Monuments are the emotional backbone of France. That accounts for the despair over a blaze that killed no one, yet seared the collective soul. It is the power Notre Dame had — still has, despite the charred scars on its Gothic walls. It is not only the unique beauty of the Eiffel Tower [...]

Jerusalem – Ninth grade students on a hike in February in the fields alongside the Zippori stream in the Galilee chanced upon a 1,600-year-old rare coin minted by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II. The gold coin was minted in Constantinople around 420–423 CE. Similar coins are known from the Eastern Byzantine empire, but this is [...]

Manchester Township, NJ – A utility worker in New Jersey had a close call when a power line that he thought was dead turned out to be very much alive. Video captured Monday by a Manchester Township police car camera showed the worker pulling the line down and it burst into flames as it touched [...]

West Bank – Palestinian officials say dozens of prisoners in Israeli jails have ended a hunger strike over phone privileges. Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Minister Qadri Abu Bakir said on Tuesday that a deal was reached with Israeli authorities to end the eight-day strike in return for phone privileges three times a week. The strike was [...]

Tehran – Iran’s lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill labeling U.S. forces in the Middle East as terrorist, a day after the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally took effect, state TV reported. Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami introduced the bill authorizing the government to act firmly in response to “terrorist actions” [...]

New York – Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said that he does not consider Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota to be an anti-Semite, but that she has to do a “better job in speaking to the Jewish community.” Sanders participated Monday evening in a televised town hall meeting in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, hosted by Fox News [...]

Jerusalem – Israeli authorities extensively interrogated a Jewish American activist leaving the country about her work with a non-profit organization, the group said Tuesday. Israel has come under scrutiny in the past for detaining and interrogating pro-Palestinian activists and prominent critics at its borders, but the Abraham Initiatives called this the first time an advocate [...]

Jerusalem – Israel’s president said on Tuesday a majority of parliament members had advised him to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form a government after the April 9 election, effectively ensuring his nomination. In office for the past decade, Netanyahu won a fifth term despite an announcement by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s in February that [...]

Buenos Aires – Three members of the gang, including its leader, suspected of involvement in the home invasion attack on Argentina’s chief rabbi were arrested in three raids in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Buenos Aires city police also recovered objects belonging to Rabbi Gabriel Davidovich, including a pen with Hebrew words in a box [...]