Navigate to News section

Daybreak: Germany’s Historic Anti-Iran Stand

Plus a pope defends another, the ‘couch crisis,’ and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
January 19, 2010

• After the first-ever summit between Germany and Israel, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced she would seek harsher sanctions against Iran for its alleged nuclear violations. [NYT]
• Pope Benedict XVI defended Pius XII, the controversial pontiff who is now up for sainthood. During the Holocaust, Benedict said, the Vatican gave European Jews “hidden and discreet” help. [WSJ]
• Jordanian sources claim that Iran orchestrated last week’s attack on an Israeli diplomatic convoy traveling through their country. [JPost]
• Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara. The two sides said they hope the diplomatic to-do now known as the “couch crisis” can be put behind them. [Haaretz]
• “This was a colossal mistake on the part of Israeli diplomacy,” says a former Israeli envoy to Turkey in a helpful interview. [LAT]
• The U.S. believes Syria is letting Hezbollah train there with advanced anti-aircraft missiles. [Haaretz]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.