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Sia Dedicates ‘Titanium’ Performance to Nova Survivors at Star-Studded Jewish Event
Sia performing at Anti-Defamation League’s 30th annual “In Concert Against Hate” on Nov. 18, 2024. Photo: Provided/Getty
Grammy-nominated Australian singer Sia performed on Monday night a slow rendition of her hit song “Titanium” in honor of survivors of the Nova music festival massacre that took place in southern Israel last year.
The performance took place at the Anti-Defamation League’s 30th annual “In Concert Against Hate,” a star-studded event inside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. It included remarks by America actor Blair Underwood and performances by Israeli singer Eden Golan of her original song “October Rain,” which she had to rewrite with different lyrics to perform at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest under the title “Hurricane,” and a rendition of “Oseh Shalom” by the National Symphony Orchestra. The event’s emcee was Jewish-American actor Ben Stiller and attendees included Jewish activists, philanthropists, and Jewish leaders.
Sia, who originally recorded “Titanium” with producer and DJ David Guetta, dedicated her performance on Monday night to survivors of the Hamas-led terrorist attack that took place at the Nova music festival in Re’im, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023. The song includes lyrics such as “Machine gun, fired at the ones who run…” She sings in the chorus: “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose/Fire away, fire away/Ricochet, you take your aim/Fire away, fire away/You shoot me down, but I won’t fall/I am titanium.”
Sia was introduced on stage by Nova survivor Danielle Gelbaum, who said the singer’s music “gave me the opportunity to know that I will dance and I am dancing again. And tonight, we will dance again.” Gelbaum said on stage that her first time seeing Sia in concert was in Israel in 2016 with her older sister, who also survived the Nova music festival terrorist attack last year. She had the opportunity to met Sia earlier this year at an exhibit in Los Angeles dedicated to the deadly Nova attack. Survivors of the massacre — in which hundreds were murdered and 40 others were taken as hostages — also joined Sia on stage after her performance, which was accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra.
The singer last performed in Israel in 2016 and was one of hundreds in the entertainment industry who signed an open letter in 2022 rejecting a cultural boycott of Israel. Sia met with Golan backstage at the event on Monday night and the Israeli singer shared a photo of them together on Instagram.
During his opening remarks on stage, Stiller talked about the rise of antisemitism in the world and joked about hiding his Jewish heritage — before he began listing the several Jewish characters he has played on screen. “It’s a very tough time in the world right now. So much anxiety, uncertainty. So much hate in the world,” he said. “But tonight we’re going to battle hate with a healthy dose of hope.”
Music executive Scooter Braun, whose clients include Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, was honored at Monday night’s event with the ADL’s Spotlight Award, for his work in bringing an exhibit about the Nova massacre to the United States. The grandson of Holocaust survivors, he said, “I grew up with the idea of ‘Never again.’ Never again will we walk to our deaths; never again will we be scared.”
“That training — I never thought that I’d have to put it into my everyday life, into my work,” added Braun, whose maternal grandparents met at an ADL event. “These Nova survivors have given me the greatest gift. Because my whole life I was taught ‘Never again’ and something changed after I met these kids. Because they live by this mantra, ‘We will dance again’ … I want to say, again we will be strong, and again we will be proud and again we will dance. Again and again and again.”
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
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