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Russia extends pretrial detention of journalist Evan Gershkovich until August
(JTA) — A Russian court extended the pretrial detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich until at least Aug. 30.
Gershkovich, 31, the American son of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, was arrested on an allegation of espionage on March 29 during a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg — claims that he, the United States government and the Wall Street Journal deny. His pretrial detention was initially scheduled to end on May 29 before it was extended on Tuesday.
Legal experts and American diplomats expected that Gershkovich’s detention could last for months, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Tuesday’s court hearing was not announced in advance and was held behind closed doors. Russian authorities have not provided evidence to support their charges that Gershkovich allegedly obtained classified information on “the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”
The U.S. government has declared Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release from Lefortovo prison, where he has been held since his arrest in March.
“Today our colleague, and distinguished journalist, Evan Gershkovich appeared for a pretrial hearing in a Moscow court,” the Wall Street Journal said in a statement. “While we expected there would be no change to Evan’s wrongful detention, we are deeply disappointed. The accusations are demonstrably false, and we continue to demand his immediate release.”
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was granted consular access to Gershkovich in April but the U.S. was denied consular access two other times, according to U.S. officials. His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, who live in New Jersey, waited for more than an hour outside the courtroom before being allowed in Tuesday for their first sighting of their son since his arrest more than 50 days ago, according to the New York Times.
“We hope he is doing great and that he can be as strong as his mother,” Mikhail Gershkovich said.
Gershkovich is the first American journalist arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War. His case has attracted support from Jews across the U.S. and the world — some of whom have advocated for his freedom by reviving practices used in the movement to free Jews in the Soviet Union. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in a Russian penal colony.
Gershkovich is one of multiple Jews imprisoned by Russia on security charges. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian Jewish dissident, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason in April. And earlier this month, the Russian Jewish theater director Evgenia Berkovich was imprisoned on the accusation that one of her plays justified terrorism. She is the granddaughter of Nina Katerly, a Russian writer and human rights activist.
“Zhenya obviously is not a prisoner of Zion,” Alexander Smukler, a former refusenik and prominent Russian-American Jewish activist, told the Jewish Standard, a New Jersey publication, referring to Berkovich. “She was not arrested for her Zionist ideas. But she is Jewish.”
He added, “I am calling on the Jewish leadership around the world to stand up for Zhenya Berkovich.”
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The post Russia extends pretrial detention of journalist Evan Gershkovich until August appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.