US threatens to quit nuke talks with Iran

US threatens to quit nuke talks with Iran

VIENNA

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry threatened Thursday to walk away from nuclear talks as he signaled that diplomats won’t conclude an agreement with Iran over the coming hours – another delay that this time could complicate American efforts to quickly implement any deal. The Iranians immediately fired back, accusing the U.S. and its European allies of causing the deadlock.

Kerry and other Western officials said Iran still hadn’t made the tough political decision to roll back its nuclear program. But a senior Iranian official said it was the Americans and their partners who were backtracking on several key commitments related to Iran’s permitted level of nuclear activity and definitively ending economic sanctions against Tehran.

Pope apologizes for church’s sins, crimes

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia

Pope Francis apologized Thursday for the sins, offenses and crimes committed by the Catholic Church against indigenous peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas, delivering a powerful mea culpa on the part of the church in the climactic highlight of his South American pilgrimage.

History’s first Latin American pope “humbly” begged forgiveness during an encounter in Bolivia with indigenous groups and other activists and in the presence of Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales.

Comey: Potential plots stopped ahead of July 4

WASHINGTON

FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that the agency believes it stopped potential acts of violence in the month before the July 4 holiday.

Comey said authorities suspect that some of the more than 10 people arrested during that time were planning to commit violence tied to the holiday. But he declined during a wide-ranging discussion with reporters to describe any of the potential plots that might have been thwarted or to identify specific individuals the FBI thought might carry out an attack.

Federal agents had ramped up efforts in recent months to arrest Islamic State sympathizers across the country, arresting more than 10 in the past four weeks in places including New Jersey, Ohio and North Carolina.

Philadelphia police probing arrest caught on video

PHILADELPHIA

The Philadelphia Police Department has opened an internal-affairs investigation into an April arrest after video surfaced showing mostly white officers repeatedly punching and kicking the black suspect.

The department launched its inquiry into the forceful apprehension of 22-year-old Tyree Carroll on Thursday, a day after a political commentator who chronicles police conduct posted the video to YouTube. It has been viewed nearly 33,000 times.

The department said it is working to gather facts and identify all officers shown in the five-minute clip. So far, none has been reassigned or taken off the street, a police spokesman said.

Lawyer Berto Elmore, who agreed to represent Carroll after a friend sent him the video, said he was frightened and upset by the officers’ conduct.

Associated Press