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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday blasted President Barack Obama's administration for agreeing to discussions with Iran about the county's nuclear program because 'the time for talking is over."

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Obama administration officials had said the White House had agreed in principle to one-on-one meetings with Iran, a result of efforts to pressure Tehran that began soon after Obama took office.

"The Iranians are trying to take advantage of our election cycle to continue to talk," Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday. "As we talk with the Iranians, whether it's bilaterally or unilaterally, the vice president and the president have said, 'We will do nothing without coordinating with Israel.' So, we've talked with them in Moscow, we've talked with them in Baghdad, they continue to enrich."

"I think think the time for talking is over," he continued. "We should be demanding transparency and access to their nuclear program. They've doubled their centrifuges so I think this is a ploy by the Iranians. I hope we are talking to the Israelis."

Graham added that he hoped that the U.S. would not "take the bait" and agree to one-on-one discussion with Iran.

"I would like to talk with Israel before we make any major decisions with Iran," he explained.

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As expected in Vladimir Putin's Russia, where any dissent must be crushed, members of the feminist punk band were sentenced to two years in prison, their "crime" amounting to antagonizing the Russian Orthodox Church and Putin himself. The trial, and now the verdict and sentencing, have sparked worldwide condemnation.

The video above is from a new single released by Pussy Riot today, and made into a video by The Guardian newspaper.

via BBC

Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.

Judge Marina Syrova convicted the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, saying they had "crudely undermined social order".

The women say the protest, in February, was directed at the Russian Orthodox Church leader's support for Mr Putin.

The US, UK and EU all criticised the sentences as "disproportionate".

Prosecutors had been seeking a three-year jail sentence for the women.

Judge Syrova said Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, had offended the feelings of Orthodox believers and shown a "complete lack of respect".

"Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich committed hooliganism - in other words, a grave violation of public order," she said.

Along with other members of their band, the women staged a flashmob-style performance of their song close to the altar in the cathedral on 21 February.

Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out", enraged the Orthodox Church - its leader Patriarch Kirill said it amounted to blasphemy.

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Madonna lent her considerable celebrity to the cause for releasing the jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot in Moscow tonight.

via The Guardian:

Supporters of feminist punk band Pussy Riot say they hope three band members threatened with harsh jail sentences can avoid jail after Madonna used a concert in Moscow to condemn their persecution.

Prosecutors on Tuesday called for the three women – Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich – to be jailed for three years after arguing they had insulted all of Russian Orthodoxy and posed a danger to society. They have been charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after performing a "punk prayer" against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.

Performing in Moscow's Olimpisky Stadium on Tuesday night, Madonna donned a balaclava and stripped off her clothes to reveal the words "Pussy Riot" scrawled across her back during a performance of her 1984 hit Like a Virgin.

She was the latest in a long list of global stars who have come out to support the trio.

"I know there are many sides to every story, and I mean no disrespect to the church or the government, but I think these girls … have done something courageous and they have paid the price for this act and I pray for their freedom," Madonna said earlier in the show to massive applause. "They deserve the right to be free."