Britannia Radio

Breaking News The United States and five other world powers have accepted an offer by Iran for international talks. Unknown vandals painted red swastikas on two Seattle-area synagogues. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there will not be a complete freeze on building in the settlements. A 20-year-old Cornell University student died of complications from swine flu. A 33-year-old pregnant mother of 10 became Israel's 23rd death related to swine flu. Respect for Judaism and other religions is mandatory for readmission into the mainstream Catholic fold, Pope Benedict XVI will tell a renegade traditionalist Catholic group. The World Jewish Congress is urging a boycott of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the United Nations General Assembly. An ancient road in Jerusalem that pilgrims used to reach the Second Temple was uncovered during excavations. Four skinheads were arrested in a firebombing on an eastern Russian synagogue. Reform leader Alfred Gottschalk, who led the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for 25 years, has died. A terrorist group with ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for firing rockets into northern Israel. American support for Israel led to the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden said in an audio message. A German university student reportedly will appeal a fine for displaying an Israeli flag in response to an anti-Israel rally. George Mitchell said peace between Israel and the Palestinians, each living in their own state, is the central goal of the United States. Communities across Israel launched a two-day strike to protest government budget cuts. An African migrant was shot and at least 14 people were arrested in Egypt while trying to enter Israel illegally. President Obama appointed the co-chair of his presidential campaign in California as U.S. ambassador to Australia. An Israeli film that tells the story of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 won the highest award at the Venice Film Festival. Most Israeli Jews have a favorable opinion of Germany, a newly released poll shows. Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to reduce the gaps between Israel and the United States over resuming peace talks with the Palestinians. The Harvard student newspaper blamed the publication of a Holocaust-denial ad on a "miscommunication." Convicted U.S. congressman James Traficant said Israel has a "powerful stranglehold on the American government." Israeli President Shimon Peres was released from the hospital a day after he fainted at a ceremony in Tel Aviv. Featured Stories 5769: The year in review The faces of 5769: Clockwise, from top, President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bernard Madoff, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and an Israeli soldier from the Gaza Operation Cast Lead. (JTA staff) With Rosh Hashanah approaching, JTA has compiled a list of the biggest stories of the past Hebrew calendar year. Read more » Assaf Ramon buried next to his father Israeli pilot Assaf Ramon was buried next to his father, astronaut Ilan Ramon, a day after he was killed in a training accident. Read more » Op-Ed: A precarious moment in Catholic-Jewish relations Two documents approved recently by America's Catholic bishops are a one-two punch against a continuing trust in the permanence of the Catholic Church’s reform in its teachings about Jews, Abraham Foxman writes. Read more » Op-Ed: The Hadassah you know has not changed An organization as dynamic as Hadassah will not be distracted by a few scandalous headlines, or descriptions of events that happened years ago and for which we bear no responsibility, the group's national president writes. Read more »

Editors' Picks Mourning Assaf Ramon in Houston The death of Assaf Ramon came as a terrible blow to the Jewish community in Houston, where the family had lived. Hard-core settlers and their discontents The New York Times take an in-depth look at the "hard core" of the Jewish settler movement and betrays some of its own mistaken preconceptions, writes JTA Managing Editor Uriel Heilman. Coen brothers film premieres Time magazine has an early look at the new Coen brothers film, which premiered over the weekend and tells the story of a struggling Jewish physics professor. Who designed the Beetle? According to a Dutch journalist, the man responsible for Hitler's "people's car" may have been a Jew.