Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Thursday, May 26, 2011

FEATURED STORY Months later, Jewish groups and Israel are still helping a tsunami-devastated Japan More than two months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan, Jewish and Israeli aid continues to help the stricken population. Read more » EDITORS' PICKS A builder steps down Bruce Slovin, who led the way in building the Center for Jewish History in New York into a prominent institution, is stepping down as its chairman, Dan Klein reports for JTA. American Jews and Obama's speech JTA's Ron Kampeas discusses how American Jews are responding to President Obama's Middle East speech on NPR's "All Things Considered." Are the 1967 lines defensible? The Associated Press asks former Israeli generals and a military historian whether the 1967 lines could be secure borders for the Jewish state. BREAKING NEWS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his visit to Washington "important," and said he found "broad American support for Israel's fundamental claims." Egypt will permanently open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Gifford's alleged assailant, Jared Loughner, has been ruled unfit for trial but will be reassessed in four months. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston will retain J Street as a member, despite a challenge on technical grounds. A Pakistani government intelligence official directed terrorists to attack the Mumbai Chabad house in their November 2008 rampage through the Indian city, a witness in the terror trial testified. San Francisco’s Catholic archbishop expressed his opposition to a city ballot initiative that would ban circumcision for minors. The United States will help Israel buy four more Iron Dome short-range anti-missile systems, a Pentagon official said. Israeli lawmakers attended the dedication of a Jewish apartment complex in a Palestinian neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem. Britain will contribute about $3.4 million to help preserve the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp memorial. An Austrian town has revoked the honorary citizenship that it bestowed upon Adolf Hitler during the Third Reich. Documents showing that Soviet Communist leader Vladimir Lenin had a Jewish heritage are on display in Moscow. A project to help interfaith families connect Jewishly will launch soon in Chicago. The house where the Warsaw Zoo's World War II-era director Jan Zabinski and his wife, Antonina, sheltered Jews from the Nazis is to become a small museum dedicated to their heroism. Sixteen Hadassah offices are closing as more than 24,000 women became life members of the organization this year.