Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

FEATURED STORY In Jewish fracking debate, it's the environment vs. energy independence -- and energy's winning In the Jewish community, the fracking debate pits two established communal policy objectives against one another: protection of the environment vs. the desire to achieve independence from Arab energy sources.Read more » EDITORS' PICKS CAP gets cautious The Center for American Progress is notably more careful in its treatment of Israel since its clash with a former AIPAC spokesman. JTA's Ron Kampeas reports. Comings and goings Dennis Ross is back at JPPI. Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove will work for the ADL. David Rubovits will help Chicago's federation spend money. Robert Leventhal will help United Synagogue raise money. Brotherhood doublespeak (Washington Post) Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood speaks approvingly of democracy, tolerance and pluralism in materials aimed at English-speaking audiences. In Arabic, its tone is quite different. Obama's bodyguard (The Daily Beast) Howard Kurtz profiles Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida congresswoman who bashes Republicans from the sidelines of her daughter's soccer games. The suffering Olympics (New York Times) Were Stalin's crimes comparable to those of Hitler? Some in the former Eastern bloc certainly think so. Roger Cohen weighs in. The Jewish messiah (Tablet) Leonard Cohen has a new album out. Liel Leibovitz, author of a forthcoming book on the Jewish troubadour, recounts a memorable Cohen moment on the Isle of Wight. BREAKING NEWS Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected be re-elected chairman in voting by Israel's Likud Party. U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said it would take Iran approximately one year to build a nuclear bomb. The foreign minister of Canada emphasized his country's staunch support of Israel. A Jewish environmental group persuaded 33 Jewish organizational leaders to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent within three years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a live Facebook chat with web surfers from the Arab world. The leader of an Austrian far-right political party was condemned for comparing protests by students in Vienna with the Nazi persecution of Jews during Kristallnacht. A Czech Holocaust survivor published a diary of his Nazi concentration camp experiences. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the "Holocaust denier in chief," American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris said in Greece. Brazil's president attended a Holocaust remembrance ceremony that honored Jewish and Afro-descendant victims. President Bill Clinton will receive the Tikkun Olam Lifetime Achievement Award of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas. India will not reduce the amount of Iranian oil it purchases, the country’s finance minister said. A California synagogue asked movie star Mel Gibson for a donation, suggesting it would remedy his poor reputation regarding Jews. Iran offered to extend a visit by nuclear inspectors.