Britannia Radio

Daily Briefing

Monday, March 19, 2012

FEATURED STORY Four killed in shooting at French Jewish school Four people -- a teacher and three students -- were shot dead outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, officials said.Read more » EDITORS' PICKS John Demjanjuk dies, stateless and in limbo Long accused of being a Nazi war criminal, John Demjanjuk died Saturday while appealing his conviction by a German court for his role in the deaths of thousands of Jews at the Sobibor death camp. JTA's Marcy Oster reports. Ethiopian immigrant first Jewish finisher in Jerusalem Marathon Ashrat "Assaf" Mamo, a 27-year-old Ethiopian immigrant, was the first Israeli to cross the finish line Friday in the second running of the Jerusalem Marathon. Hillel Kuttler reports for JTA from Jerusalem. Beinart's boycott battle JTA's Ami Eden writes that Peter Beinart's call to boycott Israeli settlements, published in today's New York Times, is going to put left-wing groups in a bind as they argue for a big-tent vision of the Jewish community. Cutting off UNESCO (Daily Show) In a two-part segment, "reporter" John Oliver skewers the United States for cutting off funding to UNESCO because it admitted Palestine as a member. Gay and Jewish in the new Egypt (The Advocate) The grandson of screen legend Omar Sharif wonders if there's a place for him in post-Tahrir Square Egypt after he announces he's gay and half Jewish. BREAKING NEWS A Kassam rocket fired from Gaza hit southern Israel, ending a two-day lull in rocket fire. Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua at a public lecture called American Jews "partial Jews." Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a video that he would swap an American hostage for prisoners in the U.S. with links to the organization. Canada's Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is accusing a Quebec legislator of raising "a false issue" when he questioned ritual slaughter practices in the province. Two bills that would allow Jewish couples in Israel to be married by Modern Orthodox rabbis in the city of their choice were approved by a Knesset committee. A federal bankruptcy judge has ordered a trustee to run Alter Communications, the publishing firm of the Baltimore Jewish Times that was unable to reorganize under Chapter 11. Iranians have responded to a Facebook page posted by an Israeli couple that communicates the message that Israel loves Iran. The security arm of the U.S. Jewish federations asked Jewish officials to remain vigilant in the wake of a deadly attack on a French Jewish school, citing the possibility of copycat attacks. Polish police are investigating the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in northeastern Poland. Baron Georges Schnek, a leading Belgian Jewish activist for more than half a century, has died. Israel will rebuild its embassy in Argentina during 2013, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said at a ceremony where the building once stood.