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Rouhani’s educational background is under fire
Today
Questions over the academic background of Iran’s incoming president have come to light with reports coming in that Hasan Rouhani’s record in the UK is under investigation.
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Afghanistan forces prepare to take control
Today
Afghanistan forces are set to take over the security of their country in what will be a major turning point in America’s lengthy and expensive war.
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Jews top poll of influential refugees
Today
While the word ‘refugee’ may conjure up images such as hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from the Syrian Civil War a poll conducted as part of Refugee Week 2013 aims to show some of the positive results of forced migration, and it is Jewish neurologist Sigmund Freud who tops the survey as the refugee who has made the most significant contribution to British life.
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North Irish town in lockdown as it readies for G8
Today
Residents in the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen are in a state of virtual lockdown, but at least they are enjoying world leader-inspired ice cream as the usually quiet provincial town prepares for the G8 summit .
Israeli budget: Finance Minister Yair Lapid lashes out at ultra-Orthodox Knesset members prior to a vote on the state budget, saying they "perpetuated a culture of poverty."
Goose liver ban: senior Paris rabbi Yirmiyahu Cohen warns Israel’s agriculture minister that legislation in Israel to ban the import of goose liver could jeopardize kosher slaughter in Europe
No poetry: commanders from the IDF’s Nahal Brigade refuse to let a soldier read some of his poems on Army Radio on grounds it would “ruin the image of the combat soldier.”
Israeli budget: the Knesset votes through, in first reading, the 2013-2014 state budget with a vote tally of 58 for and 44 against.
Auschwitz concert: British musician Sting is to perform a rock concert later this month in Auschwitz
JN1 broadcasts in six languages: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian - for further details please go to jn1.tv
Goose liver ban: senior Paris rabbi Yirmiyahu Cohen warns Israel’s agriculture minister that legislation in Israel to ban the import of goose liver could jeopardize kosher slaughter in Europe
No poetry: commanders from the IDF’s Nahal Brigade refuse to let a soldier read some of his poems on Army Radio on grounds it would “ruin the image of the combat soldier.”
Israeli budget: the Knesset votes through, in first reading, the 2013-2014 state budget with a vote tally of 58 for and 44 against.
Auschwitz concert: British musician Sting is to perform a rock concert later this month in Auschwitz
JN1 broadcasts in six languages: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian - for further details please go to jn1.tv
Jew Robert Lefkowitz wins Nobel chemistry prize
American Jew Robert Lefkowitz has been awarded a coveted Nobel Prize in the field of chemistry along with his fellow American Brian Kobilka. Their research into how cell respond to stimuli is likely to lead to improved methods of tackling cancer and diabetes.
Nobel Prize winner Robert Lefkowitz:
“Wow, this is now a very complete rounded story and so I say, you know, Brian there is no way this would have happened to me if it wasn't for your work and he basically responded that obviously the opposite was true as well."
Lefkowitz also joked about his wife waking him up with the news that the Nobel Committee was on the phone.
Nobel Prize winner Robert Lefkowitz:
"I didn’t hear the call because I have earplugs. And, Lynn gave me the elbow. And, I’ve been telling people it’s Stockholm on the line, she denies this. She denies this, she says she simply handed me the phone. I said to myself, these Swedish accents are too good to fake, so I figured it was the real deal."
French Jew Serge Haroche also picked up a Nobel Prize in the field of physics, after developing a method leading to the creation of superfast computers.
Since its conception in 1901, the Nobel Prize has ushered in Jewish winners in all 6 categories, making up around 20% of all Nobel laureates.
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Breaking news
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Turkey media blackout raises democracy fears
British state media group the BBC has suspended its partnership with Turkish broadcaster NTV following their decision not to transmit the BBC programme World Agenda, which had been broadcast for five days a week since 2010, due to its reporting of the turmoil within Turkey.
The politicised move by NTV to participate in a media blackout of the ongoing protests and violence was condemned by BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks who said that “any interference in BBC broadcasting is totally unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, protesters gathered in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in support of opposition channel Hayat TV which has been threatened with closure by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist administration. News channel CNN-Turk recently chose to show a three-part documentary on penguins rather than battles between protesters and the police on the streets of Istanbul.
The censorship of traditional media has led to many protesters utilising social media as a tool against the government. In turn, this resulted in Erdogan slamming the digital medium as “a menace to society" . Twitter has since been targeted by the Transport Ministry on the grounds of tax evasion.
The media crackdown raises further concerns over human rights and democracy in a country which many believe is moving away from its secular traditions due to the growing influence of Islam.
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Sunni cleric says war is coming to Lebanon
Prominent Lebanese Sunni Muslim cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir has warned Lebanese political and paramilitary group Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah that “war is coming to Lebanon”. Sheikh Assir made the comments due to Hezbollah’s ongoing deployment of ground troops in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, which Nasrallah maintained would continue just days ago.
Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir:
“Lebanon is going into a brutal war. And it is because of Nasrallah.”
The comments from Sheikh Assir were made during a regular sermon to his followers, during which he said that a military response to Shia Muslim hardliners Hezbollah could happen “within days” and could take place “anywhere”. Assir also slammed Nasrallah for dividing Lebanon.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, Sunni cleric:
“The fact is when Nasrallah declared war in Syria he dragged Lebanon into the war. Lebanon is a vessel carrying 18 sects and the question is, who has punctured a hole in this vessel. Lebanon is now a sinking ship and it is because of the decision that was taken by Nasrallah.”
The intervention from Sheikh Assir and the recent sight of tanks on the streets of Tripoli has raised concern that Lebanon could be heading for a return to the infighting and violence of the 1970s and 1980s, during which time around 120,000 people were killed and over one million fled the country.
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4000 Iran troops to aid Assad forces in Syria
Iran is reportedly preparing to send 4,000 Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria to aid the regime of Bashar Assad . Syrian government forces have already been bolstered by Lebanese fighters from militant group Hezbollah. Shiite Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have vowed to help the Assad regime to crush the largely Sunni rebellion supported by the West and Sunni Arab states.
Iran’s dramatic intervention comes hot on the heels of a US announcement last week that it is mulling imposing a non-fly-zone over Syria and would arm ‘vetted’ Syrian rebels, because of Washington’s belief that Assad’s government has crossed Washington’s ‘red line’ by using chemical weapons in the conflict. However, the Obama administration’s decision to align with the Sunni rebels has been described as a risky move.
The US says it will only arm secular Sunni rebels belonging to the officially recognized Free Syria Army, but there are real fears that many of the sophisticated weapons, including much-prized anti-aircraft missiles, could then fall into the hands of Hezbollah and the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusrah Front – by far the most potent and influential rebel group active in Syria.
However, extremist rebels may have already obtained such weapons. On Sunday, a rebel video posted to YouTube showed what appeared to be a large supply of the type of anti-aircraft missiles that the Obama administration has urgently tried to keep away from al-Nusrah and other extremist Sunni rebel groups; including a powerful new brigade from Chechnya.
The missiles, believed to be shoulder- launched SA-16s, are displayed in a video allegedly made by a Chechen-dominated jihadist group of foreign fighters. The weapons could hit most types of aircraft and may be a potent means of breaking the dominance over Syrian skies enjoyed by President Bashar al-Assad's air force.
There is increasing concern that the bloody re-opening of Islam’s ancient schism by the Syrian conflict will lead to a broader regional war , dragging in Syria’s neigbours, allies and foes. Lebanon is already suffering the deadly spillover effects and Israel, fearful of a new front on the Golan Heights, is keeping a watchful eye on developments.
The Netanyahu government has struck inside Syria at least three times in recent months to stop Syrian weaponry being shipped to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but Israel unlike its Western allies, may have more to fear from a new an Islamist caliphate than a continuation of Assad’s rule.