World

(JTA) — The HBO historical drama “Chernobyl,” which dramatizes the events surrounding the 1986 nuclear explosion in the now-Ukrainian city, has generated plenty of buzz around the world. In addition to garnering critical acclaim, the series has renewed conversation about the incident and even spiked tourism to the area of… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – In May, Pope Francis issued a detailed ruling on how officials in the Roman Catholic Church must handle cases of clerical sexual abuse, the first official codification of the church’s global policy. Though abuse survivors have criticized the pope’s ruling as not strong enough and for… Read more »

PARIS (JTA) — As a French celebrity philosopher, Alain Finkielkraut belongs to a tiny group of VIPs who get to lead normal, paparazzi-free lives despite having film star-like recognizability here. Unlike most countries, France makes celebrities out of intellectual heroes. They’re revered, quoted and featured regularly on primetime television… Read more »

(JTA) — On the surface, Gil Levanon and Kat Rohrer seem unlikely friends. Levanon is an Israeli, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. Rohrer, an Austrian, is the granddaughter of an avowed Nazi officer. If their friendship seems a little odd, their collaboration on the documentary “Back to the… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The United States and Argentina convened a two-day regional summit in Buenos Aires about the persistent Hezbollah threat in the Western Hemisphere. The summit Tuesday and Wednesday was held a month ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in… Read more »

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — Argentinean and international Jewish organizations are demanding action from local and regional authorities amid recent violent anti-Semitic attacks in the country. The Argentinean Jewish political umbrella DAIA labeled Sunday’s attack on Rabbi Shlomo Tawil in Rosario as “brutal anti-Semitic aggression” and demanded an investigation into the… Read more »

(JTA) — Thousands of Polish soccer fans attending a match in Warsaw between their national team and Israel’s applauded during the playing of the Jewish state’s anthem. “Hatikvah” was played just before “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego” on Tuesday ahead of the match, which ended with Poland winning 4-0. When some fans… Read more »

PHUM THOM, Cambodia (JTA) — Arun Sothea is a slight, soft-spoken man. He speaks both casually and simply when discussing the horrors of his past — as well the triumphs of his present — both of which have taken place in his childhood home of Phum Thom. The Khmer… Read more »

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — A rabbi in Rosario, the third most populous city in Argentina, was verbally and physically attacked in violence that has been characterized as anti-Semitic. Rabbi Shlomo Tawil, of the local Chabad-Lubavitch organization, was attacked Sunday night by three men in the city center of… Read more »

(JTA) — An Italian couple whose ancestors were forced to hide their faith got married atop the ruins of an ancient synagogue, giving the site its first Jewish wedding in centuries. Roque Pugliese and Ivana Pezzoli tied the knot earlier this week in the presence of about 100 guests,… Read more »

(JTA) — The Organization of American States will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism, the group’s head said. OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro’s announcement June 4 in Washington makes him the first Latin American leader to do so. He also called Hezbollah “a terrorist organization”… Read more »

(JTA) — Ultranationalists in Ukraine protested outside a Jewish community building with smoke grenades. Men from the National Corps group, a namesake of a unit of the Azov Battalion militia set up in 2014 by the Ukrainian government, set off the grenades Monday in front of the building in… Read more »

BERLIN (JTA) — German historian Marie Sophie Hingst has been stripped of a “Golden Blogger” award following revelations that she faked a family history of suffering in the Holocaust. According to Der Spiegel magazine, which broke the story this week, Hingst — who lives in Dublin and is in… Read more »

(JTA) — There aren’t any Jewish players that we know of at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, which runs from June 7 to July 7 in France. The top-ranked U.S. team is looking to win its second Cup in a row and fourth all time. But there are… Read more »

David Tannenbaum has proven that riding a bicycle is indeed “like riding a bicycle.” After 23 years out of the saddle, Tannenbaum entered the 2014 annual Cochise County Cycling Classic in Douglas, Arizona, and pedaled 27 miles to second place in one hour and 20 minutes. He’s been riding… Read more »

An emotional performance by the Shalva Band at Thursday’s Eurovision Song Contest semifinal earned widespread praise from viewers in Israel and abroad, who hailed the band for its message of inclusivity and acceptance. Last Thursday, the Shalva Band, as guest artists, performed the song A Million Dreams”. Following their… Read more »

(JTA) — After decades of relative obscurity, the tale of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara has become one of the best-known Holocaust rescue stories, rivaling those of Oskar Schindler and Irena Sendler. The late Sugihara, who issued thousands of life-saving visas to Jewish refugees in Lithuania in defiance of… Read more »

KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Walking on the scorched and scarred sidewalks of this capital city’s main square five years ago, Eduard Dolinsky felt hopeful and proud. A member of Kiev’s large Jewish population and a longtime activist for its communal causes, Dolinsky had hoped that the bloody street fights… Read more »

KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Jews have lived in Ukraine for such a long time that their arrival here predates even the first recorded use of the country’s name. Starting in the ninth century, Jews began settling between Uzhgorod and Lugansk — respectively the westernmost and easternmost cities of what… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A 65-year-old Israeli man has been indicted for banging on the roof of the car of Polish Ambassador Marek Magierowski and spitting at him. According to the indictment filed Thursday by police with the Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court, Arik Lederman of Herzliya stood in the middle… Read more »