World news-roundup: Over 4000 sephardi Jews granted Spanish citizenship

Country:  Italy
Storms in Tuscany damaged the synagogue in Livorno on Sunday, with windows shattered and shards of glass sent flying into the inner sanctuary after reports of a mini tornado. Livorno is the birthplace of Elio Toaff, the late chief rabbi of Rome who hosted the first ever papal visit to a synagogue.

Country: Spain
Over 4,300 claimed descendants of Sephardic Jews have been granted Spanish citizenship after a law was approved earlier this year which sought to atone for the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. Most applications have since come from Venezuela, Morocco and Turkey.

Country: Malaysia
The Malaysian premier has told the U.N. that Israel could learn a thing or two from a Jewish sage when it comes to Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Citing Israeli ‘violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque,’ Islam’s third holiest site, Najib Razak quoted Hillel, saying: ‘That which is hateful to you, do not do to others.’

Country: France
A French Jewish lobby group has urged the publisher of a children’s dictionary to change its definition of ‘Promised Land’ from ‘present-day Palestine.’ The National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, said it ‘insidiously teaches young children utterly false notions of biblical history.’

Country: Germany
The head of Germany’s Jewish community has said he fears Muslim refugees and migrants will increase anti-Semitism in his country. Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said: ‘They grow up in an environment where hostility to Jews and Israel is commonplace.’

Country: United States
An Orthodox Jew from a prominent Chabad family in Connecticut has been arrested for possession of heroin and crack cocaine with the intent to sell. Yochanan Levitansky, 28, has already served time in jail, for fraud. Police said they had him under surveillance for months, watching several drug deals.