RSS
German daycare center named for Anne Frank changes its name, sparking debate
(JTA) — A German daycare center named after Anne Frank is changing its name, alleging that children have a hard time understanding the message behind the story of the world famous Jewish diarist murdered in the Holocaust.
The daycare is located in Tangerhütte, a small town in northern Germany. Debate over the center’s name has drawn attention across the country, but Mayor Andreas Brohm defended the school’s move.
German media reports that parents wanted the center to push a message more focused on international diversity, hence the new name of World Explorers.
The International Auschwitz Committee, which was founded by Holocaust survivors, strongly condemned the renaming. The Jerusalem Post reported that the school had had the Anne Frank name since 1970.
“If you are willing to dismiss your own history so carelessly, especially in these times of new antisemitism and right-wing extremism, and if Anne Frank ‘s name is perceived as unsuitable in public space, you can only become fearful and anxious when it comes to the culture of remembrance in our country,” said Christoph Heubner, according to the German MDR broadcaster.
Miteinander e.V., a German organization that promotes “open society,” said the renaming “sends the wrong signal in a time of strengthening #Antisemitism.”
“There are good, tried-and-tested pedagogical concepts for conveying the topic of Anne Frank’s life to children and young people that work age-appropriately and appropriately with contemporary historical fate,” the organization wrote in a thread on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Antisemitic incidents have spiked across Western Europe since Oct. 7, when Hamas killed over 1,400 Israelis, sparking an Israeli counterattack has killed thousands in the Gaza Strip. On Oct. 18, two people threw Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin.
—
The post German daycare center named for Anne Frank changes its name, sparking debate appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
RSS
Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
RSS
As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.