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June 22, 2011

Shakira, Wales, SIlverman offer recipes for tomorrow

Pop star Shakira joined Israeli President Shimon Peres to open the third Israeli Presidential Conference, titled “Facing Tomorrow.”

“The best decisions we can make for a better tomorrow are those about educating and caring for our children,” said Shakira, a Columbian singer, whose father is Lebanese, and who serves as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. “Israel is the perfect place to discuss education and our future because it is the melting pot, the location where all nations and religions were born. We are all inheritors of Abrahamic culture, therefore we are all Israel.”

Tuesday’s opening session also included Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and comedian Sarah Silverman.

In presenting her recipe for a better tomorrow, Sarah Silverman, the American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician, noted that the differences between Israelis and Palestinians is not as great as thought to be. “My recipe for a better tomorrow would be to raise an entire generation without hate,” she said. “The solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a simple ‘buddy movie formula.’ If you have these two hostile entities, find a common goal, and work together to fulfill it, in the end they will realize that they have much in common.”

Wales called for harnessing technology in order give the young generation a voice.

More than 4,000 Jewish and world leaders are in Israel for the three-day conference.

This is the first visit to Israel for Shakira, who was urged in a Facebook page liked by about 2,000 people to cancel her trip.

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Egypt’s investigation into alleged Israeli spy continues

Egypt has relaunched its investigation into a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen arrested in Egypt , and discovered that he is fluent in Arabic.

Ilan Grapel is being interrogated without the assistance of an interpreter, since he speaks Arabic fluently, the Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Youm reported Wednesday.

Grapel has faced his eighth interrogation since being arrested earlier this month at his hotel in central Cairo for allegedly spying on Egypt. Grapel is accused of being an Israeli Mossad agent. Egyptian security officials said he entered the country shortly after the start of the Jan. 25 uprising that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, during which Grapel allegedly posed as a foreign correspondent. A law student at Emory University, he also reportedly said that he was Muslim on his visa application filed with the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv and then entered Egypt using his American passport. Grapel is Jewish.

The investigation into Grapel was suspended after his first attorney resigned last week, but was relaunched on Tuesday.

Grapel spoke with his family for nearly an hour earlier this week, and reportedly told them that he was arrested legally and that he has not been harmed and is getting everything he needs.

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H&H bagel store to close

H&H Bagels, the no-frills bagel shop that for decades was a beloved fixture of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, is reportedly closing its doors.

The store, located at 80th and Broadway, is famous for its no-nonsense food service; customers who want a bagel with a schmear have to buy the cream cheese separately and put it on themselves.

The store reportedly will close in the next few days. Employees said H&H’s factory store on West 46th Street would remain open.

Founded in 1972, the story recently fell into fiscal troubles, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. That came on the heels of guilty plea in May 2010 by its owner and co-founder Helmer Toro to grand larceny charges. Toro had failed to fork over some $330,000 in payroll taxes he had withheld from employees, according to The New York Times.

City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side, said the loss of the store would be a crushing blow to the neighborhood.

“It’s an institution, almost like a museum,” Brewer told the Times. “Everybody dreams of their store being a destination, but this one really is a destination. You can literally get a hot bagel at 3 o’clock in the morning, and it literally comes out of the oven in front of you.”

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Designer Galliano goes on trial for anti-Semitic remarks

Fashion designer John Galliano went on trial in Paris for making anti-Semitic and racist remarks to patrons at a local cafe.

Galliano arrived at the courthouse Wednesday afternoon. He could face up to six months in prison and a fine of about $32,000 on charges of “public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity.”

In February, Galliano was videotaped making racist remarks at La Perle bar; a similar incident reportedly occurred in October. After the video of Galliano surfaced showing him shouting “I love Hitler,” he was fired March 1 from his job as head designer at Christian Dior.

Actress Natalie Portman, a spokeswoman for Dior fragrances, criticized Galliano’s anti-Semitic comments, saying she was “deeply shocked and disgusted.”

Since being fired from Dior, Galliano has been in treatment for alcohol and prescription drug abuse, according to reports. He has said he is not an anti-Semite and that he made his rants under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He also apologized for his statements.

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