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Daybreak: Olmert Acquitted; Will He Return?

Plus Russia may be coming around on Syria, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
July 10, 2012
Former Prime Minister Olmert this morning.(Ariel Schalit - Pool/Getty Images))
Former Prime Minister Olmert this morning.(Ariel Schalit - Pool/Getty Images))

• Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was acquitted of the main corruption charges that effectively drove him from office, leading us, David Horovitz argues, to a lot of “what ifs?” concerning if Olmert had stuck around. [Times of Israel]

• Russia’s President Putin may be slowly setting the foundation for joining much of the rest of the world in calling for Syria’s President Assad to step down. Meanwhile, U.N. enovy Kofi Annan was in Tehran for talks. [NYT]

• The Arab Spring has made things unthinkable before—the State Department formally hosting a known terrorist, for example—a reality. But the democratic uprisings arguably hold out the promise of lesse actual terrorism. [NYT]

• In case you were overly concerned about the Syrian regime, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez sent them a bunch of fuel, because he’s a nice guy like that. [WSJ]

• Rep. Shelley Berkley, Democrat of Nevada, running to be the Senate’s newest Jewish member, will be formally investigated for charges that she abused her office to help her husband’s medical practice. The probe could shift what was shaping to be a close race. [Politico]

• The French police are releasing more details about the Vel d’Hiv incident in Paris, in which 13,000 Jews were rounded up and deported east, in commemoration of its 70th anniversary. [Metro UK/Vos Iz Neias?]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.