• Less than a week before Iran meets with the P5+1 group for talks on its nuclear program, the nuclear watchdogs at the IAEA say that Iran has upgraded its machines for producing nuclear fuel. [NYT]
• Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama became the third Republican senator to declare that he would back Chuck Hagel in his nomination for defense secretary. [Reuters]
• British lawmaker George Galloway walked out of an Oxford University debate on the Middle East on Wednesday night after finding out his interlocutor was an Israeli. [Guardian]
• Almost 1,000 members of the Hungarian Jewish community are leaving the country every year as a result of a recession and less-than-pleasant social climate. [JTA]
• The Purim hour is drawing nigh and if you have not yet sent someone a hilarious Tablet Purim e-card, then you probably should. Check ’em here.
Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.