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Daybreak: Russian Warships Head to Syria

Following Putin’s rejection of Bibi’s plea to not bolster Syrian air defense

by
Adam Chandler
May 17, 2013
Tartus, Syria.(Rian)
Tartus, Syria.(Rian)

• Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plea to not delivery a sophisticated air-defense system to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, it’s being reported that 12 Russian warships are now patrolling the waters outside of Tartus, Syria. Yikes. [ToI]

• Meanwhile, Israel may have located what is believed to be a new natural gas field off the coast of Haifa. The discovery of a third natural gas field comes as Israel decides how much gas it will export on the market or import to maintain energy independence. [JTA]

• Speaking of natural gas, if you haven’t read about the smuggling of Kentucky Fried Chicken from Egypt into Gaza, it’s a heck of a story. [NYT]

• The curious case of David Birnbaum, Hollywood jeweler and self-proclaimed unifier of religion and science. The Chronicle of Higher Education takes a look at his philosophy, his book, and the oddity of a week-long conference at Bard that Birnbaum partially funded. [CHE]

• Feeling bullish? So is Jewcy. Check out the newest installment of Jewcy Horoscopes for the Taurus in all of us. [Jewcy]

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.