Daybreak: Mad Mel Makes Maccabee?
Plus mysterious goings-on with Egypt, and more in the news
September 09, 2011
(South Park)
• Mel Gibson is producing a movie about Judah Maccabee. Joe Eszterhas is writing the script; Gibson may direct and even star. There is no joke to be made. This is the joke. [24 Frames LAT]
• President Abbas said that U.S. entreaties to halt the U.N. statehood gambit were “too late.” [NYT]
• Talks over captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit remain deadlocked, said a Hamas official. Meanwhile, Shalit’s father insisted that the United Nations should not recognize Palestine until his son is free. [Ynet/Vos Iz Neias?/AP/WP]
• Weird story: eight people aboard a yacht in the Strait of Tiran—including four security men—were arrested by Egypt Wednesday, interrogated, and then released today. [Ynet]
• Five judges have been named to try those indicted for the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. [AP/WP]
• Excellent review of Lucette Lagnado’s new memoir, The Arrogant Years, by our fearless editor in chief Alana Newhouse. [NYT]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
