World’s oldest man to get bar mitzvah
Israel Kristal, a Jewish man who is the oldest man in the world, according to Guinness World Records, turned 113 Thursday. His daughter, Shulimath Kristal Kuperstoch, told the DTA news agency his family is planning a bar mitzvah for him, and about 100 relatives will attend. “We will bless him, we will dance with him, we will be happy,” she said.
Born in what is now Poland, Mr. Kristal has survived 113 years of Jewish history. He was in his 30s when the Nazis invaded, and he was imprisoned with his wife and two children in the Lodz ghetto and then at Auschwitz. His wife and children died. He moved to Israel in 1950 and now lives in Haifa. He remarried and had two children, and is now a grandfather and great-grandfather.
Arctic ice ties for 2nd low
Earlier this year, it appeared the world might be on pace for a startling new record in the Arctic. Back in May, the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by floating sea ice was even smaller than it was at the same time in 2012, the year that went on to set the all-time record for low sea ice extent in the month of September.
The all-time record low year, 2012, saw just 1.31 million square miles of sea ice extent at its September low, on Sept. 17 of that year. The 2016 low, reached on Sept. 10, was 1.6 million square miles, and the 2007 low was very nearly the same, leading to what the center calls a “statistical tie.”
U.N. blames aid delay
ISTANBUL — The first civilian deaths since a ceasefire took effect in Syria were reported Thursday, while opposing sides in the conflict continued to hold back aid deliveries to hundreds of thousands of people.
The United Nations Syria envoy Staffan De Mistura put most of the blame for the delay in aid delivery on the government of President Bashar Assad, which has not yet provided any socalled facilitation letters required by aid trucks to access civilians in need across the country.
Refugee tensions rising
GERMANY — The city of Bautzen in eastern Germany has been at the center of tensions between refugees and anti-immigration protesters in recent months. In February, Germans applauded as a refugee accommodation burned down, allegedly after an arson attack.
But on Wednesday evening, those tensions reached a new peak when 20 refugees were involved in violent clashes with 80 German nationals, according to police.
Also in the world ...
Japan’s main opposition party elected its first woman leader Thursday, with Renho Murata triumphing over two men to head the left-of-center Democratic Party . ... Two former executives of a Singapore company in San Diego that supplies ships have been indicted in a wide-spanning bribery scandal involving its CEO nicknamed “Fat Leonard” and high-ranking U.S. Navy officials . ... The International Monetary Fund has approved a $1 billion loan disbursement for Ukraine, after a yearlong delay amid concerns about corruption and the slow pace of reforms in the war-scarred ex-Soviet nation . ... Democratic Republic of Congo elections will be delayed until the voter register is updated and a new government will be appointed to run the nation until the vote, a joint delegation of the ruling party and some opposition members said Wednesday.