Shorts: U.S.

Alabama Democrat denies Holocaust

montgomery, ala. (ap) | Democratic Party leaders are wondering what to do about a candidate for state attorney general who denies that the Holocaust took place and wants to "reawaken white racial awareness."

Larry Darby, the founder of the Atheist Law Center, made an abortive bid for the attorney general job as a Libertarian in 2002, but only recently have his views on race and the Holocaust come to light.

In an interview last week, Darby said he believed that no more than 140,000 Jews died in Europe during World War II, and most of them succumbed to typhus.




Rice appoints anti-Semitism chief

washington (jta) | Condoleezza Rice named a senior adviser on anti-Semitism on Wednesday, May 17 .

The U.S. secretary of state announced the appointment of Gregg Rickman to the newly created position.

Rickman, for years a top Republican congressional aide, wrote a book about his years in the 1990s directing the Senate Banking Committee's investigation of the role the Swiss banks played in the Holocaust.




AJCommittee raises $105 million

washington (jta) | The American Jewish Committee announced the completion of a $105 million fund-raising campaign.

The campaign's completion was announced last week by Harold Tanner, chairman of the campaign and honorary president of the group, which celebrated its 100th anniversary at a weeklong gathering in Washington.




JDate wins a Webby

new york (jta) | JDate won a Webby Award, an accolade considered by many to be Oscars of the online world.

JDate, the world's largest Jewish dating Web site, took top prize in the 10th annual competition for outstanding social/networking site, beating out MySpace.com.




NASA consults on Shabbat in space

washington (jta) | NASA is looking into making its international space station amenable to Torah-observant astronauts.

The space agency is planning to consult rabbis on issues such as determining the station's position so Jews know where to face while praying, making kosher food available and observing Shabbat in space.

The space station is expected to host astronauts from other countries, and efforts have been made to include Israelis. Similar questions arose when Israeli astronaut Col. Ilan Ramon went to space. Ramon brought kosher food with him and is said to have kept Shabbat.