World News in Brief

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His girlfriend, Nitzan Shabbat, posted a photo of the couple on Instagram in which she is holding up her hand to show a diamond engagement ring. Shalit proposed last Friday.

The couple have been dating for about a year and a half.

Shalit was captured in June 2006 in a cross-border raid through a Hamas tunnel. He was released in October 2011 in a controversial exchange with 1 027 Palestinian prisoners.

Lady Kitty to convert to Judaism for marriage

Lady Kitty Spencer, the niece of the late Princess Diana of Wales, is reportedly converting to Judaism to marry ex-South African Jewish fashion mogul Michael Lewis.

Lewis, 61, is chairperson of The Foschini Group, and is 32 years older than his 29-year-old model fiancée, Lady Spencer, the first cousin of Princes William and Harry.

The couple got engaged in Cape Town in December. They both have strong links to South Africa, particularly Cape Town.

Lady Kitty, is the youngest daughter of Earl Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana. She has often been compared to Diana.

This will be the second marriage for multi-millionaire Lewis, who is five years older than his future father-in-law, Earl Spencer.

The British Sunday Times cited friends of the couple who said that Lady Kitty was “taking religious instruction” in preparation for her marriage.

Lewis married his first wife, Leola, with whom he has three adult children, in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony in 1985.

Lady Kitty’s first cousin, Prince William, is second in line to the throne of England, and is the future supreme governor of the Church of England.

It’s unknown when the glamorous couple will tie the knot, but it’s speculated that they will be standing under a chuppah (marriage canopy) when they do so.

Egyptian diaspora returns to renovated shul

Dozens of Jews of Egyptian origin recently came together from around the world to celebrate Shabbat at the newly renovated 14th-century Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria.

One of the two rabbis leading the service was Yosef Nefussi, the son of the final Alexandria rabbi. He was joined by Rabbi Andrew Baker, the director of International Jewish Affairs for the American Jewish Committee.

Among the approximately 180 participants were the United States Ambassador to Egypt, Jonathan Cohen, and former Israeli ambassador David Govrin, as well as local cultural attachés.

The three-year, multimillion-dollar renovation project was completed last month.

Twelve of the synagogue’s approximately 60 Torah scrolls were removed from the ark for the service, which was organised by the Nebi Daniel Association, a group dedicated to the preservation of Jewish sites in Egypt.

Alexandria was once home to up to 40 000 Jews, but now just has a handful. Fewer than 20 Jews are estimated to still be living in all of Egypt.

Israel plans rail link to Western Wall

Israel’s transportation ministry advanced plans on Monday to build a new train station that would directly connect Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The project, an extension of the recently opened Jerusalem-Tel Aviv high-speed line, will include a new 1.8 mile (2.8km)-long tunnel under downtown Jerusalem and the Old City, i24news reports.

This kind of construction in the Old City of Jerusalem is controversial. Palestinians object to Israel gaining more of a foothold in the city that they claim as the capital of a future Palestinian state, and archaeologists object to the possible disturbance of artefacts in the area.

Attempted stabbing at Cave of Patriarchs

A Palestinian man tried to stab an Israeli police officer at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron late on Monday morning.

The man pulled out a knife during a security check at the site, and tried to stab a member of the border police, Israel Police said. He was stopped and arrested by other officers. No injuries were reported.