Your Daily Spiel for July 3

Ben Stiller (Flickr photo)

Mexico City has elected its very first Jewish mayor, making it the first time in the city’s history to have appointed a woman and a Jew (two firsts) to the office. The largest city in North America is currently home to approximately 50, 000 Jews.

Actor-director Ben Stiller has been named the global goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On the appointment, Stiller said, “I for one will do what I can as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR to advocate for refugees and encourage others to join me.”

Dutch police have arrested a man accused of drawing swastikas on the property of Amsterdam’s oldest Jewish cemetery. The Zeeburh cemetery was recently reopened after a dedicated team of Jewish and Moroccan youths helped to restore the neglected land.

Former politician and Holocaust denier Laurent Louis has been ordered by a Belgian court to visit one Nazi concentration camp every year for the next five years and report back on his observations.