SYNAGOGUE (AUSTRALIA) AND HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL (BERLIN) ATTACKED

Vandals Deface Berlin's Holocaust Memorial (AP/Breitbart)
Vandals scratched a swastika into one of the slabs of Berlin's Holocaust memorial, police said Sunday. Security officers found the swastika Saturday morning, police said. The damage was swiftly repaired.

The memorial _ a vast field of more than 2,700 gray slabs situated close to the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin _ opened to the public in May 2005. Open around the clock, it drew some 3.5 million visitors in its first year, authorities said.

In a separate incident, a 42-year-old man was detained after he was seen painting a swastika on the facade of the Swiss Embassy in Berlin, police said.

Sydney synagogue attacked (JPost)
An attack on a Sydney synagogue may have been fueled by anger over the Middle East conflict and the spiraling civilian death toll in Lebanon, a rabbi said Monday.

Rabbi Wernick, who cited religious reasons in declining to give his first name, and his young family were inside a house attached to a synagogue in suburban Parramatta when it was attacked Sunday evening.

Concrete blocks smashed the windows of two cars, and other projectiles were hurled at the synagogue roof. Shortly after the incident, witnesses told police they saw a group of about 10 Middle Eastern men laughing and running down a nearby street.