Daily Briefing Feb. 23: Israel's space-age meds & tangled diplomatic web on Ukraine

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and Health reporter Nathan Jeffay join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

All eyes are on Ukraine and the Western nations’ attempts to sanction President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Berman updates us on what is happening on the borders now. He explains how Israel continues to run through the raindrops between the needs of the country’s “best friend,” the United States, and ally Russia. Also, are Ukraine’s Jews readying for aliyah and can the Jewish state accommodate them?

Berman proposes that even while the world’s eyes are on Ukraine, the Iran nuclear deal talks in Vienna are directly connected — at least in Putin’s eyes. He explains the tangled web and how Israel is or is not succeeding in its drive to make a longer, better deal.

Jeffay is able to take a break from breaking COVID research and brings us a promising new biological treatment for PTSD involving oxygen therapy.

We also hear about an out-of-this-world experiment in which Israeli cancer drug Doxil has returned to Earth after a series of tests on the International Space Station (ISS). What’s this about?

And finally, Berman explains how Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi’s pioneering new posting as Israel’s Consul General in Shanghai, China, is a win-win situation.