In the 16th July 17 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
scientists have identified the trigger for Alzheimer’s disease.
·
Israeli
and PA emergency services held a major joint training exercise.
·
The first
State visit to Israel by the Central African Republic.
·
A major Israeli
project is initiated to discover Dark Matter.
·
Tourism to
Israel soared by 28% in June.
·
Guns N’
Roses rock Tel Aviv.
·
Jonah and
the Whale have been discovered in the Galilee.
·
Click here
to see the 9th July newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Janglo
and United
With Israel. Also (TY Karen) in Portuguese.
·
Click here,
to SEARCH the IsraelActive archives of more
than 11,000 previous news articles.
·
Click
here, to donate a
small amount to help me expand the reach of VeryGoodNewsIsrael.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research. Scientists at Israel’s
Weizmann Institute genetically sequenced every cell in the brain’s immune
system (microglia). In Alzheimer’s disease, they found Disease-Associated
Microglia (DAM) trying to keep the brain healthy, but restrained due to
insufficient or mutated key regulatory proteins like TREM2. It may lead to new therapies. https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/over-dam-cells-rejuvenate-brain https://www.youtube.com/embed/UCA43LiwSg0?rel=0
Preventing
breast cancer in diabetic women. (TY Nevet) Diabetic women recovering from
the aggressive HER2-positive form of cancer double the risk of recurrence if
they take insulin. Now a Phase III trial led by scientists at Jerusalem’s Hadassah
Hospital has shown that the anti-diabetic treatment metformin can prevent
recurrence. http://www.hadassah.org/news-stories/new-study-led-by-hadassah.html
Shedding light
on cancer.
(TY Nevet) Israeli biotech Todos
Medical has developed the “Total Biochemical Infrared Analysis” (TBIA) method
for screening of solid tumors. The patient’s white blood cells are exposed to a
spectrum of light. Analysis of the results reveals where the immune system has
responded to tumor presence.
Six Israelis win Howard Hughes awards. The prestigious Howard
Hughes Medical Institute has awarded 5-year grants of $650,000 each to 41
international biomedical scientists. Six of them (14.6%) are Israelis – three
from the Weizmann Institute, two from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and
one from Israel’s Technion.
An autism database. (TY Nevet) Ben-Gurion
University scientists and Soroka University Medical Center doctors have
established the hospital-university-based (HUB) autism database to benefit scientists,
patients and their families. One goal is to help identify different autism
subtypes, likely generated by different causes.
http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Health-and-Science/New-Beersheba-autism-database-to-help-research-on-a-global-scale-498005
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-017-3207-0
Extending the
margins.
I’ve reported previously (several times) on MarginProbe
from Israel’s Dune Medical and how it detects whether all cancerous material
has been removed during breast cancer surgery.
Now MarginProbe is to be extended for similar testing during surgery for
prostate, colon, lung and pancreatic cancer.
UK diabetics love their Dario. Clinical Commissioning
Groups in three UK regions have named the Dario™ Blood Glucose Monitoring
System the first choice of all patients with type 1 diabetes, for “Smart meters
with carb counting.” It comes after Dario’s launch of a direct-to-consumer
channel in the UK.
http://mydario.investorroom.com/PressReleases?item=147
http://mydario.investorroom.com/2017-04-26-DarioHealth-Expands-Global-Presence-With-Direct-to-Consumer-Launch-in-the-U-K
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
NIS 3 million for special needs tech. The Israel Innovation
Authority is funding projects worth 3 million shekels to develop solutions for
those on the autistic spectrum, the visually impaired and wheelchair
users.
International women entrepreneurs see
the Startup Nation.
30 women entrepreneurs from 30 countries came to Israel to get
inspiration at Startup Tel Aviv. They
heard from Israeli women like Fiona Darmon, CEO of JVP Media Central. They pitched to top angel investors and
venture capitalists and received useful feedback.
Jewish-Arab tech center is 3 years old. I last reported (Mar
2015) on the Moona co-existence tech hub in the Galilee two years ago when
50 Jewish and 50 Muslim students attended the research center. Now some 750
students graduate from its activities every year and 30 schools participate in
the scheme.
The art of co-existence. In the Israeli-Arab Galilee village
of Sakhnin, the Sakhnin Biennale is an alternative art festival featuring
artists from Israel and from 65 other countries. The village has become a
meeting place for northern Israel's diverse population which includes Jewish,
Muslim and Christian communities.
Training to save lives
together. Israeli
Emergency Services and the Palestinian Authority Civil Defense Forces (PCD)
held a joint drill to enhance their skills and improve their response to real
events. Participants included Israel’s Magen David Adom, the PA’s Red Crescent and
fire-fighters from both sides.
The power to distribute electricity. For the first time, Israel
has handed over control of an electricity substation to the Palestinian
Authority. The Israel Electric Corporation also trained Palestinian Arabs to
maintain the site near Jenin. Substations will soon be handed over in Hebron,
Ramallah and Nablus (Shechem).
Rwandan president praises Israel. During his visit to Israel,
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame highlighted the blossoming cooperation between
the two countries in technology, agriculture, energy and security. “Israel has
continued to follow through on its commitments and objective of scaling up
engagement across Africa.”
First state visit from
Central African Republic. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra made the
first-ever visit to Israel by the head of state of the Central African Republic
(CAR). He said to Israeli President
Rivlin “we have come to Israel in order to learn – your country is a school for
us.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
NYT discovers Israel-Arab research
project. I
reported previously (Dec
2012) that the BBC reported on the Middle East SESAME synchrotron project
without mentioning Israel’s involvement. Over 4 years later, the New York Times
reports on the project and amazingly (for the NYT) does mention Israel.
If dark matter exists,
Israelis will find it. (TY Nevet)
Dark matter is hypothesized to be far more abundant than ordinary matter but
no-one has detected any – until now. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is to
develop Israel’s first dark matter detector.
It utilizes atomic spectroscopy, magnetic sensors, lasers and optics,
atomic clocks, and advanced electronics.
https://aabgu.org/bgu-develop-israels-first-dark-matter-detector/
Double security award. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s
Dome9 Security (mentioned
here in Jan 2012) has won “Best Cloud Security Product” in the 2017
Cybersecurity Excellence Awards. It was
also Editor’s Choice for Cloud Security Solutions in the 2017 Cyber Defense
Magazine Awards. Dome9 just received $16.5 million of funds.
https://dome9.com/press-releases/dome9-scores-double-win-cybersecurity-excellence-cyber-defense-magazine-awards/ https://dome9.com/press-releases/softbank-leads-16-5-million-strategic-investment-dome9-security/
Keeping traffic moving in Nevada. (TY Karen) The Regional
Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada and Israeli startup WayCare,
are launching a pilot program to help predict and prevent crashes and
subsequent traffic jams. WayCare will use
real-time and historic data to alert the RTC to send out patrols.
Efficient delivery of your products. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s
Bringg is the leading on-demand delivery platform for enterprises. It has
clients in over 50 countries – the latest being the Panera Bread network of bakery-cafes.
The system dispatches and tracks orders and customers see the location of the
delivery driver.
https://www.bringg.com/in-the-news/bringg-announces-panera-bread-latest-customer-logistics-platform/
An Israeli startup walked into a bar. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported
previously (July
2013) on Israel’s Weissbeerger and its technology to monitor beer taps in a
bar. This new video shows how the data produced is used by the brewery to identify
consumption patterns and ensure a top quality drink is delivered to the customer.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
June tourism up 28%. 303,000 tourists entered Israel in June 2017, 28% more than in June
2016. Jan to June saw a 26% increase in visitors, to an all-time-record of 1.74
million. Estimated revenue from incoming tourism in this period was NIS 9.4
billion. Tourism from the USA (the largest in total) increased by 20%
Ben Gurion is world’s 8th best Airport. The readers of Travel + Leisure magazine voted Israel's Ben-Gurion
Airport as the 8th best airport in the world. Rankings were based on travelers'
experiences of access, check-in, security, food, shopping and design.
Naples or Venice? (TY Janglo)
EasyJet are launching regular flights from Tel Aviv to Venice and to Naples.
There are three flights a week to Venice, starting 31 Oct and two flights a
week to Naples, starting 4 Nov. These routes bring to eleven the number of easyJet’s
scheduled services to Europe from Tel Aviv.
Stiff race for top Israeli talent. In the Israeli tech
industry, workers are in greater demand than supply as the 112 recruiting
companies confirmed at the employment fair held at the private university IDC
Herzliya. Also, many youngsters want the challenge of starting their own
company rather than joining an existing one.
Delek strikes oil deal. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported
previously (Oct
2015) that Israeli oil company Delek had taken a 19.7% stake in Canadian-UK
oil exploration company Ithaca which is active in the UK’s North Sea waters. Delek has now taken-over control of Ithaca
for around 470 million Canadian dollars.
TaKaDu’s first US customer. Israeli water event
management company TaKaDu has won its first US customer – Knoxville Utilities
in the State of Tennessee. TaKaDu will allow Knoxville to detect, analyze and
manage network events and incidents such as leaks, bursts, faults, operational
failures and more.
Tubi 60 goes global. Tubi 60 is an Israeli-made
alcoholic drink with a secret mix of some 60 natural herbs and fruit essences.
Developed and distilled by Hilal and Yanai Tubi, the vegan herbal spirit is
available at most Jerusalem bars and clubs. It will soon also be found on
liquor shelves in Texas, Brooklyn, Oslo and Berlin.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-hipster-cocktail-tubi-60-heads-stateside/
https://www.tubi60.com/
That’s the ticket.
(TY Atid-EDI) New York based
ticketing platform company SeatGeek has bought Israeli ticketing software
company TopTix for $56 million. TopTix will power SeatGeek Open – a radically
new approach, in which artists sell tickets through popular ecommerce websites,
travel tools, and messaging sites.
Getting the flavor of Brazil. (TY Karen) I reported
previously (Oct
2014) that Israeli flavors and fine ingredients giant Frutarom was
expanding into Peru and Chile with its purchase of Montana Food. Frutarom has continued
its South American acquisitions, buying 80% of Brazilian ice-cream maker SDFLC
for $33 million.
How an Israel sells his car. Israeli Eugene Romanovsky
went to great lengths to sell his 1996 Suzuki Vitara by making an elaborate
video using visual effects that has generated millions of views. With dramatic
music, the car appears to out-run dinosaurs, races a cheetah, escapes an
avalanche and drives to a desert mountaintop.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
What to bring back from Israel. (TY Yuval) This video from AIPAC suggests some of the best
souvenirs for tourists to take home from a trip to Israel. But a warning - they
may take up quite a bit of space in your suitcase.
Israel’s trendiest beaches. (TY Janglo)
Here is the young-person’s guide to the best beaches along the 185 kilometers
(115 miles) of sandy Israeli Mediterranean coastline, as well as the Sea of
Galilee (Lake Kinneret). Covering Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Herzliya, Kinneret, Hadera,
Carmel, Tel Dor. Caesarea and Nahariya.
The magic of Jaffa. (TY Avi) The smells of the sea flavored with black coffee and
spices from the markets, Levantine culture combined with European, ancient
mixed with new – this is Jaffa. One of the oldest port cities in the world. Today's
Jaffa is a vibrant city that never ceases to surprise and innovates.
Guns N’ Roses rock for
3 hours. Rock
legends Guns N’ Roses performed to 60,000 fans in Tel Aviv. The tour was named the “Not in this lifetime” tour
because Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan reunited, in spite of Axl’s 2014
prediction that they would never re-establish the band. The video features “Sweet
Child of Mine”.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Guns-N-Roses-packs-a-lifetime-of-rock-into-one-night-in-Tel-Aviv-499823
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeV9tetmZ_c
See the Pretenders in reality. American musician Chrissie
Hynde and her band The Pretenders will perform on 23 Sept at the Menora
Mivtachim Arena, Tel Aviv.
NBA champs sign top Israeli. (TY Janglo)
Omri Casspi’s phone rang at one-minute past midnight on the day that the
Israeli basketball star became a free agent. It was the owner of NBA champions
Golden State Warriors in California, offering Casspi a one-year contract. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Jerusalem streets closed for Maccabiah Night
Run. (TY Sharon)
Tens of thousands took part in the Jerusalem Maccabiah Night Run – not just
those participating in the Maccabiah Games.
Many of the streets in Jerusalem were closed whilst the runners completed
the 5 or 10 km routes or the half Marathon.
THE JEWISH STATE
One million reasons to love Israel. Here, some Israeli children
give perceptive views about their country.
200 new Olim arrive from France. (TY Janglo)
The largest Keren Hayesod-Jewish Agency flight of olim from France this summer
has landed at Ben-Gurion Airport. Israel’s Health Ministry now recognizes
French medical degrees, and a new bill automatically recognizes medical
credentials of immigrants from EU countries.
http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/200-French-olim-arrive-aboard-summers-largest-aliya-flight-from-Europe-499299 https://www.youtube.com/embed/874Ujkzbn3Q?rel=0
900 on Montreal Mega Mission. More than 900 people, one of whom is 100 years old, came to Israel
on the Federation CJA’s Montreal Mega Mission. The trip attracted 100
first-time visitors to Israel and 116 return visitors from the last trip
organized by Federation CJA in 2014, which had (only) 600 participants.
From Cuban prison to freedom in Israel. Alan Gross was sent to
prison in Cuba for five years for setting up Internet access for Cubans. He was
released in Dec 2014 and made Aliya in May.
Haredi platoon’s first parachute drop. the Haredi Hetz platoon of
the IDF’s elite Paratroopers Brigade successfully conducted their first drops
after completing a rigorous parachuting course.
The top 10 finds proving Jerusalem
belongs to Israel. (TY Avi) Ze’ev Orenstein takes
us on a tour of the City of David in Jerusalem to completely dispel recent
ridiculous UNESCO resolutions.
Found in the Galilee - Jonah and the
Whale. (TY Janglo) Archaeologists excavating
a 1500-year-old synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee have unearthed mosaics
featuring the Biblical stories of Jonah and of the Tower of Babel. Previous
digs at the site have revealed mosaics of Noah’s Ark and the Splitting of the
Sea.
