GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: MICHAEL ORDMAN
www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
http://blogs.jpost.com/users/just-look-us-now
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Pancreatic cancer treatment trials continue. Jerusalem-based biotech Tiltan has raised $1.5 million for the completion of its on-going Phase II clinical study of TL-118, an anti-angiogenic therapy for treating metastatic pancreatic cancer. 80 patients are being tested in seven major Israeli oncology centers and also two in the US.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-pancreatic-cancer-treatment-co-tiltan-pharma-raises-15m-1000915007
Generating stem cells quickly and cheaply. (Thanks to Israel21c) Israeli biotech Cellect has developed a stem cell collection kit that could revolutionize the treatment of leukemia and other immune-related diseases. Cellect’s kit takes only 10 hours to generate sufficient stem cells for bone marrow transplants.
http://israel21c.org/health/israeli-stem-cell-technology-targets-leukemia/
Chip in chin prevents sleep apnea. Belgium-Israeli medical device company Nyxoah is gearing up for the European trials of its sleep apnea treatment. A tiny chip is implanted into the patient’s chin, which stimulates nerves to prevent the tongue from blocking airflow – a common cause of sleep apnea.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-sleep-apnea-co-nyxoah-raises-8-million-1000940425
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Israeli chips run Cisco’s best router. Cisco Systems recently declared the ASR 9000 to be its most successful high-end router in a decade. Good news for Israel’s EZchip, which makes the processor that powers it.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-18/cisco-s-once-in-a-decade-router-propels-ezchip-israel-overnight
Israeli students excel at Asian Physics Olympiad in Singapore. Israeli 12th graders returned from the Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) 2014 with two silver medals, three bronze medals and three honorable mentions. Each of the delegation’s eight members came home with an award. 27 countries competed.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4522479,00.html
Israeli students win engineering prize in Turkey. Three Israeli students from Ben Gurion University won second place at the International Cultural and Academic Meeting of Engineering Students conference (ICAMES), a worldwide engineering project competition organized by the Bogazici University in Istanbul.
http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/news/competition_istanbul.aspx
Israeli companies at LA’s Israel party. Nurit Greenger meets the Israeli companies Cornerstone On Demand, BreezoMeter, NSL.comm., PICO, App-To-Eat and SalientEye that came to Los Angeles to celebrate Israel’s 66th birthday. Also US-Israeli organizations IAC, TAMID at UCLA and SCICC – plus 20,000 people.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israels-innovations-make-the-world-smaller-place/
Gadget saves space in the kitchen. The Armadillo (RMDLO) is a clever Israeli-designed kitchen strainer / colander that folds flat for easy storage. Strong, flexible and “green”, it also bends to help serve drained food items easily. The RMDLO has now reached its funding goal on kickstarter, but pledges may still be possible.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2086042336/rmdlo-a-revolution-in-kitchen-utensils
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bre0gmRmkUw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NhS58v11eE
COMAS – where they developed the cellphone re-charging tree. Tree for charging cellphones; dolls that attach to kids’ clothes; search engine for focused online recommendations. Just a few of the ventures developed this year at the Center of Entrepreneurship at the College of Management Academic Studies (COMAS).
http://www.colman.ac.il/English/AboutUs/News_Noteworthy/Pages/FinalEventEntrepren.aspx
Israel is big on big data (data analysis). (Thanks to Herb) For a small country, Israeli start-ups are really thinking big. Many are at the forefront of “crunching data” to give big companies information on what business would be profitable. (Warning – article is mainly for “geeks” or those with a big interest in IT)
http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/28/the-data-nation-israels-surprisingly-large-imprint-on-big-data/
Free drinking water stations – global pilot begins in Tel Aviv. (Thanks to Size Doesn’t Matter) Israeli start-up Woosh has launched its global pilot, providing free drinking water in Tel Aviv’s public spaces.
http://www.sizedoesntmatter.com/culture/non-stop-city-drinks-non-stop-water/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOooFypoB7g
Sensibo controls the temperature from anywhere. Israeli start-up Sensibo is a remote control technology that controls the temperature of your home. It can reduce energy usage by up to 40 percent. Sensibo is now raising funds on IndieGogo.
http://www.jspacenews.com/israeli-start-lets-consumers-control-home-temperature-anywhere/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sensibo-make-any-air-conditioner-smart
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
IDF’s first female Christian officer. Yasmin Chayach has become the first Christian woman to complete the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer’s training course. Chayach, who is from Acre, follows in the footsteps of her brother, who also served in the IDF. Christian enlistment in the IDF tripled in 2013.
http://www.jns.org/news-briefs/2014/5/20/israel-welcomes-first-female-arab-christian-idf-officer#.U3yymnaKj2Q
Improved Israel-Arab view of the Jewish State. In a University of Haifa study, the percentage of Israeli Arabs who recognize Israel’s right to continue to exist as a Jewish and democratic state (53%) rose in 2013 compared to 2012 (47%). 64% (up 5%) thought Israel was a good place to live.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Israeli-Arab-attitudes-toward-the-state-remained-stable-in-2013-study-shows-352773
Israel helps Gazan Christians travel to see the Pope. Israel allowed around 650 Christians from Hamas-controlled Gaza to travel to the PA-controlled city of Bethlehem during the pope’s visit.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/140522-gazan-christians-travel-to-west-bank-for-pope-visit
Israelis help AIDS patients in Africa. Professor Dan Engelhard of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center founded the Art Joy Love organization to help AIDS patients. In Uganda, his doctors, nurses, medicine, medical clowns, social workers and other volunteers in 18 months have reduced AIDS from 18% down to 16%.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/africa/140526-israeli-hope-in-uganda
India’s Foreign Minister is another friend of Israel. Last week I reported that India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a friend of Israel. He has now appointed India’s first female Foreign Minister. Sushma Swara served as chairwoman of the Indo-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group from 2006 to 2009.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/indias-new-foreign-minister-a-strong-fan-of-israel/
StandWithUs Instagram photographers publicize Israel to millions. StandWithUs brought nine photographers from Brazil, Spain, Austria, Russia, Britain, Italy and the U.S. to Israel for the first time. The nine have 4 million followers on the social media photo-sharing site Instagram.
http://www.standwithus.com/news/article.asp?id=3234
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Fitch Ratings give Israel another “A” credit rating. Fitch gave as positive, Israel’s fiscal consolidation and narrowing of budget deficits. It also noted, “The start of gas production has caused a structural improvement in the balance of payments that will support continued current account surpluses.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/293951#.U39AqXaKj2Q
Teva’s new treatments are worth $1b. In 2014 Israel’s Teva is launching Zecurity (migraine patch), Adasuve (inhalation powder to treat agitation in schizophrenia patients) and DuoResp Spiromax, (an inhaler). The combined peak sales of these products are estimated to be $1 billion. It also has 15 treatments in Phase III trials.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/teva-pharm-ind-products-idUSL6N0O63LC20140520
Israel passes US, Europe in plastic bottle recycling. 54 percent of Israel’s plastic bottles were recycled in 2012, compared to 31.8% in the U.S. and 52.4% in OECD countries. 2013 data shows that Israel recycled 56% of its plastic bottles. 350 million bottles were recycled thanks to more than 20,000 recycling deposit stations.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17597
Israel-Jordan container route inaugurated. A new route has been inaugurated for the export of Israeli goods to Asia and the Arab world from the Eilat port via Jordan’s Aqaba. Shipping times and costs to the Far East are less than those from Haifa and Ashdod, as it saves the need (and NIS 300,000 fees) to transit the Suez Canal.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-eilat-aqaba-port-red-sea-route-inaugurated-1000940001
NICE wins 2014 Customer Magazine award. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) TMC Customer Magazine has awarded Israel’s NICE Systems a 2014 CRM Excellence Award. The award recognizes NICE Interaction Analytics for boosting the sales effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency at a leading U.S. retailer.
http://www.nice.com/nice-awarded-2014-crm-excellence-award-presented-customer-magazine
Israeli funds outperform foreign funds. According to a survey released recently by Israel fund administrator Tzur Management, Israel-based hedge funds assets increased in value by 33 percent between 2011 and 2013, outperforming both foreign-based funds and the local equity market.
Israeli Hedge Funds Outperform Foreign Funds, Industry Experiencing ‘Significant Growth’ – Survey
Wave energy company wins Mixiii 2014 Innovation Award. Israeli wave energy technology developer Eco Wave Power won “The Most Innovative Technology” award at the Mixiii 2014 event. Although an Israel-only competition, Eco Wave Power has world-changing potential. It has raised $10 million to fund its projects.
http://israelnewtech.com/2014/05/eco-wave-power-won-wow-competitionduring-mixiii-2014-innovation-conference/
The mini mobile robot printer reaches its main funding goal. Israel’s ZUtA Labs has raised sufficient funds to complete the development of the tiny printer that you put it in your pocket (or bag, laptop case etc). You can still order one on kickstarter for shipping in January.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1686304142/the-mini-mobile-robotic-printer
http://israel21c.org/technology/worlds-first-mini-mobile-printer/
Five Israeli companies list on London AIM. Israel’s Marimedia, a provider of solutions for optimizing for the sale of online advertising space, has just listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Other 2014 Israeli (or Israeli subsidiary) AIM listings include SafeCharge, Summit Germany, XLMedia and Bagir.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-marimedia-raises-179m-in-london-ipo-1000940566
Hong Kong business heads are impressed with Israel. (Thanks to Herb) Hong Kong’s government recently arranged for 34 Hong Kong businessmen, investors, and entrepreneurs to visit Israel. Israel is Hong Kong’s second largest trading partner in the Middle East, and Hong Kong is Israel’s fifth largest trading partner in Asia.
Hong Kong Business Leaders Impressed With Israeli Innovation
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Israeli student film wins Oscar. “Paris on the Water,” by Tel Aviv University master’s student Hadas Ayalon, is one of three winners in the foreign film category of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 41st Student Academy Awards competition. The award will be presented on 7 June in Los Angeles.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17567
Justin Timberlake brings ‘Summer Love’ to Tel Aviv. American pop star Justin Timberlake rocked tens of thousands of fans in Park Hayarkon during his first-ever Israel concert. Before the event he prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem – the photo posted on his facebook site received over 250,000 likes.
http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Entertainment/Justin-Timberlake-brings-Summer-Love-to-Tel-Aviv-354725 http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Justin-Timberlake-posts-photo-of-himself-praying-at-Western-Wall-354593
Bob Dylan recommended Israel to the Rolling Stones. Ronnie Wood, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, revealed that Bob Dylan put the idea in the Stones’ circle to include Israel as a tour stop. “He said he loved it there,” said Wood. “I said, we’ve never been there, so we’ll have to go play there one day, so there you go.”
http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Rolling-Stones-Ronnie-Wood-Dylan-told-us-to-come-to-Israel-354439
THE JEWISH STATE
On Jerusalem Day, there’s no place like Jerusalem. Rony Yedidia-Clein writes that although she lives temporarily in London, Jerusalem is the place she refers to as her real home, where she will always return.
http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/118843/jerusalem-day-theres-no-place-israels-golden-city
From Sydney to Jerusalem – Isi Leibler shares a Jerusalem Day message. Rabbi Israel Porush, father-in-law of Isi Leibler made a remarkable sermon one year after the Six-Day War. It is still relevant today.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=8557
Not only Jerusalem Day, but also Hebron Liberation Day. In the same Six Day War in which Israel won back the Old City of Jerusalem, the second most holy city to the Jewish People – Hebron – was also recaptured.
Plus a video of the Jerusalem Day atmosphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXwPBtpCQGI
NYC’s Israel Day mega concert in support of Israel. The 21st free annual Israel Day Concert in New York’s Central Park on Jun 1st celebrates the eternal bond between supporters of Israel in the USA and the undivided capital of Israel, Jerusalem. It features Gad Elbaz, Lipa, Edon, Bennie Friedman, Ari Lesser and many more.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181206#.U4g533aKj2Q
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