Joint campus in China
The University of Haifa is launching a joint campus with the largest university in Shanghai - the East China Normal University. Courses will focus on environmental sciences, biomedicine and neuroscience. Haifa professors will use campus research facilities and get grants from the Chinese university.
President hosts special Olympians
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin welcomed Israeli athletes of the Special Olympics to his Beit HaNasi official Jerusalem residence as part of the launch of the team that will participate in the 2019 Special Olympic games in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Israeli band with disabilities plays at top UK school
An Israeli band of eight musicians with disabilities has played at UK’s prestigious Eton College, where Prince William studied. The Shalva Band includes musicians with Down syndrome, autism, and various physical handicaps and raised money for children with disabilities.
Diplomats’ fun run raises money for special needs
Israel’s foreign ministry hosted its third diplomatic race for foreign diplomats up and down the hills of Jerusalem. The event raised funds for Shalva, an Israeli organization that helps children with special needs.
Christian Arab Israeli Ambassador to Muslim Azerbaijan
Israel has appointed George Deek, an Israeli Christian Arab, as the country’s next Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Born in Jaffa (Yafo), Deek has previously served as deputy ambassador to Nigeria, and Norway.
Help for Californian wildfire evacuees
Israeli NGO IsraAID has sent an emergency response team to California in the wake of its deadly and devastating wildfires. IsraAID will distribute relief items to families in temporary accommodation and initiate activities to promote community resilience and recovery.
Averting India’s water crisis
India’s Sandipan Dasgupta is a PhD student in Biochemistry at Israel’s Weizmann Institute. He summarizes Israeli water technology and confirms that Israel is thus rightly poised to be India’s strategic partner to help alleviate its water crisis that impacts some 600 million people.
The largest international rescue drill
On 4th Nov, the Israel Air Force’s elite Airborne Combat, Search and Rescue Unit 669 hosted elite units from the US, Italy, Croatia, Czech Republic, Canada and Netherlands in Israel’s largest-ever rescue exercise. 669 unit has previously rescued over 10,000 people across the world.
Israel’s international Parliament
Israel is hosting the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for a conference on promoting innovation. Established in 1889, the IPU represents the national parliaments of 178 countries and is the permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations. It is the first time Israel has hosted the IPU.
Winning the argument
An Israeli youth debate team has topped the EurOpen 2018 International Schools Debate Competition in Stuttgart, Germany, beating 30 other teams. The four members of Israel 1 made history by becoming the first team from Israel to win the tournament.