The first half of 2021 has been a promising one for Israeli high-tech companies, which raised a record $11.9 billion — more than the $10.3 billion raised throughout all of 2020. A total of 38 transactions of more than $100 million each completed in the first half of the year amounted for approximately 50 percent of the fundraising, with the majority of investors’ capital flowing toward cybersecurity and fintech companies, data from the recently published IVC-Meitar Tech Review shows. The review, published by the IVC Research Center and high-tech and venture capital and law firm Meitar, evaluates fundraising, mergers and…
Author: zenger.news
The four-person card game “bridge” is one of the world’s most popular social games, with aficionados including Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Because it’s time-consuming, bridge is often taken up by people in their retirement years. Now, the first academic study of bridge reveals that the strategic team card game isn’t just a fun way to pass time. Close to 500 members of the Israeli Bridge Association, average age near 70, were surveyed by occupational therapy lecturers Liat Chen-Herbst, Yael Fogel and Sonya Meyer from Ariel University and Liron Lamash from the University of Haifa. A full 97 percent of…
MUMBAI, India — Actor Taapsee Pannu is happy with the response that viewers have given to her latest film “Haseen Dillruba.” Apart from India, Pannu has also garnered praises from her fans outside the country. Expressing happiness about it, she said she had been lucky with her debut films and was still processing the love and messages from the audience. “It’s a very new feeling for me to see ‘Haseen Dillruba’ reaching an audience around the world the way it has because I have never had a straight to OTT release before this, so I was excited about the debut, and it has…
CANBERRA, Australia — Having a ‘Barry Crocker’ of a day? About ‘to do the Harold Holt’ because you’ve got your ‘Reg Grundies’ in a knot? If you know what those phrases mean, then the wordsmiths at the Australian National University want to hear from you. They are looking for new contributions for the Australian National Dictionary, with a focus on rhyming slang. The fun and often colorful phrases use rhyming words, names, or phrases to replace their everyday, literal counterparts. ‘Shocker’ becomes ‘Barry Crocker’ and ‘undies’ becomes ‘Reg Grundies.’ Leaving somewhere without giving any explanation or bolting becomes ‘to do the Harold Holt’ after…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia is considering sending officials back to Afghanistan less than a month after leaving the country. The last Australian troops and diplomats departed the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, in mid-June as allied troops withdrew from the war-torn nation. Their hasty retreat raised eyebrows among international partners. It also limited Australia’s ability to gather intelligence and monitor the resurgence of the Taliban. But Australian civilian, military, and intelligence officers could return to Afghanistan within months. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s re-entry would occur as soon as it was safe to do so. “We always have made it clear that…
SYDNEY — Sydney removalists accused of crossing the southeast Australian state, Victorian, border without the correct paperwork have been sent packing in another coronavirus scare for the state’s northwest. Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed a group of removalists from Greater Sydney were caught illegally entering the state near the northwest city, Mildura, on July 20. “Victoria Police have taken appropriate action,” he said. “People have been fined and charged and sent back to New South Wales.” All commercial furniture removalists and delivery drivers in red zones were banned from entering Victoria for two weeks on July 16 after a three-person team…
SYDNEY — New South Wales health minister urges older Australians to get vaccinated and said they are far more likely to die of Covid-19 if infected than from getting the AstraZeneca vaccine. “I want to remind people that if you’re over 60 and if you get Covid, you have a one-in-200 chance of dying,” said Brad Hazzard. “If you are over 50, you have a one-in-500 chance of dying if you got the Covid virus.” He said it is “far more effective” to avoid those risks by getting vaccinated, with New South Wales having a plentiful supply of AstraZeneca. “If you have…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Melbourne slavers are about to be sentenced for their crimes after they displayed a “remarkable absence of humanity” in failing to apologize to the woman they held captive for eight years. Kumuthini and Kandasamy Kannan each face 25 years in prison after being convicted of holding a vulnerable Tamil woman as a slave in their suburban home in Melbourne between 2007 and 2015. Despite desperate pleas to be allowed to return to her family in southern India, the woman was forced to work up to 23 hours a day caring for the couple’s children, cooking, cleaning, and doing…
ADELAIDE, Australia — South Australia has entered its first full day of lockdown as the list of potential Covid-19 exposure sites linked to a new cluster of cases continues to grow. More than 35 sites have now been listed across metropolitan Adelaide—the state capital—with more likely in the coming days. They include a number of major shopping centers and at least two schools along with banks, hardware stores, cafes, and chemists. The outbreak has grown to at least five confirmed infections, with all of those currently linked to an 81-year-old man who came to Australia recently from Argentina. During the week-long…
TENNANT CREEK, Australia — Australia’s enormous, extensively diverse, and least populated subdivision, the Northern Territory, is home to high-grade gold deposits as discovered during recent exploration. Resource companies have reported promising finds in the Barkly region while searching for gold at exploration sites near Tennant Creek. The results support the case for a gold processing hub being built in the town of 3000 people, which is about 500 kilometers (310.7 miles) north of Alice Springs. “There is absolutely buzz around the town, there is a huge amount of exploration activity happening out there,” said Nicole Manison, Northern Territory Mining and Industry…