Israel

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel’s Corsight AI, which has developed technology to recognize faces concealed by masks, goggles and plastic shields, raised $5 million from Awz Ventures, a Canadian fund focused on intelligence and security technologies.

Corsight said on Sunday it will use the funds to market the platform and to continue development.

In March, China’s Hanwang Technology Ltd said it has come up with technology that can recognize people when they are wearing masks, as many are today because of the coronavirus.

25 April 2020; MEMO: On Friday leader of Israeli Blue and White Party Benny Gantz and Labour Chief Amir Peretz signed a coalition deal with Labour, Israeli media reported.

JERUSALEM, April 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — Israel will transfer an emergency aid package of 55 million new shekels (about 15.6 million U.S. dollars) to 73 Arab local authorities, the state’s Ministry of Interior said.

The decision was taken by Israel’s ministries of interior and finance to help 1.1 million Arab residents during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which starts Friday, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the total amount, 30 million shekels will be allocated as food coupons to be distributed to needy families.

JERUSALEM, April 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The use by Israel’s police of mobile-phone location data to enforce quarantine has been halted because of privacy concerns.

The government had approved the use of such data for a limited time, to make sure those ordered to self-isolate were doing so.

But now an oversight group in Israel’s parliament blocked an attempt to extend the emergency measures past this week.

A committee member said the harm done to privacy outweighed the benefits.

23 April 2020; MEMO: Leader of Israel’s Labor Party, Amir Peretz, yesterday declared that his party would not vote in favour of the plan to annex the occupied West Bank, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) reported.

He also said that he would exert as much effort as he can in order to undermine this plan or any other unilateral measure.

Peretz’s remarks came in response to criticism following his party’s decision to join a coalition government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

JERUSALEM, Apr 23 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel’s Ministry of Health reported 556 new cases of COVID-19, on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 14,498.

According to the ministry, the number of recoveries on Wednesday reached a daily record high of 708. Thus, the total number of recoveries in Israel currently stands at 5,215.

The death toll from the virus in Israel rose to 189, with five patients who passed away on Wednesday.

The number of ventilated patients decreased from 113 to 106, out of 470 patients currently hospitalised in Israel.

JERUSALEM (AP) — With the global coronavirus pandemic ravaging the elderly, Israel’s aging population of Holocaust survivors finds itself on the country’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day this year much like they were during World War II — alone and in fear of the unknown.

Some survivors say the current isolation and sense of danger has triggered difficult memories linked with their wartime experiences. Others bristle at any comparison to their plight during World War II – when the Nazis systematically murdered 6 million Jews.

JERUSALEM, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival, Benny Gantz, have signed an agreement to form an emergency unity government.

The deal will see the pair rotating the leadership of the country, with Netanyahu going first as PM.

It brings political certainty to Israel after three inconclusive elections and a year of political paralysis.

Both men had faced calls to avoid a fourth election and form a coalition to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival announced Monday that they have forged a deal to form a coalition government, ending months of political paralysis and averting what would have been a fourth consecutive election in just over a year.

Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, signed the power-sharing agreement after weeks of negotiations for what they termed a “national emergency” government meant to steer the country through the coronavirus outbreak.

JERUSALEM, Apr 20 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel’s Ministry of Health, announced on Sunday, the shutting down of a COVID-19 testing laboratory, because of 19 wrong diagnoses.

The lab, located at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), in central Israel, began operating on Apr 10.

On Apr 17, Assuta Hospital, in southern Israel, said, nine patients, who were admitted to the COVID-19 ward, after being tested positive in the WIS lab, were actually healthy. Similar cases were found in two other hospitals in Israel.