Richard Thaler wins Nobel Prize in econonics
Economist Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago today became the 29th Jewish member of his discipline to win the Nobel Prize in economics, the Times of Israel reports. The Swedish Academy of Sciences recognized Thaler for his contributions to behavioral economics.
Thaler, 72, is known for his collaborations with Israeli economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky on behavioral economics.
Rocket from Gaza strikes southern Israel
A rocket fired from Gaza struck southern Israel yesterday, JTA reports. No injuries or damage were reported. The Code Red warning siren sounded in several southern cities and towns near the border with Gaza at about 9 p.m., before the rocket landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council.
It is the first rocket fire from Gaza in about two months. The attack comes as a reconciliation deal between the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has progressed.
Liberal Jewish group criticize contraception ruling
Liberal Jewish groups have come out in opposition to a Trump administration ruling that allows employers who claim religious or moral reasons for providing contraception in their health care coverage permission to do so.
JTA reports that the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the National Council of Jewish Women criticized the new policy, announced on Friday by the Health and Human Services Department, as an attack on women’s right, while the Orthodox Union said the rules were in line with accepted practice.
Sukkah destroyed at Kansas university
A sukkah on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan was destroyed by vandals during the first day of the holiday, JTA reports. The sukkah was put up by the campus Hillel near the main dining hall. It was reportedly moved from its place and broken apart.
Israeli wins silver medal at gymnastics championship
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Israeli Artem Dolgopyat won a silver medal at the World Gymnastics Championships in Montreal over the weekend. JTA reports that Dolgopyat, 20, earned the medal in floor exercise in the individual apparatus finals.
Dolgopyat is coached by Alex Shatilov, who won a bronze medal in the worlds in 2011 and 2009. It is the best finish by an Israeli at the World Gymnastics Championships.
https://youtu.be/0A7TxUwbfLI
Canadian Shoah memorial omits mention of Jews
Canada plans to unveil a new plaque on its National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa following criticism that the memorial, unveiled recently following a decade of xxx, does not mention Jews or anti-Semitism.
The New York Times reports that the monument, which features six concrete triangles, paid tribute to the “millions of men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust” and the “survivors who persevered and were able to make their way to Canada after one of the darkest chapters in history.”
Mélanie Joly, Canada’s heritage minister, ordered that the plaque be removed and stressed that the monument commemorated “the six million Jews, as well as the five million other victims, that were murdered during the Holocaust.”
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