Israel Tracks Down Killer of Rabbi

Israeli security forces announced Wednesday morning that an attempt overnight to arrest a suspect in the 1 July shooting attack on the family of Rabbi Michael Mark, which ended in his death and the wounding of his wife and two children, resulted in an exchange of fire with the suspect which left that suspect dead. The shootout occurred in the Palestinian village of Tzurif, near Hebron, and marked the culmination of an investigation which has yielded several arrests in recent weeks.

The Syrian city of Aleppo has become the epicenter of the ongoing multi-faceted conflict in that country, with Assad regime forces besieging rebel factions in the city while hundreds of thousands of civilians are caught in the crossfire. Fighting in Aleppo and other parts of Syria continue to claim scores of lives on a daily basis, with many more reportedly dying of starvation and disease.

The Anti-Defamation League released a report Tuesday showing a large increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US from 2014 to 2015, including a nearly 50% increase in violent attacks. The report also said that University campuses were the places where the rise was the most noticeable. The Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents (in the US) report was presented to Israel’s Immigration and Absorption Ministry shortly after its release in the US.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University announced this week that they have developed methods for detecting the spread of malignant melanoma (skin cancer) cells before they reach the brain, giving doctors a powerful new tool to protect patients from the worst effects of the disease. The new methods hold further promise of earlier detection of cancer which could lead to more effective treatments.