Daily Briefing June 9: Unicorns, centaurs, dragons! Israel's fanciful startup sphere

Palestinian affairs correspondent Aaron Boxerman on the tragic death of activist Johara Khnifes; Tech Israel editor Ricky Ben David on the Tel Aviv opening of a Dubai trade office

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Tech Israel editor Ricky Ben David and Palestinian affairs correspondent Aaron Boxerman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Women’s rights activist Johara Khnifes was killed in a car bombing on Tuesday night. She is the daughter of the deputy mayor of the northern town of Shfaram and the granddaughter of a former MK. Initially, it was thought that her father was the target, but that seems to have been ruled out. What do we know now?

We next discuss what are perhaps “greatly exaggerated” rumors of an ailing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Boxerman weighs in on the looming power vacuum his demise would leave.

Ben David explains the use of unicorns and centaurs in high-tech parlance. Get ready to hear what the next big — and ferocious — thing is.

A week after Israel and the UAE signed a historic free trade deal, we are hearing reports that the Dubai International Chamber, one of the emirate’s three chambers of commerce, is set to open a representative office in Tel Aviv. What would such an office hope to accomplish?