Luke Tress

Luke Tress is a video journalist and tech reporter for the Times of Israel

Produce grown using Israeli start up Vertical Field's farming system. (Courtesy/Vertical Field)

January 20, 2021, 11:55 pm

Israel’s Vertical Field inks deal to deploy its farming system in UAE

Ag-tech company to launch pilot in Emirates ahead of wider roll-out; its vertical farming system could lessen food insecurity in water-scarce Gulf state

By Luke Tress

The entrance to Shoo Shoo Nolita, an Israeli-owned restaurant in New York City, December 13, 2020. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

December 15, 2020, 3:58 am

Israeli restaurateurs in New York confident they will survive a bleak winter

93% of Israeli restaurant owners in city say their establishments will outlast pandemic, after indoor dining banned again and officials weigh new shutdown

By Luke Tress

Sight Diagnostics' OLO devices analyzes blood samples in minutes, the company says. (Screenshot/YouTube)

December 10, 2020, 2:41 pm

Israeli blood test startup Sight Diagnostics inks deal for distribution in UAE

Medical firm’s OLO device, which analyzes blood samples in minutes, will be installed in 9 Emirati medical centers, then in other areas of Gulf region, company says

By Luke Tress and Shoshanna Solomon

Celebratory 2020 balloons are hung from a storefront in Jerusalem on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

December 9, 2020, 10:05 pm

‘Corona,’ ‘Zoom’ and pancakes: Israel’s top trending Google searches in 2020

Israelis focused on the pandemic, politics and pop culture in a year like no other, searching online for information, solutions and distractions

By Luke Tress

Container ships dock at the Dubai Port in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

December 8, 2020, 10:04 pm

UAE shipping chief says initial trade with Israel could be worth over $5 billion

Head of Dubai’s DP World, one of globe’s largest port operators, says Israeli harbors will be valuable link for shipments between Middle East and Europe

By Luke Tress

People visit an exhibit at the GITEX technology summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

December 8, 2020, 11:10 am

Israeli delegation appears at UAE’s major Gitex tech summit for the first time

Dubai event draws 200 entrepreneurs and businesspeople from Israel for networking with Gulf counterparts

By Luke Tress

Illustrative: People take a view through augmented reality glasses as start-up firms showcase products at an Innovation Lab event at the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem, October 17, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

December 8, 2020, 12:01 am

Israeli firms raise record amount of capital in 2020 despite pandemic downturn

Companies set to receive over $10 billion this year for first time; 24% increase over 2019 outpaces global averages

By Luke Tress

Then US vice president Joe Biden, right, poses for a photo with President Reuven Rivlin, left, during a meeting at the president's official residence in Jerusalem, March 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

November 21, 2020, 6:30 am

Rivlin urges Biden to work to ‘build confidence’ between Israelis, Palestinians

Israeli president, in his first interview since the US election, calls the American president-elect ‘a very good friend,’ urges dialogue in the interest of peace

By Luke Tress

Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at the Queen venue in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 5, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP)

November 6, 2020, 2:36 am

Ahead in Pennsylvania, Biden closes in on White House

Differential in decisive Keystone state climbs to over 14,000; Trump ally Lindsey Graham calls on Republican campaign to provide examples of voter fraud, which it has yet to do

By Jacob Magid, Luke Tress, Michael Bachner and TOI staff

The modern Dead Sea is hypersaline and in an arid desert environment, but was once a freshwater lake surrounded by fertile grasslands. October 4, 2018. (Yaniv Nadav/FLASH90)

October 28, 2020, 7:32 am

Early humans used green Levant, including Israel, as steppingstone out of Africa

Prehistoric homo sapiens exploited a favorable climatic window to move north into Eurasia over some 8,000 years, establishing settlements at a fertile Dead Sea, researchers say

By Luke Tress

Eyal Berkovic, left, during an interview with Transportation Minister Miri Regev, right, October 9, 2020. (Screenshot/Channel 12)

October 11, 2020, 8:18 am

Wading into row, sports minister says politics won’t determine next soccer coach

Chili Tropper responds after transportation minister tells former soccer star Eyal Berkovic he’ll never get the job because he referred to Likud as a ‘criminal organization’

By TOI staff and Luke Tress

Transporation Minister Miri Regev appears on the "Ofira and Berkovic" TV show, October 9, 2020. (Screenshot/Channel 12)

October 10, 2020, 7:21 am

Regev to ex-soccer star: Apologize to Likud or you’ll never be national coach

Transportation minister threatens TV host Eyal Berkovic for referring to her party as a ‘criminal organization’

By Luke Tress

Researcher Susanna Sabin working in the ancient DNA lab of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. (Courtesy/Zandra Fagernäs)

October 6, 2020, 6:37 am

Researchers dig into medieval Jerusalem poop for insights into modern gut health

In new study, scientists from Germany’s Max Planck Institute find latrines a valuable source of historical data, which they hope will aid understanding of today’s diseases

By Luke Tress

Deputy administrator of USAID Bonnie Glick during a briefing on the Women's Global Development and Prosperity initiative, August 11, 2020, at the US State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

September 24, 2020, 5:11 pm

Visiting USAID deputy says Israeli tech will be key for developing nations

Bonnie Glick notes that Israeli know-how will be needed as leading US development agency implements digital approach, plans 5G roll-out for combating food insecurity, other issues

By Luke Tress

A massive, ancient stone structure in Saudi Arabia, with platforms at both ends and connecting walls in between. Two barely visible researchers standing at the far end provide a sense of scale. (courtesy/ Huw Groucutt/ The Holocene)

September 21, 2020, 8:29 pm

Mysterious, massive stone monuments in Arabia some of world’s oldest, study says

International team of researchers carries out 1st detailed study of ‘mustatils,’ hundreds of structures in northern Saudi Arabia, suggesting prehistoric ritual use 7,000 years ago

By Luke Tress