News in Brief

A Limmud conference in Ukraine this week has been canceled because of spreading swine flu there, where 53 people have died from the disease. Some 500 guests were expected for the event near Lvov. However, Ukraine's health ministry declared an epidemic of the H1N1 virus, and the prime minister banned public gatherings. Limmud, was founded some 25 years ago in the United Kingdom. Its model of volunteer-based educational events has since been imported to dozens of Jewish communities. The Ukraine event will take place in a few months, organizers said. (Raphael Ahren)

A man died yesterday, apparently of a heart attack, as he collided head-on with another car between Mevasseret Zion and Sataf. The collision occurred when his car veered into the oncoming traffic, scattering vehicle parts dozens of meters away. "This is a very narrow road without shoulders," said Zaka paramedic Nati Shapira. "The driver of the vehicle lost control and collided head-on with the oncoming vehicle." The medical team at the scene said the driver apparently suffered a heart attack during the accident." (Haaretz Staff)

The High Court of Justice will not order the city of Tel Aviv to rescind its decision to bestow a prestigious award on artist David Reeb, saying petitioner Uri Feintuch should have approached the municipality or the prize committee first. Feintuch says Reeb shouldn't receive the Dizengoff Prize because he has called for sanctions on Israel and signed a petition against events honoring Tel Aviv. "He has given up his ethical and legal right to receive a prize from the city he has done so much to slander in the name of his art," said Feintuch. The city said Reeb's political views were not a consideration. (Ellie Armon Azoulay)

Author, translator and journalist Yael Lotan died of cancer this week. Lotan served as editor in chief of Ariel, a Foreign Ministry-funded quarterly journal of Israeli literature and culture that was published in English, French, Spanish and Russian, between 1974 and 1979. She also worked as an editor at Dvir publishing house and as a literary editor at the Koteret Rashit weekly and Al Hamishmar daily. Lotan died Sunday and will be buried at noon today at the Yarkon cemetery. (Maya Sela)

Alon Hilu's historical novel "The House of Dajani" and Amir Ben-David's "Top of the World" are the top two winners of an Israel Film Fund contest, which seeks books to be made into movies, the fund announced yesterday. The two first-prize winners get NIS 50,000 each, and the third-place winner - "A Man Without Shadow," by Yossi Avni-Levy - gets NIS 40,000. The screenplay for Hilu's book will be written by Noah Stollman and directed by Oded Davidoff, who worked together on the movie based on David Grossman's "Someone to Run With." The screenplay for Ben-David's book will be written by Amir Rotem and Nir Bergman ("Broken Wings"), who will also direct. (Dana Schweppe)