Alibaba founder Jack Ma has come out as a vocal supporter of the gruelling working hours commonplace in China’s tech and internet industry known as the 996 schedule.
The 996 schedule – which means working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – is “a huge blessing that many companies and employees do not have the opportunity to have,” Ma said in an internal event on Thursday, according to a transcript published on Alibaba’s official WeChat account.
“If you don’t work 996 when you are young, when will you?” Ma asked. “Do you think never having to work 996 in your life is an honor to boast about? If you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been awarded a $69 million contract for a mission that will include flying a spacecraft into an asteroid. With the mission, NASA will look to “demonstrate a kinetic impact” by deliberately flying a spacecraft into a small asteroid, according to a description of the project on NASA’s website.
NASA last week awarded the contract to SpaceX, selecting the company to provide services for NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, NASA said in a statement.
The current target date for the mission is June 2021, and NASA plans to use one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, the agency said.
 

A proposal introduced in Quebec last month to ban yarmulkes and other religious clothing has come under fire with one Jewish mayor of a town in the Canadian province equating it to “ethnic cleansing.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also opposed the measure.
“It’s unthinkable to me that in a free society we would legitimize discrimination against citizens based on their religion,” he said.
Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg has refused to heed calls from Trudeau and other politicians to apologize for labeling Bill 21, which was introduced in response to the issue of Muslim women wearing hijabs in Quebec, as “ethnic cleansing.”

Matzav.com has confirmed that United Healthcare Community Plan of New Jersey, which had terminated Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as of July 1, has officially rescinded their termination. This will allow all patients who are part of United Healthcare Community Plan of New Jersey to receive coverage for services at the renowned medical center on Civic Center Blvd in Philadelphia.
This development was independently confirmed by Matzav.com with upper management of the hospital and those in the know.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday afternoon called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory.
Merkel invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to a meeting in Berlin after the new government is formed. Netanyahu thanked the Chancellor for the warm greetings and welcomed the relations between the two countries.
In addition to the congratulations, Netanyahu also heard Merkel’s position on the need to renew contacts with the Palestinian Arabs. The Chancellor stressed that she and the entire European Union are committed to resolving the conflict between the two sides through the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

The gambler who placed an $85,000 wager on Tiger Woods winning the Masters — ultimately winning $1.2 million — says he was tens of thousands of dollars in debt as recently as four months ago.
James Adducci, 39, made the bet with William Hill at 14-1 odds last Tuesday, the company said. When Woods won the golf tournament on Sunday, the betting business said it turned into a $1,275,000 payout — the largest golf-related payout in the company’s history.
Adducci told Golf Digest after the big win that he flew from Wisconsin to Las Vegas last week to place the bet, which he claimed was the first he’d ever made on sports in his life.
Read more at Fox News.
{Matzav.com}

Dozens of diplomats from all over the world joined Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon to celebrate Pesach with a mock Seder at the organization’s headquarters in New York Monday.
Danon, who started this tradition in 2016, after he was appointed as ambassador, explained to his counterparts about the Jewish traditions behind the holiday.
“As in our years of exile, there are still those who rise against us, but today we are a strong nation that can defend itself. The struggle for freedom is the breath of life, and it ensures the existence of the Jewish people,” said the ambassador.
Read more at JPOST.
{Matzav.com}

A New York City Council member has proposed opening a dual-language Yiddish-English program in a city public school.
Councilman Mark Levine, who represents parts of upper Manhattan and is the chair of the City Council’s Jewish Caucus, is working to open the program in a kindergarten classroom in the fall of 2020, The Forward reported.
The secular Yiddish-language program would be the only program of its kind in the United States. As a public school program it would be devoid of religious content.
“I’ve been inspired by young activists who are looking to keep this language alive, and keep its literature and theater and culture alive by passing it on to the next generation,” Levine told the Forward.

President Donald Trump just got a primary opponent for his 2020 re-election.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld announced Monday he is officially running for the Republican nomination for president. Weld was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997 and the vice presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party in 2016.
In his announcement video, Weld’s campaign plays up his record as a Republican governor in a deep blue state, before saying “America deserves better.”
Read more at USA Today.
{Matzav.com}