Two words: Wet wipes.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced today that Albaad USA Inc., an Israeli company that makes wet wipes, will expand its plant in Rockingham County and add 95 jobs.  

The company will invest more than $9 million at its Reidsville facility. The company is receiving a $350,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

Albaad USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Albaad Corporate, which is headquartered in Israel and also operates facilities in Germany and Reidsville.  The company manufactures wet wipes for personal, home and auto care uses.

The company employs about 200 workers in Rockingham County, but it was recently awarded a contract to produce a new infant wet wipe product. The 95 new jobs will pay an average annual wage of $21,820, not including benefits.

“North Carolina was chosen for this project because of a wealth of talented and skilled labor, good shipping lanes to the East and Midwestern parts of the U.S., accessibility to ports to bring in raw materials and a well-established new aero transportation hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport,” company CEO Dan Mesika said in a release.

Albaad is the third Israeli company to recently announce expansion plans in North Carolina.

Shalag, an Israeli textile company, is investing $17 million in building a new manufacturing facility in Oxford that will create up to 100 new jobs. Shalag makes nonwowen textiles found in diapers, wet wipes and feminine hygiene products.

Palziv North America, an Israeli-owned foam manufacturer, announced in November that it would open a new facility in Louisburg, creating 72 jobs. Palziv makes foam for insulation, packing, toys, prosthetics and various other consumer applications.

Shalag received a $110,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund. Palziv received a $250,000 grant. 

Concerns about increasing violence in Gaza are leading universities to cease study abroad programs in Israel, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Locally, Duke University appears to have made the same decision. And at least one Israeli program that UNC Chapel Hill is affiliated with, at Ben-Gurion University, has postponed a program for one week and has posted a security alert to its website.

A couple of more cartoon comments on the situation in Gaza. See what you think of Rex Babin's.

Here are 10 more opinions from readers on the situation in Gaza. There will also be a package of letters appearing in tomorrow's paper.

The situation in Gaza also has been the subject of McClatchy editorial cartooning over the past few weeks.

That was an odd little item, about a rather odd event, in the Sunday Triangle & State section. The headline pretty much told the story: “Sign-wearing man expelled from exhibit of Dead Sea Scrolls.” According to The N&O report, a self-described “provocative social activist” was expelled from the long-running exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Natural Science after refusing to remove a sign bearing the words “Remember Palestinian Oppression,” “Boycott Israel” and “Don't Buy Dead Sea Scroll Tickets.”