Judicial reform legislation delayed - Jewish Power party
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will delay the process for discussions on a planned judicial overhaul to next month, the far-right coalition member party Jewish Power has said.
In a statement, the party said legislation would be pushed to the next session of parliament to "pass the reform through dialogue".
Parliament will go on recess next week for the Passover holiday.
The party's leader, Itamar Ben Gvir, will support the extension, and in exchange, a "national guard" will be formed under the control of his National Security Ministry, the statement said, according to Israeli media.
Summary
- Mass protests and widespread strikes are taking place across Israel over controversial judicial reforms
- Departure flights from Israel's main airport have been suspended and there have been widespread walkouts in many industries
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put off a national TV address which was expected on Monday morning
- There is speculation he will pause plans to change the legal system, but a far right coalition partner has said he should not "surrender to anarchy"
- The changes to the justice system have provoked an outpouring of anger from nearly all parts of Israeli society, including its powerful military
- The government, Israel's most right-wing ever, wants to take full control over the committee which appoints judges
- Netanyahu says the changes will stop courts over-reaching their powers, but critics say they will help him as he faces an ongoing trial for corruption
- In a post on Twitter he called on protesters on all sides "to behave responsibly and refrain from violence"
Russian soldiers say commanders used ‘barrier troops’ to stop them retreating
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In a video addressed to President Vladimir Putin, a group of about two dozen men in military uniform say they are the remnants of Storm, a unit under the defence ministry.
“We sat under open mortar fire and artillery for 14 days,” Alexander Gorin, a Russian soldier, is heard saying in the appeal, which first appeared on Friday on Russian Telegram channels. “We took huge losses. Thirty-four people were injured and 22 died, including our commander.”
Could the US and China bring peace to Ukraine?
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Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux calls for justice as French students allege sex assault by police
Annie Ernaux, the 2022 Nobel literature laureate, has backed calls for a thorough investigation after four female students said they were sexually assaulted by police in the western city of Nantes following a protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply contentious pension reform.
Ernaux was among 45 signatories of an open letter on Sunday voicing outrage at the alleged assault, which comes amid intense criticism of heavy-handed policing of pension protests sweeping the country.
The incident took place on March 14 as a group of several dozen students returned from a union protest on the city’s ring road. The students said they were surrounded and violently searched by police officers tailing them.
Even with tough crackdowns, gangs squeezing small businesses
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Just days ago, local authorities instructed a restaurant owner to stop paying 200,000 yen ($1,530) in monthly protection money to a gangster. The man, a member of a group affiliated with the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation’s largest crime syndicate, was also ordered to stop harassing the woman.
The restaurant operator said she had been handing over money for the past 10 years or so to the gangster who is now aged 76.
Iraqi parliament passes controversial vote law amendments
Iraqi lawmakers passed controversial amendments to the country’s election law that could undermine the chances for smaller parties and independent candidates to win seats in future polls.
The amendments increase the size of electoral districts, a move widely backed by the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Iran-backed parties. The coalition forms the majority bloc in the current parliament, which brought Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power last year.
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