Protest to go on despite concession
JERUSALEM— A senior Muslim official in Jerusalem said Wednesday that worshippers would not return to a contested shrine until Israel removes the new railings and cameras it installed after a deadly attack there, prolonging a crisis that Israel hoped it had resolved by making concessions at the site.
Ikrema Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Committee, said that even after Israel removed metal detectors from the site, more steps are required to restore calm. He said mass prayer protests would continue until the gates of the compound are opened, metal railings and an iron bridge removed and newly installed cameras taken down.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be doubling back again Wednesday when he instructed police forces to conduct thorough inspections at the site.
Israeli police, meanwhile, acknowledged Wednesday that their forces have been preventing journalists from entering parts of Jerusalem’s Old City as part of efforts to lower tensions.
Deadly building collapse
MUMBAI,India — The Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested a man affiliated with a local political party, accusing him of making illegal alterations to the ground floor of a five-story building that caused it to collapse a day earlier, killing at least 17 peopleand injuring 12 others.
Deven Bharti, joint commissioner of the Mumbai police, said charges of culpable homicide and endangering the lives of others had been filed against the man, Sunil Shitap. Mr. Bharti said the police believed that Mr. Shitap had been making illegal alterations to the ground floor of the building, where he operated a nursing home.
The building’s collapse is reflective of a sadly familiar phenomenon in India. A severe housing shortage, lax regulation and political corruption have resulted in too many people crowded into old, weak and substandard structures.
EU rebukes Poland
WARSAW— Two days after Poland’s president vetoed legislation that would have put the courts under the ruling party’s control, the EU filed a complaint against the government over the proposed changes.
The union, however, backed off its threat last week that it might invoke a never-before-used provision of the European Union treaty that could have resulted in a formal warning to Poland, economic sanctions and potentially a loss of voting rights in the bloc.
In response to the complaint, Poland’s right-wing government told Brussels to keep out of the country’s internal policies.
Swedish government crisis
Sweden’s government was dragged into a deepening crisis as the opposition united to demand no-confidence votes be cast against three Cabinet ministers for their handling of breaches that may have put classified information into the hands of foreign powers.
The four parties in the main opposition bloc — known as the Alliance — called for the motions to be brought against Home Affairs Minister Anders Ygeman, Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson and Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist, during a joint press conference in Stockholm on Wednesday.
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A top EU legal adviser denounced Hungary and Slovakia on Wednesday for refusing to participate in a 2015 plan to relocate migrants from Greece and Italy as the migration crisis reached its height. The two countries could be fined.