After 12 yrs, Israel wakes up to new govt without Bibi
[Looking] forward to... deepening the strategic relations between our countries.
JERUSALEM: Israel awoke on Monday with Jewish nationalist Naftali Bennett at the head of a precarious coalition government that faces stark challenges, after 12 years under right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu.
The watershed moment in Israeli politics saw an ideologically disparate eight-party bloc, ranging from right to left to Arab Islamic conservatives, band together to unseat the bombastic veteran known as Bibi by a wafer-thin margin of 60 votes to 59 in parliament on Sunday.
Within hours Bennett, a tech millionaire and former special forces commander, was stepping into his new role as prime minister, speaking with US President Joe Biden and receiving a briefing from national security adviser Meir Ben-shabbat.
Later on Monday, the 49-yearold’s first full day as Israel’s leader, he was set to talk with his one-time ally Netanyahu.
Ministers of the new government began meeting with their staff and commemorating the beginning of Israel’s 36th government at the country’s presidential residence.
In a statement following Bennett’s swearing in, Biden said, “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Bennett to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations. Israel has no better friend than the United States.”
Israel’s new foreign minister Yair Lapid on Monday vowed to improve relations with US Democrats while ending “hostile” ties with Europe he accused Benjamin Netanyahu of cultivating.
“Our relationship with too many governments has been neglected and become hostile,” Lapid said.
Oscar-nominated actor Ned Beatty dies, aged 83
LOS ANGELES: Ned Beatty, the prolific and Oscar-nominated character actor known for roles in Network, Superman and Toy Story 3, has died aged 83, US media reported. “Ned passed away from natural causes on Sunday morning, surrounded by his family and loved ones,” Shelter Entertainment Group talent manager Deborah Miller said, according to CNN.
Reports of leak from Chinese nuclear station
BEIJING: Top Chinese government-run nuclear power operator has said its operations at a station in south China meet safety regulations amid US media reported a possible radiological leak. CNN reported on Monday that the US government had spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) in Taishan in Guangdong province.
Five critics jailed as political crisis in Nicaragua grows
MANAGUA: Nicaraguan police arrested and jailed five prominent opponents of President Daniel Ortega over the weekend, including onetime rebel allies, ahead of a November election in which he is seeking to extend his 14 years as president. Over the past few weeks, a dozen opposition figures have been arrested on orders from Ortega’s security apparatus, including election rivals.