Israel’s Bennett will not run
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who led a broad but fragile coalition government that came unraveled barely a year after taking office, announced Wednesday that he will not run in upcoming elections.
His government announced last week that it would dissolve the Knesset ahead of elections expected this fall, but the voting required for dissolution has been bogged down by disputes with the opposition.
“I strived as prime minister to care for all citizens, regardless of who they voted for,” he said in a brief prime-time address. “We proved this year that people with all different opinions can work together.”
Mr. Bennett will continue to serve as alternate prime minister in a caretaker government to be led by Yair Lapid, the architect of the coalition who is currently foreign minister. Elections are expected in October or November.
Severe heat searing Japan
Nearly 100 people have been hospitalized amid one of the most severe heat waves Japan has endured in recent memory, with 37 million people in and around Tokyo told to conserve electricity in response to record-breaking temperatures straining the power grid.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency announced the end of the rainy season in Tokyo and neighboring areas in eastern and central Japan, marking the earliest declaration since data became available in 1951. Strong high pressure has controlled Japan’s weather since the weekend and is expected to do so for about another week — and perhaps longer.
This year’s rainy season, which typically begins in June, is three weeks shorter than average — lasting 21 days. Because of unusually dry conditions, temperatures have skyrocketed to an average of 95 degrees. The city of Isesaki, northwest of Tokyo, saw a record 104 degrees — the highest temperature ever recorded in June for Japan.
The last time Japan recorded such consistently high temperatures in June was in 1875.
China’s Xi to make diplomatic trip
President Xi Jinping is set to finally leave mainland China after 893 days at home, even as he still trumpets a COVID zero policy that has isolated the world’s No. 2 economy diplomatically amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The Chinese leader will cross the border to neighboring Hong Kong on Thursday and Friday for events marking 25 years of Chinese rule in the former British colony. Although China has sovereignty over Hong Kong, their border has been closed since early in the pandemic — and Mr. Xi is expected to stay overnight next door in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen.
Mr. Xi has halted all international travel since COVID-19 emerged, with his last trip outside the mainland — on Jan. 18, 2020, to Myanmar — coming days before the central city of Wuhan went into lockdown. Since then, he’s upheld a policy of eliminating cases with strict restrictions on movement and closed borders as other nations open up.