Jewish ultra-nationalist party’s leader banned from election

Israel's Supreme Court has banned the leader of a Jewish ultra-nationalist party from running in the country's April elections.

Reversing the decisions of Israel's elections committee earlier this month, the court on Sunday barred Jewish Power party leader Michael Ben Ari in an 8-1 vote, citing his anti-arab ideology, and approved an Arab party and leftist candidate.

The court also upheld the candidacy of Itamar Bengvir, a far-right lawyer and fellow leader of Jewish Power.

Jewish Power's leaders are successors of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and creating a Jewish theocracy. In a widely criticized bid to unite Israel's nationalist bloc, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a bargain last month that could pave the way for the extremist party to join Israel's next governing coalition.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, and domestic rival Commerzbank have decided to open talks on a possible merger, the lenders said Sunday in an announcement that followed months of speculation about such a combination.

A merger would combine two banks that had more than 133,000 full-time employees between them at the end of last year and have had troubles in recent years. Merger talk has been greeted by skepticism because both banks are busy overhauling their businesses, raising the question of how they would integrate a new partner.