Qatar has been shipping the World Cup portable homes to Turkey to house earthquake survivors.
It has gone on a UN meeting record in criticising the slow delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria. Reportedly it is one of a few States in the region supporting the rebels.
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Grossi of IAEA has been complimentary of his recent meetings in Iran, describing the talks as constructive and from which there would be concrete outcomes.
Seems he is doing better than in his negotiations with Russia on that NPP in Russian controlled Ukraine.
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There was also an issue earlier in the week where El Al pilots refused to fly Netanyahu to Italy to meet Meloni.
They eventually filled the role but are now going to tender the work out to other Israeli airlines
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The Israel Finance Minister has been given the cold shoulder on his visit to the US.
Most of the wealthy Jewish diaspora ( who have contributed over $40 billion to Israel in fund raising) boycotted a big event he was hosting in Washington
Reportedly some had lobbied for his visa to be cancelled after his remarks about razing Palestine settlements to the ground.
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There have been reports that the Israel Air Force is reliant on reservists to pilot the planes. Also reports that reservists will refuse to fly or remove themselves from the reservist list.
Meanwhile, Israel bombs Aleppo airport, preventing UN humanitarian aid. The UNSG has placed humanitarian concerns in Syria as the most serious in the UN.
The UN continues to negotiate on extensions of the 120 day humanitarian corridor for Syria, as well as safer conditions on all humanitarian routes.
At the UNSG noon briefings, journalists raised Qs about Turkish attacks on Kurd villages in Syria.
Media are reporting the possible resumption of Saudi Syria diplomatic relations, at least at consular level, reportedly brokered by Russia.
Maybe thereโs some light in the tunnel following the resumption of Saudi Iran diplomatic relations ( in which China may have been involved)
The Saudiโs have just moved closer to the US. They are embarking on a massive transition away from reliance on oil and are trying to become a tourist and logistics hub at the expense of their ME neighbours. They have already put in a gigantic order with Boeing to create one of the worlds largest airlines and make Riyadh a hub bigger than Doha and Dubai. They pulled out of plans to order all through Airbus and have instead pumped money into Boeing and will look at installing Boeing maintenance facilities on Saudi soil. There has been talk that there will be some massive partnerships between the US and Saudi Arabia to get it off the ground
Saudi is not doing too well on sports washing.
What is happening with Liv?
In regard to the broader political relationship with the US, the US has not been on the scene.
Pics of Xi and MBS flanked by those giant flags in Riyadh splashed everywhere.
They have cut some costs on LIV
Riyadh Air is going ahead in leaps and bounds and the new government operated airline will run against Saudia who are also government owned. A lot of US/Saudi joint infrastructure going into it and they will be absolutely massive. The new airport in Riyadh will have 6 runways and aiming for 120 million passengers per year on completion around 2030. They also just started a third airline and that will operate to/from NEOM and are currently trying to woo US logistics and businesses there aswell. Going to be fascinating to see the transformation of the place as Riyadh is a dump IMO and the airport is utterly terrible currently and the main reason we go through Jeddah if we fly through SA
Drone attack kills one and 5 injured in Syria.
In response, the US launches an air attack killing 11.
Allegedly the person who died from the drone attack was a contractor. Journalists claim the 5 injured are serving US military. However, it is the understanding of the UN that the US does not have any ground troops in Syria.
Reservists reporting to their commanders that they will no longer be reporting to duty.
General strike underway organised by the trade unions.
Protesters have broken through police barriers protecting Netanyahuโs house.
Consul General of New York has resigned.
All universities in strike as of tomorrow.
Reports that dozens of mayors and heads of regional councils will start a hunger strike tomorrow.
Law at the heart of this has been paused.
Reports of dozens of doctors calling in sick tomorrow at hospitals.
Two of Netanyahuโs religious allies announce they support pausing the reform.
Spontaneous overnight protests on the street are approx 6% of the Israeli population.
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He needs to go. To the Hague.
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Confusing.
Heโs agreed to defer a Bill on the judiciary until the next Parliamentary term.
From what I can work out, there are two or three Bills
- that he can only be removed for health, not fraud
- executive appointments to the judiciary, including possibly powers to sack ( how are appointments made and are they for life.?)
- power for Parliament to override judicial decisions ( would that be possible currently if it were within the Constitution?)
Seems itโs all about Netanyahu staying in his position, with retrospective application of legislation. Justification that he is an elected MP.
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Itโs always about him.
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The first one one was already passed. That only the PM or the Knesset can make the decision for the PM to take a leave of absence. Ironically this is being challenged at the high court.
The second one is the main one right now, where the committee that elects judges would have a majority of members from the ruling govt, essentially allowing them to select judges according to their own political affiliation. In addition the High Court President would be selected by the committee, rather than by seniority as today.
This is controversial, because the high court is currently the only checks and balances of the govt, as Israel has a single level of parliament and no constitution. Essentially giving the govt carte blanche to do whatever the hell they want.
There is fairly wide agreement that the court currently overreaches its powers, and is too homogenous, but the remedy is not to force a change by whoever is in power at any given time.
The 3rd law you mention essentially bolsters this by enabling the Knesset to make basic laws (similar to constitution) that are not subject to judicial review, with a simple majority of 61 members - again removing all checks and balances.
All of this is being done for 2 main reasons:
- The right wing and ultra orthodox want the ability to create coercive and unjust laws and not have them challenged.
For example allowing the twice convicted Arieh Deri to be a minister. And prevent public transport on Sabbath, etc. - Netanyahu wants to stay out of jail, and make laws to keep himself out of jail if necessary.
It is rare that i would agree with @Heffsgirl (although probably not for the same reasons), but Netanyahu is clearly not fit to lead the country. His motives are not in the slightest bit pure, and with him in power it is impossible to form a centrist government.
He is also concentrating on this crap, rather than rising prices, Iran, etc.
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Thanks for clarifying.