Israeli lawmakers to vote to weaken Supreme Court amid protests, as Netanyahu leaves hospital

After six months of street protests, parliamentary maneuvering, compromise talks and increasingly urgent pleas from the White House, Israeli lawmakers are set to vote on the first part of the government’s sweeping plan to weaken the power of the country’s courts on Monday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left hospital on Monday morning after having been fitted with a pacemaker, has been pressing on with his plans for the judicial system overhaul even as protests against them show no signs on easing.

He and his allies call the measures “reforms” and say they are required to rebalance powers between the courts, lawmakers and the government. Opponents of the plan call it a “coup” and say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship by removing the most significant checks on government actions.

Netanyahu was forced to pause the legislative process earlier this year in the face of widespread protests and international pressure.

The demonstrations continued on Monday. Huge crowds of people waving flags took over the area around the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, despite the sweltering heat. The protesters were met with police water cannons, fences and barbed wire as they attempted to block access to the building.

The Knesset begun discussing the first part of the reform on Sunday, with so many lawmakers requesting time to speak that the discussion was scheduled to last 26 hours.

Deep divisions

Monday’s vote is on the so-called reasonableness bill, which would strip the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable. It could be voted into law in on Monday evening.

Other elements of the judicial overhaul would give the far-right coalition government more control of the appointment of judges, and would remove independent legal advisers from government ministries. Those bills have not advanced as far in the legislative process at the reasonableness bill.

The Israel Bar Association is already preparing a legal challenge to the bill, the lawyers’ group said Sunday.

Its executive, the Bar Council, is holding an emergency meeting to approve the decision to petition the Supreme Court to cancel the reasonableness law if it passes on Monday, the Bar said.

The Bar is also warning it will shut down “as an act of protest against the anti-democratic legislative process,” the statement said. That means the Bar Association would not provide professional services to its members, not that lawyers would go on strike.

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Netanyahu isn’t backing down on judicial overhaul despite pressure from Biden

On Thursday evening, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced a last-minute televised statement by Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rumors and reports had been swirling that Netanyahu was going to step back or soften one bill of the judicial overhaul legislation that was set to come up for its final votes early next week: the reasonableness standard.

But instead, despite the tens of thousands of protesters, the increase in refusals to serve by military reservists and even a very public and harsh criticism of the judicial overhaul plan by US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu refused to back down.

Netanyahu spent the speech extolling how this piece of legislation, which would strip the Israeli Supreme Court of its ability to declare government actions “unreasonable,” would strengthen democracy, not destroy it – even though the Supreme Court is the only check on government actions in Israel, since the executive and legislative branches of government are always controlled by the same governing coalition. He said he was still open to discussions with the opposition, but blamed them for the breakdown in negotiations towards a compromise over the past few months.

He saved his harshest criticisms for two groups: the demonstrators on the streets and the military reservists who are refusing to serve in protest. Netanyahu said “extremists” in the protest movement “do not want any compromise but are striving for only one thing – to sow chaos in the country,” and chastised the tens of thousands of demonstrators who have been taking to the streets, blaming them for blocking traffic, trains, even ambulances (a charge the protest organizations have vehemently denied).

Even worse, he said, the growing number of military reservists who are refusing to serve as a form of protest “endangers the security of us all, of every citizen of Israel.

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Germany warns of suspected lioness on the loose in Berlin

 

Berlin police warned residents in parts of the capital to stay indoors as a wild animal, believed to be a lioness, is on the loose in the southwestern part of the German capital Thursday morning.

“Please avoid leaving the house due to an escaped wild animal in the Kleinmachnow, Teltow & Stahnsdorf (PM) area and also bring your pets into the house. Our colleagues are on site and checking the situation,” local police said Thursday morning on Twitter.

Police said that the wild animal has not been found yet and urged people to call emergency services if they spot it, according to their latest update posted at 6 a.m. local time.

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Ukraine claims responsibility for new attack on key Crimea bridge

A Ukrainian security official has claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for an attack on the bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland – a vital supply line for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and a personal project for President Vladimir Putin.

The nearly 12-mile crossing, also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. Monday’s attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a fuel tanker exploded while crossing it in October.

A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told CNN this attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not received authorization to speak on the record.

Two people were killed and their daughter wounded in the attack, according to Russian-appointed officials.

Two strikes were reportedly carried out around 3 a.m. local time Monday (8 p.m. ET Sunday), damaging part of the bridge, according to Telegram channel Grey Zone, which supports the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed that two people were killed and a third person was injured in the incident.

Gladkov said a girl was injured and her parents were killed while traveling in the car that was damaged in the incident.

“There is damage to the roadway on spans of the Crimean Bridge,” Russia’s Transport Ministry said on Telegram. The spans on a bridge are the lengths between the support piers. Images showed a partial collapse of a section of the roadway portion of the bridge, which also carries railroad tracks.

On his Telegram channel, Vladimir Konstantinov, head of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, blamed the damage to the bridge on a Ukrainian attack.

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Putin says Russia has ‘sufficient’ cluster munitions and may retaliate if Ukraine uses them

 

Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and will consider using them against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” President Vladimir Putin said.

Putin’s comments come just days after Ukraine received a delivery of American-made cluster munitions, though a top Ukrainian military official told CNN they had not yet been used.

“Russia has a sufficient supply of various types of cluster munitions,” the Russian leader said during an interview with a pro-Kremlin journalist.

“If they are used against us, we reserve the right to mirror actions.”

Washington’s decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv was controversial and criticized by human rights groups.

The weapons are particularly dangerous to civilians and noncombattants when fired near populated areas because they scatter explosive material, so-called “bomblets,” across large areas. Those that fail to explode on impact can detonate years later, posing a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines.

What are cluster munitions?

Cluster munitions contain multiple explosives that are released over an area up to the size of several football fields. They can be dropped from a plane or launched from the ground or sea.

The danger posed by cluster weapons has prompted more than 100 countries – including the United Kingdom, France and Germany – to sign a treaty prohibiting their use.

US President Joe Biden told CNN that the decision whether to send cluster munitions to Ukraine was “very difficult,” but he opted to do so because Kyiv needs more ammunition to continue its fight to push Russian troops out of Ukrainian territory.

A top official at the US Defense Department said Kyiv gave “assurances in writing” that it would not use the cluster munitions in urban areas.

In his interview, Putin said that the Biden administration had called the use of cluster munitions a war crime and that he agreed with that assessment.

It’s not clear exactly which comments Putin was referring to, but former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last year at the outset of the conflict that reports of Russia’s use of cluster bombs, if confirmed, would constitute a war crime.

Putin also claimed that Russia has not yet used cluster munitions, despite evidence to the contrary.

In March, the United Nations said it had compiled credible reports that Russian forces had used cluster munitions in populated areas at least 24 times. A CNN investigation last year found that the Kremlin fired 11 cluster rockets at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, during the war’s opening days.

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What we know about Andrey Troshev, the man Putin proposed as the new Wagner boss

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner Group fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper.

Putin appears to have created a split between senior fighters from the Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin since its failed uprising last month – at least in terms of the narrative emerging from his comments to the Kommersant.

The paper was reporting on a meeting held by the Russian president five days after the Wagner rebellion collapsed at the end of June – a meeting attended by Prigozhin and several dozen senior Wagner combatants.

According to Kommersant, Putin told dozens of Wagner mercenaries in the meeting that among the multiple employment choices he offered to them, one included them continuing to fight under their direct commander, a man who goes by the call sign, ‘Sedoy,’ meaning ‘grey hair.’

“They could have all gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin said, “and nothing would have changed for them. They would be led by the same person who has been their real commander all along.”

“And what happened then?” the Kommersant reporter said in reply to Putin. “Many people nodded [affirmatively] when I said that,” Putin replied.

Who is Andrey Troshev?

Sedoy is the call sign of Andrey Troshev, a retired Russian colonel and a founding member and Executive Director of the Wagner Group, according to sanctions documents published by the European Union and France.

European Union sanctions concerning the situation in Syria detail Troshev’s position as the chief of staff of the Wagner Group operations in Syria, which supported the Syrian regime.

Troshev was born in April 1953 in Leningrad, in the former Soviet Union, according to the EU sanctions from December 2021.

“Andrey Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. He was particularly involved in the area of Deir ez-Zor,” it added. “As such, he provides a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assad’s war effort and therefore supports and benefits from the Syrian regime.

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BBC suspends presenter following sexual misconduct allegations

The BBC has suspended “a male member of staff” following allegations of sexual misconduct.

UK tabloid The Sun first reported Friday that a woman had accused an unnamed male BBC presenter of paying her teen child for sexually explicit photographs.

“This is a complex and fast moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement to CNN on Sunday, adding that it is important that these matters are handled “fairly and with care.”

The BBC said in the statement that it first became aware of a complaint in May.

“New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols,” it said.

“We have been clear that if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up,” it added.

The broadcaster said that it would provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. It has not confirmed the identity of the presenter in question or their current status at the organization.

The Sun report has led to several BBC presenters releasing public statements on Twitter denying that they were the subject of the article.

‘Deeply concerning’ allegations

In a statement sent to CNN earlier on Sunday, a spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) stressed the need for the department to be “kept informed” of the progress of the investigation in light of the BBC’s status as a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding.

“These allegations are deeply concerning,” DCMS said in the statement.

The UK culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, also responded to the report Sunday, saying she has been assured by the head of the BBC that the broadcaster is investigating the allegations.

Frazer spoke to BBC Director-General Tim Davie on Sunday. In a tweet posted after the conversation, Frazer said Davie had “assured me the BBC are investigating swiftly and sensitively.”

“Given the nature of the allegations it is important that the BBC is now given the space to conduct its investigation, establish the facts and take appropriate action. I will be kept updated,” Frazer continued.

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Beijing may be facing one of its hottest summers on record

Beijing’s temperature soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) again Thursday, as the Chinese capital grapples with what is shaping up to be one the most severe heat waves on record.

Since 1951, Beijing has seen temperatures rising above 40C (104F) on 11 days – and five of them occurred over the past two weeks.

The city of 22 million has already seen a new record for its hottest day in June, with a high of 41.1C (106F) registered on June 22.

China has been gripped by scorching heat waves for weeks, which authorities said had arrived earlier and been more widespread and extreme than in previous years.

Northern China, a heavily populated region with hundreds of millions of residents, has been particularly hard hit.

On Thursday, nine national-level weather stations in Beijing and the neighboring province of Hebei registered the hottest temperature for July ever recorded.

On Thursday morning, Beijing issued its second red alert for heat in two weeks – the highest in a three-tier warning system.

The city government advised outdoor work to be suspended when temperatures run high, and ordered authorities to take emergency measures to prevent heatstroke.

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Seven children injured as car crashes into elementary school in Wimbledon, London

A car has crashed into an elementary school in southwest London, leaving nine people injured, according to the city’s Metropolitan Police force, who described it as a “serious collision.”

Seven children and two adults were hurt in the incident in Wimbledon, officers said, adding that they are awaiting further updates on their conditions.

Officials have ruled out terrorism as a motive but are investigating further. The driver stopped at the scene and there have been no arrests as of yet, the Met added.

Police were called at 09:54 a.m. to reports that a car collided with a building at the primary school in Camp Road, the force said in a statement. The institution is a fee-paying girls’ school for pupils aged 4-11.

The prestigious Wimbledon tennis championships began in the neighborhood on Monday.

“Officers remain at the scene along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance,” the Met said.

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Israeli forces launch biggest military operation in West Bank’s Jenin since 2002

Israeli forces launched what a military source said is its largest military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in more than 20 years, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 50 others, according to Palestinian officials.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement it launched the “extensive counterterrorism effort in the area of the city of Jenin and the Jenin Camp,” striking “terrorist infrastructure.”

The IDF carried out at least 10 airstrikes and hundreds of soldiers targeted what it said was militant “command and control” center as well as weapons and explosive manufacturing sites.

Videos obtained by CNN from Jenin show Israeli bulldozers tearing up streets to disarm IEDs, as well as Israeli tanks outside the city limits. Residents told CNN they heard explosions and heavy gunfire in the area, while video from the scene showed wounded Palestinians being evacuated by ambulance to Jenin Government Hospital.

Of those injured, 10 are “in serious condition,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said early afternoon Monday. Mahmoud al-Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, said most of the injuries are “serious and in the upper part of the body,” adding the process of transferring the injured has been difficult.

Five of those killed were teenagers, the ministry said.

A ninth Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces near Ramallah in the West Bank in a separate incident, according to the health authorities.

Israeli army radio described at least eight of those killed in Jenin as “militants” but no militant group has yet to claim those killed as members.

The raid sparked immediate condemnation. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the large-scale Israeli military operation “a new war crime.

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Mayor says home ‘rammed’ and set on fire as France detains hundreds more protesters

The mayor of a Paris suburb has said his home was attacked early Sunday morning, calling it “an assassination attempt” on his family amid ongoing unrest in the country.

“At 1:30 a.m., while I was at the city hall like the past three nights, individuals rammed their car upon my residence before setting fire to it to burn my house, inside which my wife and my two young children slept,” said mayor Vincent Jeanbrun of L’Haÿ-les-Roses, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, in a statement.

“While trying to protect the children and escape the attackers, my wife and one of my children were injured.”

Jeanbrun said that he had “no words strong enough to describe his emotion towards the horror of this night” and thanked police and rescue services for their help.

France has been rocked by a wave of protests following the death of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old of Algerian descent who was shot by a police officer in Nanterre earlier in the week and whose funeral took place on Saturday at a mosque in Nanterre amid a heavy security presence.

The youth’s death has reignited a debate on policing in France’s marginalized communities and raised questions over whether race was a factor in his death.

His mother, Mounia, told television station France 5 on Friday that she blamed only the officer who shot her son for his death. Nonetheless, the killing has sparked widespread destructive unrest.

Hundreds detained

While the French government has deployed security forces and riot police across the country, the unrest continued with another night of protests.

More than 700 people were detained across France overnight, according to a provisional tally from the Interior Ministry.

The statement added 45 police officers and gendarmes had been injured overnight, while 74 buildings including 26 police and gendarmes stations were damaged and 577 vehicles set on fire.

The previous night, more than 1,300 people were detained and 2,560 fires reported on public roads.

Many of those detained since the unrest began on Tuesday are minors, with an average age of 17, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

Meanwhile, China has warned its citizens in France to remain vigilant after a bus carrying a Chinese tour group in the southern city of Marseille had its windows smashed, resulting in multiple minor injuries, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday.

China’s Consulate General in Marseille has lodged an official complaint and urged French authorities to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and property amid the unrest.

The ministry did not say when the incident took place or how many people were injured. It said all the tourists on the group have since left France.

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