Israel's Netanyahu scraps talks with German minister over rights groups

Israel's prime minister has cancelled talks with Germany's foreign minister after he refused to call off a meeting with Israeli human rights activists. Sigmar Gabriel had been due to meet Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Mr Netanyahu had warned he would not see Mr Gabriel if he met the groups Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem. Mr Netanyahu has accused the groups of trying to undermine the state, and the government has taken steps to try to stem their foreign sources of funding. The incident threatens to stoke diplomatic tensions between Israel and Germany, which are strong allies. Mr Gabriel had said it would be a "remarkable event, to put it mildly" if Mr Netanyahu went through with his threat. "Imagine if the Israeli prime minister... came to Germany and wanted to meet people critical of the government and we said that is not possible... That would be unthinkable," he told Germany's ZDF television.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two killed in Portugal beach plane crash

Image
A man and a child have been killed after a light aircraft made an emergency landing on a beach in Portugal. Authorities said the incident took place on Sao Joao beach in Caparica, south-west of Lisbon. The National Maritime Authority said a middle-aged man and a young girl died after they were unable to avoid the plane. The plane's only two occupants were unharmed, it added. The Diario de Noticias newspaper quoted an eyewitness who said the plane had been flying at a low altitude over the beach, although he did not realise anything was wrong until other beachgoers began running. One young witness told Reuters news agency: "I was near the water when I saw the plane. I called my parents, the plane fell on the sand and ran over two people, fatally hurting them and another was injured, I think, but I'm not sure, people were running away. "The plane is still there, but the ambulances arrived quickly. I think maybe the fuel ran out because I find it weird that
Read more

Plane toilet arsonist on Sharm el-Sheikh flight has sentence doubled

A man who started a fire in a plane toilet has had a jail sentence doubled. John Cox was initially jailed for four years and six months after admitting committing arson during the flight from Birmingham to Sharm el-Sheikh in 2015. But the Court of Appeal agreed with the Attorney General the sentence was unduly lenient and increased it to nine years and six months. The captain on the Monarch Airbus plane issued a mayday call and was set to carry out an emergency landing. Cox, 46, of Coates Road, Kidderminster, had been drinking before and during the flight and smoked a cigarette in the toilet. The plane carrying more than 200 people was 33,000ft (10,668m) in the air and 100 miles (160km) from the Egyptian coast when the captain was told the crew were having difficulty putting out the blaze in a waste paper bin. A passenger who worked for a fire and rescue service helped the crew deal with the blaze so the plane could complete its journey safely. 'Recklessness' T
Read more

Daca: Trump 'to scrap' amnesty for young immigrants

Image
Image copyright REUTERS Image caption Many recipients of the Daca programme have taken to the streets to defend it US President Donald Trump has decided to scrap a programme that protects young undocumented immigrants, according to reports. He will give Congress six months to draw up legislation to replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), sources quoted by US media say. The decision,  first reported in Politico , is considered a compromise amid strong support for the scheme. However, the sources cautioned that Mr Trump could still change his mind. He is due to formally announce his decision on Tuesday. The Obama-era Daca programme protects hundreds of thousands  of so-called "Dreamers"  from deportation and provides work and study permits. Trump travel ban: People denied entry can reapply Trump backs proposal to curb legal immigration Analysis: The immigration topic Trump keeps avoiding According to Politico, the White House informed Hous
Read more