NETANYAHU TO POSTPONE JUDICIAL REFORM
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to postpone the judicial reform legislation to the summer, Otzma Yehudit announced in a statement released on Monday, The Jerusalem Post reports.
The government will approve at its next meeting a decision to form a National Guard and subjugate it to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in exchange for Ben-Gvir's party, Otzma Yehudit, promising not to leave the government over Netanyahu's intention to postpone the legislation of the first judicial reform bill.
Ben-Gvir on Monday reportedly threatened to quit the government if Netanyahu decided to freeze the legislation until after the Knesset recess between April 2-30. The coalition announced last week that the first bill, that would give the coalition a majority in Israel's Judicial Appointments Committee, would pass before the Knesset recesses.
WESTERN REACTION WILL NOT AFFECT RUSSIA’S PLANS: PESKOV
The West’s reaction will have no effect on Russia’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, TASS reports.
"No doubt, such a reaction [on the part of the West] will not affect Russia’s plans," Peskov assured, saying he has nothing to add to the comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview on Saturday.
Putin said earlier that, at Belarus’ request, Russia would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in the country, similar to what the United States has been doing for some time on the territories of its allies. Moscow has already handed over the nuclear-capable Iskander missile system to Minsk. According to the Russian leader, a special storage facility for tactical nukes will be built in Belarus by July 1.
The Russian president said that his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of deploying Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil. Putin assured that the agreement with Belarus was not in violation of the two countries’ international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
The West reacted negatively. The European Union’s diplomacy chief Josep Borrell warned that the EU would be ready to impose more sanctions if Russia proceeded with its tactical nukes deployment in Belarus. The French Foreign Ministry has called on Russia to reconsider the decision, insisting on its destabilizing nature. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on its website on Sunday that Kyiv had demanded that the UN Security Council convene an extraordinary meeting.
FOREIGN MINISTERS OF IRAN AND SAUDI ARABIA TALKED ON PHONE
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, have agreed to meet during the month of Ramadan, the Saudi Press Agency reported early Monday, Arab News reports.
The diplomats also discussed in a phone call a number of issues amid the trilateral agreement signed in China.
The Kingdom and Iran agreed on March 10 to re-establish diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies within two months following years of tensions.
Erdogan showed a new strike drone Bayraktar with a Ukrainian engine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown how a new Bayraktar fighter drone equipped with a Ukrainian engine looks.
Erdogan published a photo with the new development of the Turkish company, to which the Ukrainians attached. The new unmanned fighter Bayraktar Kızılelma is equipped with a turbojet engine AI-25TLT manufactured by Ukrainian plant Motor Sich.
According to RBC-Ukraine, back in August, the drone was presented at the Samsun Technology Festival in Turkey and aroused great interest among visitors and exhibitors.
According to Baykar CTO Selçuk Bayraktar, the Bayraktar Kızılelma system is "the future of military aviation."
The strike drones are capable of aggressive maneuvering. In addition, these military aircraft are "smarter" than their predecessors, as they have an advanced artificial intelligence system.
