ISRAELI LAWMAKERS PASS A KEY LAW TO WEAKEN THE JUDICIARY DESPITE PUBLIC OUTRAGE

Israeli lawmakers have passed into law a highly controversial bill despite mass protests which aimed to thwart it.

The law removes the power of the Supreme Court to overrule government actions it considers unreasonable.

It is the first to be approved in a series of bitterly contested reforms aimed at curbing the power of courts.

The planned reforms have triggered some of the biggest protests in Israel's history, with opponents warning they imperil Israel as a democracy.

The government argues that the measures are necessary to correct an imbalance in power which has seen the courts increasingly intervene in political decisions in recent decades.

The so-called "reasonableness" bill was approved by 64 votes to 0, after the opposition boycotted the final vote.

In remarks to the Knesset (parliament), opposition leader Yair Lapid called the step "a takeover by an extreme minority over the Israeli majority".

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the court would remain independent. He said the bill was necessary for the government to "carry out policy in line with the decision of the majority of the citizens of the country".

The vote brings to a head months of turmoil, with Israel's president warning political leaders on Monday that the country was "in a state of national emergency".

INCONCLUSIVE VOTE PROMPTS POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY IN SPAIN

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his right-wing rival are beginning negotiations on Monday to avoid a fresh vote after an inconclusive snap election led to a hung Parliament. Despite earlier polls predicting his defeat, Sanchez managed to limit the gains of the right-wing opposition. However, both his Socialists and left-wing Sumar alliance fell short of the 176 seats needed for a governing majority, securing 153 seats in total. Sanchez will now need the support of various regional formations, including Catalan separatist parties, to form a government. On the other hand, Feijoo, who narrowly won the election, insists on his right to form a government as the candidate of the most-voted party.

MOSCOW AND CRIMEA HIT BY DRONES; RUSSIA BOMBARDS PORTS IN UKRAINE’S SOUTH

Russian authorities accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on Moscow early on Monday that saw one of the aircraft fall near the Defence Ministry’s main headquarters, while the Russian military unleashed new strikes on port infrastructure in southern Ukraine.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties when the drones struck two non-residential buildings in Moscow. Separately, a Ukrainian drone struck an ammunition depot in Russian-annexed Crimea, forcing a halt in traffic on a major highway, Russian authorities said.

In Moscow, the Russian media reported that one of the drones fell on the Komsomolsky highway near the capital’s centre, shattering shop windows and damaging the roof of a house just about 200 metres away from the towering riverside Defence Ministry building.

Another drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.

Russian forces, meanwhile, struck port infrastructure on the Danube River in southern Ukraine with exploding drones early Monday, wounding seven people and destroying a grain hangar and storage for other cargo, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s military reported downing three of the attacking drones.

The strike was the latest in a barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week.

29 SHIPS HALT NEAR UKRAINE PORT HUB AFTER DANUBE STRIKE

London: After Russia destroyed grain warehouses on the Danube river, nearly 30 ships anchored near Ukraine's Izmail port terminal, but the reason for their stoppage remains unclear. The Russian air strikes on Monday caused damage to infrastructure along the Danube, a critical route for Ukrainian grain exports since the termination of a year-old deal allowing safe exports via the Black Sea. The attacks were seen as an expansion of Russia's recent air campaign, launched after pulling out of the grain deal. As a result, some insurance providers have suspended war risk cover for Ukraine's ports, and others are considering the same for Danube ports, leading to potential increases in premiums. In response to the situation, global wheat prices rose around 5.5% in Monday morning trading.

NORWAY GOVT MINISTRIES HIT BY CYBERATTACK

Oslo : Twelve Norwegian government ministries experienced a cyberattack, as reported by the Norwegian government on Monday. The attack targeted the public sector of Europe's largest gas supplier and NATO's northernmost member. The government identified a weakness in one of its suppliers' platforms, which has since been addressed. The attack was discovered on July 12 and is currently under investigation by the police. Specific details regarding the attack were not provided, and it's too early to determine the perpetrators or the full impact of the attack. Fortunately, the Prime Minister's office, foreign, defense, and justice ministries were not affected as they use a different IT platform.

ARREST IMRAN: PAK EC TELLS ISLAMABAD POLICE

Islamabad : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday directed the Islamabad police to arrest former PM Imran Khan and produce him before it on Tuesday in a case linked to contempt of the top electoral body. Irked by Khan’s absence from the hearings, the election body instructed the Islamabad IG to arrest the PTI chief for his failure to appear in the contempt case.

The ECP initiated contempt proceedings against Khan, 70, and former PTI leaders Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry last year for allegedly using “intemperate” language against the chief election commissioner and the electoral watchdog. A four-member ECP bench headed by member Nisar Durrani issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Khan and Chaudhry in the last hearing on July 11 while sparing Umar. It rescheduled the hearing for July 25 with orders for all to appear.

In the latest orders, the ECP stated that Khan was “required in the contempt of the commission’s proceedings initiated in terms of Section 10 of the Elections Act, 2017” but he had failed to appear before the ECP even after he was served notices and bailable warrants for him were issued on January 16 and March 2.

Earlier, the ECP had asked PTI leaders to appear in person or through their counsels to explain their position, but they challenged the notices and contempt proceedings in higher courts.

CAMBODIAN HEIR APPARENT HAILS POLL VICTORY, DEFYING CRITICISM

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s heir apparent Hun Manet insisted on the legitimacy of elections his party won against no meaningful opposition, defying international criticism that the polls were not fair. Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia for 40 years, stifling all opposition, freedom of speech and democratic reform.

UN SAYS IN ‘CONVERSATION’ WITH NORTH KOREA OVER U.S. SOLDIER

SEOUL: The UN Command has started a conversation with Pyongyang over American soldier Travis King, who ran across the border into North Korea last week, its deputy commander said. The UN Command is a U.S.-led multinational force that oversees the Korean War truce. The group said that the incident was “still subject to investigation”.

BANGLADESH HANDS NOBEL LAUREATE MUHAMMAD YUNUS $1.1MN TAX BILL

DHAKA: Bangladesh's top court has ordered Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to pay more than $1 million in taxes on a $7 million donation made to three charitable trusts. Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering micro-credit bank, but he has fallen out with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

IRAN SHUTS DOWN E-COMMERCE GIANT OVER NO-HIJAB PIX

Dubai : Iranian authorities have shut down one of the offices of the country’s biggest e-commerce company and launched judicial procedures after it published pictures online showing female employees not wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf, semi-official media reported. The move appears to be part of a new campaign launched last week to impose the Islamic dress code nearly a year after the morality police largely melted away in the face of wide spread protests. Digikala, informally known as “Iran’s Amazon,” appears to have run afoul of the rules by posting pictures of a corporate gathering in which several female employees were not wearing the hijab. Iranians are cut off from international retailers like Amazon because of Western sanctions linked to the country’s disputed nuclear program.

ECONOMY FACING NEW DIFFICULTIES, SAYS CHINA

China’s top leaders said the economy was facing “new difficulties and challenges” in a meeting of the 24-person Politburo on Monday.

“The meeting pointed out that the current economic operation is facing new challenges, mainly due to insufficient domestic demand, operational difficulties for some enterprises, high risks and hidden dangers in key areas, and a complex and severe external environment,” a readout said.

The Politburo agreed that China must “implement effective macroeconomic regulation, strengthen countercyclical regulation and policy reserves”.

The meeting, headed by President Xi Jinping, also called for efforts to expand domestic consumption and “adjust and optimise real estate policies”.

GRETA OUSTED FROM PROTEST HOURS AFTER CONVICTION FOR SIMILAR ACTION

Climate activist Greta Thunberg was forcibly removed by police from a protest in the Swedish city of Malmo on Monday just hours after a local court fined her for disobeying a police order during a similar protest last month. Thunberg, 20, who became the face of young climate activists worldwide after staging weekly protests in front of the Swedish parliament, admitted that she had disobeyed the police order but pleaded not guilty and said that she was acting out of necessity. “It is absurd that those who act in line with science should pay the price for it,” she told reporters. Thunberg and other activists from the groupReclaim the Future blocked the road for oil trucks in Malmo harbour on June 19. She was charged for failing to leave when ordered to do so by police. The court ordered Thunberg to pay 1,500 crowns ($144) and an additional 1,000 crowns to Sweden’s fund for crime victims.

OPPENHEIMER’S US FLAG SCENE SPARKS ONLINE ROW

An eagle-eyed Twitter user has pointed out an error in Christopher Nolan’s movie ‘Oppenheimer’ that has sparked an intense debate on social media over historical accuracy. “It was good and all, but I’ll be that guy and complain they used 50-star flags in a scene set in 1945,” user @AndrewRCraig tweeted, sharing a still from the movie. In 1945, the US flag featured 48 stars, as Alaska and Hawaii hadn’t yet become American states. It wasn’t until July 4, 1960 that a 50-star flag was first flown in the US. One tweeted, “They had to or modern audiences wouldn't be able to tell what country it was. Sacrifice of accuracy for understanding. ” While another wrote, “He (Christopher Nolan) is ‘mostly’ British, afterall. ”