Author: Ethan Johnson

Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday heard the state's response to a challenge to granting ultra-Orthodox Jews an exemption from military service, a long-standing source of friction with secular citizens that has been exacerbated by the protracted Gaza war. In the name of equality, the Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a law that exempted ultra-Orthodox Jewish men seeking seminary study from conscription. Parliament failed to come up with an alternative, according to Reuters, and a stay on the government's order on compulsory conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews expired in March. That has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to agree a compromise…

Lagos, Nigeria, June 2, 2024 INDIA, India, July 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Federal Government through the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has granted the Institute of Information Management (IIM) a license to conduct the examination and certify Data Protection Professionals for Global Competitiveness.National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr. Vincent OlatunjiHe said this while presenting the licence to IIM on Monday. AbujaHe said the granting of the licenses is part of the Commission's measures to implement Executive Orders No. 003 and 005. LR: IIM DPNAP Project Manager, Mr. Alexander Anago, Amb. (Dr) Oyedokun, International President, Institute of Information Management, Mr. Ayodeji…

A screenshot of a video posted by Hamas on May 31, 2024, purportedly featuring the voice of Noor Al-Ghamani. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) recently released a video footage of Israeli hostages pleading with Israelis to pressure their government to agree to a ceasefire.The video of Israeli hostage Alexander Trupanov, released by PIJ on Thursday, Previous VideoIn it, he promised to “reveal the whole truth” about the Gaza hostage crisis. In a second video, Trupanov confirmed that he was in good health and was being well treated by his PIJ captors, he accused the Israeli military of trying to…

A screenshot of a video posted by Hamas on May 31, 2024, purportedly featuring the voice of Noor Al-Ghamani. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) recently released a video footage of Israeli hostages pleading with Israelis to pressure their government to agree to a ceasefire.The video of Israeli hostage Alexander Trupanov, released by PIJ on Thursday, Previous VideoIn it, he promised to “reveal the whole truth” about the Gaza hostage crisis. In a second video, Trupanov confirmed that he was in good health and was being well treated by his PIJ captors, he accused the Israeli military of trying to…

Reuters/Getty Images Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right). CNN — Two far-right Israeli ministers have warned that they will resign and destroy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government if he accepts a peace plan presented by US President Joe Biden. Biden on Friday unveiled a three-phase proposal from Israel to end the Gaza conflict, combining hostage release with a “full and complete ceasefire.” Speaking at the White House, Biden said Hamas had been weakened to the point that it could no longer carry out attacks like the Oct. 7 attack that sparked…

CommentaryThe African National Congress (ANC) has lost its majority in parliament, meaning its coalition partners need to win more than 50% of the vote to form a government.With almost all votes counted in South Africa, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) won just 40.21 percent of the vote in Wednesday's election, far short of a majority. For the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, the formerly dominant party will need to reach an agreement with other parties to form a coalition government. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) received the second highest number of votes (21.78 percent),…

Israel's far-right ministers have threatened to dissolve the government if Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees to the ceasefire proposal announced by Biden. (Design: Palestine Chronicle) Palestine Chronicle Staff Israel's far-right ministers have warned they will dissolve the government if Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees to the ceasefire proposal announced by President Biden on Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden announced Friday that Israel has proposed a three-phase plan to Palestinian resistance group Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza and securing the release of Israeli prisoners being held there. Biden called on Hamas to accept the proposal and urged Israeli Prime Minister…

Record heat in Miami. Record tornadoes in Tallahassee. Record coastal storm surge. Record rain in a single day. So why is climate change left out of state government discussions and action? This year, temperatures in the Gulf and Atlantic are unseasonably warm, and the hurricane forecasts are even more dire. But a tax exemption for hurricane equipment could solve the problem.A lack of state leadership to address the real impacts of climate change has left cities and counties struggling to respond. The recent storms and tornadoes in Tallahassee and across the country are a frightening sign of things to come.…

A retired four-star Navy admiral who commanded thousands of officers in Europe, Russia and Africa was arrested Friday on charges of bribery involving government contracts.According to the Department of Justice, Robert Burke is accused of giving contracts to two New York executives, Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Megan Messenger, in exchange for future employment at their companies. Kim and Messenger were arrested Friday in connection with the scheme.The Justice Department has not named the companies, but New York-based NextJump lists Kim and Messenger as co-chief executives on its website.Federal officials said the company had been running a pilot program to train…

To what extent do interest payments eat into national income? From WOLF STREET by Wolf Richter. Tax receipt Federal taxes are looking pretty good in 2024. In 2023, capital gains taxes plummeted because 2022 was a terrible year for investors, so by the time it came time to pay capital gains taxes by April 15, 2023, there just weren't many capital gains on which to pay taxes, so tax revenues were terrible in the first and second quarters. This year is different. By April 15th, capital gains taxes were due on gains realized in 2023. 2023 was a huge up…