Israel's high court says Benjamin Netanyahu can serve as prime minister
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can form a government despite the corruption charges against him, the country's highest court ruled, a controversial decision that paves the way to ending more than a year of political stalemate closely linked to his legal woes.
Critics have said Netanyahu's leadership of the nation while under indictment would compromise the ethical norms on which public service should rest.
The unanimous court ruling on Wednesday cleared a major obstacle to installing Israel's first permanent government since December 2018, even as the start of Netanyahu's criminal trial looms in late May.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz set a May 13 date for swearing in the coalition after parliament passed legislation pertaining to their power-sharing agreement earlier in the day.
Coronavirus: Trump contradicts nurse who reports shortages of protective gear
President Donald Trump contradicted a nurse who said during a meeting with him at the White House on Wednesday that some parts of the country are still experiencing shortages of protective medical gear, insisting the US supply is "tremendous."
The exchange happened during an Oval Office event to recognise National Nurses Day.
Participant Sophia Thomas, president of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners, said there were pockets of the country without good protective equipment.
American detained in Venezuela says he planned to capture president
Venezuelan state television broadcast on Wednesday a video of captured American Luke Denman, in which he said he was instructed to seize control of Caracas'airport and bring in a plane to fly President Nicolas Maduro to the United States.
Venezuelan authorities on Monday arrested Denman, another US citizen Airan Berry, and 11 other "terrorists" in what Maduro has called a failed plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him.
"Donald Trump is the direct chief of this invasion," Maduro said during a televised virtual press conference, after the video of Denman was broadcast. US President Donald Trump has denied involvement.
Coronavirus: WHO warns against rushed end to lockdowns
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Wednesday that countries emerging from restrictions to halt the new coronavirus must proceed "extremely carefully" or risk a rapid rise in new cases.
Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries needed to ensure they had adequate measures to control the spread of the Covid-19 respiratory disease like tracking systems and quarantine provision.
"The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not manage the transition extremely carefully and in a phased approach," he said at a virtual briefing in Geneva.
Facebook reveals members of its 'supreme court' for content
Facebook on Wednesday announced the first members of its independent "supreme court" empowered to make binding decisions about what content should be allowed or removed at the social network and Instagram.
The oversight board is to make final decisions regarding the kinds of posts known to embroil Facebook in controversy about censorship, misinformation or free speech.
Facebook public policy director Brent Harris described creation of the board as the "beginning of a fundamental change in the way some of the most difficult content decisions on Facebook will be made."
