Briefly

ISRAEL

Gantz resigns as parliament speaker

Israel's centrist lawmaker Benny Gantz resigned as parliament speaker on Tuesday, two days before the inauguration of a unity government with his former rival, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A statement released on behalf of Gantz said he had formally resigned as speaker of the Knesset (parliament). Under the deal for the unity government, Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for at least 18 months, followed by Gantz.

POLAND

Opposition to block fresh election plan

Poland's main opposition grouping threatened on Tuesday to block planning for a rescheduled presidential election, accusing the ruling coalition of rushing a voting plan through parliament for political gain. The election had been due to take place on Sunday, but planning for it collapsed at the last minute. On Tuesday, Poland's lower house of parliament, the ruling party-controlled Sejm, voted in favor of the legislation moving to discussion in Poland's upper house of parliament, the opposition-controlled Senate. The ruling nationalist Law and Justice party wants to hold the election as soon as possible, fearing that its ally, President Andrzej Duda, risks losing his lead in the opinion polls as the economic fallout from the pandemic worsens.

SOUTH KOREA

Delegation sent to India to probe gas leak

South Korea's LG Chem said on Wednesday that it had sent a delegation to India to investigate the cause of a toxic gas leak at its chemical plant there that killed 11 people and forced 800 into hospital for treatment for poisoning. LG Chem said the eight-member delegation, led by its petrochemicals business head, will discuss support measures for the affected residents and meet with Indian government officials. The accident occurred some 14 kilometers inland from the east coast city of Visakhapatnam, at a plant operated by LG Polymers, a unit of LG Chem.

Xinhua - Agencies