IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-09-23 07:59

Israel

Talks begin to form new government

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is starting his two-day consultations with all elected parties before deciding upon the prime minister-designate amid post-election deadlock. Rivlin was scheduled to begin hearing on Sunday the recommendations of various parties at his residence. The largely ceremonial president is tasked with picking the politician with the best chance of forming a stable coalition. It's usually a formality, but this time Rivlin plays a key role after an almost tied election result. In last week's vote, Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White Party won 33 seats in the 120-seat parliament, while incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud took 31 seats. Neither can muster a majority coalition with their traditional smaller allies. The emerging compromise appears to be some form of unity government between the two, though both insist upon leading it.

Syria

Second drone with bomb downed in 2 days

A drone was shot down on Saturday in Quneitra Province in southern Syria, the second such incident in 48 hours, state media said. Authorities "dismantled a drone" after it was shot down on the edge of Jabal al-Sheikh in the Quneitra countryside, southwest of Damascus, state news agency SANA reported. The drone was loaded with bombs and C4 explosive, it said. The origin of the drone was not specified, though SANA reported it "came from the west". The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman said the drone did not come from his country. On Thursday, another drone was downed by Syrian anti-aircraft defenses over the village of Aqraba, south of Damascus, SANA reported, also without specifying the origin of the drone.

United Kingdom

Conservatives hold big lead over Labour

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative party has a 15 percentage-point lead over the opposition Labour Party, according to an opinion poll published on Saturday, ahead of a possible national election aimed at breaking the impasse over Brexit. The Conservatives garnered 37 percent in the Opinium poll for the center-left Observer newspaper, while Labour took 22 percent.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/23/2019 page12)