Day: March 27, 2023

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Thousands demonstrate in Israel in support of judicial overhaul

Thousands of supporters of judicial overhaul plans demonstrated outside the Supreme Court in West Jerusalem on Monday.

Around 10,000 demonstrators chanted slogans demanding the ruling coalition to advance the judicial reform bill in the Knesset (Israel's parliament), The Jerusalem Post reported.

The mass protest was joined by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Earlier Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a delay to the controversial judicial reform plans.

'Out of national responsibility, out of the desire to prevent a rift in the nation, I decided to suspend the second and third readings of the law in this session of the Knesset, to give time to reach the same broad agreement on the legislation during the next Knesset,' Netanyahu said in a televised speech.

Israel has seen mass protests over the past 12 weeks against plans by the government for judicial reforms, which are seen by the opposition as a power grab in favor of the executive authority.

Netanyahu on Sunday fired Defense Minister Yaov Gallant after his call for a pause on the government's judicial overhaul plans.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, claims that his plans would enhance democracy and restore the balance between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

*Ikram Kouachi contributed to this report.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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US sees no signs Russia has moved tactical nukes after Belarus announcement

The US has not detected any signs that Russia has begun to move tactical nuclear weapons, the White House said Monday after President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of doomsday weapons to Belarus.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the Biden administration has not "seen any movement of any tactical nuclear weapons or anything of that kind since this announcement, and we certainly haven't seen any indication that Mr. Putin has made some sort of decision to to use weapons of mass destruction, let alone nuclear weapons inside Ukraine."

"We're continuing to monitor this very, very closely. And still we have seen nothing that would cause us to change our strategic deterrent posture," he told reporters on a virtural briefing.

Putin announced on Saturday that Russia will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, sparking concern and condemnation from Ukraine and its Western allies.

Putin said his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue.

'The US has long placed such weapons in a number of countries, so there is nothing unusual in Belarus's request,' the Russian leader said.

He said Russia has already handed over Iskander missile systems, which can be used to launch nuclear weapons, to Belarus.

Russia will have completed the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by July 1 and the control of arms will not be transferred to Minsk, Putin added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Türkiye summons French envoy over French Senate’s hosting of terrorists

Ankara expects French authorities to not give credit to efforts that provide legitimacy to PKK's Syria extensions, say Turkish diplomatic sources.

Türkiye has summoned French ambassador in Ankara Herve Magro to strongly condemn the hosting of YPG/PKK terrorists in the French Senate and "awarding them with medal of honour."

"The attacks of the PKK/PYD/YPG and the so-called SDF against our country and Syrians, and their separatist and destabilising activities in the region have been brought to the attention of the ambassador once again," Turkish diplomatic sources said.

Ankara expects French authorities to not give credit to the efforts that provide international legitimacy to PKK's extensions in Syria, the sources said.

Ankara also requests France to support the security of Turkish borders and the people, as well as to protect Syria's unity and territorial integrity, and to show solidarity in accordance with the spirit of an ally, they added.

"Regarding the issue, an attempt was made by our Embassy in Paris before the relevant French authorities and our reaction was strongly expressed," the sources said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The PYD and its armed wing YPG are the PKK's Syrian offshoots.

Earlier this month, Ankara "strongly condemned" an anti-Türkiye act by ringleaders and supporters of PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist group in the European Parliament building, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

“It is unacceptable to allow such an activity that targets our country's integrity and serves the propaganda of a terrorist organisation that is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union," a ministry statement said.

This situation once again reveals the "hypocrisy and insincerity of the European Parliament in the fight against terrorism," it added.

Türkiye expects EU institutions and member states to stand by it in its fight against terrorism, which poses a threat to international security, the statement said.

Source: TRTworld.com

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Fed’s top banking regulator sees SVB’s demise ‘textbook case of mismanagement’

The US Federal Reserve's top regulator on banking, Michael Barr, sees the sudden demise of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) as a "textbook case of mismanagement," according to his statement released Monday.

"SVB failed because the bank's management did not effectively manage its interest rate and liquidity risk, and the bank then suffered a devastating and unexpected run by its uninsured depositors in a period of less than 24 hours," he wrote in his prepared remarks at his testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Tuesday.

Barr, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, wrote SVB's failure demands a thorough review, including the Fed's oversight of the bank, adding he is committed to ensuring that the central bank fully addresses what went wrong.

He said the first step would be to have a "thorough and transparent" examination of the supervision and regulation of SVB before its failure, which will become available to the public by May 1.

The vice chair noted that SVB's business, focused on the venture capital sector in technology, grew quickly by tripling in assets between 2019 and 2022, while it saw high deposit growth during the early period of the coronavirus pandemic when the tech sector was booming.

"The bank invested the proceeds of these deposits in longer-term securities, to boost yield and increase its profits. However, the bank did not effectively manage the interest rate risk of those securities or develop effective interest rate risk measurement tools, models, and metrics," he wrote.

Barr stated that SVB also failed to manage the risks of its liabilities, which were largely composed of deposits from venture capital firms and the tech sector that could be volatile.

"Because these companies generally do not have operating revenue, they keep large balances in banks in the form of cash deposits, to make payroll and pay operating expenses. These depositors were connected by a network of venture capital firms and other ties, and when stress began, they essentially acted together to generate a bank run," he explained.

SVB announced earlier this month it sold its $21 billion bond portfolio at a $1.8 billion loss. After the bank was quickly closed by US regulators, First Citizens Bank agreed to buy SVB's deposits and loans, approximately $72 billion of its assets at a discount of $16.5 billion.

Source: Anadolu Agency