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Israel’s parliament has voted in a new government, ending the 12-year grip on power of rightwing stalwart and five-time premier Benjamin Netanyahu after four elections and two years of political paralysis.
The vote marks a historic change in the Jewish state’s leadership, replacing its longest-serving prime minister with Naftali Bennett, an ultranationalist whose Yamina party controls just six seats in the 120-member Knesset.
Bennett will start his first premiership at the head of an eight-party coalition stretching from the fringe left to the extreme right and buoyed by support from an Islamist party. It will be the first time in Israeli history that an Arab party will share power with a Zionist government. The coalition has a one-seat majority and political analysts are pessimistic about its long-term survival.
In his inaugural speech, Bennett warned that Israel’s political mud-slinging weakened the country. “I am proud of the ability to sit together with people with very different views from my own,†he said, over jeers from Netanyahu’s allies, who called him a “criminal†and “liarâ€. “To continue on in this way — more elections, more hatred, more vitriol on Facebook — is just not an option,†he added.
Five stories in the news
1.) Biden rallies allies in global ‘contest’ against autocrats US president Joe Biden has challenged leaders of G7 countries to use their financial muscle to counter China’s rising global influence. Biden said he was “satisfied†with the outcome of the G7 summit in Cornwall on Sunday, but pushed European leaders to be more ambitious in backing an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
2.) Four Toshiba executives ousted after emergency board meeting A heated four-hour emergency board meeting on Sunday has resulted in the exit of four executives, including two board members. The meeting propels Toshiba deeper into a governance crisis following the publication last week of a damning report into the company’s collusion with the government to suppress activist investors.
3.) Huawei’s UK revenue and profit shrinks after 5G ban The looming financial impact of the UK government’s ban on using Huawei equipment in 5G networks has been laid bare after the company’s UK operating unit said revenue in 2020 fell 27 per cent to £913m while operating profit, before interest and tax, dropped a quarter to £36.4m.
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Go deeper: China’s parliament rushed through a law on Thursday designed to counter sanctions imposed by foreign governments against Chinese officials and companies, escalating its legal battles with the US and the EU.
4.) Greens vow to turn Germany into ‘socio-ecological economy’ Germany’s Green party adopted an election manifesto on Sunday that vowed to transform the economy and fast-track its transition to carbon neutrality by ten years to 2035.
5.) US charges Jho Low and ex-Fugee with 1MDB back-channel lobbying The US has charged a Malaysian financier and a former member of the Fugees hip-hop group with back-channel lobbying to drop a probe linked to the embezzlement scandal over the 1MDB Malaysian state investment fund and to extradite a Chinese dissident based in the US.Â
Coronavirus digest
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Boris Johnson on Monday will approve a delay to the final easing of England’s lockdown restrictions on June 21.
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Scientists are worried that US-China collaboration could be threatened by a row over whether a lab leak in Wuhan could have been responsible for Covid-19.
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India’s largest domestic airline says it is building a war chest of more than $1bn as it prepares for a third wave of Covid-19 infections, just as a brutal nationwide outbreak begins to recede.
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The day ahead
Struggling Aung San Suu Kyi faces multiplying junta charges The ousted 75-year-old Myanmar leader’s trial will open today in the capital Naypyidaw, where she faces a widening array of charges heaped on her since the military toppled her government in a coup.Â
Nato summit China’s growing military and economic presence in the Atlantic region is expected to trigger a rare warning from Nato leaders about the potential security threat when they meet on Monday, diplomats said.Â
What else we’re reading
The rebirth of Hertz The FT’s Sujeet Indap details the inside story of how optimism about post-pandemic travel inspired a bidding war for the bankrupt car rental company. Hertz’s remarkable turnround mimics the dramatic rebound that large parts of the global economy are experiencing.
 The G7 was stronger on values than hard cash That question of delivery hangs over many of the big topics that the G7 addressed — including vaccines, climate and the effort to create an international infrastructure drive to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative, writes Gideon Rachman.
Storms await companies that err on climate Until recently, reinsurers and banks have borne most of the market risk of climate change. Now, individual companies are being held explicitly responsible for the risks of global warming, writes Rana Foroohar. And market penalties are broader than we might think.Â
The Toshiba report may finally change corporate Japan The investigation, which only happened because shareholders forced it upon the company, is damning in a way that Japanese reports rarely are, writes Leo Lewis. Dishonesty, subterfuge and hypocrisy emerge as the culprit where normally incompetence, groupthink and unquestioning hierarchical structures are blamed.
Lunch with the FT: Footballer Zvonimir Boban The Croatian former midfielder sat down for a virtual lunch with Simon Kuper, and weighed in on the kick that prefigured Yugoslavia’s break-up, the Super League, and why England shouldn’t play three at the back.
Is Auckland really the world’s most liveable city? A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit released this week ranked the New Zealand city above Vienna, Melbourne and other previous winners, thanks to its success in suppressing Covid-19. European and Canadian cities have slipped in the rankings, because of lockdowns.
Work and careers
We should pull the plug on pointless after-hours emails, writes Pilita Clark. In a burnout epidemic, the right to switch off is needed more than ever.
Thank you for reading. Please send your recommendations and feedback to firstft@ft.com
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