Netanyahu Appoints Top Jobs after Resigning Ministries

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Appoints Top Jobs after Resigning Ministries

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday he would appoint three ministers in portfolios he previously held but was forced to resign from following criminal charges.

He named three members of his conservative Likud party to head the welfare, agriculture and diaspora ministries.

Netanyahu was charged in November in three separate corruption cases and subsequently announced he would step down from the three ministerial posts he held besides serving as prime minister.

Israeli law stipulates that ministers facing criminal charges resign, but there is no such provision for the premiership.

Netanyahu had named lawmakers to the vacant posts earlier in January, but his plan was scuppered when the supreme court said a transitional government should "refrain from making changes in its composition".

As a result, the appointments announced Monday go to one deputy minister and two lawmakers who are already cabinet members.

Deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely will take on the diaspora portfolio, a statement from Netanayahu's office said.

And Tzachi Hanegbi, in addition to his duties as regional cooperation minister, will head the agriculture ministry.

Ofir Akunis will take on the welfare ministry in addition to his science portfolio, the statement said.

The prime minister's office did not detail when the appointees would formally start their additional roles.

Israelis will go to the polls on March 2 for the third time in less than a year, after neither Netanyahu nor his centrist rival Benny Gantz managed to form a majority coalition following the September vote.

A statement from Likud's electoral campaign voiced hope the new agriculture minister would "bring back to the Likud farmers who didn't vote for the Likud in the last elections".

But the campaign risks being overshadowed by Netanyahu's legal woes, after the premier requested parliamentary immunity.

On Sunday, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein said lawmakers would meet on January 28 to discuss forming a committee which has the power to examine the premier's request.

Netanyahu protests his innocence and has accused the state prosecution of a witch hunt.



Istanbul Storm Death Toll Rises to Five

Women work to clean debris on a football pitch covered with mud one day after heavy rain caused flooding in the Ayazaga district of Istanbul on October 16, 2026. (AFP)
Women work to clean debris on a football pitch covered with mud one day after heavy rain caused flooding in the Ayazaga district of Istanbul on October 16, 2026. (AFP)
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Istanbul Storm Death Toll Rises to Five

Women work to clean debris on a football pitch covered with mud one day after heavy rain caused flooding in the Ayazaga district of Istanbul on October 16, 2026. (AFP)
Women work to clean debris on a football pitch covered with mud one day after heavy rain caused flooding in the Ayazaga district of Istanbul on October 16, 2026. (AFP)

A fifth body was recovered Sunday amid the cleanup from torrential rains that hit Istanbul this week while a new fatality was reported from flooding in a nearby city, authorities said.

The heavy rain had led to flash floods and widespread chaos in Türkiye's biggest city starting on Thursday when three people died. Another body was found on Friday. Media reports said the latest body was a Turkmenistan national.

Two more people are still missing.

A new storm hit the city on Saturday night causing flooding in the Pendik district of Istanbul and the nearby city of Kocaeli.

One flash flood carried away a car in Kocaeli and one person died and another is missing, authorities said.


One Dead Near Barcelona as Torrential Rain Sparks Floods in Spain

Parked cars are half-submerged in a flooded park area after heavy rainfall that hit the area early in the morning, in the town of Algeciras, southern Spain, 18 October 2026. (EPA)
Parked cars are half-submerged in a flooded park area after heavy rainfall that hit the area early in the morning, in the town of Algeciras, southern Spain, 18 October 2026. (EPA)
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One Dead Near Barcelona as Torrential Rain Sparks Floods in Spain

Parked cars are half-submerged in a flooded park area after heavy rainfall that hit the area early in the morning, in the town of Algeciras, southern Spain, 18 October 2026. (EPA)
Parked cars are half-submerged in a flooded park area after heavy rainfall that hit the area early in the morning, in the town of Algeciras, southern Spain, 18 October 2026. (EPA)

A powerful Mediterranean storm submerged streets and disrupted travel in Spain on Sunday after claiming the life of a woman outside Barcelona and trapping residents.

Weather agency AEMET had issued warnings for torrential rain as the storm approached on Saturday, issuing the highest red alert in the eastern region of Valencia, scarred by Spain's deadliest floods in a generation in 2024.

Emergency services in the regions of Valencia, Catalonia, Andalusia and the Balearic Islands, which include the holiday hotspots of Mallorca and Ibiza, reported hundreds of incidents linked to flooded homes, roads, fallen trees and material damage.

The Catalan fire service announced that a woman who had fallen into a stream on Saturday in Cabrera de Mar, around 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Barcelona, was found dead in the sea.

Mass telephone alerts were sent in Valencia as well as Ibiza and neighboring Formentera, urging the population to avoid unnecessary travel and exercise caution.

In Ibiza, roads were transformed into lakes of murky water on which giant refuse bins floated, partially submerging cars, and beach resorts that concentrate the island's famous nightclub scene were deserted.

The main motorway to Ibiza airport was closed, with at least five flights cancelled, 16 diverted and others delayed, according to operator Aena.

The army deployed its emergencies unit from the mainland to help deal with the emergency in Ibiza and Mallorca.

In the Andalusian province of Almeria, the emergency services said the deluge left "people isolated by the water" and reported "37 rescues" since Saturday.

Outside the popular tourist destination of Malaga on Saturday night, 10 people were trapped in the tunnel of a beach promenade as the water surged above their ankles, forcing firefighters to save them, they said.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the Mediterranean storms that typically hit eastern Spain in autumn as the sea absorbs heat during the summer, leading to increased evaporation and heavier rainfall.

This week, AEMET announced that last month was mainland Spain's hottest September on record, after the country registered its warmest summer between June and August.


Trump Endorses Netanyahu in Israel’s Upcoming Election

US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump Endorses Netanyahu in Israel’s Upcoming Election

US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump on Sunday offered his "complete and total" endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the country's October 27 elections.

"Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel. BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister who is in a tight race to win a new mandate, quickly acknowledged Trump's gesture.

"Thank you, President Trump, for your tremendous support and for our work together. Together we will complete the mission!" Netanyahu wrote on X.

In his post, Trump described Netanyahu as "a Great Warrior Prime Minister" and ally in the war against Iran that began in late February with a massive bombing campaign but has dragged on as Tehran has retaliated by blocking global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump asserted that without Netanyahu as Israel's leader, the United States would be alone in combating the threat from the Tehran regime, "with its 51-year-old chant, 'Death to Israel, Death to America! We will destroy the Little Satan and the Big Satan.'"

"If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so," the US president said.

"This is the kind of Partner that the United States of America is demanding of Israel, a Country for which it has done so much," he added.