News in brief
Israels Benny Gantz tasked with forming coalition govt
BBC, London
Israeli ex-military chief Benny Gantz has been tasked with forming a coalition government after PM Benjamin Netanyahus efforts ended in deadlock.
It is the first time that someone other than Mr Netanyahu has received such a mandate since 2009.
Speaking in Jerusalem on Wednesday, President Reuven Rivlin called on all sides to make concessions.
Mr Netanyahu has been unable to build a coalition with a majority after Septembers inconclusive election.
Attempts to bring Mr Gantzs centrist Blue and White party into a national unity government with the prime ministers conservative Likud bloc failed.
Mr Gantz now has 28 days in which to form his own coalition. Everyone expects us to bring the political chaos to an absolute end, Mr Gantz said, accepting the nomination from President Rivlin.
I promised to establish a liberal unity government, and that I intend to do.
Septembers poll saw Likud win 32 seats and Blue and White 33. Sixty-one seats are needed for a majority in the 120-seat parliament.
Two dead in protests against Ethiopian PM Abiy: state media
AFP, Addis Ababa
At least two people have been killed and dozens injured in violent Ethiopian protests against Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, state media reported Thursday.
Demonstrations erupted Wednesday after high-profile activist Jawar Mohammed, a member of the Oromo ethnic group who has been a public critic of Abiy, accused security forces of trying to orchestrate an attack against him.
Police denied reports that Jawars security detail was being removed to leave the popular and outspoken figure vulnerable to attack.
But his supporters took to the streets, blocking roads, burning tyres and chanting slogans denouncing Abiy, who they claim was behind the alleged threat to Jawar.
A standoff in Addis Ababa, the capital, between security forces and hundreds of Jawars supporters quickly spread, with others protests centred in Oromia, one of nine regions in ethnically diverse Ethiopia.
The clashes had resulted in deaths and injuries, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported Thursday.
Unrest in Adama city on Wednesday has left two people dead, injured 50 others and caused extensive property damage, Dejene Muleta, the chief police commander for Adama, a town in Oromia, told ENA.
Russia sends S-400 system to Serbia for drills
AFP, Moscow
Moscow has sent a S-400 missile system battalion and a Pantsir anti-aircraft gun and missile system to Belgrade for their first joint drills in Serbia, the defence ministry said.
The systems will be deployed at Batajnica base, outside the capital, as part of the exercises that will take place on October 23-29, a statement said.
It is the first time that the S-400 and Pantsir systems will appear in military drills outside Russia, it said.
Russian and Serbian air defence units will jointly perform various tasks including detecting and destroying the entire spectrum of air targets of the enemy force.
The drills come after the first phase of the first joint Russian-Serbian air defense exercises, Slavic Shield-2019, took place in the southern Russian region of Astrakhan in September.
Serbia is Moscows key ally on the edge of Europe and Russian President Vladimir Putin received a rock star welcome when he travelled to the country in January. Although Serbia aspires to join the European Union, it has kept close ties with Russia, a historical Orthodox big brother whose people also share Slavic origins.
