ISRAEL
Coalition faces upheaval
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced the unwelcome possibility of a coalition crisis on Wednesday after Israel’s Supreme Court overturned a law that has helped ultra-Orthodox Jewish men avoid military service. The ruling addresses an issue that is at the center of a simmering cultural war between religious and secular Jews, and adds to Netanyahu’s headaches as he prepares to travel to the White House for critical talks about Iran’s nuclear program. Antagonism toward the ultra-Orthodox has grown in recent months over a series of incidents in which religious extremists were seen as trying to impose their norms on wider society — such as the segregation of women on buses and even sidewalks.
FRANCE
‘Mademoiselle’ banished
In a memo to state administrators across France, Prime Minister Francois Fillon this week ordered the honorific “mademoiselle”— akin to “damsel” and the equivalent of “miss” — banished from official forms and registries. The use of “mademoiselle,” he wrote, made reference “without justification nor necessity” to a woman’s “matrimonial situation.” Until now, a woman has been required to identify herself as a married “madame” or an unmarried “mademoiselle” on documents. France has no neutral option like the English “Ms.” For men, the only option is “monsieur,” married or not.
PHILIPPINES
Ex-leader goes on trial
Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has pleaded not guilty to an electoral fraud charge at the opening of her trial. The case against Arroyo has emerged as a key test for her reformist successor, President Benigno Aquino III, who has promised to root out corruption and said that no one should be allowed to evade justice. Arroyo was escorted early today under tight security to a Manila courtroom from a military hospital where she is detained while being treated for a spine ailment. She was president from 2001 to 2010. The case against her involves senatorial polls in 2007, when she is accused of rigging the results to favor her candidates.
Compiled from wire reports.
