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Israel’s government was in turmoil on Friday after one of Benjamin Netanyahu’s main coalition partners said there was “no possibility” the government could keep working and called for early elections. The Right-wing Jewish Home party called for the government to dissolve itself and being setting a date for elections after Mr Netanyahu refused to give them control of the defence ministry. The party stopped short of pulling out of the government, which would have triggered an immediate collapse, but there seemed to be little prospect of holding the fractious coalition together. As the coalition started teeter, Mr Netanyahu issued a last-minute call for unity and warned that it would be “a historic mistake” for Right-wing parties to bring down his government. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will continue to talk with coalition leaders on Sunday so that they will not make a historic mistake of toppling a right-wing government,” said a spokesman for Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party. Mr Netanyahu raised the spectre of the collapse of a Likud-led government in 1992, which led to Labour taking power and signing the Oslo Accords agreement with the Palestinians, to the fury the Israeli Right. Naftali Bennett (right), the leader of the Jewish Home, wants elections immediately Credit: ABIR SULTAN/AFP/Getty Images But Jewish Home appeared adamant that there was nothing left to negotiate, saying there was “no possibility of continuing the current government”. Jewish Home called for “elections as soon as possible” and said the coalition parties would meet on Sunday to set a date for the election. The earliest elections could happen is February but Mr Netanyahu is likely to push for a later date. The political crisis was sparked when Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s hawkish defence minister, resigned on Wednesday in protest at Mr Netanyahu’s decision to strike a ceasefire deal with Hamas to end 24 hours of fighting in Gaza. Mr Lieberman accused the prime minister of “surrendering to terror” and said Israel should have moved more aggressively against Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip. His decision to take his party out of the coalition left Mr Netanyahu’s government with a majority of one, controlling only 61 seats in the 120 seat parliament. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's defence minister, resigned on Wednesday Credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad Naftali Bennett, the leader of Jewish Home, then demanded that Mr Netanyahu appoint him defence minister. The two men met for crunch talks on Friday and Mr Netanyahu refused to hand over the defence post, saying he planned to act as defence minister himself. The decision means Mr Netanyahu will simultaneously serve as Israel’s prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister, and health minister. Despite the chaos of this week and the corruption scandal swirling around him and his wife, Mr Netanyahu appears well placed to win an election and form a new Right-wing government. A poll for Israel’s Channel 2 found that Mr Netanyahu’s Likud would win 29 seats in an election, making it by far the biggest party. The centrist Yesh Atid party would take 18 seats while the centre-Left Zionist Union would win only 11. However, he will be eager to delay the election as long as possible to give time for the unpopular ceasefire agreement to fade in the memories of Right-wing Israeli voters. Mr Netanyahu has been prime minister since 2009 and served a brief three-year stint as prime minister in the late 1990s. If he is still prime minister in July next year, he will have overtaken David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, as the longest-serving leader of Israel. The current government could continue serving until November 2019 but Israel’s coalition governments rarely serve out their full four-year terms.

Camp Fire death toll increases to 71; San Francisco pulls famed cable cars off the roads due to poor air quality

Sat, 17 Nov 2018 13:09:20 -0500

More than a week after first igniting in Butte County, California, the news surrounding the most destructive and deadly wildfire in California history remains grim.

DeVos wants to change campus rules on sexual misconduct

Sat, 17 Nov 2018 02:16:24 -0500

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed a major overhaul to the way colleges and universities handle sexual misconduct complaints, adding protections for students accused of assault and harassment and narrowing which cases schools would be required to investigate.

David Hockney pool painting soars to $90 million, record for living artist

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 23:18:20 -0500

An iconic 1972 painting by British artist David Hockney soared to $90.3 million at Christie's on Thursday, smashing the record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by a living artist. With Christie's commission, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)," surpassed the auction house's pre-sale estimate of about $80 million, following a bidding war between two determined would-be buyers once the work hit $70 million. The previous record for a work by a living artist was held by Jeff Koons' sculpture "Balloon Dog," which sold for $58.4 million in 2013.

Eagle-eyed! Photographer captures stunning pictures of world's last remaining Mongolian eagle keepers

Sat, 17 Nov 2018 06:00:26 -0500

These stunning photographs of the world’s last remaining Mongolian eagle keepers show the incredible bond between man and bird. The images, taken last month by photography tour guide Daniel Kordan, 29, show a group of 10 eagle hunters traveling between West and South Mongolia and across the Gobi Desert. The hunters train eagles from an early age and look after the majestic birds until they reach the age of 12.

Subject of Mueller probe boasts of ties to acting AG Matt Whitaker

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 16:18:50 -0500

An obscure conservative podcast recorded by a former Trump administration official last Sunday provided a unique window into acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and the reasons some have found his appointment alarming.

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