In a televised address, Mr. Netanyahu indirectly referred to how the second and third biggest parties were driving a hard bargain. Centrist Yesh Atid and the far-right Jewish Home are refusing to enter a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties who would oppose their efforts to end military draft exemptions for students’ religious seminaries. If the prime minister can’t muster a parliamentary majority by the 16th of March, President Peres could ask another politician to try. However, most analysts still expect Mr. Netanyahu to meet his deadline.
At least 20 people have been injured in Macedonia when police clashed with members of the country’s ethnic Albanian minority in the capital Skopje. Correspondents say the protest came in response to violence on Friday following a demonstration held in protest against the appointment of a former guerrilla leader as defense minister. They say many Macedonians oppose the appointment of Talat Xhaferi, a former leader of a militia that fought for the rights of Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian minority more than ten years ago.
Police in Brazil are investigating the appearance of two alleged human skulls in the center of Sao Paulo. One of them was left at an Avenida Paulista building, one of the most expensive addresses in the Brazilian financial capital. CCTV images reportedly show a woman placing the skull by the front door and leaving. The other skull was left in a bag a week ago next to a building designed by Brazil’s most famous architect Oscar Niemever. Investigators have yet to establish any connection between the two cases.