Last update - 02:29 03/03/2008
News in Brief
Katsav's sex trial to start on March 26
The trial of former president Moshe Katsav is scheduled to begin on March 26 at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court. The first hearing will take place at 2 P.M. The court's president, Judge Amnon Cohen, ruled that Katsav's case will be heard before a panel of three judges: Shulamit Dotan, Shimon Feinberg and Aryeh Romanoff. This panel of judges will have to decide whether to approve the plea bargain the state signed with Katsav, and whether the crimes he committed involved moral turpitude. Katsav's lawyer, Zion Amir, has said that the prosecution's insistance on attaching a charge of moral turpitude could sink the plea deal. (Ofra Edelman)
A 19-year-old pedestrian was critically injured in a car accident in Beit Shemesh yesterday. She sustained a head injury when a car hit her as she walked down Yigal Alon Street, near the local mall. She was given first aid at the scene and then transferred to Jerusalem's Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem. The driver, who was lightly injured in the collision, was also taken to the hospital for treatment. The police opened an investigation into the incident. (Jonathan Lis)
Hostels for women with mental health problems announced yesterday that they will go on strike next week if the Health Ministry does not increase their budget for the first time in more than a decade. The hostel operators will start to take action Wednesday, by paring down services to minimal levels, as they do on weekends. The operators, who have been in talks with the ministry for a year, are seeking a budget increase of 7 percent to 10 percent. (Ruth Sinai)
A 15-year-old boy sustained serious injuries yesterday when he slipped in the hallway of his Haifa school and hit his head on a metal door handle. It appears that he was flung backward into the door handle after running down the hall and colliding with another student at the entrance of a classroom. The injured student underwent surgery at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Educators at the school met yesterday to discuss how such an incident can be prevented in the future. (Fadi Eyadat)
Some 800 instructors at the Open University, Israel's largest institution of higher learning, decided to unionize last week. The decision was made at a conference dealing with the problems faced by the instructors, including temporary contracts and low wages. All participants at the conference announced their interest in joining the union. Their efforts to unionize are being assisted by Tel Aviv University's legal clinic, which focuses on social welfare issues and has provided assistance to labor activists in many work places. (Ruth Sinai)