News in Brief

Charges were filed yesterday in the Tel Aviv District Court against Eli Fahima, 59, of Kiryat Shmona, who is accused of murdering his former domestic partner, Beatrice Rodov, 62, and her daughter, Denise Rodov, 36. The elder Rodov's dismembered, burned body was found in mid-August in a dumpster in Ramat Gan, where she lived. Her daughter's dismembered body was found in the Alexander River north of Netanya. (Ofra Edelman)

The Jerusalem Municipality yesterday filed a civil suit against a city resident, seeking compensation for a trash container he had set on fire. The man, an ultra-Orthodox resident from Neveh Yaakov who was protesting the arrest of the Jerusalem mother accused of starving her child, was caught in the act on June 28 by a policeman. He has already been brought up on criminal charges, the only protester to be indicted for that act. The city is suing him for the cost of the container - NIS 1,324. Protesters caused an estimated NIS 1 million in damage to trash containers, cars and street lights. (Nir Hasson)

Attorney General Menahem Mazuz will close the case on alleged political appointments against former agriculture minister MK Yisrael Katz (Likud). Mazuz said he was doing so for lack of evidence, adding that Katz's behavior had been inappropriate and included failures. He said others were still under investigation. The material gathered ostensibly showed Katz had attempted to appoint two individuals who had supported him in the Likud Central Committee to posts related to the dairy industry; however, his motives could not be clearly shown to contravene the law and norms. (Tomer Zarchin)

The High Court of Justice criticized the government last week for not collecting data on workers who have been exposed to asbestos and ordered it to report back within two months on preparations for such a system. Asbestos fiber, when released into the air, is known to cause a variety of lung ailments and other illnesses, and hundreds of people in Israel have contracted malignant diseases as a result of asbestos exposure. (Zafrir Rinat)