Netanyahu's opponents hashing out deal as deadline looms - POLITICO

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid was tasked by the country’s figurehead president with forming a government earlier this month after Netanyahu failed to do so in the aftermath of the March 23 elections. | Oded Balilty/AP Photo

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

05/31/2021 04:09 PM EDT

JERUSALEM — A constellation of Israeli political parties seeking to unseat longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Monday to hash out power-sharing agreements two days before a deadline.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said at a meeting of his Yesh Atid party that “a great many obstacles” stood before a prospective government. But he said the various members of the anti-Netanyahu coalition are trying “to see if we can find in the coming days wise compromises for the sake of the big aim.”

Lapid was tasked by the country’s figurehead president with forming a government earlier this month after Netanyahu failed to do so in the aftermath of the March 23 elections, the fourth in two years.

On Sunday, Naftali Bennett, head of the small, hard-line nationalist Yamina party, said he would work with Lapid to form a broad unity government and “save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course.” Lapid has already secured the support of two smaller liberal parties and a secular ultranationalist faction.

Bennett and Lapid have until Wednesday to hammer out a deal in which the pair split the premiership — with Bennett serving the first two years and Lapid the following two.

No political party has ever won an outright majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset, forcing smaller factions to band together to form a coalition with more than 61 seats.

If Lapid and his allies — which range from hard-line nationalists to liberal Zionists and a small Islamist party — can overcome their differences and seal a deal, it would spell the end of Netanyahu’s rule, for the time being.

Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held office since 2009, as well as a brief stint in the late 1990s. Despite his Likud party being the largest faction in the Knesset, he has become a divisive figure. Israel has held four parliamentary elections in the past two years, all seen as a referendum on his fitness to rule.

The long-serving prime minister has held onto power despite being indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in 2019. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and has refused to step down from office while on trial.

After Bennett announced his intention to join forces with Lapid, Netanyahu lashed out in a nationally televised speech, saying that such a government “is a danger to the security of Israel, and is also a danger to the future of the state.”

Lapid responded to Netanyahu’s remarks on Monday, saying they were “reckless and dangerous, that of a man who has lost the brakes.”

“If you want to know why we’re determined to [bring] a change of government in Israel, go listen to that speech by Netanyahu,” Lapid said, referring to Netanyahu’s claim that a government without him would be “dangerous” and growing calls to violence by some against the prime minister’s political opponents and others.

Lapid pointed to the security details assigned to the prime minister’s political rivals, reporters and state prosecutors in Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

On Sunday, the Knesset Guard approved assigning a personal bodyguard to senior Yamina party politician Ayelet Shaked amid increasing threats of physical violence. Protesters outside Shaked’s home held signs that read “Leftist traitors.” Bennett received a personal security detachment earlier this month.

Gideon Saar, a former member of Netanyahu’s Likud party who split away ahead of the March elections, said his New Hope was “doing everything in our power” to reach a compromise and form a government, but that such an outcome remained uncertain.

Saar railed against the “incitement” against politicians seeking to assemble a coalition without Netanyahu, saying the prime minister “and his people are engaging in wild de-legitimization of a government that has yet to arise.”

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The Remains Of 215 Indigenous Children Were Found At A Residential School. The Search For Graves Isn’t Over. - BuzzFeed News

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A woman mourns over 215 pairs of kids shoes outside Vancouver Art Gallery during a memorial May 29.

Calls are mounting for greater accountability and a search for more unmarked graves after the discovery last week of 215 bodies at a former residential school, one of more than 100 in Canada where Indigenous children were separated from their families.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation announced the discovery of the children's remains last week, found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Some of the children who died at the school, which closed in 1978, were as young as 3.

On Monday, Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said the find should be a "catalyst" for further work uncovering these graves at school sites throughout the country.

"It’s a prime opportunity to do this very, very important work in all the residential school grounds," he told reporters. "This has to be further researched and investigated. Kamloops is one school. There were over 130 residential schools that were operating across Canada."

For more than 100 years, thousands of Indigenous children were sent to residential schools across Canada, taken from their parents in an attempt to assimilate them. These schools, many run by religious institutions, operated as recently as 1996 and were rife with abuse. The Canadian government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was formed to examine the legacy of the schools, has identified at least 4,100 children who died of disease or by accident in these schools. It's estimated that the actual number of deaths could be more than 6,000.

The US government used similar boarding schools, forcing Native American children to live and learn away from their families, and systematically cutting them off from their communities and culture.

According to Bellegarde, survivors of the schools, as well as their communities, have told stories about mass graves for decades, "but nobody believed them because it was too horrific."

Rick Madonik / Toronto Star via Getty Images

A small memorial in front of the Queen's Park Legislative Building in Toronto

In its 2015 report, the Canadian commission called the schools an act of "cultural genocide." The report also came up with 94 calls to action for reconciliation, including six in regard to the children who died in residential schools. Recommended actions include creating an online registry of school cemeteries and making sure descendants know where their family members were buried.

That work hasn't been completed, and Bellegarde said government funding is necessary to move forward. The Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation was only able to examine the Kamloops school grounds now with the help of a local government grant.

Hundreds of graves have been found at these sites before, although this latest discovery is particularly large, said Katherine A. Morton, an instructor and researcher in anti-colonial and Indigenous studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland. In addition to unmarked graves at the schools, many sites also purposely included cemeteries, she said.

"If you look at the blueprints for residential schools when they were first built, many blueprints indicated that there were plans for graveyards to be put in," she told BuzzFeed News. "You don’t build a cemetery into a high school for white kids."

She added that there were indications of mass abuse and deaths at these schools as early as the 1920s, but there was never any formal tracking of the violence while they were operational.

The residential schools are scattered across Canada, and some have now been demolished. Some First Nations have made independent attempts to search the sites for remains, but Morton agreed the biggest barrier is funding.

In 2009, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada requested federal funding to locate the graves of missing children, but that request was denied by the then-Conservative government.

Handout / Reuters

Pukatawagan Residential School in Manitoba in a 1960 archive photo

As Indigenous people mourned after last week's discovery, they also called on Canadians not to turn away from the grim reminder of a system that forcibly took children from their families.

"We call upon Canada, and all of those who call yourselves Canadians, to witness and recognize the truth of our collective history," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, in a statement.

"This is the reality of the genocide that was, and is, inflicted upon us as Indigenous peoples by the colonial state. Today we honour the lives of those children, and hold prayers that they, and their families, may finally be at peace."

Chief Clarence Louie of the Syilx Okanagan Nation in British Columbia said the impact of the schools is still felt today by Indigenous people.

"The level of inhumane and criminal treatment of First Nation's children at the hands of colonial governments and organized religion is deeply disturbing," he said in a statement. "We are calling on the Province of British Columbia and Government of Canada to directly address these atrocities."

Across Canada, memorials have been created at legislative buildings and other sites, with people leaving pairs of shoes to symbolize each lost child.

In Winnipeg, shoes were placed at the Forks, a green space where the Red River and the Assiniboine River join together. Historically, it was an important place for trade and settlement by local First Nations.

Two hundred and fifteen pairs of shoes have been placed at the Oodena Circle @TheForks in #Winnipeg as a powerful tribute to the 215 children who didn’t make it home from the #KamloopsIndianResidentialSchool. Here is a look at the display:

10:09 PM - 30 May 2021

Twitter: @MKO_North

Shoes were also placed at a former residential school in Ontario.

The stairs are filled with children's shoes and toys at Algoma U/Shingwauk Hall (former residential school) in honour of the 215 children's remains found at Kamloops Indian Residential School. Heartbreaking. 💔

02:26 PM - 31 May 2021

Twitter: @sarahjeancinema

As well as in front of churches.

In both of Saskatchewan’s major cities, 215 shoes were placed on the front steps of prominent buildings, honouring the children whose remains were found at a Kamloops residential school late last week. A look at #yxe’s St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Cathedral:

01:34 AM - 31 May 2021

Twitter: @BradyLangSK

In Ottawa, shoes were placed around the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for flags to be lowered across the country in mourning for the 215 children.

What should be done with the schools that remain standing is still a question. Several have been turned into memorials, while some people want to see them demolished.

"There’s got to be these ongoing conversations to ensure whatever happens, the ultimate decision is left up to the Indigenous nations closest to these sites," Morton said.

If you need support, the 24-hour Indian Residential School Survivors Crisis Line can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

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Clippers' Kawhi Leonard, Paul George power win over Mavericks, seize back control of series - ESPN

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The LA Clippers arrived in Dallas down 0-2 in the series with their future clouded in uncertainty, but they left with home-court advantage and momentum thanks to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George playing the relentless style they envisioned when they joined forces.

For the second straight game, Leonard and George overwhelmed Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, combining to score 45 points in the first three quarters to help the Clippers even this Western Conference first-round playoff series at 2-2 with a 106-81 rout on Sunday at American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks could not contain Leonard for the third straight game, as the All-Star forward made 11-of-15 shots and tallied 29 points and 10 rebounds. And George scored 13 of 20 points in the second quarter, when the Clippers opened a 48-29 lead with 6:58 left before halftime.

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"I think we both have just done a great job of complementing each other," George said of him and Leonard leading the Clippers back into this series. "[Leonard] has been all-out driving and attacking and putting pressure on their bigs at the rim. Myself, as well. When he needs a break and a breather, now I am in attack mode. I think we are just doing a great job of countering each other.

"This is ultimately what we wanted to get to -- being able to share the court together and doing it on both ends together."

This was what Leonard, George and the Clippers envisioned when the two All-Stars became Clippers during the summer of 2019.

Leonard is playing at the postseason level that made him the NBA Finals MVP for a second time when he led the Toronto Raptors to a championship in 2019. He has been simply too strong and powerful for Dallas to stop, averaging 35.3 points in the past three games.

In leading the Clippers to the past two wins in Dallas, Leonard shot 24-for-32 combined in Games 3 and 4, and he has done the majority of his damage on drives into the paint.

But his message to the Clippers after they lost the first two games of the series at home was to step things up considerably on the defensive end. Doncic labored through a nerve issue in his neck on Sunday and shot 9-for-24 to finish with 19 points, six assists and six rebounds. But the Clippers were thrilled with their ability to slow down the Mavericks' other shooters who really shot lights out in Los Angeles.

Tim Hardaway Jr. missed 7 of 8 shots and scored just four points, Dorian Finney-Smith only had eight points and the Mavericks as a group missed 25 of 30 3-point attempts in Game 4. In the first two games of the series, Dallas took home-court advantage by making 35 of 70 (50%) attempts from behind the arc.

Since trailing 30-11 with 4:38 remaining in the first quarter of Game 3, the Clippers have outscored Dallas 213 to 159. Now, the Mavericks are the ones who have to find a way to turn things around or their season could quickly come to an end.

"We responded well," Leonard said of the team heeding his message to play better defense. "Especially coming back from that [30-11 deficit] in Game 3."

"The job is not done yet," he added, "so we got to keep having that even-keeled mindset and get ready for the next one."

The Clippers have pushed all the right buttons since they left Los Angeles, where they had no answer for Doncic. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue went to a small lineup and inserted Nicolas Batum in for center Ivica Zubac when the Mavericks started off Game 3 hot. The move allowed the Clippers to be able to switch defensively on Doncic, who had his way scoring with Zubac in front of him.

Lue began Game 4 with Batum in the starting five for Zubac, and the veteran forward responded with 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Batum said he studied film of Draymond Green and Boris Diaw in preparation on how to best use versatility as an undersized center.

With Batum helping on defense and moving the ball on offense, Leonard kept punishing the Mavericks with his drives, making his first five shots and scoring 10 points in the first quarter. George then took over in the second quarter.

Doncic tried to keep his team in it and had 15 points at the half, but Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 18 points, was the only other Maverick to score in double figures in the first half.

The Clippers pushed their lead to 79-51 with 4:42 left in the third, as they took home-court advantage and all the momentum in this series back with them to Southern California.

Lue said the Clippers would show who they truly are in Game 3 with their backs against the wall. They backed his vow, as Batum said the Clippers never panicked despite being down 0-2 in the series and trailing 30-11 in the opening minutes of Game 3.

"I mean, we knew our mistakes," Batum said. "We just had to adjust. We knew what we had done wrong."

"It's just 2-2," Batum added. "We are right where we're supposed to be. We are supposed to be at 2-2, technically. So now, got to go home and take care of the home court and take care of this game on Wednesday or we can put ourselves in a bad situation if we don't do the job on Wednesday."

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Netanyahu’s Days as Prime Minister Look Numbered as Rivals Unveil Partnership - Slate

The longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history could soon be out of office after a diverse group of opposition parties said they’re ready to form a unity government to oust Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 straight years in power. Far-right politician Naftali Bennett, who leads the small hardline Yamina party, said he would join forces with centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid to form a coalition government. “It’s my intention to do my utmost in order to form a national unity government along with my friend Yair Lapid, so that, God willing, together we can save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course,” Bennett said. The announcement came after many outside observers had said the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict would benefit Netanyahu’s ambitions to stay in power.

Bennett and Lapid have until Wednesday night to present their deal to Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and then it would have to be endorsed by the Israeli Parliament. For now it looks like Bennett would head up the government first until the fall of 2023 with Lapid serving as foreign minister. They would then swap roles until there is a new election in 2025.

Netanyahu is likely to stay in politics if he is ousted and he made clear Sunday that he’s going to fight back as much as possible to try to stay in power. Shortly after Bennett made the announcement of the new coalition, Netanyahu called the plan “the fraud of the century” and accused Bennett of betraying his right-wing voters. “There is not a single person in Israel who would have voted for Naftali Bennett if they had known what he would do,” Netanyahu said. Eager to keep holding on to power, Netanyahu is likely to spend the next few days trying to pressure right-wing parties to reject the new coalition government.

If the coalition does move forward, it would join together a very ideologically diverse group of parties that range from left-wing to right-wing nationalist parties. Bennett, who wants to annex most of the occupied West Bank, also has a lot of differences with Lapid, a former TV news anchor who largely represents secular centrists. Those differences mean that the new government is likely to focus, at least at first, on economic policy rather than more divisive issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Lakers vs. Suns: LeBron James on carrying the load if Anthony Davis misses time: 'I'm ready for the challenge' - CBS Sports

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LeBron James has set such an absurd standard in the postseason that his 21.8 points per game average against the Phoenix Suns thus far looks practically pedestrian. He scored 25 points in Sunday's Game 4 loss, his highest total of the series, but that puts this series in rather unfortunate company. James has had at least one game with 27 or more points in every playoff series of his career except for two: the 2007 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in which he was swept, and the 2011 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks in which he infamously melted down in an upset loss. 

The Lakers might have been able to overcome LeBron's limited scoring if they were healthy, but near the end of Sunday's first half, Anthony Davis went down with a strained left groin. Considering the hyperextended right knee he suffered in Game 3, there is a reasonable chance he misses Game 5 entirely. Even with him, the Lakers have rarely been able to put forth an elite half-court offense. Without him? Things have gotten ugly. The Lakers scored only 15 points in the third quarter of Game 4. From Feb. 14 through March 18, the period they played with a healthy James but no Davis, the Lakers ranked 15th in the NBA in offense. That's not going to be good enough to beat an opponent as good as Phoenix.

That puts the onus on James to step up and take on a greater scoring load in Game 5, and he's up to the task. "These shoulders are built for a reason," James said after Game 4. "If there is going to be some more put on them, so be it. Win, lose or draw, I'm ready for the challenge."

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Complicating matters is the high ankle sprain James suffered earlier in the season. James played in only four regular-season games afterward and never topped the 25-point mark in any of them. Against Phoenix, he's flashed his typical athleticism in spurts, but he's never been able to display it for a full game. That he's been guarded largely by possible All-Defensive selection Mikal Bridges hasn't helped either.

James is 36 years old. He's now playing without his best teammate on a roster designed to support two stars, not carrying the load when one is out. He's injured and playing against the team with the second-best record in basketball. His playoff track record is beyond reproach, and it was only a year ago that he quieted critics and demanded his "damn respect" after a sensational title run. But Father Time is undefeated. James has overcome his physical limitations time and time again, but doing so this time would be one of his most impressive feats yet. 

But Frank Vogel has seen this movie before. "When I competed against the Miami Heat and either [Dwyane] Wade or [Chris] Bosh was out, and there were more touches for Bron, that wasn't always necessarily a good thing for my Pacers teams," the Lakers coach said. In that sense, there could be a silver lining to Davis' injury. If it gets James going, that could have major benefits for the Lakers. in the later rounds, and Vogel's Pacers were far stronger defensively than these Suns are. 

James once made the Finals without Kevin Love and nearly won them without Kyrie Irving. His 2007 and 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers are two of the weakest rosters ever to reach the Finals. Every time he's been counted out, he's managed to find ways to win. If the Lakers are going to escape this series, this time can't be any different. 

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Kawhi Leonard (29 PTS, 10 REB) Registers Double-Double in Win vs. Dallas Mavericks | LA Clippers - LA Clippers

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Celtics Fan Arrested After Kyrie Irving Is Nearly Hit by Bottle - The New York Times

Irving, who was walking into an arena tunnel when he was almost hit, had recently asked fans not to be belligerent or racist when the Nets traveled to Boston.

A fan in a Boston Celtics jersey was arrested Sunday after a bottle nearly struck Nets guard Kyrie Irving in the head following Boston’s Game 4 loss at TD Garden. It was the latest in a string of unruly fan behavior as N.B.A. arenas begin opening to near full capacity for the playoffs.

Last week, before the best-of-seven series shifted to Boston, Irving, a former Celtics player who is Black, had anticipated booing but had asked fans not to be belligerent or racist. For decades, Black athletes in multiple sports, including the Celtics legend Bill Russell, have spoken about the racism they’ve experienced in Boston.

“We claim that we care about each other as human beings, but we just call things out before they happen like I did the other day,” Irving said after Sunday’s game. “I’m telling people, ‘Just keep it basketball.’”

Irving stressed that he expected fans to root for their home teams and that most were eager to watch quality athletes perform. But he said sports were now at a crossroads.

“It’s been that way in history, in terms of entertainment, performers and sports for a long period of time and just underlying racism and just treating people like they’re in a human zoo,” Irving said. “Throwing stuff at them, saying things. There’s a certain point where it just gets to be too much.”

Irving was heading into an arena tunnel after the Nets beat the Celtics, 141-126, when an object that appeared to be a water bottle sailed just past his head. Multiple videos on social media showed a person in a Celtics jersey being led away by the police.

The bottle-throwing followed a run of incidents from last Wednesday night: In Philadelphia, a fan poured popcorn on the head of Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook as he left the game with an injury. In New York, a fan spat on Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young at Madison Square Garden. In Utah, security ejected three fans for obscene behavior toward the family of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.

“We’ve had times in history when people have reacted and gone in the crowd, then we’re wrong and we need to be civilized and we need to keep our calm and we need to keep our cool and it’s reflected on us,” Irving said. “Just want to keep it upfront and truthful, and it’s just unacceptable for that stuff to be happening, but we move on.”

Following Wednesday’s incidents, the N.B.A. released a statement saying its fan code of conduct would be “vigorously enforced.” The fans involved in those incidents have been barred indefinitely from the arenas.

“Anything could have happened with that water bottle being thrown at me, but my brothers were surrounding me,” Irving said. “I had people in the crowd. So, just trying to get home to my wife and my kids.”

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