Tel aviv, 17 March 2020, TON: Israel’s government has approved emergency measures to track people suspected or confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus by monitoring their mobile phones, immediately raising privacy concerns in the country.

The cabinet unanimously approved the use of the technology, developed initially for counter-terrorism purposes, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, first raised the issue during the weekend. He said authorities would use the data to notify people who may have come into contact with someone infected with the virus, and also to enforce quarantine orders.

In a Monday evening televised speech, the leader said the cyber monitoring would be in effect for 30 days. “Israel is a democracy and we must maintain the balance between civil rights and the public’s needs,” Netanyahu said. “These tools will very much assist us in locating the sick and stopping the virus from spreading.”

Using emergency powers, he bypassed what would typically be a process of approval by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. It had looked likely a parliamentary subcommittee would have delayed the rollout. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said providing the country’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, with new secretive powers was a “dangerous precedent and a slippery slope that must be approached and resolved after much debate and not after a brief discussion”.

Netanyahu’s authority to implement such measures has also been questioned. The country is battling the coronavirus while also under an extending political crisis, with Netanyahu ruling as interim leader. His opponent, Benny Gantz, is prime minister-designate and attempting to form a government although it is unclear if enough lawmakers will back him.

London, 17 March 2020, TON: England’s deputy chief medical officer has insisted the stricter measures to tackle the coronavirus had not been introduced too late.

Prof Jonathan Van-Tam told: “We are following the science very carefully and consider the measures we announced yesterday have been announced at the right time - not too early and certainly not too late."

“We don’t rule out taking further measures if these are necessary but much of this depends on how the next two weeks play out.”

He could not rule out the strict measures having to last for a year but predicted they would last at least “several months”.

The more people will encounter the coronavirus and become resistant with herd immunity, but “that will take time”.

“But, yes, you’re absolutely right that we can’t say how long this will need to go on for,” he said.

“I don’t know if it could be a year yet. I think we are too far out to make those kind of predictions but I certainly think it could be several months.”

The approval came just two days after Putin signed the reform bill, which has faced fierce criticism from opposition figures who say it will allow the longtime Russian leader to become "president for life."

Moscow, 17 March, 2020, TON: Russia's Constitutional Court on Monday approved a package of amendments including a "reset" of President Vladimir Putin's previous terms, giving him the possibility to rule into 2036.

The approval came just two days after Putin signed the reform bill, which has faced fierce criticism from opposition figures who say it will allow the longtime Russian leader to become "president for life."

The court published the ruling on its website, upholding a wide-ranging package of reforms first proposed by Putin in January and approved last week by Russia's two houses of parliament.

A public vote on the reforms has been scheduled for April 22 but it was unclear whether that might be delayed by the global coronavirus crisis.

Putin first proposed the reforms in January, in a shock to Russia's political establishment that was quickly followed by the resignation of his longtime Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The reforms included granting more power to parliament and strengthening the role of the State Council, an advisory body, leading to speculation that Putin — first elected in 2000 — could hold on to power in a new role.

Putin repeatedly denied he had any intention of staying on but then last week suddenly backed a last-minute amendment by the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, restarting the clock on previous presidential terms.