Man shot dead in north, as Arab violent crime epidemic persists

A 32-year-old man is shot dead in the Arab town of Nahf, near Karmiel, in the north.

The victim is taken in critical condition to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, where medics pronounce him dead.

Police say they have arrived at the scene, started searches for suspects and launched an investigation.

Since the start of the year, 168 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent incidents, according to the Abraham Initiatives watchdog, amid a surging crime wave that has been plaguing Arab locales in recent years.

Man arrested for crashing car into Russian consulate in Sydney

A man is arrested after ramming his car into the gates of the Russian consulate in Sydney, Australian police say.

Police say that officers responded shortly after 8 a.m. (2200 GMT) to reports of an unauthorized vehicle parked in the driveway of an address on Fullerton Street that corresponds with the location of the Russian consulate.

Officers attempted to speak to the driver before he drove his vehicle into the gates, New South Wales police says in a statement.

A neighbor who witnessed the incident says he saw the car force its way through the gates after the driver was instructed to step out of the vehicle.

“The policemen continued to ask him to get out of the car, he didn’t get out of the car. They drew their firearms,” he says, declining to give his name.

US refusing visas to Palestinian passport holders, in unannounced policy — report

The United States has quietly instituted a blanket freeze of almost all types of visa applications by holders of Palestinian Authority-issued passports, The New York Times reports, citing four unnamed American officials.

While Donald Trump’s administration publicly announced on Friday that it will not allow entry to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and some 80 more Palestinian officials for the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York, the outlet says the new policy is much broader.

The temporary suspension covers “visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel,” the report says.

It does not apply to those who already have visas, or to Palestinians who have a second passport and who you that other passport to apply for visas.

The policy was reportedly laid out in a message sent on August 18 by the State Department to all US diplomatic missions, making use of a mechanism — section 221-G of the US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 — that is usually only used to demand extra documents or information from certain people to help make a decision on their request.

“Effective immediately, consular officers are instructed to refuse under 221(g) of the Immigration Nationality Act (INA) all otherwise eligible Palestinian Authority passport holders using that passport to apply for a nonimmigrant visa,� the State Department cable says, according to The Times.