>> vernon. israel's letter never delays plans for judicial reform as mask tests against the changes take place. the prime minister says he wants a broad consensus. also on the program, germany delivers on its promise to provide ukraine with leopard tanks. chancellor scholz says the much-needed have weaponry has already been handed over.

the united states suffers another tragic school shooting, six confirmed casualties include for -- fidelity's included three students. and germany faces its most disruptive strike action for 30 years. public transport, rail and airport staff across the country walk off the job demanding more pain to counter the cost of living crisis. ♪ i am phil gayle. welcome to the program. we begin in israel where prime minister bellarmine at haterade until next month. plans to introduce controversial judicial reforms. the televised address said the decision would allow time to find compromise with opponents of the changes. the move follows massive civil

disruption and pressure at shutdown most of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. here he is speaking in the last couple of hours. >> out of a sense of national responsibility, and out of the world to prevent rapture among our people, i have decided to pause the second and third readings of the in this session of the knesset in order to give time and reach wide consensus. phil: so will this announcement be enough to satisfy protesters? i put that to our correspondent in jerusalem. reporter: that certainly is the big question tonight. i spoke to some of the opponents who have been protesting here in the past three months and they said they are very skeptical and cautious, they want to know what this dialogue that the prime minister offered will actually look like. today we have seen this unprecedented general strike, a

big protest by the right wing also, who are in overhaul. we understand the unions have called off the general strike for now, but we heard from protest leaders, opponents of this controversial judicial overhaul, they say that this is a near post and meant -- a mere postponement. we understand it will be picked up after the knesset comes back from recess after the jewish holidays, but that they will continue the protests against the judicial overhaul. phil: talk us through the reaction to this delay from members of the israeli parliament. guest: we have to understand that i know we are waiting all day for prime minister bennett me netanyahu to come out and announce this decision and what he wants to do, and that was possibly because he had to get his coalition partners on board

before he spoke. we understand by a statement from the far-right party with its leader, itamar ben-gvir, national security leader, that they had agreed on a postponement but they want to continue and go ahead with this traditional overhaul. after the announcement, reactions are still coming in. cautious reactions by the opposition and mainly by the opposition leader yair this, buo said that he hopes this is a genuine offer. we also heard from israeli president itzhak hercog. he had actually worked on the compromise which was rejection by the coalition government. he said he welcomed the delay, it is the right thing to do, and he also offered his residence

for the parties to come together. phil: thank you for that, time you creamer in jerusalem. huy laurie is a research fellow at the democracy institute. i asked him if netanyahu needs to find compromises with the opposition and with coalition. guest: indeed. some of the members of his coalition are very adamant and enthusiastic and going forward with the legislation. and also we need to find a compromise with a very dispersed protest movement that does not follow the directions of the opposition parties. so he has a very difficult challenge indeed. phil: how much has the public outcry played into mr. netanyahu's decision? guest: well, i think it played a major role. it seems like the spontaneous

outcry that began last night after prime minister netanyahu sacked his defense minister had a huge impact. it was spontaneous and electrifying enlistment really of the public sphere. people going out onto the streets, institutions that were out of the play, labor unions and municipalities and universities all declared a general strike. that played a huge role in forcing the hand of the prime minister netanyahu to stop the proceedings. phil: who do you think, then, miscalculated? is this a netanyahu problem? the problem foisted on him by the right wing of the coalition? or did go wrong? there have definitely been his calculations by the coalition and the prime minister.

they did not i think expect this kind of massive protest movement we saw on the streets. but really the issue is more material. i think the coalition and authorities have a very different view of what the constitution of israel should look like and they went a very different israel, a less democratic israel. and the public would simply not agree to that. he could have done a more elegant process, tried to achieve a better process, but at the end of the day, the clash between the visions of israel and of the coalition and the streets and opposition was just too great. phil: and the crowds on the streets are one thing. the cry from the opposition is another. we have the opposition leader

and former prime minister. lip-read warning that if these changes are made, then a future government could, if it wanted, cancel future elections. is that a real danger? guest: the issue is not really canceling the structural issue of elections, but hollowing out elections. there might be a future government that would curtail the right to run for office by minorities. there are some proposals that would have that effect even if indirectly. they could holler out free elections and make it really impossible for a change of regime. those are the real fears of the opposition. it is part of a greater fear that taking the power out of the court and curtailing judicial

independence will make it difficult to protect the basic rights of israelis, not only the right to vote and the right to get elected, but other basic rights like the right to equality and freedom of speech. these are the great risks that the opposition fear. phil: thank you so much for that, guy lurie from the israel democracy institute. guest: thank you for having me. phil: a brief look at some stories making headlines around the world. we start in spain where firefighters in the east of the country are still battling to contain the first major wildfire ofhe season five days after it began. the blaze forced more than 1500 people to leave their homes. officials blamed the early start of the fire season on climate change. at least 16 have been killed after heavy rains triggered landslides in southern ecuador. the mudslides hit in the middle of the night burying dozens of

homes in one village. several people are missing, rescuers are racing to clear the debris. finland is one step closer to joining nato, after hungary's parliament approved its bid by a narrow majority. it is one of the last nato members to ratify finland's accession. only turkey remains. anchor has announced its intention to vote on finland's dip soon -- bid soon. german chancellor scholz says germany provided ukraine with 18 leopard 2 battle tanks. they were reportedly handed over to ukrainian forces of the country's border. it marks a major shift in ukraine's battlefield capability, and fulfills a long-standing german promise. how big a deal is this delivery? here is our correspondent nick connolly near the front line, in kramatorsk.

nick: i think this is really important. i was on the fines a couple of hours ago before this news came in at the first question from everyone when we said we were from german broadcasting was "where are the tanks?" it was a joke, but it was met with a lot of concern. these spring events, last chances for ukraine to push back before the pressure on ukraine month to get back to negotiations, that depends on the tax. to move forward, they need tanks. this is a massive development. phil: that was nick connolly in kramatorsk. mont montgomery is a retired u.s. navy rear admiral and serves at the foundation for defense of democracies. i asked him about the difference 18 leopard 2's would make. guest: first, thank you for having me. as your reporter alluded to, it

will make a significant difference. these tanks will be part of an overall grouping of 88 to 100 tanks that come from germany and poland and sweden and finland, norway, spain, portugal and canada, a lot of deliveries of leopard 2 which is the right tank for ukraine that mixes firepower, accuracy, maneuverability and has a long, diesel engine. easiest to make it much easier to maintain than say a u.s. a1 abrams. i think it will have a significant effect on the battlefield. i think it was the best possible contributions that germany and many of the other western european powers could make to the ukrainian war effort. phil: quite a ringing endorsement. i wonder if there is a sense in which the delivery of these heavy weapons also puts pressure on ukraine from its western allies? if don't help you push the russians back, then maybe you

need to sit down and sue for peace? guest: i think these are part of a broader -- as we think about any upcoming ukrainian offensive in the donbass region, i think this needs to be seen as part of an overall western contribution. we have to provide a lot of artillery rounds guided missile-launcher rocket systems and we even have to be thinking about providing the longer-range artillery systems. we need to provide that artillery along with this maneuver capability in the tanks, with both of those in numbers. artillery including non-ranch attack m's and tanks spearheaded by the leopard 2 contributions. those together, this is the time for ukraine to be able to significantly alter the battlefield and improve their position either for final

negotiation, or to actually club back on of the territory that they lost in eastern ukraine. phil: so the tanks are not the end of the story. russia took heavy losses in this printer to bakhmut. they have the resources to repel a new ukrainian offensive? guest: that will be interesting to see, you are absolutely right, they took heavy losses. their losses were a mixture. there were not necessarily all front-line troops, but their losses were among the wagner group, former prisoners, which honestly was not something of value to the russian military. but also many of the conscripts that they brought on over the last 6-9 months. they did take a lot of losses. there has to be a morale problem for them. it's not just a question with

russia resources, it is resources plus will. they have had significant negative impacts on the morale and the willingness of their troops to fight. so i think that as much as the ukrainian offensive is going to push the russians, their own failure over the last two months but more broadly over the last 14 months i think negatively impacts their forces and makes it likely that they will withstand ukrainian pushes. phil: good talking to you, thank you so much for joining us, mark montgomery and washington. fierce fighting in the east of ukraine means casualties on both sides have been mounting. kyiv does not disclose its losses, but u.s. officials estimate more than 100,000 ukrainians have been killed or injured in this war. makeshift graveyards had been marked out to bury the dead. >> vladimir varosha, was just 20 when he died. oleg was just 26.

bodan was 21. they all bought their country. at this graveyard in kharkiv, there are hundreds of soldiers' graves. over each one flies the ukrainian flag. >> the price is so high. do you see how many of our soldiers have fallen in this war? i hope this sacrifice is not in vain. reporter: in ukraine during lent, relatives bring bread and sweets to the grapes for the dead. irina is here with kherson good her husband was a border guard. >> [crying] there are many graveyards everywhere in ukraine. this is awful. it is time to end this war. there are just too many ukrainian victims. reporter: the next group of

mourners is already waiting for a 26-year-old, who was killed in bakhmut. phil: now to the united states where at least three children and three adults have been killed in a school shooting in the city of nashville. a female suspect entered the school, carrying at least two semiautomatic rifles and the pistol. authorities say she was killed after being engaged i police -- engaged by police. >> every parent's worse nightmare. these children will at least be reunited with their families. the same can't be said for the victims of america's latest school shooting. the sugar has been identified as a 28-year-old woman, although authorities originally thought she was in her teens. >> when the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter

, a female who was firing. the officers engaged her. she was fatally shot by responding police officers. reporter: she was reportedly wielding two assault rifles and the pistol. the killings, as communities across the u.s. reeling from several acts of school violence. according to data on gun violence, this is the 129th mass shooting in the u.s. in 2023 alone. president joe biden called for gun reform. pres. biden: we have to do more to stop gun violence. it is ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of the nation. we have to do more to protect our schools so they are not turned into prisons. reporter: any attempts to pass gun control legislation face an uphill battle. congress is divided, and the republican-controlled house has

shown little interest in gun-control legislation. phil: i asked our correspondent in washington what was known of the victims. reporter: it is a developing story, so we are still waiting for more information as the investigation begins. we know that there are three children and three adult victims, we don't know who they are, how old they are, but we are talking about a school with 3-12-year-old students. we don't know if the three adult victims are teachers or administrators of the school. we know that the shooter was killed by police, as you mentioned. so we talking seven total people dead so far. phil: and what is being said about a motive for this male shooter? reporter: well, we know that they are investigating and also the fbi is involved. we know that the shooter was male, she was 28 years old, and

heavily armed. she had two assault rifles, two ak-47s and a handgun. as a 20 year old, it's even easier to buy a gun in this country. but we still don't know how she acquired the weapons. she was a student at the school, we know that, but it's not clear yet what her motives were. phil: so a heartbreaking attack, according to the white house, calling on congress to step up gun-control efforts. tell us more about the political reaction. reporter: exactly, joe biden just addressed the nation a couple of minutes ago, the president of the united states. he said this is just sick. there are a number of people who will not make it, among them children. he also said that we have to do more to protect our schools. people in this country, of course, shocked. we are talking, again, about a mass shooting in the school. the president's press secretary

says biden wants congress to pass gun legislation. this is a gun culture that we are living in. that is also what the state senator from that area said. people want to stop this. phil: thank you so much, do w correspondent carolina chimoy. here in germany, the vast majority of real services, buses and domestic flights have been brought to a halt by the biggest public-sector strike in decades. transport workers from the two biggest unions walked off the job in a call for higher wages to counter the cost-of-living crisis. inflation rates in germany have been about the euros on average in recent months. reporter: there is not a training site during rush hour or main station on monday. that frankfurt airport,

germany's top hub is nearly deserted. tens of thousands of transportation workers are going on strike across the country, demanding pay increases to match growing inflation. planes, trains and buses are at a standstill. in some cities, local transport was also affected. these workers at frankfurt airport say that recent negotiations with their employers had failed. >> we are striking because we want to make it clear to our employers that the offer they have made us is not enough. it doesn't reflect the amount of work that we do. and we want to show our solidarity with our marketing committee who are negotiating on our behalf in potsdam. we want to show them that we stand with them. reporter: most passengers found out about the planned strike ahead of time, and some standard travelers at berlin's train

station say they have mixed feelings. >> i feel solidarity with the people striking. but i would like to warm at home with a beer and be able to share my solidarity by watching it on tv. reporter: not everyone was as understanding. the action has been condemned by transport companies as causing major disruption. >> millions of passengers on buses and trains are suffering because of these excessive and extreme strikes. not everyone can work from home. thousands of companies who rely on sending and receiving goods by train can also be affected. this is also a hit for the environment and for the climate. reporter: salary negotiations will continue between transport

workers and their employers, who are eager to get all forms of travel back on track as soon as possible. phil: a couple more stories from around the world -- at least six people are dead after his suicide bomber struck near the foreign ministry in kabul. it is the second such attack in this year. no group has claimed response ability. with the terry groups of related with the so-called islamic state have increased their attacks since the taliban took over in 2021. police think they have used tear gas and water cannot against opposition protesters angry about the costs of living. crowds trip to the capital, defying a ban on demonstrations. the position has called for renewed protests -- the opposition has called for renewed protests. the international olympic committee's board will need to discuss the participation of russian and belarusian artists.

the ioc currently recommends allowing them to compete under a neutral flag, but some ukrainian athletes are getting ready to cross sword to only pick officials over the issue. reporter: in keith, they practice between air raid siren's and missile attacks russia. the notion that they may have been expected to compete against athletes from russia and its staunch ally belarus, it leaves a ukrainian female fencers at a loss. >> on the one hand, they are exports. on the other, our soldiers are dying. it is very difficult. reporter: the team has already heard what it regards as the news from international fencing federation, which this month voted to return allowing competition for athletes, just in time to qualify for the paris

2024 olympics. >> we know that this work is not fair. but this decision outrageous us. [chanting] reporter: saturday protesters raised their voices outside the ioc headquarters. the ioc president thomas bach says no athletes should be discriminated against based on their passport and the politics should be kept out of sport. that has not gone down well with ukraine's fencers. >> this is not just our problem, it also an international one. after all today ukraine is attack and tomorrow it could be every other country. that is why you can't close your eyes to it. reporter: ukraine has threatened a boycott of the paris olympics as a last resort. it is doubtful that the full throated support of the u.s. and other countries extent joining

them from a given the ioc says any such move would be against its charter. phil: a reminder of our top story at this hour -- israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has laid plans for judicial reform until the next financial recession. in a televised address, he said he was postponing the controversial changes to allow time to achieve a broad consensus. this announcement follows a general strike and massive protests across the country. stay with us. i will be back in a moment to take you through the big news stories of the date in the day, including of course that big change in israel, coming up interested moment. ♪

>> welcome to live in paris, analysis from france 24 these are the headlines. netanyahu suspends the reform of the judicial system, following protest across israel since january. critics pointing the finger at the prime minister accusing him of using the reforms to escape a. corruption casethe change would enable, the overturning of a supreme court ruling with the majority of one. we're standing by with the analysis. good evening to you. ukraine's presidents told the u.n. nuclear watchdog it was not possible to restore sy