The UN General Assembly will vote today (Thursday) In whether to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.The move was initiated by the United States after hundreds of bodies were discovered following the Russian withdrawal from cities near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Avidar hopes Joint List opposition party will provide a life-jacket and forestall elections. MK Mansour Abbas is less optimistic.

Israel's health officials reported 8,050 new cases of COVID-19 over the past day.

According to forecasts by NASA's launch center, there is a very high chance that Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe"s launch into space will take place as scheduled this coming Friday at 6:17 p.m. Israel time (11:17 a.m. EDT).The chances of the launch taking place as scheduled are now estimated at 80%, Channel 12 News reported.

Professor Salman Zarka also predicts an increase in cases following the holidays of Passover and Ramadan.

Iran In Wednesday said it has supplied the United Nations" nuclear watchdog with documents explaining the discovery of suspect enriched uranium traces, The Associated Press reported, citing Iranian state media.The head of Iran's civilian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said Iran sent the requested explanations In March 20 about several former undeclared sites in Iran where there was evidence of past nuclear activity.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri discussed Yamina's MK Idit Silman leaving the coalition in an interview to appear in Israel Hayom tomorrow (Friday)."I was not surprised by Silman's resignation from the government. Conversations [with her] have been Ingoing for a few days now. I was skeptical [about the prospects of her bolting the coalition but} in the middle of the night I was informed it was final. I hope [she] is not the last [to do so]. That's not enough," he was quoted as saying.Regarding his relationship with Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, Deri said: "If he wants to enter the coalition and be part of what we'll be doing, it's fine with me. I'm willing to forgive the things he's done in order to have a functioning government."

Russia's official government news agency TASS cited its ambassador in Washington, D.C. as saying In Wednesday that US sanctions against two of Russia's largest banks are a direct blow to regular Russian citizens.Anatoly Antonov made his remarks after the US placed sanctions In two of the country's largest banking entities - Sberbank and Alfabank.