(Yechiel Spira � YWN Israel)

SECURITY/DEFENSE:

*An Arab found ready to hurl a firebomb was shot and killed on Sunday morning near Tubas, in Shomron.

POLITICS, DOMESTIC & MORE:

*MK (Kadima) Tzachi Hanegbi gave defense testimony in his trial on Sunday in the Jerusalem Magistrate�s Court. He faces charges of corruption for allegedly making dozens of political appointments in his capacity as a government minister, as documented in a state comptroller�s report and police evidence. He told the court he sees noting wrong with political appointments.

*Two IDF soldiers over the weekend were bitten by Palestinian viper snakes and admitted to an intensive care unit of Poriah Hospital in Tiveria in moderate condition.

*A rabid dog was apprehended by authorities in Kibbutz S�dei Nechemia in the Galil.

*Two people were taken to Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot after a laboratory explosion in Weizmann Institute on Sunday morning. Authorities are investigating in an effort to determine the cause of the explosion.

*Left-wing activists and PA residents on Sunday protested the security partition fence near Na�alin.

*Ashkelon � Beersheva Aviv rail line being scrapped due to treasury budgetary considerations. Southern area residents protested the decision.

*Beginning in July, minimum wage will be NIS 3,850 a month.

*Ambulances responded to Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday afternoon when a Swissair flight coming in for a landing reporting difficulties with hydraulic system. The plane did land without incident with 175 people on board.

*An Arab construction worker in Anatot in the northern capital died of a major head injury. He was transported from the work site to Hadassah Mt. Scopus Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

*Three weeks of work sanctions in the Postal Authority have come to an end.