CNN news 2015-03-17 加文本

cnn news 2015-03-17

CARL AZUZ, HOST: It`s Friday the 13th and still awesome.

I`m Carl Azuz with cnn STUDENT NEWS.

In the eastern Missouri city of Ferguson, police say two officers guarding a police station were ambushed and shot on Tuesday. They both survived, but this is just the latest round of violence in a tense suburb in America.

It started last August, when a white police officer named Darren Wilson shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old named Michael Brown.

Large protests followed, with demonstrators saying racism factored into the shooting and the investigation. Some protests were violent.

A grand jury later cleared Officer Wilson of any wrongdoing. That led to another wave of protests. Parts of the city were damaged or burned.

The U.S. Justice Department also investigated Brown`s shooting. It said Officer Wilson did not break federal civil rights law in a way that could be prosecuted. It didn`t charge him.

But it did release a report that said it found regular racial discrimination in Ferguson, both by police and the city`s court system.

Earlier this week, Ferguson`s police chief resigned. The shooting of the two officers happened at the end of a protest. Afterward, everyone from the police to Michael Brown`s parents to U.S. government officials spoke out against the shooting. Authorities launched a manhunt for the attackers.

Israel is gearing up for national elections. They`re set to take place next Tuesday. The country is a parliamentary democracy. Voters choose members of parliament. The parliament then selects the prime minister, who leads the country.

Israel is a close U.S. ally in the Middle East, so leaders around the world are keeping track of this upcoming vote.

ELISE LABOTT, cnn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Less than a week before the election, Benjamin Netanyahu is on the ropes. The latest polls show the prime minister running behind a little known mild-mannered politician. Now, the prospect of a major upset at the hands of Isaac Herzog, known as Bougie.

ISAAC HERZOG, CHAIRMAN, ISRAELI LABOR PARTY: There`s fatigue. There`s a lot of disappointment by Benjamin -- from Benjamin Netanyahu. I think his era is over.

LABOTT: Focused more on his current job, Netanyahu has done little grand-handing, but has been quick to blame, today pointing to a, quote, "worldwide effort to unseat him."

Campaign officials say money from around the world, much of it from the U.S., is funding a grassroots get out the vote drive, called V15 with one goal -- get rid of Bebe.

After six years, Netanyahu`s relentless focus on security seems to be falling flat among many Israelis, who want a leader to not only keep them safe, but deal with rising food and housing prices, health care and welfare reform.

DAVID HOROWITZ, "TIMES OF ISRAEL": And the increasing inequalities within the Israeli economy, the emergence and the widening of the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. There, he`s vulnerable in these elections.

LABOTT: Tens of thousands of people filled Rabin Square in Tel Aviv this weekend to drive home that message at an anti-Netanyahu rally.

In his final push before election day, the prime minister has doubled down on his security platform, with a major speech to the U.S. Congress on the threat Israel faces from Iran...

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I feel a profound obligation to speak to you about an issue that could well threaten the survival of my country and the future of my people.

LABOTT: -- and hedging on his commitment to a peace deal with the Palestinians leading to a two-state solution.

Herzog says Netanyahu has an empty brand, warning about growing tensions with the U.S., Israel`s closest ally, under his leadership.

HERZOG: I think that he failed. And I`m trying to call his bluff on it.

LABOTT (on camera): But the Netanyahu campaign thinks they have the winning hand, with the Iranian nuclear threat and Islamic extremism engulfing the Middle East, aides say, at the end of the day, when voters go to the polls, they really realize they feel safer with the prime minister.

And they hope that is their full house.

Elise Labott, cnn, Jerusalem.