A tight corner

Israel’s night of rage leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no easy choices. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Things are going from bad to worse for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hours after he fired his defense minister yesterday for calling for a halt to government plans to overhaul the judicial system, he faced a night of raging street protests that even came close to his home. Key reading: - [Israel Protest Boils, Flights Curbed as Netanyahu Mulls Steps]( - [Netanyahu Fires Defense Minister Who Dissented on Court Plan]( - [In Pictures: Mass Protests Erupt in Israel Over Supreme Court Plan]( - [Why Israel Is Bitterly Split Over a Plan to Overhaul the Judiciary]( - Following our rolling coverage of the latest developments [here](. Now the country’s main union has started a labor strike that disrupted departures from the international airport. President Isaac Herzog called on Netanyahu to halt the legislation “for the sake of the unity of the people of Israel.” The plans and uproar over them have unsettled investors long resistant to turmoil. Local markets and the shekel have been swinging between losses and gains as the path of the legal changes remain unclear, as does Netanyahu’s future. Watch Israeli police firing water cannons at protesters in Tel Aviv. Source: Bloomberg Key ministers and aides as well as his personal lawyer were urging the prime minister to pause the revamp, which would give politicians a dominant role in selecting judges and enable them to overrule the top court. Ministers on the right of his government, which was forged just a few months ago, are threatening to break up the coalition if he does. Caught between those who helped bring him back to power and an outburst of public rage, Netanyahu faces no easy choices. — [Sylvia Westall]( Protesters during a rally in Tel Aviv.  Photographer: Ahmad Gharabli/Getty Images Coming Soon: Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. [Sign up now for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter](. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines Nuclear reaction | Ukraine called for an extraordinary meeting of the United Nations Security Council after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he’ll station tactical [nuclear weapons]( in neighboring Belarus. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that Belarus hosting Russian atomic weapons would be a “threat to European security” that could prompt fresh sanctions. Putin hasn’t said when Russia would [place]( the arms on its ally’s territory. Trump bottleneck | If a Manhattan indictment against Donald Trump is followed by charges from the US Justice Department or the district attorney in Atlanta, a [logjam]( of cases would make it harder for each to be tried before the 2024 election cycle hits full swing. As [Zoe Tillman]( reports, judges and lawyers will have to navigate overlapping court timelines along with the escalating demands of the former president’s reelection campaign and may fuel Trump’s rhetoric that he’s a victim of a political “witch hunt.” - A group of more than 175 former federal prosecutors released an open letter [denouncing]( Trump’s incendiary attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who’s investigating him for hush-money payments to a porn star. China’s economic recovery was mixed in March, with business confidence and the housing market improving but the [global outlook darkening]( amid heightened financial-market turmoil. Bloomberg’s aggregate index of eight early indicators showed growth momentum steadied from February. Falling car sales and weak global demand were the main drags. Rocket threat | North Korea test-fired two short-range [ballistic missiles](, adding to its barrage in recent weeks as Pyongyang protests joint military exercises by the US and South Korea. Kim Jong Un’s regime hasn’t commented on the latest launch, but it’s been seeking new ways to deliver nuclear attacks on the US and its two most important allies in Asia, Tokyo and Seoul. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Netanyahu Must Slow Down to Save Israel’s Democracy: Editorial]( - [The Epic Ambitions of the Chinese-Russian Alliance: Hal Brands]( - [Nuclear Power Is as Green as Solar or Wind: Matthew Yglesias]( Losing ground | Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally has [moved ahead]( of a group of parties backing French President Emmanuel Macron in voting intentions, a survey by pollster Ifop for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper showed. The increasingly violent protests over Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age without a parliamentary vote risk [scaring off]( the investors he spent the past six years courting. - Germany’s air and rail services [ground to a halt]( today during a one-day strike as workers join peers in France and the UK to fight for higher pay. Explainers You Can Use - [Swiss Politicians Pitch Credit Suisse Deal to a Skeptical Public]( - [Jack Ma’s Self-Exile Undercuts China’s Pitch to Private Business]( - [South Korea to Surpass China in Chip Machine Spending Next Year]( Strongarm politics | Leaders across the world have often balked at implementing tough reforms that come along with an International Monetary Fund loan, afraid of being penalized at the ballot box. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina isn’t one of them. Unlike leaders in Sri Lanka or Pakistan, [Arun Devnath]( writes, she’s widely [expected to win]( a fourth term in elections expected by January — not least because many of her opponents are behind bars or ensnared in legal cases. A worker uses a candle during a power outage in Dhaka. Photographer: Anik Rahman/Bloomberg Watch Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here.]( News to Note - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida received a much-sought bump in [approval]( ahead of a series of local and special elections, as a survey showed public support for his trip to Ukraine. - Berlin voters [balked]( at a plan to make the capital climate-neutral by law by 2030, which would have put it 15 years ahead of  Germany’s national target. - Foxconn founder Terry Gou is embarking on a 12-day trip to the US, as the independent presidential hopeful seeks to [convince voters]( of his ability to lead Taiwan and balance its business and security priorities. - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva [postponed]( a trip to China because of illness, potentially setting back his plan to strengthen relations with his country’s largest trading partner. - Peru’s Congress will decide on March 30 whether to accept a motion to discuss the [impeachment]( of President Dina Boluarte, La Republica reported, a sign that the nation’s political crisis is unabated. Thanks to the 57 people who answered our Friday quiz and congratulations to Dieter Wanner, who was the first to name Japan as the country whose prime minister became the last Group of Seven leader to visit Ukraine since Russia’s invasion more than a year ago. And finally ... The Scottish National Party will today announce a [replacement]( for Nicola Sturgeon as both SNP leader and the head of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government. Sturgeon’s decision to stand down marks a new direction for the SNP, which has won all elections to the Scottish Parliament since 2007 yet failed to persuade a majority of voters to back its core policy of independence from the UK in a 2014 referendum. As [Katharine Gemmell]( and [Andrew Atkinson]( report, Scotland’s new first minister must govern a nation still deeply riven and no nearer to resolving its constitutional future. SNP leadership candidates Humza Yousaf, left, Kate Forbes, center, and Ash Regan on set before a March 9 TV debate in Glasgow. 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