ISRAEL
Netanyahus’ woes grow
Police yesterday recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, on bribery and other charges, the third such recommendation against the prime minister in recent months. The attorney general must now decide whether to bring indictments in the case, which centers on regulatory benefits allegedly granted to telecommunications firm Bezeq in exchange for positive coverage from a related media company. Netanyahu immediately rejected the accusations against him and his wife, saying “these recommendations were determined and leaked even before the investigations began.” He said he was confident that “the relevant authorities, after examining the issue, will reach the same conclusion: that there was nothing because there is nothing.” Police said there was evidence to charge him with bribery, fraud, breach of trust and unlawful acceptance, and his wife with of bribery fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of evidence.
UNITED STATES
Admiral dies in Bahrain
Vice Admiral Scott Stearney, who led the US Navy operations in the Middle East, was found dead on Saturday in Bahrain, the navy said, adding that foul play was not suspected. “This is devastating news for the Stearney family, for the team at Fifth Fleet and for the entire navy,” Admiral John Richardson, chief of naval operations, said in a statement. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bahraini Ministry of the Interior were cooperating on the investigation, he said.
WEST BANK
Bethlehem tree lit
Thousands of Christian faithful and dignitaries on Saturday attended the lighting of a giant Christmas tree outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and Father Francesco Patton, a top official with the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, were among the officials at the ceremony. A fireworks display and festivities accompanied the annual ceremony at the Manger Square.
LEBANON
Tensions rise over politician
A stand-off between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and a pro-Syrian politician escalated on Saturday when shots were fired as police sought to bring the politician in for questioning over accusations of stirring strife. Tensions have escalated since a video emerged of Druze politician Wiam Wahhab making obscene personal insults that many took to refer to Hariri and his father, Rafik, who was killed in 2005. Hariri’s allies filed a legal complaint accusing Wahhab of “stirring strife and risking civil peace.” Wahhab was quoted by news organization LBC International as saying one person was wounded in what he described as a clash. “I was subjected today to an attempted assassination and the person who was wounded was meters from me. Let Hariri bear the responsibility of this blood,” he said, adding that the police action could lead to civil war.
UNITED STATES
Marriott urged on passports
Senator Charles Schumer yesterday said that Marriott hotel officials should pay for new passports for guests whose passport numbers were hacked as part of a massive data breach that the company disclosed on Friday. Marriott should immediately notify customers who are at greatest risk of identity theft and pay the US$110 cost of a new US passport if the guests request it, he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing