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.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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