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Star of David

Israeli PM Netanyahu faces 'criminal investigation' over fraud and bribery claims

Ben Kentish
Independent
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 20:15 UTC
Benjamin Netanyahu faced questions over his role in an Israeli deal to buy submarines from a company partly owned by Iran
© APBenjamin Netanyahu faced questions over his role in an Israeli deal to buy submarines from a company partly owned by Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is reportedly facing a full criminal investigation into charges of bribery and fraud.

Police have been looking into the allegations for almost nine months and now believe they have cause to open a full investigation, according to reports.

Detectives have applied for permission from Avichai Mandelblit, the Israeli Attorney General, to begin a formal investigation into the alleged offences of bribe-taking and aggravated fraud, which are believed to relate to alleged donations.

Mr Netanyahu denies the allegations. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister told Haaretz: "It's all nonsense.

"Since Netanyahu's victory in the last elections and even before, hostile elements have used heroic efforts to attempt to bring about his downfall, with false accusations against him and his family.

Comment: See also: Of course: Israeli Justice Ministry rebukes Netanyahu money laundering claims

Update (Dec. 28): Israeli police have obtained new documents in a secret probe against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, prompting them to seek a full criminal investigation against the politician on suspicion of bribery and fraud. Authorities are reportedly convinced that they will be able to open one in the coming days.

Update (Dec. 29): Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has ordered a full criminal probe into PM Benjamin Netanyahu over two separate cases involving bribery and fraud, local media say. One of the cases is reported to be newly-emerged.
The prime minister is expected to be called in by police for questioning in the coming days, the Times of Israel reports, adding that he faces allegations of bribery and fraud.

Meanwhile, Israeli TV Channel 10 reported that Netanyahu will be investigated over two separate matters. Both the Justice Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the issue so far.

Hours before the report, lawyer and Labor party activist Eldad Yaniv wrote on Facebook that Mandelblit "realized there was no other choice but to open an investigation" due to what he said was "weighty proof linking Bibi to suspicions of bribery and fraud" allegedly available to police.


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Snakes in Suits

Adviser to Poroshenko happy about deaths in Russian plane crash

Elena Troyanova
The Duran
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 22:27 UTC
Yuri Biryukov
Yuri Biryukov
While the world, together with Russia, mourns the victims of the TU-154 plane crash, there are some scandalous exceptions.

Earlier The Duran reported about Los Angeles CAIR Director slandering the dead.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stayed silent about the plane crash and so far has not expressed his condolences. Yet Poroshenko's adviser Yuri Biryukov took it to Facebook to say that Ukraine is happy about this tragedy. In his post, he writes the following, calling Russia 'a horde':
"It is a paradoxical paradox that residents of the neighboring horde do not understand why we are so happy about the deaths of 80 military men of the horde's army... A plane of the Russian MoD plonked... We've got only one wish - to bring a bottle of Boyaryshnik to the embassy of the horde."

Comment: These are the types in Ukraine that the US and Europe support and expect to adhere to the Minsk agreements.

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Airplane

Russia denies Warsaw claim it has 'secret evidence' on Polish president's plane crash


RT
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 22:14 UTC
Polish government Tu-154 airplane crash site
© Iliya Pitalev / SputnikEmergency services continue to work at the crash site of the Polish government Tu-154 airplane near Smolensk.
Moscow denied having any previously unknown evidence in the crash of the Polish president's plane in Smolensk in 2010, after Warsaw requested it. Russia suggested that Polish officials stop political speculation at the expense of relations with Russia.

"There was no reason to claim that Russia has any new information, a previously not disclosed record from the cabin, which the Polish side is now requesting. There are only those records that the Interstate Aviation Commission and the Polish investigative commission had when they investigated the crash," the Russian Embassy in Poland said on Wednesday in a statement.

"Senior Polish officials have the nerve to condition the normalization of Russian-Polish relations, which have been degraded not on Moscow's initiative, to our 'cooperation' on this case, set up ultimatums and offer distinctively offensive statements," the embassy added, saying that these actions were "undignified political speculation and myth-building at the expense of fostering understanding between Russia and Poland."

Comment: Poland keeps using wild conspiracy theories to demonize Russia for political purposes: Polish theories behind Smolensk plane crash still stir confusion

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Propaganda

Bolivian actress Carla Ortiz exposes what went wrong with Western media coverage of Syrian conflict


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 21:53 UTC
Carla Ortiz
© Carla OrtizCarla Ortiz in Syria.
Popular Bolivian actress and author of a documentary on the Syrian conflict revealed the nature of many mistakes made by Western media in its coverage of the events that transpired in Syria during the last few years.

Famous Bolivian actress Carla Ortiz first traveled to Syria in March 2016 to film a documentary about the role of women in the Syrian conflict. In 8 months she traversed three quarters of Syria's territory, visiting areas controlled by the Syrian army and by insurgents, meeting with government supporters and opposition members alike.
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Che Guevara

Duterte threatens to throw corrupt officials out of a helicopter, claims he's done it before


RT
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 22:04 UTC
duterte
© Erik de Castro
Hardman Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has said that once he threw out a kidnapper from a helicopter when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao, adding that he will impose the same punishment on corrupt officials.

"If you are corrupt, I will fetch you with a helicopter and I will throw you out on the way to Manila," Duterte said, as cited by the Philippine Star newspaper. "I have done that before, why should I not do it again?"

Duterte added that his anti-corruption campaign, like his anti-drug operation, will be a top priority during his presidential term.

The Philippines president was giving a speech in Camarines Sur province during his visit of areas affected by Typhoon Nina. The typhoon rocked the region on Sunday, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and cutting off power. Thousands in coastal villages in the region were forced to evacuate.

Earlier in December, Duterte said he personally killed suspected criminals during his time as mayor of Davao, saying he patrolled the streets on a motorcycle "looking for trouble."
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Chess

Lavrov warns Kerry about abusing power over UN Security Council

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 21:06 UTC
Kerry Lavrov Phone
© english.irib.ir
On Tuesday 27th December 2016 Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and US Secretary of State Kerry had their 70th telephone conversation of 2016.

That means that Lavrov and Kerry have spoken to each other by telephone most weeks and sometimes more than once a week throughout the year. This is on top of the seemingly endless number of times they have met with each other.

It is difficult to imagine a more intense degree of interaction between the two senior diplomats of two rival powers.

It is also impossible to imagine a more sterile interaction, one more barren of achievement.

Though Lavrov and Kerry have spoken to each other so often, and though they have engaged in hours and days of negotiations with each other throughout 2016, the only two agreements they ever reached - both over Syria, the first in February and the second in September - both immediately unravelled.
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Chess

UK played key role in ensuring UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements passed


RT
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 21:09 UTC
Mark Lyall Grant
© Carlo Allegri / ReutersUnited Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mark Lyall Grant
Britain's role in brokering a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory has been confirmed. Israel responded by summoning London's ambassador on Christmas Day.

The UK played a key role in ensuring the UN Security Council resolution passed and in helping with drafts of the text.

The Guardian reports Britain also had a significant hand in mediating between Palestine and the United States to ensure the resolution met the concerns of both sides.

On Wednesday morning Israel accused the UK of going behind its back and secretly playing a "leading role" in pushing the resolution.

The Telegraph quoted an Israeli official as saying: "We're disappointed that a friend and ally such as the UK would take a leading role in formulating and promoting this hostile resolution."
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Attention

Watch US journalist Ben Swann demolish mainstream narrative on Syrian 'moderate rebels'


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 20:54 UTC
moderate rebel jihadist
© AFP 2016/ RAMI AL-SAYED
Last week, US television anchor Ben Swann slammed the mainstream media for its shoddy coverage of the situation in eastern Aleppo, pointing out that the so-called 'moderate rebels' there were actually aligned with terrorists. This week, Swann offered proof of that fact. The best part? He used the mainstream media's own reporting on the subject.

Swann is a WGCL-TV Atlanta anchor who is well known for his coverage of controversial or under-reported stories, and has gained a reputation on a national level with his weekly segment called Reality Check. This week, Swann offered proof of a claim he made last week about the Aleppo fighters' less than moderate nature.
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Eye 1

Israel outraged over passed UN resolution that calls for cessation of settlements on occupied Palestinian territory


Sputnik
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 15:57 UTC
Netanyahu
© AFP 2016/ Dan Balilty
A Jerusalem municipal committee canceled a planned December 28 vote on the construction of 500 homes for Israelis in eastern Jerusalem, the city's officials have confirmed. The plans had drawn US criticism even before the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding an end to Israel's settlement expansion on December 23, and it has been reported that the cancellation was ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

In all, 492 permits for new Israeli homes in the settlements of Ramot and Ramat Shlomo, areas Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day war, had been up for approval. Palestinian laborers work on a construction site in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the mainly Palestinian eastern sector of Jerusalem, on October 30, 2013.

"The prime minister said that while he supports construction in Jerusalem, we don't want to inflame the situation any further," Rubin said.

​Despite the cancellation, the committee did approve the construction of a four-storey building for Jewish settlers in eastern Jerusalem, close to the Old City. A spokesperson for activist organization Ir Amim explained that the request was issued by MALIH 73, a company managed by members of Jewish organization Ateret Cohanim.

Comment: Israel is 'outraged' at being told to stop illegally annexing lands (from a neighboring state it doesn't recognize), and is particularly irate with the outgoing US administration.

During the last 'changing of the guard' in the US, in 2008, the Israelis were far less 'outraged' at Dubya telling them to get back behind the 1967 borders!

You see the pattern here: US presidents suddenly 'see the light' at the end of their terms, but they're powerless to do, much less say, anything while in office.

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Play

South Front: Syria deploys 10K troops to retake Palmyra (VIDEOS)


South Front
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 20:37 UTC
south front
Syrian War Report - December 28, 2016: Govt Deploys 10,000-Strong Force For Advance On Palmyra

The Syrian military has continued to deploy reinforcements to the battlefront against ISIS terrorists near the Tyas Airbase in the province of Homs. Pro-government sources say that the government is set use a 10,000-strong offensive force led by the Tiger Forces, the Desert Hawks Brigade and Hezbollah in the expected military operation to retake the ancient city of Palmyra. While local sources confirm the fact of deployment of additional fighters, it's hard to expect that a major-scale military operation to retake Palmyra can be started in the nearest future. Most likely this will be a goal for 2017.

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