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Israeli police recommend indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu's wife over misuse of public funds


RT
Mon, 30 May 2016 00:43 UTC
netanyahu wift
© Gali Tibbon / Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits with his wife Sara.
Police have reportedly recommended filing charges against Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israel's prime minister for alleged misuse of public funds.

Potential charges are allegedly based on three separate counts, including the ordering of food and private chefs for family events, the employment of a carer for Netanyahu's father, and affairs surrounding the prime minister's residences, according to Haaretz.

On the latter charge, Ezra Saidoff, deputy director general of the premier's office, and electrician Avi Fahima, a former Likud Central Committee member, also look set to be indicted.

A statement from the Israeli police said the investigation had been concluded.

"The case began in February 2015 with the approval of the attorney general and the state prosecutor and focused on a number of issues in connection to which suspicion of the commission of criminal offenses arose, including fraudulent receipt, fraud and breach of trust, including addressing mutual accusations," it read.
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Jet5

Worried? Belgium air force shows off Russian plane intercepts

Brad Lendon
CNN
Mon, 30 May 2016 23:23 UTC
Russian SU-27 and Belgian F-16
New photos released by Belgium give a close-up look at some interesting Russian aircraft that Belgian F-16 fighters encountered during a four-month stint as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission.

The Russian planes intercepted by the Belgians included a Su-27 Flanker, a Tu-134AK, an Il-76, an An-72 and an An-12PPS, according to The Aviationist blog, which reported on the photos last week. The photos were also posted on the Facebook page of the Begium Air Component unit, the 1st Squadron Stingers.

Four Belgian F-16s were based out of Amari Air Base in Estonia, a NATO member country, from January to April. The Belgian jets paired with Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jets based out of Siauliai, Lithuania, to keep watch over the airspace of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, all of which joined the alliance in 2004.

Baltic airspace has seen an increase in Russian air activity in recent years as tensions between Russia and NATO escalated after the Russian takeover of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.


Comment: Had to stick that propaganda in there about Crimea.

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Dollar

Why is the MSM now reporting on the petrodollar? Covert war with Saudi Arabia (VIDEO)

James Corbett
The Corbett Report
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 23:10 UTC
kissinger faisel petrodollar Opec
Bloomberg is trumpeting "The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia's 41-Year U.S. Debt Secret," but anyone who is scratching their heads at this non-revelation might well wonder 'Why Bloomberg?' and 'Why now?' Join James in today's Thought For The Day as he examines the latest volleys in the ongoing covert war between the Saudis and the US and the bigger picture of the battle for the global monetary system.


Comment: Here's the Bloomberg article that Corbett discusses: Access to petrodollar wealth: The untold story behind Saudi Arabia's 41-year U.S. debt secret

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Handcuffs

Turkey arrests 12 and detains 71 linked to oppositionist cleric Fethullah Gulen


Sputnik
Tue, 31 May 2016 23:05 UTC
Fethullah Gulen
© AP Photo/ Selahattin Sevi, File
CIA-backed terrorist trainer and recruiter Fethullah Gulen
Authorities in Turkey arrested 12 and detained 71 more in what was a described as a "witch-hunt" on US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen's movement outlawed in Turkey, local media reported Tuesday.

News broke earlier in the day that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan designated his former ally Gulen's movement a terrorist group.

The arrests and detentions were carried out on suspicion of being members and providing financial support to the Gulen movement's sympathizers known as the "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO)/Parallel State Structure (PDY)," the Turkish Minute online outlet said.

The arrests and detentions were made in Mersin, Siirt, Ankara, Gaziantep, Antalya and other cities and provinces, according to the outlet.
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Better Earth

Beijing may respond to U.S. provocations by declaring South China Sea security zone

Stephen Lendman
Global Research
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 22:56 UTC
south china sea
So-called Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) imposition by any country involves protecting its national security interests.

Foreign aircraft entering it without authorization may be intercepted, ordered out, or forced down if refused. In the case of the South China Sea, vessels could be interdicted for entering protected waters without permission.

US-generated tensions risk escalating dangerously. A previous article indicated China intends deploying nuclear-armed subs in Pacific Ocean waters for the first time - to counter America's growing threat.

Unjustifiably claiming freedom of navigation rights, provocative US air and naval military patrols, along with joint exercises with Asian allies, ups the stakes for possible direct Sino/US confrontation.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Beijing may declare "an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea, two years after it announced a similar one in the East China Sea, according to sources close to the People's Liberation Army and a defence report."

Comment: Further context: US increases military presence in South China Sea

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Attention

Trump's 3,500 lawsuits is unprecedented for a presidential nominee

Nick Penzenstadler and Susan Page
USA Today
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 22:28 UTC
Donald Trump
© AP Photo/ Andrew Harnik
USA TODAY analysis finds 3,500 legal actions by and against Trump, fighting everyone from the government to the vodka makers.

Donald Trump is a fighter, famous for legal skirmishes over everything from his golf courses to his tax bills to Trump University. But until now, it hasn't been clear precisely how litigious he is and what that might portend for a Trump presidency.

An exclusive USA TODAY analysis of legal filings across the United States finds that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.

The sheer volume of lawsuits is unprecedented for a presidential nominee. No candidate of a major party has had anything approaching the number of Trump's courtroom entanglements.
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Star of David

Former Mossad chief predicts end for 'fear-monger' Netanyahu and his administration


RT
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 06:41 UTC
Halevy
© www.rt.com
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's rule is based on "fear" and his days in the office are numbered after he appointed controversial right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister, former Mossad director Efraim Halevy told Al Jazeera. "I think he is a fearmonger. I think he uses fear in a way which one should not use," said Halevy, who was director of Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, from 1998 to 2002.

Halevy particularly cited the conduct of IDF soldiers when referring to fearmongering and Jewish extremism, citing the March incident with an officer in Hebron who shot dead a subdued Palestinian attacker. "There are certain rules of the game in terms of combat - what you do when an enemy has been shot, has been neutralized, he can no longer fight, but he is still alive. Are you able to execute him as apparently was carried out in a certain case?" Halevy said.

Such episodes of unprovoked violence suggest the revaluation of basic principles in Israeli society is underway and very troublesome, he said. "I think nobody should vote out of fear," Halevy said, adding that the appointment of Lieberman signaled the "beginning of the countdown to the end of the administration of Mr. Netanyahu."

The former Mossad boss also served under Netanyahu, who, in turn, has been the second-longest serving head of government in Israeli history. Halevy believes that while the Likud leader is in power, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is out of the question.

The most favorable outcome of the decade-long confrontation, Halevy said, is to let Hamas govern in Gaza, which is "the best situation for Israel." All combat troops stationed near the Gaza border take the same stand along with some senior military officials, Halevy said.


Comment: Efraim Halevy also held the positions of Israeli ambassador to the EU and was the national security advisor to Ariel Sharon.


Comment: Another knowledgeable source speaks up against Netanyahu's government. It is becoming a trend.

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Info

Diplomatic tightrope: Can Russia solve yet another Syrian problem?


Sputnik
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 22:03 UTC
Damascus, Syria
© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
With the peace process in Syria stalling, the international talks slowly falling into sleep mode and the bloodshed still raging in the country's northern part, Moscow is proposing a remarkable diplomatic solution to the country's seething ethnic tensions.

Russia, which by its own admission has eliminated over 28,000 terrorists since the start of the Syrian operation last September, is now attempting to take over the leading role in negotiations on the future of Syria, the Danish newspaper Politiken suggested.

Surprisingly to the West, which mainly sees Russia as a supporter of Assad, Moscow, has recently made a number of proposals for a new constitution, which may greatly restrict and decentralize Assad's power. One of them is a proposal to limit the president's term of office to seven years, Politiken wrote. According to a think-tank under the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian proposal aims at substantially limiting the Syrian president's power to make Assad's resignation unnecessary because his role after a transition period will be nothing but marginal.
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Eye 2

Retired veteran tells how Trump "University" cheated him out of $26,000

Brad Reed
Raw Story
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 21:06 UTC
trump uniersity scam
© CNN
Trump University literature (Screen cap via CNN)
We're going to be hearing a lot more about Trump University in the coming days, especially after a judge whom Trump had bashed for being a "Mexican" recently ordered the release of several internal Trump U. documents that will be out by the end of the week. CNN spent some time talking with some former Trump University students who described how the "university" took $26,000 of his money and gave him almost nothing in return.

Felicisimo Limon, a retired Navy veteran of 40 years, took a free introductory seminar that convinced him to invest in taking real estate courses at the "school." However, after five days of "instruction," he says that he didn't learn any useful information and was constantly pressured by instructors to pay even more money than what he'd already forked over.

Comment: Trump is a scam artist though and though. Any venture he's involved in will only have one true purpose: enriching himself.

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Alarm Clock

The end of M.A.D. - the beginning of madness

Eric Zuesse
The Saker
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 16:45 UTC
nuke Maeshall islands
© Photo: US Department of Defense/Wikimedia/cc
The Marshall Islands were the site of the United States' infamous Bikini Atoll nuclear bomb test, among many others, in the 1940s and 1950s.
John Helmer, who explains military-strategic matters better and more knowledgeably than just about anyone, headlined on May 30th, "The Red Line Crossed, In the Cross-Hairs, At Trigger Point", and he opened:
First there was the red-line announcement. On Friday [May 27th] in Athens there was the cross-hairs statement. By the month of October, the month before the US presidential election, there will be the trigger point.

The US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies are going to war with Russia, accelerating the inevitability that Russia will strike in self-defence. This is what the first and second statements by President Vladimir Putin warn. There will be no statement of warning.
News media in the West treat any such report — that Russia might be placed into a situation in which a blitz nuclear attack against the West would (and maybe even will) be Russia's rational response to Western operations to surround Russia with hostile forces on its borders — as if there's something kooky about any such opinion: they treat it as if the West weren't ruled by people who are that evil, as if recognizing such evil in a ruler in the West is to be prohibited (especially if that ruler is America's President, instead of, for example, Turkey's President, whom apparently one is allowed to impute to be evil). On the present occasion, however, they should pay close attention to the situation Helmer describes, and they should report about the matter, while there might still be time enough to avert an unimaginable catastrophe, which (as Helmer explains in detail) could quite possibly happen this year.

Comment: Further reading:

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