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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife charged with fraud

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Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been charged with fraud and breaches of trust. Netanyahu had been the focus of a long investigation into misuse of state funds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, was indicted for misusing state funds, Israel’s Justice Ministry said Thursday.

Netanyahu was the subject of a long police probe into allegations that she had falsified household expenses, including claims she had spent “over 350,000 shekels” ($96,500, €83,500) on catering for the premier’s office.

Netanyahus blame the housekeeper

When Netanyahu was told she may face a possible corruption trial in September last year, the Office the Prime Minister’s official Facebook page published a post denying Sara’s involvement and said the allegations were “absurd and will be proven to be unfounded.”

The Netanyahus instead blamed Meni Naftali, the premier’s former housekeeper, for having ordered the food.

The prime minister himself is facing several graft cases at the moment. In March, police questioned Netanyahu and his wife for an investigation into whether his government improperly awarded benefits to Israel’s largest telecom company, Bezeq.

Netanyahu and his family members are also suspected of receiving 1 million shekels ($285,000, €240,000) worth of luxury cigars, champagne and jewelry from wealthy personalities in exchange for financial or personal favors.

Another investigation sees Netanyahu suspected of attempting to reach an agreement with the owner of Yediot Aharonot, a best-selling Israeli newspaper, for more favorable coverage.

law/kms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

Tom Catena and his wife visit Armenian Genocide Memorial

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YEREVAN. – Laureate of Aurora Prize 2017 Tom Catena and his wife Nasima visited Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on Monday.

While placing a wreath at the genocide monument, Catena’s wife burst into tears.

Nasima was deeply touched by the memorial, Tom Catena told reporters adding that when there is a lot of pain in you, you are trying to suppress it, but being here, you immediately remember your own history.

Tom Catena and his wife planted a tree on Memory Alley and visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Katena told Armenian News- NEWS.am he was deeply impressed by a photo of an Armenian boy showing his hands with traces of nails. He was crucified, but survived.

Doctor Tom Catena arrived in Sudan as a Catholic missionary from Amsterdam, New York. He has since saved thousands of lives as the sole surgeon permanently based in Sudan’s war-ravaged Nuba Mountains where humanitarian aid is restricted. It is for this service that he received the Aurora Prize, granted by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, created on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors.

 

George Clooney and wife Amal celebrate birth of twins and reveal their names

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George Clooney and wife Amal celebrate birth of twins and reveal their namesA rep for the actor confirmed that everyone is “healthy, happy and doing fine” after the births this morning.

George Clooney‘s wife Amal has given birth to twins.

The actor and his human rights lawyer wife welcomed their son Alexander Clooney and daughter Ella Clooney on Tuesday, June 6.

A rep for the couple told ET Online : “This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives. Ella, Alexander and Amal are all healthy, happy and doing fine.

The spokesperson then joked: “George is sedated and should recover in a few days.”

It was clear last week that the twins’ births were imminent as George pulled out of attending the £850,000 Aurora Prize event he co-founded, saying he couldn’t leave Amal’s side in case she gave birth and he wasn’t there.

Skipping the awards, he said by video link: “If I came and my wife had twins while I was away I could never come home.”

It was George’s own mother who first revealed the couple’s twins would be a boy and a girl.

Speaking earlier this year, his mum Nina said: “It will be one of each! Yes, a boy and a girl. That’s what I’ve been told.

“How marvellous! My husband and I are extremely excited.”

And George is already ready for nappy duty, pointing out in a recent interview that he played a paediatrician for years on medical drama E.R. so is well aware of how to change a dirty nappy.

“Hang on for a minute! I played a paediatrician on ER so I know how to work on extra children,” the actor explained to E! News.

“If there are any accidents, I’m there. I’m the guy.”

George previously said the couple would not choose names for their twins until the births.

He said: “No we haven’t picked out any names and I’ll tell you why. Because I’ve had friends pick out names around their parents and then it becomes …

“Whatever name you pick they’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t like that. That guy’s a prime minister’ ‘Can’t name her Susan. You remember your Aunt Susan?'”

In March, George said that Amal was “doing really great” during pregnancy.

“She is doing really great. She is amazing. I don’t have anything to do. There is nothing I can do to help, but make tea and stuff,” he told Extra .

George added: “I know swaddling… I know what I’m in for.”

Aliyev’s move to appoint wife vice president key cause of border tensions – Shahin Mirzoyev

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The escalations which Azerbaijan recently provoked on the Nagorno-Karabakh frontline are an attempt by the country’s leadership to deflect public attention from domestic problem, the Azerbaijani-Talish journalist who was recently given asylum in Armenia said today.
At a public debate held at the Ombudsman’s office, Shahin Mirzoyev attributed the tensions to President Ilham Aliyev’s move to appoint his wife, Mehriban, a deputy president.

“It is common knowledge that Aliyev appointed his wife vice president, and the interior minister appointed his son a deputy minister. Those promotions stirred up public sentiments. So what the Aliyev regime is trying to do now is to escalate the situation on the border to divert public attention,” he explained.

Mirzoyev, who faced threats of death penalty in Azerbaijan, said he now feels absolutely safe and comfortable in Armenia.

Azerbaijan Dictator Aliyev appoints wife as vice president

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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as first vice president of Azerbaijan.

Aliyev’s order on the appointment was posted on the presidential website on February 21, RFE/RL reports.

Aliyev has been president of the oil-producing former Soviet republic since October 2003.
He has been accused by right groups and Western governments of persecuting opposition politicians, human rights defenders, and journalists.
RFE/RL journalist Khadija Ismayilova spent 17 months in prison in 2015-16 over financial-crimes charges that she and supporters say were government revenge for her reporting on alleged corruption involving Aliyev and his relatives.

Blogger Alexander Lapshin’s wife appeals to Israel PM

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Israeli Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin’s wife, Ekaterina, has petitioned to Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, with the request to urge the Azerbaijan leadership to release her spouse.

“Dear Mr. Prime Minister, as the head of the state, you have a big international influence, and thus, you can and must help the citizen of Israel who served in TZAHAL [i.e. the Israel Defense Forces], and now is in a difficult situation.

“You have released Gilad Shalit by paying a high price for him. Your brother fell while saving the Israelis and Jews in Entebbe.

“Now, the time has come to help a blogger and a reporter who got involved in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan while carrying out his journalistic duties, and as a result, found himself in an Azerbaijani prison.

“Taking into account the good relations between Azerbaijan and Israel, the joint military and economic programs, you have an opportunity to petition to [Azerbaijan] President [Ilham] Aliyev with a request and help the Israeli to be in freedom.

“This is a very dangerous precedent because if a blind eye is turned on this, later many Israelis can appear in such a situation, due to visiting disputed territories and for visiting our territories in Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, which the international community does not recognize as Israeli.

We realize that you are focused on global issues, such as the Iranian threat. But rendering assistance to your citizens is no less an important commitment, since we do not abandon our own, not solely in the battlefield, but anywhere.

“We expect your intervention, since you can and you must [intervene],” specifically reads the petition by Lapshin’s wife.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, blogger Alexander Lapshin was “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan–but with a Ukrainian passport–and, subsequently, he published several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities.

Afterward, Azerbaijan issued an international search for this famous blogger. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and based on this search.

On January 26 of the current year, the Minsk city court dismissed the blogger’s appeal of the Belarusian General Prosecutor’s Office decision to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

On February 7, the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the appeals that were filed into this case, and upheld the aforesaid decision by the General Prosecutor’s Office.

On the evening of the same day, the famous blogger was extradited to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.

According to analysts and human rights defenders, however, Alexander Lapshin’s case may become an appalling precedent that curtails the freedom of speech of foreigners and the freedom of movement of Armenian citizens.

The wife of Turkish President Erdogan Like Husband do not think that the Armenian & Kurdish question in Turkey exist

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122657-383x286The wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke at a public meeting on the issues of national minorities in Turkey. According Haber.sol, Emine Erdogan during a meeting in the lounge of the Sheraton to Atashehir (Turkey), became involved in politics, surprising the audience present at the meeting. “In Turkey region fight with all these problems is determined. In this country we went to war for those who do not want to move forward and as a nation we won. Currently international forces wish to advance their interests and achieve their goals on our land, “said the First Lady Emine Erdogan of Turkey, adding that Turkey does not believe that the Armenian question and the Kurdish question exist …

Krikor Amirzayan

Kurdish authorities seize $250 mln belonging to Kurdistan oil minister’s wife: report

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Iraqi Kurdistan oil minister Ashti Hawrami’s wife Chra (Chrakhan) Rafiq. Photo: Rudaw

Iraqi Kurdistan oil minister Ashti Hawrami’s wife Chra (Chrakhan) Rafiq. Photo: Rudaw

HEWLÊR-Erbil, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— Kurdish authorities reportedly have seized some $250 million belonging to an oil “businesswoman” and wife of Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s current minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami, the Wusha newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Wusha report stated the Kurdistan Presidency formed an investigative committee to look into the dealings of Chra Rafiq, wife of Minister Ashti Hawrami, and that the money is now in a bank in the Kurdistan Region.

The unknown businesswomen Rafiq, a dual Iraqi and German citizen, has not been officially accused of having committed any crime although she reportedly left the Kurdistan Region for Turkey upon the announcement of an impending investigation.

Wusha also reported that “some officials” attempted to intervene in the matter but that the investigative committee blocked their efforts.

NRT reached out to Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) members Dilshad Shaaban and Salih Bashar from the Parliament’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for confirmation of the seizure. Both did not answer repeated calls.

In a post to his Facebook page, Change Movement (Gorran) MP and energy committee member Ali Hama Salih said he hoped for similar investigations in the future to fight corruption in the region.

Kurdistan oil minister Ashti Hawrami routinely accused of corruption by observers, Kurdish officials and local media.

Many Kurdish politicians and Observers believe that many of the oil industry projects in Iraqi Kurdistan are conducted in a non-transparent way. Some have even described them as secretive.

Read more about Corruption in Iraqi Kurdistan

Source: eKurd

US special forces kill Isis commander and capture wife in Syria raid

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Isis fighters marching in Raqqa, Syria. Photograph: Uncredited/AP

Isis fighters marching in Raqqa, Syria. Photograph: Uncredited/AP

US special operations forces have killed an Islamic State commander through a dramatic and secretive raid into Syria and have taken a woman prisoner, the first US-held detainee of the war against Isis and a move that places immediate stress on one of Barack Obama’s signature wartime policies.

Ashton Carter, the US defense secretary, confirmed on Saturday that Obama ordered the elite troops to raid a location in eastern Syria and “capture” an Isis figure, Abu Sayyaf. Unusually, Carter said the raid also targeted the man’s wife, identified as Umm Sayyaf.

Abu Sayyaf was killed in the raid, Carter said. Umm Sayyaf was taken prisoner – a rarity for the Obama administration, whose reluctance to add to the complexities of US wartime detentions has often led it to kill battlefield targets instead of capturing them.

A White House statement indicated the Iraqi government “contributed” to the operation, involvement that could signal Umm Sayyaf’s ultimate dispensation.

Bernadette Meehan, the National Security Council spokeswoman, said Umm Sayyaf was “in military detention in Iraq”. US officials did not immediately respond to requests for elaboration about her conditions and what they intend to do with her.

But the administration was portraying the overall operation as a success.

“The operation represents another significant blow to Isis, and it is a reminder that the United States will never waver in denying safe haven to terrorists who threaten our citizens, and those of our friends and allies,” Carter said in a statement.

Meehan said in a separate statement that the operation also freed a young Yazidi woman whom Abu Sayyaf and Umm Sayyaf kept as “a slave”. Isis members have committed human trafficking and slavery, particularly against the Yazidi minority whose persecution on a mountaintop in Iraq last year sparked Obama to begin airstrikes on Isis.
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Although the raid was described to reporters as a capture mission, Meehan indicated that the US was unsure what it would do now it has Umm Sayyaf in custody.

“We are working to determine an ultimate disposition for the detainee that best supports the national security of the United States and of our allies and partners, consistent with domestic and international law. We will follow our usual practice with respect to giving the ICRC notification and access to the detainee,” Meehan said, referring to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

A Pentagon spokesman said she did not know if Umm Sayyaf was being interrogated or would soon be. Nor did she know if Umm Sayyaf would be taken to Guantánamo Bay.

The 3,000 US military forces on the ground in Iraq, formally on an advisory mission, are not known to operate any detention facilities – an allergy in Iraq after the infamous Abu Ghraib torture scandal of the last decade’s US occupation. Transferring Umm Sayyaf to Iraqi prisons, a possible outcome of the raid, is also complicated by US and international injunctions against turning detainees over to abusive prison conditions.

Human Rights Watch has documented extensive abuse, to include rape, in Iraqi government jails.

In a 2014 report, the monitor organization determined that “security forces of the interior and defense ministries, and forces that operate unofficial detention facilities, tortured women in their custody”.

US warplanes bomb Isis positions in Syria daily. Raids by ground forces have been rare. A publicly acknowledged exception was a summer 2014 attempt to free western hostages from Isis captivity. By the time US forces arrived at their target location, the hostages had been moved. Some, including journalist James Foley, would later be beheaded by Isis.