Israeli police have sent two senior investigators to the United States to expand a corruption investigation linked to the embattled prime minister Ehud Olmert, a spokesman said today.
"Two senior officials from the police's fraud department, Lior Rice and Tzahi Habekin, are in the United States for two and a half weeks to continue the corruption investigation involving Prime Minister Ehud Olmert," Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said.
He added that the two detectives would seek to obtain documents from several US banks and companies related to a corruption investigation into financial contributions given to Prime Minister Olmert before he became premier.
The corruption investigation, the most serious of four pending investigations involving the increasingly unpopular premier, is focused on donations given to Mr Olmert by the Jewish-American financier Morris Talansky.
Mr Talansky testified in May that he had given Mr Olmert at least US$150,000 (Dh550,950) in the 14 years before he became prime minister in 2006. He said some of this money might have been used to fund the prime minister's taste for luxury goods.
The expanding corruption investigation brought widespread calls for Mr Olmert to step down or hold a primary to select a new head of his centrist Kadima party.
On June 25, Mr Olmert narrowly averted an opposition bid to bring down the government by cutting a deal with the Labour party, a crucial coalition partner, that requires Kadima to hold primary elections by Sept 25.
The party leadership is scheduled to meet by July 10 to fix a date for the primaries, which are expected to pit the foreign minister Tzipi Livni against the transport minister Shaul Mofaz and possibly Mr Olmert as well.
*AFP
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
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Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.
Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
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Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
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