Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan began his testimony in the corruption trial of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, in a court session that was broadcast live from an English seaside town direct to Israel.
The trial is being held in Jerusalem but Mr Milchan's testimony was taking place in Brighton at the request of the prosecution, which is close to where the 78-year-old is presently based. The testimony is expected to last several days.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Netanyahu wrongfully received almost 700,000 shekels (about $200,000) worth of gifts from Mr Milchan and an Australian billionaire. The indictment describes the gifts as a “supply line” of champagne and cigars.
The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing in the case and two other cases that are being heard in the same trial.
Mr Netanyahu is accused of helping Mr Milchan with his business interests and with his US visa status. The prime minister has described the gift-giving as normal conduct among friends, branding his trial a political witch-hunt.
Mr Milchan hinted at a deeper, patriotic cast to the relationship. “I can't tell you how many things Bibi and I did in secret for the country,” he said in his testimony, using Mr Netanyahu's nickname.
When the prime minister arrived at the Jerusalem court to watch the testimony, Mr Milchan greeted him off-screen with “Shalom, Bibi!”
Criminal probes against Mr Netanyahu, now in a record sixth term as premier, began in 2016 and set off years of political turmoil in Israel.
He has been indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust for allegedly granting regulatory favours to businessmen in return for positive favourable media coverage.
After a cycle of inconclusive elections and an 18-month-stint in the opposition, Mr Netanyahu returned to power in December at the head of a hard-right government.
He has denied any link between his trial and reforms to the justice system that his coalition is seeking. The proposals have drawn strong opposition.
Israeli legislators on Sunday began debating a new bill on the proposed reforms after a pause called by Mr Netanyahu to allow compromise talks with opposition parties. The Prime Minister declared those talks fruitless last week and ordered some of the legislation to be revived.
The proposed changes, which included curbs on the Supreme Court's ability to rule against the government, had sparked nationwide protests that prompted Mr Netanyahu to suspend efforts to pass them into law.
Coalition lawmakers have indicated that the new bill would be a far softer version of previous proposals that had sought to almost totally roll back the Supreme Court's power to rule against the executive.
The opposition, however, says the new bill would still open the door to corruption.
“You are renewing a legislation blitz meant to destroy the justice system's independence and badly hurt Israeli democracy's delicate checks and balances,” Labour lawmaker Gilad Kariv said as the debate began.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Mr Netanyahu to stop the legislation and revive negotiations “until we reach agreements that will safeguard democracy and prevent a national disaster”, in a statement posted on Twitter.
The coalition says its goal is to balance the powers of the government, legislature and judiciary by reining in a Supreme Court they see as too interventionist
Semi-final fixtures
Portugal v Chile, 7pm, today
Germany v Mexico, 7pm, tomorrow
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
