Israeli police to investigate Netanyahu in 'case 4000'
Tel Aviv: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife and son will be questioned by the police on Monday as part of an ongoing corruption investigation, the police confirmed on Sunday.
Shaul Elovitch, former chairman of Israel's largest telecom company Bezeq, and his wife, Iris Elovitch, will be questioned too; Xinhua quoted a police spokesperson as saying.
The five are suspects in a major bribery case, dubbed by the police "case 4000," in which Bezeq under Elovitch allegedly received regulatory and financial benefits in return to positive coverage for Netanyahu in Walla, a news site under Elovitch's control.
Netanyahu will be questioned in the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, while the other four in the offices of Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit in Lod, outside Tel Aviv, the police said.
Their questioning will be held at the same time in separate rooms. They will be investigated under caution, meaning they are all suspects in the case.
The questionings are expected to focus on the information provided by Nir Hefetz, Netanyahu's former media adviser and until recently one of his closest associate, who turned a state witness against him last month.
It will be Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu's second questioning in the "case 4000."
Netanyahu and his associate have been entangled in at least four corruption investigations over the past months.
The long-time leader denies any wrongdoing and maintains that the investigations are part of a witch-hunt perpetrated by the media and "the left."
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Odisha hospital fire toll rises to 12 as 2 more succumb to burn injuries
Bhubaneswar/Cuttack (Odisha) (PTI): The toll in the devastating fire at government-run SCB Medical College and Hospital here climbed to 12 after two more patients succumbed to their burn injuries on Tuesday.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling informed the assembly that a total of 12 people died in the fire incident that took place at the trauma care ICU of the hospital early on Monday.
Terming it a "very sad accident", the minister said, "As soon as the fire broke out, the hospital staffers worked on a war footing to immediately shift 23 patients from the first floor ICU and adjacent wards of the trauma care centre. All of them were shifted to other ICUs and wards."
Seven patients of the trauma care centre died due to their critical condition while five other critically ill patients died while undergoing treatment in other wards and ICUs.
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Eleven medical staffers engaged in the rescue of the patients were also injured in the fire. The injured staff members are undergoing treatment and their lives are out of danger, he said.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Naveen Patnaik, visited the hospital on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also taken stock of the situation.
The state government has constituted a judicial panel to probe the incident, and also formed a fact-finding team headed by Development Commissioner D K Singh that visited the hospital. The team will submit a report to the chief secretary.
The blaze had erupted around 2.48 am on the first floor and is suspected to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit.
SCB Medical College and Hospital is the state's premier health facility, with nearly 2,700 beds and it serves thousands daily.
