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."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kannada director K Ramnarayan removes Sonu Nigam’s song following language row
_vb_22.jpeg)
Bengaluru: The director, K. Ramnarayan, has announced the removal of a song sung by Bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam from his upcoming Kannada film Kuladalli Keelyavudo. The removal follows a backlash over the singer's remarks at a recent Bengaluru concert, in which he allegedly linked a fan's Kannada song request to the Pahalgam terror tragedy.
In an official press statement, the filmmaker said, "There is no doubt that Sonu Nigam is a good singer. But we are very upset by how he spoke about Kannada recently at a concert.”
The removed song, 'Manasu Haadtade,' composed by Manomurthy and penned by Yogaraj Bhat, which was recorded three months ago and gained popularity with the masses, will now be re-recorded with local Kannada singer Chethan, who will lend his voice for the film version.
Director Ramnarayan stressed the team’s stance, saying, “We cannot tolerate the insult that Sonu Nigam has done to Kannada, so we have removed the song.” Producer Santosh Kumar added that the decision is final and that Sonu Nigam will not be considered for any future collaboration.
The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce also declared on Monday that it would no longer extend cooperation to the singer.
