Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 13 March 2018
Saudi king establishes anti-corruption units Iran finds black

box from plane

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) report on the state-run Sau- and protect the integrity of Salman.
— Saudi Arabia’s king has di Press Agency. the public employment.” Authorities say the arrests crash killing 11
established special anti- The report said the king’s The decision comes af- netted more than $106 bil-
corruption units of prosecu- decision came from “his ter Saudi Arabia arrested lion in exchange for the re- By NASSER KARIMI
tors to pursue embezzle- concern over combating dozens of princes, business lease most of the detaiees. Associated Press
ment cases in the kingdom corruption in all its forms leaders and government Critics say the arrests were TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Inves-
after a recent crackdown. aiming to protect the officials in early Novem- more to consolidate Crown tigators on Monday found
King Salman’s decision was homeland and its resourc- ber in a push led by Crown Prince Mohammed’s the “black box” from a Turk-
announced this week in a es, maintain public money Prince Mohammed bin power.q ish private jet that crashed
in an Iranian mountain
range on its way from the
Israel’s embattled PM holds off on early elections United Arab Emirates to Is-
tanbul, killing all 11 people
on board that included a
By ARON HELLER Turkish bride-to-be and her
Associated Press bachelorette party.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Authorities recovered all
Minister Benjamin Netan- the dead from the crash
yahu on Monday threat- site in the Zagros Mountains
ened to take the country outside of the city of Shahr-
to early elections, but said e Kord, some 370 kilometers
it was too soon to do so (230 miles) south of Iran’s
as the scandal-plagued capital, Tehran, according
Israeli leader maneuvered to a report by the state-run
to keep his divided coali- IRNA news agency.
tion intact. Officials have so far identi-
Netanyahu’s coalition has fied eight bodies, includ-
been feuding over wheth- ing that of Mina Basaran,
er to continue granting the 28-year-old daughter
exemptions from military of the chairman of Turkey’s
service to ultra-Orthodox Basaran Investment Hold-
Jewish men. But looming ing, the semi-official Mehr
over Netanyahu’s speech news agency reported
was a mountain of corrup- Monday.
tion scandals. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on during a session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Heavy rains and wind in
Monday, March 12, 2018. Netanyahu on Monday threatened to take the country to early elec-
“If there are elections, we tions, but said it was too soon to do so as the scandal-plagued Israeli leader raced to keep his the mountain range since
will contend and win, but divided coalition intact. the crash Sunday made it
we are not there yet. The (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) impossible for helicopters
hour is late, but not too to land in the area, though
late,” Netanyahu told a government, which holds believed there was suf- against him in exchange officials hoped to bring
stormy parliamentary ses- 66 out of the 120 seats in ficient evidence to indict for leniency. the bodies down from the
sion. “We need to make parliament. Netanyahu in a pair of Netanyahu has denied mountain later in the day,
one last supreme effort to For generations, Israel has bribery scandals. wrongdoing in all of the IRNA said.
preserve the longevity of given seminary students In one case, Netanyahu cases, accusing prosecu- The flight took off Sunday
this government in its cur- exemptions from compul- is suspected of accept- tors, police and the media from Sharjah International
rent form.” sory service. That has infuri- ing lavish gifts from a pair of conspiring to oust him. Airport in the UAE, home
Netanyahu’s religious co- ated Israel’s secular major- of billionaire supporters. In During Monday’s parlia- to the low-cost carrier Air
alition partners have de- ity, and previous attempts the other, he is suspected mentary session, opposi- Arabia. A little over an hour
manded that the govern- at compromise have been of promoting regulation tion leaders called on Ne- into the flight, the aircraft
ment extend the military struck down by the Su- that would benefit an Is- tanyahu to step aside and rapidly gained altitude
exemptions. But rival par- preme Court. raeli daily newspaper in accused him of manufac- and then dropped drasti-
ties have threatened to Netanyahu’s opponents exchange for more favor- turing a coalition crisis to cally within minutes, ac-
bolt the coalition over the have accused him of cre- able coverage. divert attention from the cording to FlightRadar24, a
issue, raising the possibility ating an artificial crisis, Since then, police have scandals. flight-tracking website.
of early elections. potentially triggering elec- opened a separate inves- “You want elections be- It remains unclear what
Netanyahu reached a tions a year and a half tigation into suspicions that fore the public knows the caused the crash, though
compromise with a key ahead of schedule, in or- Netanyahu, as communi- truth about your personal a witness told state televi-
religious partner at a late- der to shore up his position cations minister, pushed corruption, before people sion the Bombardier CL604
night meeting on Sunday, as he fights the corruption regulation worth hundreds who know you and worked was on fire before it hit the
appearing to defuse the allegations. The thinking of millions of dollars to Is- with you and know what mountain. That equipment,
crisis. Then on Monday, a is that it would be much rael’s national telecom you did say the whole typically painted in a bright
junior coalition partner, Yis- harder to force a newly re- company Bezeq. The com- truth,” said opposition law- color to allow searchers to
rael Beitenu, said it would elected Netanyahu to step pany, led by a friend of maker Tzipi Livni. easily find it, records cock-
not support the compro- down if he is indicted in the Netanyahu, in return alleg- In his speech, Netanyahu pit conversations and ra-
mise. Talks between the coming months. edly provided favorable made no mention of the dio transmissions, as well as
sides were to continue in Israel’s attorney general is coverage to the prime scandals, but said he had other data from a flight.
the coming days. expected to make a deci- minister and his family on no fears of holding a new Sharjah civil aviation au-
Military service for ultra- sion on an indictment by its popular Walla news site. election. Opinion polls thorities said in a statement
Orthodox men is one of the the fall. That investigation is con- have shown Netanyahu late Sunday night that the
most fraught topics in Israel After a more than year- tinuing, but two former Ne- and his Likud Party gaining plane’s eight passengers
and looked to undermine long investigation, Israeli tanyahu confidants have popularity as the scandals were six Turks and two
Netanyahu’s coalition police last month said they already agreed to testify have mounted.q Spaniards. q