The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted to misuse of state funds and will have to pay $15,000 (£11,910). Sara Netanyahu was accused of spending $99,300 on outside catering while falsely declaring there were no cooks available at the PM’s residence. She was charged with fraud and breach of trust last year.

Her lawyer said the case had nothing to do with her and said it was an attempt to bring down her husband. Under a plea deal, Mrs Netanyahu will repay the state $12,490 and pay a fine of $2,777. She will have a criminal record though the charges she faced were reduced, the Jerusalem Post reported. Prosecutor Erez Padan said that the prosecution had made “significant concessions” that led to a “balanced and right plea deal.” He said the compromise had saved the court from calling on 80 witnesses. “The prosecution is aware there isn’t full correlation between the sum and the criminal offence, however in the framework of the legal procedure, a full correlation is not obligatory,” he said.

Last year, Mrs Netanyahu’s lawyers argued that she had not been made aware of the procedures about outside catering and that the meals had been ordered by the household manager and served to visiting dignitaries. Responding to the charges, Mr Netanyahu said in a statement: “Sara Netanyahu is a strong and honourable woman and there has never been any fault in her actions.”(BBC)…[+]

BRASILIA – Leaked personal messages published yesterday by a news website show the judge who led the corruption trial that jailed former Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advised prosecutors to influence public opinion against the leftist leader.

The Intercept posted what it said were social media chats from then judge Sergio Moro to the prosecution team, suggesting prosecutors make a public statement playing up what Moro said were contradictions in Lula’s testimony to undermine his claim to be a victim of political persecution. The exchange occurred after Lula’s May 10, 2017 deposition against charges that he took a beachside luxury apartment as a bribe. Lula left the court room to tell supporters that he was being “massacred” and was preparing to run for president again. Moro, who is now Brazil’s justice minister, questioned the authenticity of the messages and said he would not comment on texts obtained by hackers. “The supposed material, obtained in a criminal way, must be presented to an independent authority so that its integrity can be certified,” he said in a statement.(Reuters)…[+]

Venezuelan school teacher and desperate migrant Isabeth Moren, has a message for the women of Trinidad and Tobago. “We did not come here to take your husbands,” she said. Moreno, who also has a radio programme in her homeland, said she had fled a country plagued by a worsening economic and political crisis. And she was simply seeking a better life.

Standing in line at the migrant registration centre at Achievors Banquet Hall in San Fernando on Friday, Moreno said she was disappointed in the way Trinidadian women treated her kind. “We are insulted and degraded. I am a school teacher, my friend here is a doctor. Not every single Venezuelan woman you see is here for prostitution,” she said. Moreno, 50, arrived in Trinidad two months ago and has secured a job as a waitress.

“But the men in Trinidad thinks we are here for sex. That is not right. In many instances we have men coming into our bedrooms in our apartments asking for sex. Some of them ask for massages. That is wrong. We are not here for that. It is unfair that we have to be degraded like this,” she said. Moreno said she wanted to return to her homeland and be reunited with her family. “My country is beautiful. We don’t want to live here. We want to be allowed to stay and work and someday return home,” she said.(Trinidad Express)…[+]