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Israel’s president invites Netanyahu, prosecutors to settle corruption case against prime minister

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s president on Tuesday invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and government prosecutors to his official residence in hopes of brokering a settlement to end an ongoing corruption case against the Israeli leader.

President Isaac Herzog’s office issued the invitation days after announcing that he would not decide on Netanyahu’s request for a pardon and instead urge the sides to reach a settlement.

The invitation, signed by Herzog’s legal adviser, said the president believes that efforts to reach a settlement “must be exhausted first” before he can consider the pardon request. It said it aimed for discussions to take place “with an open heart and sincere, good intention” and asked for a response by Sunday.

Netanyahu last November asked Herzog to cancel his trial, saying that dropping the charges would help unify the country. U.S. President Donald Trump has made multiple appeals to Herzog to end the trial.

Netanyahu is charged with breach of trust, fraud and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy associates. He denies all charges.

The trial has dragged on for six years in a case that has bitterly divided the Israeli public. Netanyahu and his supporters claim he is the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt by the media, police and prosecutors.

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office or the attorney general’s office.

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” could come to negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas, without Iran's direct oversight sparked the crossfire now gripping the region. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran insists it alone must govern the strait after the war, upending decades of the world considering that the strait was international waters free for all, despite its sitting in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Oman route, backed by a United Nations agency, in recent days. Early Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
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