News Round Up - January 8th, 2018 - Evening

 Today's most interesting news articles with links and brief summaries...

 

 

Russia probe: Trump lawyers 'in talks over Mueller interview'

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42614777

Donald Trump's lawyers are in talks with investigators who are seeking to interview the US president as part of a justice department probe, reports say.

The Washington Post, quoting an unnamed person close to Mr Trump, says investigation lead Robert Mueller is likely to interview him within weeks.

According to The Post, Mr Mueller first raised the possibility of interviewing the president in a meeting with his lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, in late December.

Aside from the Russia angle, special counsel Robert Mueller may also look into whether the president and his inner circle sought to obstruct justice while in office following the firing of FBI director James Comey.
 

Egypt has Abandoned Palestine

LINK: https://www.albawaba.com/news/original-egypt-has-abandoned-palestine-1070310

The New York Times has uncovered audiotapes from Egyptian officials Officials are heard urging Egyptian talk show hosts to accept Trump's decision Seeking partnership with Israel over Palestine, Egypt has picked sides The Palestinian People have lost yet another regional ally.

The actual government position: that while Palestinians' rights deserve to be heard at some level, Egypt accepts Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as Egypt Has more pressing security concerns that is shares with Israel.

In other words, Egypt and Israel's alliance takes precedence over Egypt's Alliances with Palestine, which now looks more myth than reality.

Egypt has historically been one of the strongest military powers against Israel, spearheading wars against Israel in 1948, 1967 and again in 1973-the last of which Egypt initiated as a way to retake the Sinai Peninsula.

 

India's Supreme Court will reconsider the nation's ban on gay sex – ThinkProgress

LINK: https://thinkprogress.org/india-court-reconsider-377-bb1aed9a1596/

The Supreme Court of India announced Monday that it would reconsider its 2013 ruling upholding Section 377, a colonial-era law criminalizing same-sexsexual relations.

In 2009, the High Court of Delhi ruled against the law, but in 2013, the Supreme Court set aside that ruling, keeping the law in place.

In addition to the advocacy and discussion that followed that setback, subsequent rulings in favor of transgender equality and, most recently, establishing privacy as a fundamental right have help set the stage for the Court to revisit the law.

The law is not commonly enforced, but it is used to harass and blackmail gay people, who then cannot report the blackmail because they fear persecution under the law.
 

Netanyahu son bragged about gas deal outside strip club, tape reveals

LINK: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/08/netanyahu-son-bragged-about-gas-deal-outside-strip-club-tape-reveals?CMP=twt_gu

Lawyers for Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, tried to stop the broadcast of an embarrassing audiotape in which Netanyahu's son Yair Suggested his father helped push through a $20bn deal to the benefit of a gas tycoon.

The recording of the conversation, which took place outside a strip club, is the latest revelation to cast light on the Netanyahu family's relationships with wealthy tycoons, which have so far spawned two corruption investigations into the prime minister's activities.

According to the Israel Television Channel, the tape features the voices of YairNetanyahu and Ori Maimon, a son of the gas tycoon Kobi Maimon.

What is most likely to cause uproar in Israel is the revelation that a state security guard and government-provided car ferried Netanyahu's son and his friends between strip clubs.

Apple investigated by France for 'planned obsolescence'

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42615378?ocid=socialflow_twitter

In December, Apple admitted that older iPhone models were deliberately slowed down through software updates.

Hop said France was the third country to investigate Apple after Israel and the US, but the only one in which the alleged offence was a crime.

The group alleged that Apple had both deliberately slowed down some iPhone models through a software update and timed the update to coincide with the release of the newer model, the iPhone 8.

"The slowing down of older devices seems to have the deliberate aim of pushing Apple customers towards purchasing the new model," the group said.