In global news, business, and sport. Are and you can be part of the conversation. Its that time of year when thoughts turn to love and romance, as people celebrate valentines day. Is it something you mark or do you think its over commercialised . Tell us what you think, just use bbcthebriefing. In her israels Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has confirmed that police are recommending that he be charged with corruption offences. They say theres evidence he gave bribes to get positive media coverage, and helped rich friends after receiving lavish gifts. In an address on israeli television, mr netanyahu said nothing would come of the cases against him, and that he will remain in office. Our correspondent James Reynolds reports from jerusalem. The Israeli Police recommend charges against the countrys Prime Minister in two separate cases. The first centres on gifts for favours and Police Believe that Benjamin Netanyahu gave special treatment to wealthy friends after receiving lavish pres
Im stephen sackur. There was a time last year when it seemed that president maduros grip on power in venezuela was loosening. Yet here we are, two months away from a president ial election with maduro oozing confidence and his opponents seemingly in disarray. My guest today is one diehard anti regime activist, david smolansky, who was the mayor of a district in caracas until he fled the country to escape a jail term for aiding the street protests last year. Why does venezuelas opposition so consistently promise more than it delivers . David smolansky in washington, dc. Welcome to hardtalk. Thank you very much for having me. Were glad to have you on the show, albeit via satellite in washington, dc. How does it feel to be a venezuelan, a politician, an activist who currently is living in the us capital . Do you feel uncomfortable . Obviously it is not comfortable because i want to be in my country. I am a public servant. I was removed from office with no justification at all. But at the
Are recommending he be charged with corruption offences. Police say theres evidence Benjamin Netanyahu gave bribes to get positive media coverage, and helped rich friends after receiving lavish gifts. In an address on israeli television, mr netanyahu insisted nothing would come of the cases against him, and that he will remain in office. The bbcs James Reynolds reports from jerusalem. The Israeli Police recommend charges against the countrys Prime Minister in two separate cases. The first centres on gifts for favours and Police Believe that Benjamin Netanyahu gave special treatment to wealthy friends after receiving lavish presents of champagne, cigars and jewellery. The second is about manipulation of the media. Officers say that mr netanyahu negotiated favourable coverage from one major newspaper in exchange for curtailing the circulation of one of its rivals. Israels leader has dismissed the Police Recommendations. Translation over the years, there have been pressures to open no few
North Koreas Nuclear programme poses what the us director of National Intelligence calls an existential threat to the United States. They said china is trying to access sensitive us technologies and intellectual property. But it was russia that they all agreed on they were unanimous in saying that russian attempts to meddle in us politics were continuing. Heres dan coats on that threat. Frankly, the United States is under attack, under attack by entities that are using cyber to penetrate virtually every major action that ta kes pla ce virtually every major action that takes place in the United States, persistent and disruptive Cyber Operations will continue against the United States and our european allies, using elections as opportunities to undermine democracy, sowed discord, and undermine our values. My colleague katty kay was following this briefing in washington heres how she viewed this briefing. So there you had it, three hours long, repeated questions about russia, and at one p