On earthquake anniversary, Haitians trying to rebuild

January 13, 2018

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Eight years ago, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake upended life in Haiti, killing more than 300,000 people by some estimates and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes. For many of those left homeless, life hasn't yet returned to normal.

In the Delmas district in the north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, Camp Caradeux sprang up as a temporary home for 20,000 displaced people. Promises of new permanent homes have failed to materialize and Haiti's economy remains weak, leaving camp residents with nowhere to go. As a result, the camp is transforming into a village as people build cinderblock homes and try to create more normal lives.

Associated Press photographer Chery Dieu-Nalio visited Caradeux on the approach of the quake anniversary to document the life of its residents.

Heavy snow strands 430 people overnight on train in Japan

January 12, 2018

TOKYO (AP) — About 430 people were stuck on a train overnight in Japan because of heavy snow that blanketed much of the country's Japan Sea coast, a railway official said Friday. The train started moving again shortly before 10:30 a.m., about 15 hours after it had been forced to stop the previous evening, said Shinichi Seki, a spokesman for the Niigata branch of JR East railway company.

The four-car train departed Niigata city in heavy snow Thursday at 4:25 p.m., more than an hour behind schedule, Seki said. As the snow accumulated, the train's wheels couldn't turn anymore, and it stopped between stations about 7 p.m. at a railway crossing.

Officials decided it was too risky to evacuate all the passengers because of the deep snow and darkness, Seki said. The train had electricity and heat and toilets. Five passengers who said they did not feel well were taken off.

Some passengers were allowed to leave the train after sunrise with the help of railroad personnel, if family members had come to meet them. Trains continued to be delayed or suspended on Friday. Seki apologized for the major trouble caused to travelers.

Young Hong Kong activist Wong gets second prison term

January 17, 2018

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court sentenced democracy activist Joshua Wong to three months in prison Wednesday for contempt, his second prison term stemming from his role in the 2014 "Umbrella Movement" protests.

The 21-year-old Wong and another defendant were immediately taken into custody at Hong Kong's High Court, while 14 others, including another prominent former student leader, Lester Shum, received suspended sentences.

"Keep it up, everyone!" Wong called out to the court before officers escorted him away. Ahead of the hearing, he said he had no regrets and vowed to keep fighting for democracy. "They can lock up our body, but they can't lock up our mind," he told reporters.

It's the latest legal setback for Wong, who has been involved in multiple court cases in the aftermath of the protests including one that also resulted in a prison sentence, which he's appealing. In Wednesday's case, Wong had pleaded guilty last year for failing to comply with a court order to clear out of a protest camp blocking a main road during the 79-day protests that were held to oppose Beijing's plans to restrict elections for the top leader of the semiautonomous Chinese city.

High Court Judge Andrew Chan said in the ruling that although Wong only stayed in the camp briefly, his involvement in obstruction was deep and extensive. "He played a leading role on that day. In view of his overall involvement, I am of the view that the only appropriate punishment for Mr. Wong will be one of immediate imprisonment."

Wong helped lead the protests while still a teenager and gained global attention as a result. Last year he served about two months of a six-month sentence in a separate unlawful assembly case, before being granted bail so he could file an appeal in a hearing on Tuesday. But the judges in that case are not expected to issue their ruling until a later date.

Chinese authorities demolish well-known evangelical church

January 12, 2018

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in northern China's coal country have demolished a well-known Christian mega-church, underscoring long-standing tensions between religious groups and the officially atheistic Communist Party.

Witnesses and overseas activists say paramilitary People's Armed Police forces used excavators and dynamite on Tuesday to destroy the Golden Lampstand Church in the city of Linfen in Shanxi province. ChinaAid, a U.S.-based Christian advocacy group, said local authorities planted explosives in an underground worship hall to demolish the building, which was built with nearly $3 million in contributions from local worshipers in one of China's poorest regions.

The church, with a congregation of more than 50,000, has long clashed with the government. Hundreds of police and hired thugs smashed the church and seized Bibles in an earlier crackdown in 2009 that ended with church leaders receiving long prison sentences.

At the time, church leaders were charged with illegally occupying farmland and disturbing traffic order by getting together, according to state media. There are an estimated 60 million Christians in China, many of whom worship in independent congregations like the Golden Lampstand. Millions of Christians, Buddhists and Muslims also worship in state-sanctioned assemblies.

But the surging popularity of non-state-approved churches has raised the ire of authorities, wary of any threats to the party's rigid political and social control. Freedom of religion is guaranteed under China's constitution, so local authorities are often seen as using technicalities to attack unregistered churches. Charges of land or building violations and disturbing the peace are among the most common.

The state-run Global Times newspaper, citing an unidentified local official, reported Wednesday the official reason for the demolition was that it did not hold the necessary permits. Religious groups must register with local religious affairs authorities under Chinese law, the report said. The church was illegally constructed nearly a decade ago in violation of building codes, it said.

Pictures distributed by ChinaAid showed the church's steeple and cross toppled in a large pile of rubble. A pastor at a nearby church, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he saw large numbers of paramilitary police on Tuesday blanketing the area around the church, which was being taken apart by heavy machinery.

He later heard, but did not witness, a loud explosion, the pastor said. The Golden Lampstand Church was built by husband and wife evangelists Wang Xiaoguang and Yang Rongli as a permanent home for their followers.

The couple had been preaching around Linfen since 1992, establishing congregations in improvised spaces such as factory dormitories and greenhouses. While authorities did not block the church's construction, they later cracked down, and the couple and other church leaders were sent to prison.

Israel plans for railway connecting it with Saudi Arabia

January 16, 2018

The Israeli government has begun preparing plans to build a railway linking Israel with Saudi Arabia to transfer goods and people, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported yesterday.

Reporting the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the London-based website said that the 15 million shekels ($4.5 million) cost of the plans for this project was included in the 2019 budget, which was approved three days earlier.

The initial plan for the project is to build a railway station in the city of Bisan with a railway network which travels through Jordan to Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Currently, Yedioth Ahronoth said, Israel is transporting goods arriving in Haifa Port and heading to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States through Jordan, noting that the war in Syria led these countries to use Israeli ports instead of those in Syria.

The paper reported that the Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz called this railway the “Peace Line”, adding that Israel would open a new commercial crossing to deal with goods exported by the Gulf States and Iraq through Israeli ports.

According to the Israeli newspaper, the Israeli Railway Commission has already formed a team of experts to lay down plans for this project, which, it said, would improve Israel’s international status as the railway will connect Europe with the Middle East.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180116-israel-plans-for-railway-connecting-it-with-saudi-arabia/.

Netanyahu makes first visit to India by Israeli PM in 15 years

2018-01-14

NEW DELHI - Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New Delhi on Sunday for the first visit by an Israeli leader to India in 15 years, promising closer ties with the regional power.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara were welcomed at the international airport in New Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made history in July when he became the first Indian leader to visit Israel.

"This visit is an opportunity to enhance cooperation with a global economic, security, technology and tourism power," Netanyahu said in a statement ahead of his visit.

"Indian Prime Minister Modi is a close friend of Israel and of mine."

Modi -- who will accompany Netanyahu for large parts of his five-day tour -- embraced the Israeli prime minister on the tarmac before the pair set off to pay homage at a war memorial in the Indian capital.

"Your visit to India is historic and special. It will further cement the close friendship between our nations," Modi said on Twitter.

Netanyahu will be only the second Israeli PM to visit India and the first since Ariel Sharon in 2003.

He is accompanied by the largest-ever business delegation to travel with an Israeli leader. Executives in technology, agriculture and defense are among those making the journey as Tel Aviv pursues deals with Asia's third-largest economy.

The build up to Netanyahu's visit was soured this month when India called off a deal to buy 8,000 anti-tank guided missiles from Israel's state-owned defense contractor Rafael.

The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive the $500 million order, which was scrapped when the country's own state-run defense contractor offered to build similar missiles locally.

Israel is a major weapons supplier to India, exporting an average of $1 billion of military equipment each year, but Modi wants to end India's status as the world's top defense importer.

Netanyahu and Modi kicked off the visit with a stop at a memorial to Indian soldiers who fought in World War I to help liberate the Israeli city of Haifa.

The Israeli leader will later meet with Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj before a private dinner with Modi.

Netanyahu expects to sign new agreements in fields of energy, aviation and cinema production, with stops at the Taj Mahal, a visit to Modi's home state of Gujarat and meetings with Bollywood luminaries in Mumbai.

But he will also make an emotional visit to a Jewish center targeted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks during his tour, a symbolic gesture to India's tiny and shrinking Jewish community.

Netanyahu will accompany 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg as the boy returns for the first time to the house where his parents were killed in the attacks that left 166 people dead.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86769.

Russia marks 75 years since breaking Nazi siege of Leningrad

January 18, 2018

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Russia's breaking the Nazi siege of Leningrad. The Red Army broke the nearly 900-day blockade of the city on January 19, 1943, after fierce fighting. Putin was born in Leningrad, which regained its historic name of St. Petersburg after the 1991 Soviet collapse. His father was a World War II veteran who was wounded while defending the city.

A million Leningrad residents are believed to have died of hunger and bombings while defending the city and the tragedy epitomizes Russia's enormous suffering during WW II. The Russian president attended a memorial cemetery and visited a 3D panorama recreating the 1943 battle. Speaking to World War II veterans, he hailed Soviet soldiers' "self-sacrifice and love for the Motherland."