Back In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu Thanks PM Modi For "Historic" India Visit

Agencies
January 22, 2018

Jerusalem, Jan 22:  Terming his recent visit to India as "historic", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that his six-day trip will be "long remembered" as it contributed in the strengthening of bilateral ties.

Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New Delhi on January 14 and was received by his "friend" Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who broke protocol to meet him at the airport.

"I returned last week from a historic visit to India. I thank my friend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the exceptionally strong and warm reception," Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet at the start of the weekly meeting.

"It reflects the closer ties between us, very close, as well as the closer ties between our countries and peoples," he said.

"This is a visit that will be long-remembered. It contributed, and will yet contribute, to Israel in the economic, security, technology and diplomatic spheres," he added.

PM Modi accompanied the Israeli Prime Minister for most part of the trip.

India and Israel signed nine agreements across several sectors to boost bilateral trade and cooperation.

Mr Netanyahu also recollected some moving moments from his trip, particularly his meeting with Moshe Holtzberg, the now 11-year-old kid who survived the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which his parents were killed.

"I must say that there were many very moving moments, but above all I will remember two special events that touched our people," Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"First was the meeting with Moshe at the Chabad House. A sweet boy who is living with his loving grandparents, in effect with the love of the entire Jewish People. Thanks also go to the Indian nanny, Sandra, who saved him and accompanied him on the visit," he said.

Moshe was two-year-old when his parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, who were serving as Directors at Chabad House, were killed along with six others when the place was attacked by Pakistani terrorists during the November Mumbai attacks.

The attack on Chabad House and other locations like the Taj Hotel left 166 people dead.

Moshe, popularly known as Baby Moshe, was rescued by his nanny Sandra and he later moved to Israel, where he stays with his grandparents.

Sandra has been given honorary citizenship by Israel and now lives in Jerusalem where she works with kids with special needs.

"The second moving event was with the Indian Jewish community. This is a very small community most of whose members have come to Israel and contributed to the building up of the country and the development of the state. But their contribution to India is out of proportion to their numbers," Mr Netanyahu said.

"They carried the flame for generations and looked forward to this moment when the Prime Minister of Israel came to India. They spoke there, each one in turn, and many simply wept with joy, not because there has ever been anti-Semitism in India; there never has. But they hoped for the meeting between cultures and between states and peoples, and it happened before their eyes," he noted.

"It was simply an extraordinary experience", the Israeli Premier stressed.

Mr Netanyahu's successful visit to India has brought the Israeli leader a sigh of relief from a hostile local press that has been critical of him on allegations of corruption.

He has also faced flak for an embarrassing recording of his son who had made demeaning remarks about women during a visit to strip club in Tel Aviv about two years ago.

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News Network
April 25,2020

Bueno Aires, Apr 25: Dozens of prisoners at a jail in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires rioted on Friday demanding urgent health measures after confirmation of a coronavirus case inside the facility.

Police surrounded the prison, which holds around 2,200 inmates, as explosions were heard, news agency reporters at the scene said.

A group of prisoners managed to climb onto a roof, burn mattresses and throw objects at security guards trying to quell the uprising.

Authorities have yet to comment on the riot or whether there are any injuries.

Inmates could be heard shouting demands for a judge to hear their case and for better protection against the pandemic, just a few days after a warden at the Villa Devoto prison was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus.

"COVID-19 in Devoto, genocidal judges," read a banner hung from the prison roof. "We refuse to die in prison," read another.

The inmates are demanding, among other things, that releases that were pending before the pandemic be processed.

Several other riots broke out in prisons last week, including in Florencio Varela in Buenos Aires province where one inmate died and 20 were injured.

Argentina has been in lockdown since March 20 and has recorded more than 3,400 coronavirus cases and 167 deaths.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Beijing, Feb 18: A hospital director at the epicentre of China's virus epidemic died on Tuesday, state media said, the latest medical worker to fall victim to the new coronavirus spreading across the country.

The COVID-19 virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan late last year, has infected more than 72,000 people and killed nearly 1,900.

Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan, died Tuesday morning after "all-out rescue efforts failed," state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China said last week that six medical workers had died from the virus, while 1,716 have been infected.

Liu's death was initially reported by Chinese media and bloggers shortly after midnight on Tuesday -- but the stories were later deleted and replaced with reports that doctors were still trying to save him.

After initial reports of his death were denied, the hospital told AFP on Tuesday morning that doctors were giving him life-saving treatment.

Liu's death has echoes of that of Wuhan ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, who had been punished by authorities for sounding the alarm about the virus in late December.

Li's death prompted a national outpouring of grief as well as anger against the authorities, who were accused of mishandling the crisis.

People took to social media to mourn Liu on Tuesday, with many users on the Twitter-like Weibo platform drawing critical comparisons between Liu's death and Li's.

In both cases their deaths were initially reported in state media posts -- later deleted -- and their deaths denied, before being finally confirmed again.

"Has everyone forgotten what happened to Li Wenliang? They forcefully attempted resuscitation after he died," one Weibo commenter wrote.

Another commenter said, Liu "already died last night, (but) some people are addicted to torturing corpses".

A hashtag about Liu's death had 29 million views by Tuesday afternoon.

Doctors in Wuhan face shortages of masks and protective bodysuits, with some even wearing makeshift hazmat suits and continuing to work despite showing respiratory symptoms, health workers have told AFP.

Hubei province and its capital Wuhan have been the hardest hit by the virus, accounting for nearly 1,800 of the deaths from the virus so far.

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News Network
February 21,2020

New Delhi, Feb 21: Global terror financing watchdog FATF on Friday decided continuation of Pakistan in the "Grey List" and warned the country that stern action will be taken if it fails to check flow of money to terror groups like the LeT and the JeM, sources said.

The decision has been taken at the Financial Action Task Force's plenary in Paris.

The FATF decided to continue Pakistani in the "Grey List". The FATF also warned Pakistan that if it doesn't complete a full action plan by June, it could lead to consequences on its businesses, a source said.

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