KENYA - China on Sunday signed a deal to build a $3.8 billion rail link between Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and Nairobi, the first stage of a line that will eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Under the terms of the agreement, Exim Bank of China will provide 90 percent of the cost to replace the crumbling British colonial-era line with a 609.3 kilometre (379 mile) standard-gauge link and Kenya the remaining 10 percent. Construction is due to start in October and take three-and-a-half years to complete, with China Communications Construction Co as the main contractor. Once the Mombasa-Nairobi line is completed, construction would begin to link east Africa's largest economy with Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura and Juba.

ISRAEL - The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land said Sunday that Israeli hate crimes against local Muslims and Christians are souring relations ahead of a papal visit. "The unrestrained acts of vandalism poison the atmosphere - the atmosphere of co-existence and the atmosphere of collaboration, especially in these two weeks prior to the visit of Pope Francis," Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal said. "It is also a blight on the democracy that Israel ascribes to itself," he said at a news conference in the northern port city of Haifa, ahead of an annual procession in honour of the Virgin Mary. The pope's visit is scheduled to begin in Jordan on May 24, and he is due to spend two days in the Holy Land from May 25.

USA - Experts on Capitol Hill Thursday warned that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack aimed at the nation’s electrical grid could leave the majority of Americans dead. The hearing, “Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP): Threat to Critical Infrastructure,” before the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies explored the effects an EMP would have.

JAPAN - The amount of Cesium-137 leaked from the Fukushima nuclear power plant could be worse than expected, a Japanese research team has concluded. They believe 50 percent more of the radioactive material could have escaped into the atmosphere and seawater. The original estimate of 13,600 terabecquerels was made by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the operator of the power station. However, a new report by Japanese researchers estimates that between 17,500 and 20,500 terabecquerels have been released, which is 50 percent higher than originally thought. Cesium-137 is a radioactive isotope produced by nuclear fission. However, it is problematic due to its ability to spread easily as it is highly soluble. It is also very harmful to humans and can cause cancer, while it has a half-life of around 30 years.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Sunday could prove to be a landmark day for terror victims' rights if Economics Minister and Jewish Home party head Naftali Bennett has his way. Two bills will be up for debate in the Knesset tomorrow in a bipartisan effort to put an end to the practice of releasing convicted terrorists from jail. Writing on his Facebook wall Saturday night, Bennett said that he was optimistic about the chances of the bills passing their initial legislative hurdles - despite opposition from Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who insists the option of releasing mass-murderers should be kept open. The Knesset discussion of the two bills comes amid mounting pressure calling for tougher measures against terrorist killers.

NIGERIA - Three thousand people have fled their homes in northern Nigeria, and the wife and two children of a retired policeman have been abducted, as Islamist militants launch another attack on the embattled region. As the hunt for the missing 276 schoolgirls taken on April 14 continued, suspected Boko Haram militants continued their campaign of terror unabated. Residents fleeing from the town of Liman Kara said that the insurgents blew up the bridge that links the states of Adamawa and Borno - both of which are under a military state of emergency. Liman Kara, on the border with Cameroon, has been plagued by attacks from the group for several years.

UK - Taxes will have to rise unless officials are given new powers to raid people's bank accounts, David Cameron has said. The Treasury select committee warned that allowing HM Revenue and Customs to remove cash from bank accounts without court orders is "very concerning" because of its history of mistakes. The committee said that taxpayers could suffer “serious detriment” if officials are able, either by mistake or through an “abuse” of power, to take money from people who have done no wrong. Mr Cameron yesterday claimed that the alternative was to "put up taxes". Under the planned new measures, tax officials will have an automatic power to take money from a bank account when the holder has failed to act on four formal warnings requiring payment.

LEBANON - A visit planned by the leader of Lebanon's largest Christian sect to Jerusalem to meet Pope Francis has unleashed a barrage of criticism in the Arab country, which remains at war with Israel. Cardinal Bechara Rai, head of Lebanon's Maronite Catholic church, will be the first leader of the church to visit Jerusalem since the Arab part of the contested city was captured by Israel in a 1967 war. Francis will start a three-day pilgrimage to Jordan, the West Bank and Israel on May 24. Over the past decades, Israel has invaded Lebanon several times, occupying part of the neighboring country's territory for 18 years until it withdrew in 2000. The two countries have not signed a peace agreement, and fighting breaks out regularly.

USA - Church officials say they will “combat evil” by hosting a positive worship service to counter a Harvard group’s Satanic mass planned for Monday evening. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston will host a Eucharistic procession from MIT to a nearby church for an hour of prayer, The Boston Globe reports. The religious procession will end up at St Paul’s Parish in Harvard Square, just a 10-minutes walk from the Queen’s Head Pub in Memorial Hall where the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club is set to hold a “black mass.” A black mass is a ritual performed as a parody of the Roman Catholic Mass. In an official statement, the Archdiocese said it fears that people who partake in the ceremony are “underestimating the power of Satan.”

USA - Senator Ted Cruz released a list that details 76 different ways President Obama and his administration have committed “lawless” actions: “The Legal Limit Report No. 4: The Obama Administration’s Abuse of Power.” In it, he includes this brief statement, reported by The Blaze: “Rather than honor [his] duty, President Obama has openly defied it by repeatedly suspending, delaying and waiving portions of the laws that he is charged to enforce. When President Obama disagreed with federal immigration laws, he instructed the Justice Department to cease enforcing the laws. He did the same thing with federal welfare law, drug laws and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.”

SCOTLAND - Scotland’s health boards are facing an angry backlash from religious groups after lobbying ministers to water down protections for teachers and parents opposed to their children learning about gay marriage. A campaign group that includes the Catholic Church and the Kirk [Church of Scotland] accused NHS chiefs of displaying “contempt” for traditional family values after the Daily Telegraph disclosed details of their correspondence with the Scottish Government. The row has broken out over new guidance ministers are preparing on sex education lessons that would allow teachers or pupils to opt out on the grounds of “conscience”. In written submissions to ministers, the country’s largest health boards have argued that all pupils should learn about gay marriage regardless of their parents’ or teachers’ religious beliefs.

SAUDI ARABIA - A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced the editor of a website that discussed religion in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes. His punishment comes shortly after Saudi Arabia criticised Norway's human rights record and accused it of not doing enough to counter criticism of the prophet Mohammed. The gulf state also demanded all criticism of religion and of the Prophet Mohammed be made illegal in Norway. In a string of royal decrees and an overarching new piece of legislation to deal with terrorism generally, the Saudi King Abdullah has clamped down on all forms of political dissent and protests that could "harm public order". Saudi Arabia also announced in March it intended to close the local office of the Qatari-owned al Jazeera satellite television over Qatar’s backing for the Muslim Brotherhood, local media said.

DENMARK - Austria won this year's Eurovision Song Contest early Sunday with "Rise Like a Phoenix" sung by bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst. The 25-year-old performer, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, took the Eurovision crown in Copenhagen despite initial expectations that the eye-catching performance would be too controversial in socially conservative countries. "We are unity, and we are unstoppable," she said after winning the glitzy competition with 290 points compared with 238 points for runner-up the Netherlands, in what Eurovision fans had anticipated would be a more closely fought race.

VATICAN - Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today. Francis made the appeal during a speech to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major UN agencies who met in Rome this week. Latin America's first pope has frequently lashed out at the injustices of capitalism and the global economic system that excludes so much of humanity, though his predecessors have voiced similar concerns. On Friday, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor in a new spirit of generosity. During the meeting, Ban invited Francis to speak to the United Nations. The Vatican hasn't confirmed any such trip, but Francis is widely expected to visit the US in September 2015…

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly revealed at a Likud conference on Wednesday some remarkable facets of the Basic Law he submitted last Thursday, which would enshrine Israel's status as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Netanyahu told the head of Likud's hareidi division Yaakov Vider at the conference that he intends to make the Hebrew calendar, which is based on Jewish law, the official calendar of Israel, reports Kikar Hashabat. The new law also would establish the Talmud, the core work of Jewish law, as an official basis for Israeli state law.