Survivors of Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake living in temporary shelters in the Belair neighborhood of Port-au-Prince access clean drinking water provided by International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) in partnership with fellow ACT Alliance member Norwegian Church AID (NCA). Water purification and sanitation equipment for 10,000 Haitians and 500 family tents valued at more than $600,000 was airlifted to Haiti on January 18. The water system provides homeless families in the ravaged neighborhood with piped in water points.
II. FINANCIALMIRROR - Leaders in Cyprus have unprecedented opportunity for reunification
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Taye-Brook Zerihoun has expressed the belief that the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus have an unprecedented opportunity to embark on the path of the reunification of Cyprus. In his address Thursday at the UNFICYP Winter medal parade, Zerihoun said that the “leaders of Cyprus have an unprecedented opportunity today, should they bring the process we are facilitating to fruition, to embark on a path of reunification and healing that should unlock the tremendous energy, ingenuity and potential of Greek and Turkish Cypriots towards a more stable, prosperous and bright future together”. The United Nations, he added, “will be steadfast in our support and assistance to the leaders and their communities as they work to bridge the distance between them”. “Ours is a supporting role, not a starring one, and we shall play it as long as there is an evident will to close the division between the two communities that would otherwise threaten to grow wider over time”, he stressed. Referring to the event, he said “it is fitting that we gather here today to pay tribute to our peacekeepers – the men and women before you who come from various parts of the world under the United Nations flag to contribute to efforts to promote peace and stability in Cyprus”. “It is easy enough to feel a sense of security here, to avert one’s eyes from the obvious and enduring division. The reality, however, will not allow us to look away from the troubling facts of the island’s history, or from the still open wounds inherited from the not so distant and tragic past”, he added. Her concluded by saying that “the men and women receiving their recognition today play a pivotal role in the overall United Nations support and facilitation of the talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots”. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.
III. ANA - Greek, FYROM Foreign Ministers meet
A meeting between Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas and the foreign minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM), Antonio Milososki, concluded here on Thursday evening. According to reports, a brief review of bilateral issues and of the nagging "name dispute" took place during the meeting. The Greek side reportedly again pointed to the UN framework as the process for resolving the difference, while noting that Athens is expected "substantive and constructive participation" by Skopje on the issue. Milososki, whose office requested the meeting, presented a proposal on the upgrading of diplomatic missions of the two countries, which are currently at the liaison level, while the prospects for the signing of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation were also discussed. The Greek alternate minister again reiterated that Athens wants and is working towards the improvement of bilateral relations, something that has also been confirmed by the contacts that have been held at the highest political level, and following a Greek initiative. Within this framework, the possibility of a visit by Droutsas to the neighbouring country and a Milososki visit to Greece were also discussed. Droutsas added that the Greek side is already examining, with a positive spirit, the promotion of a double tax avoidance agreement, "on the basis of real needs". However, he cautioned that the Skopje government's proposal for the upgrading of diplomatic missions "is not compatible with the negative rhetoric against Greece that is being encouraged in Skopje, a stance that aggravates relations of the two countries and does not assist the prospect of solving the issue of the name." Finally, Droutsas expressed Greece's readiness to examine such a step positively when conditions permit, again reminding of Greece's steadfast commitment for an improvement of bilateral relations and a will to achieve a "mutually acceptable solution on a name with a geographical qualifier towards all (erga omnes), within the framework of the negotiations taking place under the auspices of the UN."
IV. RT - Blast kills five in Abkhazia
An explosion, believed to be a terrorist attack, occurred in the republic of Abkhazia on Friday. At least five people, including one police officer, have been killed and seven more have been injured. During an investigation of suspected criminal activity in the village of Saberio of the Gal region, the servicemen hit a land mine. The wounded were hospitalized in Sukhumi in serious conditions. Coordinator of the Abkhaz law enforcement agencies, Lavrentiy Mikvabiya, shared some background with Interfax. “A woman came to the Gal region's interior affairs department in the morning and said a local's family had been attacked. A police unit composed of criminal search officers went to the scene. When the policemen examined the area around the house of the attacked man, they triggered a mine set up by the criminals,” Mikvabiya said.
V. RIANOVOSTI - Russia successfully tests Sukhoi T-50 Stealth fighter jet
On December 29, 2010, a prototype Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter took off on its maiden flight at 11.19 a.m. in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia's Far East. This is the first warplane completely designed and built in Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Only the United States currently operates Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor Stealth air-superiority fighters. Curtailed defense spending in the late 1980s and the subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union stopped the MFI program in its tracks. Flight tests planned for 1991 -1992 did not take place. Consequently, the MFI first took to the skies in 2000. A prototype Sukhoi S-37/Su-47 Berkut fifth-generation fighter had been developed by then. In 1998, the Russian Air Force issued a new request for proposal (RFP) for a fifth-generation fighter. As a concept it had remained unchanged since the MFI program got underway. The new fighter's basic specifications included: greater agility, sustained supersonic-flight capability in non-afterburning mode, low radar visibility, low heat signature, as well as enhanced take-off and landing performance. The old designs were scrapped, and it was decided to develop an entirely new warplane fully taking into account the F-22's capabilities, merits and drawbacks. In 2002, the Sukhoi Design Bureau won the pilot-project contest, after proposing a full-size and twin-engined fighter with a take-off weight of up to 35 metric tons under its Prospective/Promising Frontline Aviation System program (PAK FA program). Although the new aircraft was expected to take off in 2007, the maiden flight deadline was delayed until 2008, 2009 and January 2010. The latest test flight reaffirms Russia's status as a leading aviation power. Only Russia and the United States currently have their own fifth-generation fighters, as well as aircraft industries capable of manufacturing all types of military and civilian aircraft ranging from light-weight aerobatic planes to strategic bombers.
Moscow believes that the so-called strategy for northern Kosovo violates the Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council. It also generates tensions in the province, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko stated on Friday. “We believe that, under the existing circumstances, we should effectively prevent any attempt to implement decisions that may harm Kosovo,” Nesterenko said. “By this I refer to the so-called strategy for the northern Kosovo, which violates UN SC Resolution 1244 and generates tensions in the province.” The Russian official also said that Moscow insists on the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, to fulfill its obligations in representing Kosovo in regional and international institutions. “There must be no changes in this respect,” Nesterenko underlined at a regular briefing at the Russian Foreign Ministry. “We believe that the reduction of UNMIK staff is unacceptable as this would undoubtedly limit the body's capacities in implementing the authorizations granted by the UN Security Council,” Nesterenko also said. According to him, Russia is confident that no one has the right to prevent UNMIK from fulfilling its tasks, including those referring to enforcement of democratic standards established by the international community.
VII. KATHIMERINI - Church backs Serb EU bid, welcomes Pope to talks
The traditionally conservative Serbian Orthodox Church will back the country’s bid to join the European Union, but remains opposed to the independence of Kosovo, the church’s new leader said yesterday. The Orthodox Church is an important moral force in Serbian society and politicians often seek its support, including on issues such as the EU accession bid. Irinej, 80, was elected last week as patriarch of the church with an estimated 11 million people of Orthodox background in Serbia, neighboring countries, the United States, Australia and Western Europe. “We hope that Europe will respect our identity, our cultural heritage, our Orthodox faith and, if that’s the case, there’s no reason for skepticism about the European community,” Irinej told a news conference, the first ever by a patriarch. “Historically Serbia is Europe. We belong to that family of nations,” said the elderly church leader, who appeared at ease taking questions from dozens of reporters. Serbia applied to join the EU in December, nine years after the ouster of autocratic leader Slobodan Milosevic whose nationalist policies, backed by conservatives in the Orthodox Church, stoked the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Irinej said his church would remain opposed to the independence of Kosovo which seceded from Serbia two years ago, but also called for reconciliation. “Over the centuries that land was soaked with Serbian, with Christian, blood but we must seek cohabitation and common destiny with other nations there,” he said. The Serbian Orthodox Church cherishes Kosovo as the cradle of its medieval civilization, although ethnic Albanians, most of Muslim heritage, are the overwhelming majority there today. The Serbian Orthodox Church has dozens of monasteries and churches there. Although Irenej took over immediately after the election last week, his official enthronement is scheduled for April 25 in the medieval Pec Patriarchate in Kosovo. In a break with past church policy, Irinej said that the Serbian Orthodox Church would welcome Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, a document that promoted religious tolerance and legalized Christianity in what was then the Roman Empire.