Michael's List- UN Joke, Women;US-UN veto,Israel; NATO-Balkans; Death rates,Cyprus; AZ Bill targets Ethnic Studies; Greek Jewry; Praying for the World

I. SKYNEWS - The New UN Human Rights Joke. The One About Women...

United Nations staff, aware that the joke about electing Libya to chair the Human Rights Council a few years back has become bit stale, have come up with a new one. This one starts, 'Have you heard the one about Iran’s election to the UN Women Rights Council?’ Iran, having lost the battle for a place on the Human Rights Council, managed instead this week to get onto the 'Commission on the Status of Women'(CSW ) a body dedicated ‘exclusively to promote gender equality and advancement of women'. Iran was 'elected' by acclaim, meaning no-one voted, but no-one opposed membership in a classic UN stitch up by the Asian bloc. A campaign by women's rights champions inside and outside Iran calling on the UN not to take this step fell on deaf ears. In practice the CSW has only ever issued one resolution condemning a country, and that country was ..….Israel. So a resolution drawing attention to some of Iran’s laws, germane to women, cannot be expected anytime soon. Instead the body charged with promoting women rights can be expected to tirelessly ignore some of the more interesting Iranian legal practices. For example, Article 1133 of the Civil Code: A man can divorce his wife whenever he so chooses and does not have to give her advance notice. There are numerous others, laws requiring a women to have her husbands permission to get a passport, laws enforcing segregation in health care which results in too few women doctors being available to treat women etc. A stand out law is Article 102 of the Penal code. Whoever wrote it appears to have been influenced by Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ as it stipulates that a male adultery be buried up to his waist before being stoned to death, but a women be buried up to her neck. It continues - if the man escapes during the stoning, that’s the end of the matter, but if the women escapes, she must be arrested and killed by firing squad. Many countries have similar laws, all of them are in the UN, and some of them are on women rights and human rights committees. Which says as much about the UN as it does about the offending states.

II. JPOST - US may stop using UN veto on resolutions targeting Israel

In an attempt to launch indirect proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the US has given private assurances that it would consider not using its veto power against UN Security Council condemnations of any significant new settlement activity, the Guardian reported. A Palestinian source quoted by the UK paper said David Hale, a deputy of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week that if there was "significantly provocative settlement activity," including in east Jerusalem, Washington may consider allowing UNSC resolutions censuring Israel to pass. According to the paper, the source said "it was understood that meant the US would abstain from voting on a resolution rather than use its veto." However, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denied assurances were given. "It's not true," he said, according to the Guardian. "We are still talking to the Americans." Meanwhile, in an interview with the Chinese Xinhua news agency on Wednesday, Abbas claimed the US had vowed to stop "any provocative activities" by Israel in a bid to resume Middle East peace talks. Abbas said when "the credibility of the US pledges are demonstrated," the negotiations "would restart immediately." The PA president criticized Washington for "not exerting enough effort to press Israel to achieve peace," but reiterated his opposition to a unilateral declaration of statehood. "We want our state to be declared under an international agreement," he said. "If this doesn't happen, the Arabs will go to the UN Security Council to get the recognition of the Palestinian statehood," the PA president told Xinhua.

III. ETAIWANNEWS - NATO urges all Balkan states to join alliance

NATO's chief is urging all states of ex-Yugoslavia to join the western alliance because he says they belong "in the Euro-Atlantic community." Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says NATO's expansion to include a number of former communist countries has "stabilized Europe and contributed to a safe and peaceful development." Bosnia and Montenegro have been invited to join a NATO program that paves the way to full membership. Macedonia's membership has been blocked because of a prolonged dispute with neighboring Greece. The region's largest nation, Serbia, has not expressed interest in alliance membership. NATO was militarily involved in efforts to end the Bosnian war and in 2000 bombed Serbia to end a crackdown on Kosovo [Albanian] separatists.

IV. AP - Adult death rates lowest in Iceland, Cyprus

Men in Iceland and women in Cyprus have the lowest risk of dying worldwide, a new study says. In a survey from 1970 to 2010, researchers found a widening gap between countries with the highest and lowest premature death rates in adults aged 15 to 60. The study was published Friday in the medical journal, Lancet. The findings are in contrast to the trends in child and maternal mortality, where rates are mostly dropping worldwide. Health officials have long thought if child deaths were decreasing and health systems were improving, adult deaths would similarly decline. But that's not what researchers found. Researchers in Australia and the U.S. calculated death rates in 187 countries using records from government registries, censuses, household surveys and other sources. It was paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Only a few countries have cut death rates by more than 2 percent per year in the last 40 years: Australia, Italy, South Korea, Chile, Tunisia and Algeria. The U.S. lagged significantly behind, dropping to 49th in the rankings for women and 45th for men. That puts it behind all of Western Europe as well as countries including Peru, Chile and Libya. Death rates were highest for men in Swaziland and for women in Zambia. Researchers also found death rates jumped in eastern Europe, perhaps because health systems fell apart after the collapse of the Soviet Union and widespread smoking. In sub-Saharan Africa, deaths have fallen, possibly due to the rollout of lifesaving AIDS drugs.

V. FOXNEWS - Arizona Legislature Passes Bill Banning Ethnic Studies Programs

After making national headlines for a new law on illegal immigrants, the Arizona Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would ban ethnic studies programs in the state that critics say currently advocate separatism and racial preferences. The bill, which passed 32-26 in the state House, had been approved by the Senate a day earlier. It now goes to Gov. Jan Brewer for her signature. The new bill would make it illegal for a school district to teach any courses that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals." The bill stipulates that courses can continue to be taught for Native American pupils in compliance with federal law and does not prohibit English as a second language classes. It also does not prohibit the teaching of the Holocaust or other cases of genocide. Schools that fail to abide by the law would have state funds withheld. To read the bill, click here.

VI. ISRAELNATIONALNEWS - New Film Tells the Story of Greek Jewry

A film documenting Jewish life in Greece prior to and during the Holocaust (Shoa) premiered this week in New York City. The film, In the Shadow of the Acropolis, was created by Laura Zelle, whose mother's family is from Athens. The premier was held in the Kehila Kedosha Janina synagogue, which was built in the 1920s by Romaniote Jews from Greece. For centuries, Greece was home to two Jewish communities, the Romaniote, and Sephardi Jews, whose ancestors fled Spain during the Inquisition. The Zelle family belonged to the Romaniote community. Many members of the family were rounded up and deported to Auchwitz-Birkenau in 1944. Laura Zelle's mother, grandmother, and some others were saved. The surviving members of the Zelle family lived through the war with the help of a local Greek Orthodox Christian woman, who was later honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial project. In the Shadow of the Acroplis documents attempts by members of the Greek Christian community to protect Greek's Jews, as well as the destruction of Jewish life by the Nazis. The Romaniote Jewish community in Greece dates back approximately 2000 years. The community was the oldest Jewish community in Europe, and members spoke a unique dialect, Yevanic. Roughly 86% of the Jews living in Greece in 1940 were murdered in the Holocaust. Between 8,000 and 10,000 survived, largely due to aid from the Christian community, including senior figures in the Greek Orthodox Church. Today, the Jewish population of Greece is approximately 5,000.

VII. GLORYTOGODFORALLTHINGS - Praying for the World

We must pray for other people with contrition and pain in our soul. We can only achieve this, if, due to our humbleness, we consider ourselves the cause of all the problems in the world. +++ The Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain. This insightful but “hard” saying of the Elder Paisios is very similar to a statement made by the literary character, the Elder Zossima, in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, who taught that “each man is responsible for the sins of all.” In our individualized culture, particularly as it is marked by a strongly legal world-view, such statements sound like madness or an invitation to an extreme form of neurosis. And yet these things are taught by some of the most sane among us. An insanity of our world is to refuse to acknowledge that we share a common life. None of us is saved alone, the fathers teach. If we do not share a common life, then the life of Christ cannot become the life of all. There would be no possibility of union with God nor would love mean anything deeper than the feelings and attitudes we have for one another. Instead, the opposite is true. Our lives are a common life. Whether I want it to be so or not – my life is intimately connected with the life of every human being – both those now living as well has those who have gone before and those who are yet to come. This is an inherent part of the fullness of the Christian fate. Refusals of this teaching mark the earliest sins of mankind. Adam refuses to accept union with his wife when he seeks to pass blame on her (and through her to God): “The woman You gave me – she gave me and I did eat…” In a similar fashion Cain, when confronted by God about the murder of his brother, defends himself by saying, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” There are many things in life that sustain the delusion of radical individuality. Wealth can insulate a person from the true sense of their interdependence on others. Many seek wealth in order to avoid necessities of dependence. We admire the strong and despise the weak. But all of us are weak. We enter the world in a state of complete dependence and often leave in the same manner. Our fear of a common life is not unreasonable. Dependence, in our fallen world, often means that we are subject to the abuse of power by those around us. Of course only someone living in a fortress and resist much of the abuse of power that infects our world. But we are not told to overcome evil by running away. We are told to “overcome evil by doing good” (Romans 12:21). It is this “good” which the elders of the Church enjoin. Recognizing and embracing our common humanity – our common life – is an act of love and an offering of the self. The act of prayer for another, when rightly prayed, always means taking upon ourselves the life of the other. This is the great mystery of life as communion. It is the very heart of love. For those who have a strong psychological take on human relationships – I would quickly want to say that I am not arguing for the destruction of proper “boundaries.” To have a common life with others does not mean to destroy the uniqueness of our own personhood, nor to confuse my life with the life of another. It is to step into one of the deeper mysteries of our existence. In my own life, perhaps because of my weaknesses, I have frequently been aware that I could not live except for the mercy and prayers of others. I have suffered only small things and been spared many greater sufferings through the kindness and prayer of others. Ultimately, we all live through the life of God who sustains us in our very existence. I venture to pray for the world from time to time – but I know that my prayers in this regard are quite weak – for my love of the world and my willingness of be the “cause of all the problems in the world” is virtually nil. On most days it is enough of a struggle to take on prayer for those whom I know, particularly those with whom relationships are damaged. But such prayer is the path of the Cross. It leads us to a place where Christ is, taking on the sins of the world – for the life of the world and its salvation.

Michael's List- USSC, Cross Ruling; Mideast nears explosion; Iran, Egypt, UN battle; Cyprus supports Serbia; FYROM vs Greece; Bigfoot; Religious Items

I. BOSTONGLOBE - Supreme Court faults ruling on desert cross

The Supreme Court yesterday said a lower federal court was wrong to order the removal of a cross on government land in the middle of the Mojave Desert, and said separation of church and state “does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm.’’ The case, which involved a white cross erected by veterans more than 75 years ago to honor the dead of World War I, splintered the court, 5 to 4. The court’s conservative members prevailed, but six of the nine justices wrote to explain their views. It did not provide a clear rule for the future — or even explicitly say that the cross could remain in place. “To date, the court’s jurisprudence in this area has refrained from making sweeping pronouncements, and this case is ill suited for announcing categorical rules,’’ said Justice Anthony Kennedy. But he wrote that the cross “is not merely a reaffirmation of Christian beliefs.’’ “Here,’’ he added, “one Latin cross in the desert evokes far more than religion. It evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles, battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten.’’ Kennedy wrote that Congress had probably corrected any problem with the cross being on public land by agreeing to swap a portion of the rock outcropping on which it stands to a veterans group, which has said it will maintain the site as a memorial. A federal court in California, where the cross is located in the vast Mojave National Preserve, had said the land swap was an “illicit’’ way for the government to get around a ruling that the cross violated constitutional protections against government endorsement of religion. The cross was originally erected at Sunrise Rock by a group of World War I veterans who used to gather at the spot for social gatherings. It has been replaced several times, most recently in 1998 by Henry Sandoz, who with his wife, Wanda, mai ntains the 6 1/2-foot metal cross. It was challenged by a former park employee, who objected to a Christian symbol on public land. It was not taken down as a result of the lower court action, but covered with a plywood box. Until the legal battle, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote, “it is likely that the cross was seen by more rattlesnakes than humans.’’

II. HAARETZ - Jordan: Mideast nearing 'explosion'

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Thursday that the situation in the Middle East could "explode" due to Israel's building of settlements in East Jerusalem. "I am afraid the tension could develop into an explosion with all parties paying the price," the monarch said in a speech to the annual conference of Jordanian ambassadors. His comments came ahead of a meeting this weekend of the Arab League in Cairo, which may herald the resumption of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Abdullah accused Israel of "playing with fire" by carrying out unilateral actions in East Jerusalem which the Jewish state captured from Jordan in the 1967 war. "Israel should choose between living in an isolated fortress in the region or reaching peace with all Arab and Islamic states in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative," he said. The Arab peace plan, which was launched at the Arab summit conference in Beirut in 2002, offers Israel recognition by all Arab states if it pulled out from all the Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem. Two weeks ago, Abdullah told the Chicago Tribune that a war could break out in the Middle East this summer if no progress is made in restarting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. "If we hit the summer and there's no active [peace] process, there's a very good chance for conflict, and nobody wins when it comes to that," Abdullah said.

III. REUTERS - Iran, Egypt ready for battle at U.N. nuclear meeting

Iran and Egypt are gearing up for battle against the United States and its allies over Israel and developing countries' rights to atomic technology at a major meeting on the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to attend the conference, which opens on Monday and runs until May 28. He will be facing off with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who heads the U.S. delegation at the meeting at U.N. headquarters. Diplomats expect Ahmadinejad to take a defiant stand against the United States and its Western allies, accusing them of trying to deprive developing states of nuclear technology while turning a blind eye toward Israel's nuclear capability. The 189 signatories of the landmark 1970 arms control treaty -- which is intended to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and calls on those with atomic warheads to abandon them -- gather every five years to assess compliance with the pact and progress made toward achieving its goals. The last NPT review conference in 2005 was widely considered a disaster. After weeks of procedural bickering led by the former U.S. administration, Egypt and Iran, the meeting ended with no agreement on a final declaration. Analysts and U.N. diplomats hope things will be different this time and that the conference can breathe new life into a treaty that has failed to prevent North Korea from building a nuclear bomb or force Iran to stop uranium enrichment. A Pakistani-led illicit nuclear supply network and slow progress on disarmament have also highlighted the NPT's weaknesses. Israel is presumed to have a nuclear arsenal but neither confirms nor denies having one. Like India and Pakistan, it has not signed the NPT and will not participate in the conference. Western envoys say a successful meeting would yield a declaration that hits all three NPT pillars -- disarmament, non-proliferation, and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

IV. SRBIJA - Cyprus supports Serbia’s EU path, preservation of territorial integrity

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic met today with Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and thanked him for his country’s support in Serbia’s path to the EU and the struggle to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity in Kosovo-Metohija. Cvetkovic especially emphasised Cyprus’ active contribution in the process to establish the legality of the province’s unilaterally declared independence at the international Court of justice. They agreed that Serbia and Cyprus are interested in improving their economic cooperation, increasing investment and further developing their outstanding bilateral relations, based on the traditional friendship and closeness between their countries.

V. KATHIMERINI - FYROM move piques Athens

A bid by the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to assume the presidency of a Council of Europe body under the name Macedonia is exploitative and a mistake, a government official in Athens said yesterday. Dinos Vrettos, who leads Parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committee, expressed exasperation at Skopje’s use of the title “Macedonian presidency 2010” ahead of its scheduled assumption of the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of Europe’s committee of ministers. “It is a mistake on the part of FYROM to exploit this opportunity,” Vrettos said. In a related development, the US ambassador to FYROM, Philip Reeker, urged Skopje to focus on talks aimed at settling a dispute with Greece over the Balkan country’s official name. Without a resolution, he said, “Macedonia’s future leaves a large question mark.”

VI. RT - Bigfoot saved from drowning in icy Siberian river

A Russian hunter claims he has saved something that can only be described as Bigfoot from a frozen river in central Siberia. Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted a source in the administration of the Tashtagol district of the Perm Region as saying that the incident took place in April this year near the village of Senzaskiye Kichi. The village is located 140 kilometers away from the nearest human settlement and the only connection with its residents is by helicopter. The latest flight to the village brought back a written report about the encounter with the so-called Bigfoot. The letter read that professional hunter Afanasiy Kiskorov together with several other hunters was fishing when they heard a loud cracking of ice and a howl. When they approached the source of the noise, the hunters saw an unusual creature described as “like a huge man covered in dark brown fur.” The creature was in the river, about 10 meters from the bank and it unsuccessfully tried to get out of the water and stand upright. Kiskorov rushed to the rescue and reached out for the drowning creature with a dry tree branch. “Bigfoot” then grabbed the branch, got onto shore, and walked away. Authorities in the Kemerovo Region have repeatedly released stories of Bigfoot sightings over the past few years. According to them, those interested in cryptozoology could help to develop the Siberian tourism industry.

VII. UPI - Putin: Return religious items to church

Legislation is being drafted to return icons and other religious art seized after the Russian Revolution to churches and convents. The proposal has the backing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, The Moscow Times reports. Many museum curators fear art works will not receive proper care in churches. Gennady Vdovin, head of the Ostankino Estate Museum in Moscow, also said smoke from candles can damage icons. Last month, the Russian Orthodox Church regained control of the Novodevichy Convent, a 16th-century complex in Moscow that once housed the sister of Boris Godunov, a 16th century Russian regent, and the sister and estranged first wife of Peter the Great. Because the convent is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site, Putin ordered the property to be managed by the church with the government retaining formal ownership. Church leaders say religious property and art should not be state-controlled. "A temple must be a temple, not a museum. An icon has its place -- not in a museum, but in a functioning temple," Archbishop Hilarion, who is in charge of external relations, told the Times.

Michael's List- Islamic veils; UN tribunal for pirates; Russian warship escort; Chavez-Twitter; Serbia-EU-Spain; Journalists death rise; Mid-Pentecost

I. CALGARYHERALD - 50% of Europeans opposed to Islamic veil in schools

Just over half of Europeans surveyed opposed allowing Islamic headscarves in schools but backed the presence of crucifixes in classrooms, according to a Spanish study. A total 52.6 per cent of those polled in 12 European Union member states along were "opposed" or "totally opposed" to the use of the garment in schools. Opposition to the veil was highest in Bulgaria with 84.3 per cent against and France with 68.7 per cent opposed and it was lowest in Poland with only 25.6 per cent against followed by Denmark with 28.1 per cent opposed. By contrast 54.4 per cent of those polled were in favour of classrooms displaying crucifixes. In Spain and Italy, two nations with a strong Roman Catholic tradition, support for the use of crucifixes in classrooms stood at 69.9 per cent and 49.3 per cent respectively. Support for the use of crucifixes in classrooms shot up to 77 per cent in Britain and 78.8 per cent in Denmark. The issue of the use of Islamic headscarves has been thrust into the spotlight once again in Europe due to controversial moves by France and Belgium to ban Muslim full face veils. Last week France announced it would seek a law to ban Muslim residents and visitors from wearing a burqa or a niqab in public.

II. CNN - U.N. eyes international tribunals for pirates

The U.N. Security Council wants to make it easier to prosecute pirates, suggesting in a new resolution the possibility of international tribunals to try pirates. In a resolution unanimously adopted Tuesday, the 15-member body called for tougher legislation by countries to prosecute and jail suspects caught off the coast of Somalia, according to the United Nations website. The resolution also appealed to all countries "to criminalize piracy under their domestic law and favorably consider the prosecution of suspected, and imprisonment of convicted, pirates apprehended off the coast of Somalia, consistent with applicable international human rights law." The Security Council also requested that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon present a report within three months on possible options for prosecuting and imprisoning piracy suspects. The resolution also emphasized the role of the European Union, NATO and other agencies in bringing suspects to justice, "in cooperation with Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG)," according to the U.N. website.

III. RIANOVOSTI - Russian warship to escort 12 merchant vessels in Gulf of Aden

A Russian warship will escort 12 commercial vessels through the Somali pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. He said the Pacific Fleet's Udaloy-class missile-armed destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov would start the operation on Wednesday evening. The Marshal Shaposhnikov, a large anti-submarine ship, has two helicopters and an infantry unit on board. A Russian Pacific Fleet task force comprising the Marshal Shaposhnikov, the MB-37 salvage tug and the Pechenga tanker arrived in the Gulf of Aden on March 29 to join the anti-piracy mission there. The task force is the fourth group of warships from the Russian Pacific Fleet engaged in the anti-piracy mission off Somalia, with the previous three task forces led by the Admiral Vinogradov, Admiral Panteleyev and the Admiral Tributs destroyers. The Northern and Baltic fleets have also sent task forces to the region. Somali pirates carried out a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009. According to the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau, a total of 217 vessels were attacked last year, resulting in 47 hijackings.

IV. THEHINDU - Chavez to join Twitter!

It seems that Hugo Chavez, who is known for his long speeches, now wants to test his ability to deliver concise messages — Venezuelan President has announced that he would join micro-blogging site Twitter. Mr. Chavez (55) speaks to the nation for hours every Sunday on his radio and television programme, but on Twitter he will be limited to much shorter messages of 140 characters each time, reported The Daily Telegraph. His use of Twitter also marks a new strategy in approach to the Internet and social networking. In January, Mr. Chavez had said that using Twitter, the Internet and text messaging to criticise his regime was “terrorism”. He has now decided to use the social networking tool for his own purposes. “Comandante Chavez is going to open his Twitter account soon to wage the battle online. I'm sure he'll break records for numbers of followers,” Diosdado Cabello, Director of Venezuela's state-run telecommunications agency, was quoted as saying on Venezuelan television.

V. B92 - Serbia in EU is Spain’s priority

The progress of Serbia and the Western Balkan in EU integrations process is one of Madrid’s priorities. This is according to Spanish EU Presidency spokeswoman Cristina Gallach. “This refers to the Serbian candidate status bid, the next phase of which is crossing the same Brussels street, to the European Commission headquarters, for producing an opinion,” Gallach was quoted as saying by Belgrade daily Večernje Novosti. “We’re making as much effort as possible and we're continuing to work while awaiting the response,” she pointed out, and added that May and June were left until the end of the Spanish EU presidency and that “anything is possible”. The newspaper also writes today that “intensive consultations” have been under way, but that there has been no progress, with the Netherlands opposed to any progress in Serbia's EU integrations before the Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s new report in June.

VI. WASHINGTONPOST - Killings of journalists rising in 2010, group says

At least 42 journalists around the world have been killed so far this year and governments should take action to protect reporters and bring their killers to justice, a global media protection body said Wednesday. The International News Safety Institute, INSI, said April was the bloodiest month for media in five years, with 17 journalists losing their lives, a rate of two every three days. Yet in eight out 10 cases in recent years, no one had been brought to justice for journalists' deaths, the London-based group said in its report. The worst years for media in recent history were 2007, when 172 journalists were killed, and 2006, when 168 died -- many of them in Iraq at a time of intense sectarian violence. Seven journalists have been killed in Honduras so far this year, six in Mexico and four in Pakistan, the report showed. Three died in Colombia and Nigeria, and one each in Nepal, Venezuela, Cyprus, Russia, Ecuador and Turkey, among others. In at least 27 cases this year, the journalist's death was proven to be linked to his or her work.

VII. PRAVMIR - Do you want to be made well?

Christ is risen! Here we are, halfway between the Holy Resurrection of the Lord, the day of the salvation of the world, and Holy Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. The holy Church, as if connecting both holidays with an invisible thread, tells us about the healing of the paralytic by Christ on the day of the Jewish Pentecost. In this story we hear about the paralysis of sin and lengthy, very lengthy awaiting of healing, about hopelessness and the coming of Christ, our hope, and finally we hear the commandment to lead a righteous life. In Jerusalem there lived a man who had been paralyzed for almost forty years (John 5:5). He lay on one of the porches at the pool called Bethesda and there was nobody to help him (John 5:7). An angel of the Lord descended at times into the water, and the first one entering the water received healing from their illness (John 5:3). Many infirm, “blind, lame, and paralyzed” (John 5:3) gathered at the pool and the paralyzed man, no matter how hard he tried to crawl to the pool, never got there in time. Someone else always entered before him. However, this man, despite the hopelessness of his situation, did not lose hope, and continued to wait for God’s mercy. Now, on the day of Pentecost, there came the long awaited Savior Who gave life to the withered body, hope, refuge and protection. Christ came to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. It was the feast of the gathering of wheat before the beginning of the harvest, when the Israelites came to the temple in Jerusalem bringing their offerings and hymns to God. It seems that it was not an accident that Christ came to the porches of Bethesda on this day, healing bodily and spiritual paralysis in an act symbolizing a future harvest—the holy Church that would be gathered into the storehouses of God. Having found the paralytic in the crowd, the Savior immediately addressed him with just one question, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6; RSV here et passim). Even seeing the dire situation of the paralyzed man, knowing the lengthy wait, hope and patience of the sick person, Christ nevertheless gave him full freedom of choice, not forcing the man’s will in anything. “Do you want to be healed?” sounds like a challenge to those who have accepted their illness as part of themselves, who do not want to reject it, who even find pleasure in it. It is a challenge to those who “like dogs, lick the saw and cannot stop, getting drunk from the taste of their own blood” (St. Isaac of Syria). “Do you want to be healed?” asks the Savior. And hearing in reply, “It is so, Lord,”[i] He says, “Take up your pallet and walk” (John 5:8). He is not interested in details, in our human measures, our excuses that we do not have a helper, that there is no one to lead us or teach us. The voice of the Lord sounds with authority, “Get up. Pick up your bed. The time of paralysis of sin is over.” Symbolizing through the healing of the paralytic the beginning of the Gospel harvest, and bringing a true gift to the Father on the holy day of Pentecost, Christ made the former paralytic a communicant in the great feast. Instead of lying on the bed of sickness, the healed man was able to go to the House of God with offerings and praises (John 5:14); and, having found the Son in the Father’s house (cf. Luke 2:49), he realized that his healing had been spiritual even more than it was physical. “See, you are well!”—says Christ, “Sin no more” (John 5:14), in other words, live righteously. “I cleansed you from stain, I healed you from sin, I made you whiter than snow, and led you into the House of God — live the life for which you have been created: live righteously, keep your baptismal garment clean and undefiled.” Just like the paralytic, all of humanity lay in paralysis, having been struck by the illness of the original sin. For long millennia, we tried to find a cure, but could not reach God on our own, nor was there anyone to help us. And yet, we did not lose hope, we kept waiting on God’s mercy and finally received the Divine visitation. Through His Paschal resurrection, Christ opened the way to the life-giving font to everyone who thirsts. The way to healing from spiritual blindness, affliction and paralysis is open to everyone, who answers “It is so, Lord!” to God’s question “Do you want to be healed?” Gathering into God’s storehouses the gracious harvest of souls healed from the deadly illness of sin, Christ on the day of Pentecost gave to Christians the power to win over sin, to fight it and win. The Father sent His Spirit, the Comforter, Who gives us life and strengthens us. Founding His Church, Christ strengthened her with His Power, His Spirit, and gave her the commandment to live a pure life. Meeting every one of us today in the temple of God, Christ speaks to us with the words of the Holy Scripture, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you” (John 5:14). Keep your baptismal garment undefiled, recall and fulfill the oath taken at your baptismal font, in order that your soul not perish. Rise up from the paralysis of sin, open your eyes blinded by passions, and go to the house of God, praising the One Who saved you. Let us answer the Savior with the whole Church: By Your divine intercession, O Lord, as You raised up the paralytic of old, so raise up my soul, paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts; so that being saved I may sing to You: “Glory to Your power, O compassionate Christ!” Amen.

Michael's List - Cyprus; FYROM; Srebrenica, Holodomor not genocide; Israeli-Palestinian peace process; France-China relations; Mid-Pentecost

I. WASHINGTONTIMES - There's only one Cyprus

I am writing to express my disappointment over the map of Cyprus and the caption you ran with a recent news article ("Ghosts of conflict," Geopolitics, March 31). Both the map and the caption distort history and geography and lack sensitivity. The map incorrectly divides the Republic of Cyprus into two states, Cyprus and North Cyprus. This gives your readers the mistaken impression that the island of Cyprus contains two states, when in fact, there is only one internationally recognized state on the whole island of Cyprus: the Republic of Cyprus. Second, the caption under the photograph that accompanies the article incorrectly states that "the 1974 war ... divided the island into areas controlled by Turkey in the north and Greece in the south." While you are right to point out that the northern part of our country is controlled by Turkey as a result of the illegal Turkish invasion and occupation of 36.2 percent of the territory, it is erroneous to say the south is controlled by Greece. The Republic of Cyprus, which has been illegally divided since 1974, has been an independent and sovereign country for nearly 50 years and is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). For nearly 36 years, the people of Cyprus have endured an illegal occupation and numerous violations of fundamental freedoms. Roughly 43,000 Turkish army troops occupy the northern part of our island, making it one of the most densely militarized zones in the world. Turkey has treated the occupied part of Cyprus as if it were one of its own provinces and has transplanted more than 160,000 Turkish citizens while confiscating property that legally belongs to Cypriots who were evicted from their lands by the Turkish army. I trust that in the future you will be more sensitive and factual when reporting on Cyprus.

II. FOCUS - FYROM name issue should be resolved as quickly as possible

The statement of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that if there was a referendum regarding the name, he would vote “against” is a clear proof that the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece has to be resolved as quickly as possible, Macedonian newspaper Vecher quotes Erwan Fouéré, EU Special Representative for FYROM, saying. “The public statements of representatives of the two countries cannot resolve the issue, but would rather lead to further misunderstandings. That is why the two countries need to find a solution very soon,” Fouéré said.

III. RAWSTORY - Srebrenica was not genocide

Bosnian Serbs will never accept that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of some 8,000 Muslims was genocide, Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik told a Belgrade daily in an interview published on Tuesday. "We cannot and will never accept qualifying that event as a genocide," Dodik, who heads the Bosnian Serb entity in Bosnia, Republika Srpska, told the Vecernje Novosti newspaper. Bosnian Serbs have long downplayed the Srebrenica massacre. But in a report in 2004, the Republika Srpska government acknowledged the scale of the killing and apologised to the relatives of Muslims killed in Srebrenica. In his interview, Dodik dismissed the 2004 report, saying it was adopted "under pressure" from the international community's powerful high representative to Bosnia, and that it contained "inexact numbers". So far more than 6,400 victims exhumed from various mass graves around the town have been identified by DNA analysis.

IV. RIANOVOSTI - Yanukovych reverses Ukraine's position on Holodomor famine

It is "unjust" to call the Stalin-era famine that killed millions across the Soviet Union a genocide of the Ukrainian people, President Viktor Yanukovych said on Tuesday. Yanukovych's statement to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) marks a complete reversal of the policy of his predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, who sought international recognition of the 1932-1933 Great Famine, known to Ukrainians as the Holodomor, as genocide. PACE will discuss on Wednesday a report commemorating the victims of the Soviet famine that includes an amendment recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. "We consider it incorrect and unjust to consider the Holodomor a fact of genocide of a certain people," Yanukovych said, calling it "a common tragedy" of the Soviet people. The Ukrainian president said not only Ukrainian, but also Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh people starved during the famine. "Those were consequences of Stalin's totalitarian regime, his attitude to people," he said. More than 3 million people perished in Ukraine due to the famine, and Ukrainian nationalists say Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility. Yushchenko, who was known for his anti-Russian policies as president, led Ukraine's efforts to secure international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide.

V. JPOST - Proximity talks can start next week

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu alluded to the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process at a Likud convention in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, saying that he would be happy to begin proximity talks as soon as next week. "I was satisfied to hear yesterday that [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas was ready to resume talks," Netanyahu told the assembled Likud members. "We are committed to a real peace process ... we support peace." He warned, however, that any peace agreement with the Palestinian would have to safeguard what he termed Israel's "vital interests." "We insist that [the Palestinians] recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland," the prime minister said, adding that a solution would have to be found to the issue of the Palestinian refugees without necessitating their return to Israel. The prime minister then referred to differences of opinion within the party itself, saying that Likud member Moshe Feiglin and his supporters constituted an "extremist minority" that was a threat to party unity. The "Messianic, extremist" group, he said, was trying to "force on us a path that is foreign to us." Also during his speech, Netanyahu announced that he would visit Egypt on Monday and meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

VI. XINHUANET - France willing to deepen ties with China

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to enhance Franco-Sino relations at all levels because China has an indispensable role to play on the global stage. President Sarkozy described bilateral ties and partnership as comprehensive as well as strategic. "Comprehensive, because it covers all aspects of our relationship; strategic, because China has become an absolutely essential player on the international stage. There is no more big issue today that we can tackle without China," Sarkozy said. Referring to the establishment of the France-China diplomatic relations 45 years ago, the president said some misunderstanding between the two countries had belonged to the past and he held a firm confidence in China's future. "This is why I made the strengthening of the Franco-Chinese partnership a priority of our foreign policy," Sarkozy said. He said relations between the two countries had warmed and France would like to further ties with China "in all dimensions." Besides political and diplomatic dialogue on all major international issues and the promotion of the development of trade and industrial cooperation, France and China could open new fields for cooperation, the president said. Current bilateral cooperation on sustainable development, personnel exchange and scientific communication all had room to be expanded, he said. In his opinion, the "ambitious" will to promote France-China ties was not only a reflection of "the long profound friendship" between the two nations, but also a response to new challenges in the 21st century.

VII. PRAVMIR - Metropolitan Philaret on Mid-Pentecost

We all know that, beginning Wednesday of this past week, the Church began to sing the meaningful and touching troparion of the feast of Mid-Pentecost, in which is said: “At Mid-feast give Thou my thirsty soul to drink of the waters of piety.” This appeal to the Christian soul is understandable to everyone, especially, of course, in our terrible time, when we hear not about the “waters of piety,” but rather about the waves of impiety pouring more and more over the entire world and over the entire human race. The Christian soul, under the pressure of this impiety, prays that the Lord would water it, thirsty, with the waters of piety. The answer to this appeal comes in the Gospel we heard today at the Liturgy, in which the Lord, as if coming out to meet the soul calling out to Him in the troparion, says: Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [Mt 11:28]. You also know another moving passage in the Gospel, in which the Lord says: Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light [Mt 11:29]. An apostle said once that the Lord’s commandments are not grievous [1 Jn 5:3]. Here the Lord calls us to learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart. If we learned this meekness and humility from Him, we would immediately find rest for our souls. Here is our present life, with its vanity and defilement, with all its hardships and difficulties – is it some evil trick lying upon man, under which he suffocates and loses strength? The Lord says, in contradiction to this: My yoke is easy, and My burden is light, and not at all that terrible burden that the world, gone out of its mind, lays on its children. If only the children of this age would understand the Lord’s appeal, that only the Lord can give rest to the soul and remove that burden that lays on it, then all of life would change quite wonderfully. But alas! We know both from the Gospel and from the works of the Holy Fathers that the darkness resting over mankind will continue to thicken and condense, and will grow darker yet. One only needs to remember that both the Gospel and the Holy Fathers have warned us that life will become worse and more difficult. Certain of them speak of some sort of subsequent improvement. But the great Elder Ambrose of Optina waned in advance that this darkness will thicken and thicken, and that things will become more and more difficult for people. Finally the era of the Antichrist will arrive, in which those who are truly faithful to God and the Church will endure such tribulations as no one has ever before known. At the same time, those who are faithful to the Lord will cry out that the Lord’s yoke is easy, and His burden light. He who bows his head under this good yoke and this light burden of Christ will immediately feel that he is free, that the yoke of Christ does not choke him, that it does not make his life more difficult but, to the contrary, eases it. If only mankind, gone out of its mind, would at last understand this Evangelic appeal and turn to its Savior, Who calls them to Himself, and learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart – then mankind would understand where in fact truth and light are, and where lies and falsehood are. But, I repeat, there is no hope that mankind will understand, because the predictions of Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers do not speak of this at all. But the Christian should not grow downcast in spirit. The Lord knows His faithful ones, and protects them as the apple of His eye. Recall how approvingly the Lord, in the Apocalypse, speaks to the angel of the Church of Philadelphia, which can be taken as all those who are faithful to Him. He says: Because thou hast kept the word of My patience (His Divine word), I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world [Rev 3:10]. The Lord Jesus Christ, as we know all too well, never spoke an untruth: if this is what He said, this is what will be! It follows that our task must be to maintain fidelity to Him. If we will keep His the word of His patience, His Divine word, as holy, and fulfill it, then He will fulfill His Divine word, and can save us from those afflictions, from those years of temptations that have already begun and which are still ongoing. Amen.

Michael's List - EU,NATO,Cyprus-Turkey, Kosovo-Bosnia; E J'lem frozen; India-Pakistan; Urkraine-Russia base deal; Karabakh pledge; Georgian Patriarch

I. EARTHTIMES - EU and NATO vow to boost cooperation despite Turkey-Cyprus problem

European Union and NATO officials pledged Monday to work more closely together despite the obstacle posed to formal cooperation by long-standing tensions between Cyprus and Turkey. Cyprus, an EU member, opposes Turkey's entry into the club as long as the country maintains troops to defend Turkish Cypriots' separate entity in the north of the island. In return, NATO-member Turkey blocks any formal agreement between the military alliance and the EU, complicating relations in places like Afghanistan and Kosovo, where both organizations are present. Following a meeting with the EU's foreign and defence ministers in Luxembourg, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said "pragmatic and practical steps" had to be taken immediately while waiting for "a general solution to the well-known political problems." Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the two organizations pledged "not to duplicate efforts, especially at a time when budget constraints are severe."

II. B92 - EU ministers on Kosovo, Bosnia

EU foreign ministers are set to meet in Luxembourg this Monday, said reports. The ministers are expected to voice their support for the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, and its fight against organized crime and corruption. Although a discussion on the Western Balkans has not been scheduled, the Council of Ministers is expected to “welcome efforts to increase the presence and activities of EULEX in northern Kosovo”. They will also welcome the establishment of the “EU House” in the northern, predominately Serb part of the ethically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Bosnia-Herzegovina will also be on the agenda of the meeting today, according to reports.

III. JPOST - East Jerusalem building frozen for all intents and purposes

Two Jerusalem officials were quoted as saying on Monday that Israel had frozen plans for new construction in the city's disputed eastern sector, despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's declarations to the contrary. They say the decision was taken after Israel infuriated Washington last month by announcing a major new east Jerusalem construction project during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden. Citing top Jerusalem city hall officials, one city councilman told The Associated Press that Netanyahu's office had verbally ordered a construction freeze. Another councilman said two committees that review construction plans on weekly basis have barely met since Biden visited.

IV. CNN - Indian and Pakistani prime ministers to meet

The prime ministers of bitter rivals India and Pakistan plan to meet this week during a summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Bhutan, the Pakistani premier's office said in a statement. The nuclear rivals also have a long-standing dispute over the mountainous Kashmir region which separates the two countries, with India accusing Pakistan of fueling an insurgency. The countries have fought three wars over the territory since their independence in 1947 and routinely exchanged fire along the border, known as the Line of Control, until a 2003 cease-fire agreement was struck.

V. RIANOVOSTI - Ukraine parliament committee advises against ratifying Russian base deal

The Ukrainian parliament committee for international affairs on Monday recommended against ratifying a new deal extending Russia's use of a naval base in Crimea. The deal, signed by the Russian and Ukrainian presidents on April 21, extends the lease on the Russian base in the port of Sevastopol for 25 years after the current lease was to expire in 2017, and may be further extended by another five years.

VI. REUTERS - Armenian, Azeri faith leaders make Karabakh pledge

The head of the Armenian church and the senior Muslim cleric in Azerbaijan pledged on Monday to help to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with talks between Yerevan and Baku on the enclave deadlocked. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Christian Armenia, threw off Azeri rule in a war that killed 30,000 people before a ceasefire in 1994. A peace deal has never been reached, and Azerbaijan frequently threatens to take the region back by force. Karekin II, the Catholicos (chief bishop) of All Armenians, joined in making the pledge during a trip to Baku. It marked the first visit by the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church to Muslim Azerbaijan since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated towards all-out war. Karekin II met Allahshukur Pashazade, who heads the Muslim Board of the Caucasus, for talks in Baku which Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill also attended. After the talks, they issued a joint statement promising support for a 15-year-old mediation process between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia that has yet to produce a deal. "... we intend to contribute to their aspirations and believe it important to continue the dialogue between religious leaders to help resolve the conflict", they said. Patriarch Kirill said he hoped the meeting would "help ease tensions, and create the conditions for political leaders to take responsibility and come to an agreement". Tensions have risen since Armenia and Azerbaijan's ally Turkey announced a deal last year to mend ties and open their common border, which Ankara closed in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the war. That deal has now been suspended. Azerbaijan sees the deal as a betrayal of its efforts to win back territory seized by ethnic Armenian forces during the war. Armenia suspended ratification of the accord last week over Turkish demands that it reach terms with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, but some analysts say the collapse has come too late to soothe Azeri suspicions.

VII. CNN - Most trusted man in Georgia, the Orthodox Patriarch

At the end of a Sunday church that lasts more then three hours, the frail spiritual leader of Georgia's Orthodox Christians emerges through the doors of Holy Trinity Cathedral's ornate wall of icons, and steps towards the waiting congregation. The crowd surges forward. Hundreds of men, women and adolescents, reach for Patriarch Ilia II. Guided by bodyguards, the bearded cleric works his way through the sea of arms, touching and blessing his admirers' hands as he slowly walks out the cathedral to an armored limousine. Teenagers chase after the vehicle, as the patriarch drives away. Ilia II has led one of the world's oldest Christian communities for more than 30 years. In a country that has suffered four wars in the past two decades, and experienced harrowing political and economic transformation, the patriarch is seen by many as a respected source of stability. According to a 2008 poll published by the Tbilisi-based International Centre on Conflicts and Negotiation, 94.2 percent of Georgians surveyed ranked Ilia II the most trusted man in the country. Born Irakli Shiolashvili, Ilia II was crowned "His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia" in 1977, when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union. He assumed leadership of a church that Soviet authorities had targeted and repressed for decades. "Many spiritual figures were persecuted and shot. Many churches were closed and some were destroyed," Ilia II said. He spoke to CNN at the patriarchate's residence in downtown Tbilisi, a three-story building full of icons and church artifacts that had been seized and used as a police headquarters during Soviet times. "After the liberation of Georgia from the Soviet Union, of course conditions improved. The people go to church, especially the youth," Ilia II explained. In the last 20 years, the church in Georgia - and its leader - have become some of the most powerful institutions in the country. In December of 2007, the patriarch announced he would personally baptize newborns in an effort to battle Georgia's declining birthrate. Thousands of people turned up to mass baptisms, during which smiling parents watched as robed priests plunged screaming babies into ornate vats full of holy water. Official statistics show that in 2008, Georgia had its highest number of births in nine years. Ilia II claims partial credit for the surge in births. "I have already baptized about 5,000 children," he said. "Parents decided to give birth to these children because they had a chance to be the patriarch's godchildren." In person, Ilia II is visibly frail. His voice is at times barely audible and he keeps his eyes averted from bright lights. But the patriarch speaks unapologetically about his position of authority in a country where 84 percent of the population identifies itself as Orthodox Christian. "The patriarch is not a person who needs a government office," Ilia II said. "That is why the most objective ideas can be expressed by the patriarch and the church." In his sermons and speeches, Ilia II periodically veers from spiritual advice to outspoken commentary about political events. Addressing thousands of worshippers at a Sunday service last month, Ilia II denounced a hoax news report on Georgian TV about a fake Russian military invasion. He called the controversial program, which spread panic throughout the population, a "crime against humanity." After Georgia lost a brief-but-bloody 2008 war with Russia, Ilia II was the highest ranking Georgian dignitary to meet face-to-face with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. In March 2008, Ilia II helped negotiate an end to a hunger strike led by opposition parties against the Georgian government. Ilia II says his greatest accomplishment has been to help unify Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Society was divided into separate pieces," he said. "My aim was to unify the people, to make them one nation. And I knew that would happen." At 77, the patriarch is not a young man. Many Georgians now worry about the health of the elderly priest who has helped guide his country through 19 stormy years of independence. During Sunday prayer services, the choir in Holy Trinity Cathedral performs a choral piece called "Kyrie Eleison." It features a female soloist, backed by an all-male choir. Their full-throated harmonies echo off the stone walls of the huge church, triggering goose bumps among listeners.

Michael's List - Health Care Cost Rises; Israel-US; Belgium gov't falls; Greece-Turkey; NATO-Russia-Ukraine; anti-Serb attacks; OCA 2010 Conference

I. NPR - Dual Reports Provide Fodder For Health Law Critics

Two separate government reports released yesterday will give health overhaul critics plenty to chew on. One suggests the cost of health care will rise because of the changes, and the other, that millions will face fines because of a controversial requirement that everyone buy health insurance. First, the Congressional Budget Office said 4 million middle class Americans would face fees in the neighborhood on $1,000 a head in 2016 because they will not meet the new requirement to get coverage. Later in the day, the Medicare agency's chief actuary circulated a report concluding the health law would increase spending by 1 percent rather than rein costs in as promised. But, there are a few bright sides. Even as the overhaul may push the costs of health care up for many, Medicare patients may get lower premium rates out of the deal, the Los Angeles Times reports. Foster also said that the bill may curb costs in the long run, but that savings over the next 10 years could be washed away by a flood of new spending. So basically Congress needs to stick to the planned cuts into the future, or face unpopular price increases.

II. JPOST - Israel seriously committed to peace

President Shimon Peres assured US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Friday that Israel was committed to peace. Peres told Mitchell that whoever doubted Israel seriousness about achieving peace was making an error in judgment. The president said that the Israelis, Palestinians and Americans are standing before a “green light” regarding the peace process. Peres added that Mitchell’s arrival in Israel was “essential” and that the Israeli government would like to see him succeed on his mission. Earlier Friday, amid high hopes regarding the start of "proximity" Middle East peace negotiations, Mitchell reaffirmed the unshakable bond between Washington and Jerusalem during a meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying the special ties would only get stronger. Mitchell stressed that the Obama administration was working to advance mutual Israeli and US interests, which he said were led by a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians based on the two-state solution, Israel Radio reported. The US envoy is expected to head to Ramallah in the evening for talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Anticipation of a breakthrough was high on Thursday night, despite Netanyahu’s reiterated refusal to halt construction in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem as the Palestinian Authority has been demanding.

III. NYT - Belgium: Government Falls

The government collapsed Thursday over an ongoing dispute on language rights in a bilingual voting district. Prime Minister Yves Leterme offered the government's resignation to King Albert II after the Flemish-speaking Liberals quit the five-party coalition, blaming French-speaking politicians. The king did not accept the resignation, but began talks with key politicians.

IV. BLOOMBERG - Turkey's prime minister to visit Athens next month

A Greek official says Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Athens next month. Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas says the May 14-15 visit "will be the beginning of a new era" in the two neighbors' often tense relations. He says economic cooperation will figure prominently on the agenda. The dates were announced Friday after Droutsas met Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Tallinn, Estonia. Greece and Turkey have improved historically hostile relations over the past decade, but remain at odds over the divided island of Cyprus and maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea. The disputes have further complicated Turkey's troubled bid to join the EU -- a bid Athens supports.

V. RIANOVOSTI - NATO chief says Russia-Ukraine base deal won't affect ties

The extension of Russia's lease on its Black Sea Fleet base in Ukraine will not affect NATO's relations with Moscow and Kiev, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday. "It's a bilateral agreement and it will not have an impact on our relationship neither with Russia nor with Ukraine," he said. He also said the extension of the base deal made no difference to the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO. On Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych signed an agreement on terms of the Russian Black Sea Fleet presence in Ukraine's Crimea on the Black Sea to be extended for 25 years after 2017, when the current lease is due to expire. Under the new agreement, the lease on the Sevastopol base may be further extended by another five years after 2047. The agreement has already drawn a very negative response from the Ukrainian opposition.

VI. B92 - PM urges UN prevention of anti-Serb incidents in Kosovo

PM Mirko Cvetković urged on Friday the representatives of “the UN peacekeeping missions” to prevent incidents against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. “The pressure that extremists exert on the returnees and the disabling of the Serbian mobile service providers by the Kosovo interim institutions have engendered new pressure and the atmosphere of insecurity and fear among the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija,” he was quoted as saying. Cvetković underlined that the cutting of communication lines between the Serb-populated areas in the province and the world represents an attempt of new isolation of Serbs in Kosovo. “The Serbian government insists that the UN peacekeeping missions, UNMIK and EULEX, should take emergency measures to prevent such incidents and contribute to the establishment of a lasting peace in Serbia's southern province,” Cvetković stated

VII. OCA - Registration now open for 2010 Parish Ministries Conference, Young Adult Rally June 27-30

Registration is now open for the 2010 Parish Ministries Conference and Young Adult Rally to be hosted by three Orthodox Church in America departments on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College, just minutes from the Cleveland airport, June 27-30, 2010. The conference and rally theme is "Equipping the Saints," based on Ephesians 4:11-13, in which Saint Paul challenges every member of the Church to use his or her unique gifts to minister for the "building up the Body of Christ." Joining the DCE in hosting the event are the OCA's Departments of Liturgical Music and Translation and Youth, Young Adults and Campus Ministry, and the Diocese of the Midwest's Parish Health Ministry, a flagship effort in the field of evangelization, growth, and parish ministry. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah will be the featured speaker. Other presenters include His Grace, Bishop Melchizedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; and Mark Bailey, Archpriest John Behr, Prof. David Drillock, Joseph Kormos, Kenneth Kovach, Archpriest John Matusiak, Vladimir Morosan, Daria Petrykowski, Anna Strelka, and Matushka Valerie Zahirsky. Workshops will be repeated throughout the conference to enable participants to attend several tracts, while discussions and sessions during which attendees will be able to share their ideas will punctuate the schedule. Registration forms, schedules and program descriptions, speaker lists, directions, and other pertinent information on the ministries conference may be found at by clicking the "Equipping the Saints" logo on the OCA web site at www.oca.org.

Michael's List - WWII, Jasenovac; Armenia-Turkey talks rejected; France, burqa ban; Skopje vs Athens; Israel-US; Russian bases; Guatemala Orthodox

I. UPI - Serbia commemorates WWII victims, Jasenovac

Serbia marked a remembrance observation Thursday for victims of the World War II Nazi genocide of minorities and dissidents. Serbian President Boris Tadic led a ceremony in Belgrade dedicated to Serbs, gypsies and Jews killed by the Nazis from 1941-45, the state-run Tanjug news agency reported. The ceremony marked the anniversary of the Allied liberation of the Jasenovac concentration camp, where 500,000 Serbs, 80,000 gypsies and 23,000 Jews were killed along with thousands of political dissidents, the report said. Survivors, victims' family members and diplomatic representatives from Germany and Israel attended the Belgrade event, Tanjug said. To read more about the Holocaust Era in Croatia - Jasenovac - visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website by clicking here.

II. CNN - Armenian parties reject talks with Turkey

The ruling coalition of political parties in Armenia's parliament has called for suspending talks aimed at normalizing relations with Turkey, Armenia's southern neighbor and long-time adversary. The decision marks a setback to a U.S., European and Russian-supported peace process aimed at reopening the border between Armenia and Turkey and the establishment of embassies in both countries' capitals. In a statement published on Thursday, Armenia's parliamentary coalition accused Turkey of failing to ratify internationally agreed peace protocols before an agreed deadline. The protocols were signed by the foreign ministers from Armenia and Turkey last October, under the watchful eyes of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a ceremony that was nearly canceled because of a dispute between the Turks and the Armenians. The parliamentary coalition says the Turkish side's stance is "unacceptable," particularly statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan making ratification of peace protocols "directly dependent upon the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan." Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan fought a bitter war over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is now controlled by Armenian troops. The front line is still volatile, with periodic deadly clashes. The Turkish government says is still formulating a response to the Armenian parliamentary decision. Thursday's announcement comes just two days before Armenians around the world will commemorate the 1915 massacre of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.

III. WASHINGTONPOST - France wants to apply burqa ban to tourists

France's government on Thursday announced it would apply a proposed ban on face-covering Islamic veils to visiting tourists as well as residents, even as skepticism mounted over the legality of the plan. Junior family minister Nadine Morano said visitors would have to "respect the law" and uncover their faces, prompting critics to speculate whether Saudi luxury shoppers would be forced to unveil themselves on the glitzy Champs-Elysees. "When you arrive in a country you have to respect the laws of that country," Morano said on France Info radio. "If I go to certain countries I'm also forced to respect the law." French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday backed a strict public ban of the veil, commonly referred to in France as the burqa, eschewing more moderate proposals that focused on limits in state institutions such as schools and town halls. The draft bill will be presented to the cabinet next month. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Wednesday he was ready to take on a "legal risk" by supporting the ban, which could be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it violates freedom of religion. France's highest court has already warned the government that a complete ban could be unlawful. The opposition Socialists have repeatedly spoken out against full veils, but are doubtful about the effectiveness of the ban. "I can't imagine policemen running through the streets to pull the veils off women," Socialist parliamentarian Jean-Christophe Cambadelis said on i-Tele television. The government says women who wear all-covering veils, such as the Afghan burqa or the niqab, would not be forced to take them off on the spot but would be asked for their name and address, and be sent a warning and a fine.

IV. FOCUS - Game of nerves between Skopje and Athens

Athens and Skopje are playing some game of nerves around the arrival of Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in Athens for the conference organized by The Economist magazine. A week before the conference starts it is still uncertain whether the Macedonian prime minister will get a permission for his airplane to land in Athens. Thus, Gruevski has not announced whether he will attend the conference yet, while the Greek ministry does not say whether there will be a landing permission. The question is who will surrender first, the newspaper says, citing publications in the Greek media, which say that Gruevski is well aware that this is hardly likely to happen. According to the Greek media, the Macedonian prime minister will wait until the very last moment to make a show after the negative reaction of Greece and then he will ‘dramatically’ announce that he has not been allowed to land in Greece with the state airplane, which bears the name and national symbols of the republic of Macedonia.

V. AP - Israel to US: No building halt in east Jerusalem

Aides say Israel's prime minister has officially rejected President Barack Obama's demand that Israel suspend all construction in east Jerusalem. They say Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his response to Obama over the weekend. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the contacts between the two leaders were private. Netanyahu's position conforms with long-standing Israeli policy but presents a significant obstacle to resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israel delivered its position ahead of the arrival later Thursday of Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as capital of their future state and see Israeli building there as cementing Israeli claims to that sector of the city.

VI. RIANOVOSTI - Russia has no plans for new military bases in other countries

Russia has no plans to build new military facilities anywhere in the world similar to its naval base in Ukraine's Crimea, the Russian prime minister said on Thursday. "I would like to reiterate that Crimea is a unique case that has evolved historically," Vladimir Putin said, adding there was no need to build military bases in other countries and requested "our partners" not to bother with the same kind of requests. The lease agreement on the Russian Black Sea Fleet's presence in Ukraine, signed on Wednesday, extends Russian naval presence in the port of Sevastopol for 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017, and may be further extended by another five years. Putin also said Russia will pay higher rent for its base in Ukraine starting in 2017 and payments will be made in hard cash. Yanukovych has pledged to move Ukraine away from the pro-Western stance of former President Viktor Yushchenko, who vowed that Russia would have to look for a new main base for its Black Sea Fleet once the current deal expires in 2017. The Ukrainian opposition, however, has said any prolongation of Russian military presence will require amendments to the Constitution as well as a national referendum. Yushchenko's party said Yanukovych should be impeached for signing the agreement extending Russian naval presence in Crimea because it contradicts the Ukrainian Constitution. Mykola Tomenko, deputy speaker of parliament and a leader of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB), said last Wednesday Article 17 of the Constitution forbids foreign military bases on Ukrainian soil.

VII. Guatemala Orthodox monastery founded by daughter of local oligarch

Daughter of a richest Guatemala residents and a former Catholic nun founded an Orthodox monastery in mountains by the Amatitlan Lake near one of the most active volcanoes of the Pacaya Region. Until her 36 birthday Mother Superior of the Holy Trinity Monastery Sister Iness was a nun in a Catholic monastery. However, when she got acquainted with life of St. Seraphim of Sarov, her life was changed and the woman started reading the holy fathers and then converted to Orthodoxy, the Trud-7 paper wrote on Thursday. "Speaking to the point, I feel confident in Orthodoxy, I feel tranquil and I feel…a kind of stable. My soul is calm in Orthodoxy," Sister Iness said. Grand Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Guatemala is protected by a high fence and controlled by the security service armed with pump rifles and automatic pistols. Once Guatemala criminal groups asked a fee from Sister Iness "for protection" of her monastery, but eventually they volunteered to protect the church and its surrounding territory. Iness's father, local oligarch and well known in Guatemala economist bears the major part of financial expenses connected with church building. First, he was against his daughter's decision to leave Catholicism, but then at the age of 84 converted to Orthodoxy himself.

Michael's List - Balkans on crossroads; Qatar-Cyprus; France, Islamic veil ban; US-Iran; US autos; Russia-Ukraine; The Lord is my Shepard

I. RADIOSRBIJA - Balkans on the crossroads between the past and the present

All the Balkan countries should become full-fledged members of the EU and it is necessary to eliminate current obstacles in that process, the Serbian, Spanish and Turkish foreign ministers, Vuk Jeremić, Miguel Angel Moratinos and Ahmet Davutoglu said after a trilateral meeting in Belgrade. Serbia has initiative in that respect and is trying to boost the development of relations between countries in the region. The relations of West Balkan states are burdened with numerous open-ended issues from the recent past. Brussels welcomes the frequent exchange of visits among Serbian, Croatian and BIH officials, assessing them as a major requirement for reconciliation, security, stability and prosperity in the region. The EU message is clear – Balkan countries must realize that mutual cooperation is beneficial. The unresolved Kosovo issue is a problem burdening regional relations. Some of the countries have recognized its unilaterally proclaimed independence, which Serbia will not accept. As for the participation of Kosovo in regional conferences, Serbia calls for full respect of the international law and UN SC Resolution 1244. The meeting of , the Serbian, Spanish and Turkish foreign ministers resulted only in a promise that efforts will be made for the purpose of establishment of good cooperation in the region. Simic expressed concern that, if the issue is not adequately resolved, future regional cooperation will face a big challenge. However, at this moment the countries of the region are interested in having the Eurointegration process accelerated, merely because of the fact that all the countries have been struck by the global economic crisis and that foreign investments are not arriving as before. The Balkan region is a small fragmented market lacking the economic scope that enables more investments and major projects.

II. BUSINESSWEEK - Qatar to pour millions in Cyprus property

Qatar and Cyprus signed an agreement on Wednesday to build a multimillion dollar luxury hotel, office and residential complex in the commercial center of the island's capital. Qatar's Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias signed the deal to establish a joint venture in which the two countries will hold an equal stake in the 55,000 square-meter (592,020 square foot) complex that will also include retail shopping and residential quarters. Construction crews are expected to break ground for the first phase of the complex -- a 5-star hotel -- by the end of the year. The Qatari official put the hotel's estimated cost at over $150 million (euro111.7 million) and it will be completed within 30 months once construction begins. Officials did not disclose the overall cost of the complex. Al Hedfa said oil-rich Qatar opted to invest in Cyprus because the island was left relatively unscathed from the global economic crisis. "We believe in the economy of Cyprus," he said. Cyprus Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said the government will contribute the land on which the complex will be built. The land's value will be calculated by an international real estate appraiser. The two countries also signed an agreement on forging closer air transport links.

III. SMH - France to ban Islamic veil in public

The French government is drawing up a law to ban the full-face Islamic veil from all public spaces, despite a warning from experts that it could face a legal challenge, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The spokesman for President Nicolas Sarkozy's government said the bill would be presented to ministers in May and would go beyond a mere ban on women wearing the niqab and the burqa while dealing with French officials. "We're legislating for the future. Wearing a full veil is a sign of a community closing in on itself and a rejection of our values." Last month, the State Council - France's top administrative authority - warned Sarkozy against a full ban on the veil, suggesting instead an order that women uncover their faces for identity checks or for state business. But there remains broad support in parliament for a full ban and the government is determined to press on with legislation, which it says would affect only around 2,000 Muslim French women who currently cover their faces.

IV. AP - US official: Iran military strike 'off the table'

The U.S. has ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program any time soon, hoping instead negotiations and United Nations sanctions will prevent the Middle East nation from developing nuclear weapons, a top U.S. defense department official said Wednesday. The U.S. and its allies fear Tehran is using its nuclear program to build arms. Iran denies the charges, and says its program only aims to generate electricity. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted Wednesday by Iran's state media saying the country won't give in to U.S. pressure. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard is preparing to hold large-scale military maneuvers in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iran has rejected a 2009 U.N.-backed plan that offered nuclear fuel rods to Tehran in exchange for Iran's stock of lower-level enriched uranium. The swap would curb Tehran's capacity to make a nuclear bomb. The U.S. is lobbying heavily in the Security Council for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

V. FOXNEWS - Poll: Americans Say U.S. Cars Top Asian Autos

Could the U.S. love affair with foreign autos be cooling? An Associated Press-GfK Poll shows that more Americans now say U.S.-made automobiles are better than cars made by Asian countries. People give American autos an edge over their Asian competitors 38 percent to 33 percent. That's a modest advantage, but a big turnabout from a 2006 AP-AOL poll in which Americans picked Asian-made autos over U.S. autos for quality, 46 percent to 29 percent. The change reflects Toyota's fading reputation as well as growing respect for Ford. Fifteen percent of those polled in March said Toyota makes the best cars, down from 25 percent in 2006.

VI. RT - Russian, Ukrainian presidents sign agreements on Black Sea Fleet, gas price

The lease of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet base in Ukraine’s Crimea will be extended for 25 more years beyond 2017. President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich signed the agreement after the talks in Kharkov, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday. The document stipulates a five-year extension after the term expires. The previous agreement on the lease was signed in 1997 for 20 years. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko described the possible prolongation of the document a factor “destabilizing” the situation in his country. Yanukovich, elected president in February, has pledged to improve ties with Russia. The heads of state also signed a gas deal which stipulates a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters at the natural gas price of $330 and a 30 per cent discount on other prices, RIA Novosti news agency said. Discounts will come into effect from April this year. Russia’s Gazprom plans to supply 36.5 billion cubic meters to Ukraine this year. Moscow will also invest $40 billion over the next 10 years in Ukrainian gas sphere. Ukraine transits about 80 per cent of Russian natural gas exports to Europe. In exchange, Moscow may be offered participation in Ukrainian energy projects and a stake in the country’s gas transportation system. The gas price issue has been remaining one of the most important topics in the bilateral relations. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with his Ukrainian counterpart Nikolay Azarov a day before Medvedev’s trip to Kharkov. According to Azarov, the two governments have come to a “common position.” But the details of the agreement had to be discussed by the presidents. Medvedev said he wanted his first visit to Ukraine as president to become one of the steps that should “turn ordinary relations into a partnership, returning to them the quality of strategic relations between two very close countries.” As the relations were chilly under former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Medvedev believes the main task now is to fill all the gaps in relations on all levels. The meetings between the countries’ leaders are necessary to gain results, he noted, promising to pay a full-format official visit later.

VII. PRAVMIR - The Lord is my Shepherd

Written for the April 2009 issue of ‘Common Ground’ – a magazine dedicated to Jewish-Christian dialogue

The psalms are a fundamental part not only of the Jewish but also of the Christian Orthodox Tradition. The Psalter is the cornerstone of every Orthodox service. From the psalms Orthodox Christians have drawn inspiration, spiritual comfort and peace for centuries. In all Orthodox churches, the authoritative text of the Old Testament is the ancient Greek translation known as the Septuagint. The Hebrew version of the Old Testament contains thirty-nine books. The Septuagint contains in addition ten further books, not present in the Hebrew, which are known in the Orthodox Church as the ‘Deutero-Canonical Books’, more commonly known in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches as the ‘Apocrypha’ (3 Esdras; Tobit; Judith; 1, 2, and 3 Maccabees; Wisdom of Solomon; Ecclesiasticus; Baruch; Letter of Jeremiah). Of all books of the Old Testament, the book of the psalms is without doubt that which has greater universal appeal throughout Christendom and, of course, amongst all Abrahamic Faiths. In Orthodox monasteries and convents, the reading and reciting of the psalms constitutes a daily service and is a part of the monastic discipline. Psalm 23 (Psalm 22 in the Septuagint) is particularly dear to my heart, as it is sure to be to millions of people of faith. This psalm has a very human character and it applies to our own existential relationship with God the Creator Who brought us into being and makes provision for our everyday sustenance and spiritual wellbeing. Its teaching reminds us of that which is most essential in our lives, that we are God’s children and so we must love and trust in Him for all things both in the present and in the future. The psalm is reminiscent of Christ’s teaching about the good shepherd. As a clergyman and in particular as an Archbishop, a shepherd of the spiritual flock that is my Archdiocese, the image and teaching of the shepherd is a constant reminder to imitate Christ in my own ministry. It helps me also to better understand my responsibilities toward my spiritual children for whom Christ gave His life in order to make them and us all members of His heavenly Kingdom. This psalm is also frequently used by Orthodox Christians in their prayers of preparation for Holy Communion, most certainly because of the phrase: “You prepare a table before me… your cup inebriates me…” Needless-to-day, it is the bishop’s primary task and privilege to celebrate the Eucharist. And so Psalm 23 for me reiterates the Eucharistic and hierarchical character of the Orthodox Church, and on a more personal level, it reminds me, a Shepherd of the Greek Orthodox Christian Flock in the United Kingdom, to always deepen my commitment to pastoral care and to my liturgical and educational responsibilities with fear of God and with awe and adoration of our only High Priest, the only Good Shepherd, Who gave Himself up for the life and salvation of the world. Psalm 23 reads: The Lord is my shepher; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You annoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Side story about Shirley and Marcy... A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn‟t want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it. She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn‟t notice her. She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well. So the neighbor agreed. The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for a whole week. As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy‟s little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally she said to Timmy, “Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?” Timmy nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, I know who she is”. The little girl said, “Well, who is she”. “That‟s just Shirley Goodnest”, Timmy replied, “and her daughter Marcy”. “Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us?” “Well”, Timmy explained, “every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, „cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, „Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life‟, so I guess I‟ll just have to get used to it!”

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace”. “May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always”