I. THESTAR - EU pledges a trillion to save the Euro
The EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pledged a massive defence package of nearly $1 trillion (R75 trillion) for the embattled euro today, hoping to turn back relentless attacks on the euro zone's weakest members and allow the continent to resume its hesitant economic recovery. Under the three-year aid plan, the EU Commission will make e60 billion (R584bn) available while countries from the 16-nation euro zone would promise bilateral backing for e440bn. The IMF would contribute an additional sum of at least half the EU's total contribution, or e250bn, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado said. "We'll defend the euro whatever it takes," EU commissioner Olli Rehn said after a meeting of EU finance ministers. "We're placing considerable sums in the interest of stability in Europe." Spain and Portugal, which have begun to see the same signs of trouble that Greece had three months ago, have committed to "take significant additional consolidation measures in 2010 and 2011" and the two countries will present them to EU finance ministers at their meeting next week.
II. HERALDCOURIER - Some soldiers seek solace in Cradle of Civilization during Holy Week
On a cool and cloudy morning, in the middle of a majority-Muslim country, 200 or so military and civilian Christians rose before the sun to attend a 6 a.m. Easter service on the grounds of an old soccer stadium about 100 miles north of Baghdad. Many others had spent the night in prayer, attending an Easter service that begin 30 minutes before midnight on this U.S. military base, known as Contingency Operating Base Speicher. Holy Week in Iraq was like “coming back home to a Christian heartland,” said Capt. Kevin Millsaps of Kingsport, Tenn., who serves as chaplain for the 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee Army National Guard. Based in Kingsport, the squadron shipped out at the first of the year for a tour of duty in the Middle East. Millsaps was a priest at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Bluff City, Tenn., for two years before this deployment, his first to Iraq. He said he had to relinquish his position at Holy Trinity when he left with his Guard unit, because the church couldn’t be without a priest while he was deployed. “My position here is to offer and oversee religious support for anyone in the squadron,” Millsaps said. “If I can’t help a certain individual for whatever reason, then I will find a chaplain who can.” Now, in the land known as “The Cradle of Civilization” and reputedly where the Garden of Eden originated, Millsaps and other Christian members of the 3/278th mark a milestone each time they celebrate religious services. “Abraham came from the City of Ur,” Millsaps said. “Other stories in the Bible such as Daniel and the lion’s den originated in this area. The city of Nineveh, in Iraq, is associated with the story of Jonah and the whale.” And as they observed Easter, considered the holiest of all Christian celebrations, the sun emerged from a shroud of clouds as a large white oval on the horizon. Radiating from the center, the sun’s spectrum of soft pastel pinks, yellows, violets and magenta created a lush background for the Easter service, providing an illusion of the sky being newly painted from an artist’s dripping palette. Earlier in the day, Millsaps conducted Easter services for the Eastern Orthodox Christian followers from the 278th and anyone else wishing to attend the overnight celebration, which ran from 11:30 p.m. Saturday to 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The services were held in a converted old wood shop on the base that now serves as the newly formed St. George Chapel. “My message to the congregations was the reading of the Easter sermon of St. John Chrysostom, which is still read among the 400 million followers of the Orthodox Christians as it has been for 1,600 years on Easter Sunday,” Millsaps said. “St. John’s sermon is read all over the world and in the language each country uses,” Millsaps said. “There are Orthodox Christians also in Greece, Russia, Armenia, Syria and Ethiopia to name a few.” Iraq was a Christian nation as was Syria and other parts of Mesopotamia until the conquest of Persia in the 7th century AD. Islam rule then took over as the region’s primary religion. Today, about 3 percent of Iraq’s population is Christian and even less, 1.5 percent, of Iran’s population is Christian. Syria has the largest percentage of Christians among the countries in the region, with 10 percent.
III. B92 - Serbia, Russia want security cooperation
President Boris Tadić was in Moscow on Sunday for Victory Day celebrations, where he met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and PM Vladimir Putin. Tadić said after the meetings that there was a mutual desire to continue cooperation between the countries, not only in the political and economic, but also the security sector. Tadić attended the celebration of the 65th anniversary of victory over fascism in Moscow. "(At a reception in the Kremlin for delegation members) I spoke with President Medvedev and briefly with Prime Minister Putin. The first impression was that we want to continue cooperation and closeness in all domains, not only in politics and the economy, but security as well," Tadić said. He stated that he also talked with Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdjukov, as well as all other leaders who attended the reception. Speaking about the talk with Angela Merkel, Tadić said that he relayed his stand that it would be a disastrous mistake to stop the EU integrations process due to interior problems in the Eurozone. He specified that he and his European partners had also discussed military cooperation - the possibility of buying products from the military industry. Leaders from 21 country attended the celebration in Moscow, and mostly the military parade at Red Square.
Soldiers from Britain, France, Poland and the US marched alongside Russian troops in Red Square during the biggest-ever Victory Day parade, marking the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Watching were those to whom the day is dedicated in the first place, the veterans. “The Soviet Union took the main blow of the fascists, who threw three-quarters of their troops to the Eastern Front. They wanted to burn our country down, but faced a resistance that has no match in courage and strength. Our veterans gave us the most important thing ever: they conquered freedom for us,” Dmitry Medvedev said during his address. It was an emotional day for around 3,000 veterans in attendance – a day of joy through tears, as many described their feelings. Their ranks included some from former Soviet Republics and Western wartime allies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel put aside the European financial crisis to come and pay respects to those who fought against the Nazis. Also present were leaders from countries which have criticized Soviet rule – like Estonia – which has faced its own accusations of wartime Nazi collaboration. Hundreds of veterans were invited to the Victory Day dinner after the parade, where they shared a meal with leaders from around 25 countries. These war heroes hadn't met each other during the war, but they say now they feel as united as ever. Back then, the war united countries which seemed to have nothing in common. Now, it is hoped that the memory of battles fought together and the shared joy of victory can help provide the same unity and friendship – 65 years on.
V. YNET - Israel capable of attacking Iran
Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Monday Israel has the technological capabilty to make a military strike against Iran. Addressing a conference on air power, Yaalon said Israel's experience in carrying out air strikes against terrorists along its borders could easily be extended to distant sorties in Iran. "There is no doubt that the technological capabilities, which improved in recent years, have improved range and aerial refuelling capabilities, and have brought about a massive improvement in the accuracy or ordnance and intelligence," he said. "This capability can be used for a war on terror in Gaza, for a war in the face of rockets from Lebanon, for war on the conventional Syrian army, and also for war on a peripheral state like Iran," said Yaalon, a former IDF chief of staff. "As far as I'm concerned, attack remains the best form of defense," he said. Israel sees itself at a de facto war with Iran due to its sponsorship of Hezbollah and Hamas, Yaalon said. "There is no doubt, looking at the overall situation, that we are already in a military confrontation with Iran," he said. "Iran is the main motivator of those attacking us."
VI. JTA - Israel violating talks terms
The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of violating the terms of newly started indirect peace talks. Two days after the start of proximity talks with Israel, the first peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in 18 months, the Palestinian Authority on Monday reported to the United States that Israel is allowing the construction of homes in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood. The construction of 14 homes in the Ras el-Amud neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem was reported Sunday by Peace Now. A senior Israeli official told Haaretz that the homes were being built privately and that the government had no authority to stop it. The plan for the land on which an old Israeli police station formerly sat and which is owned by an American businessman includes 104 housing units, Peace Now said. The plans also reportedly include a swimming pool, community library, synagogue, kindergartens and a mikveh. The project would link to two other Jewish enclaves in the neighborhood. Some 14,000 Palestinians live in Ras el-Amud.
VII. PRAVMIR - The Healing of the Man Born Blind
Christ is risen! It is not for much longer that we will hear these marvelous words from the church ambo. The all-Church celebration of this great solemnity, this salvific work of God is coming to an end. Together with the angels in heaven, we sang the resurrection of Christ; together with Apostle Thomas, we called out, “My Lord and my God!” having met the Savior; together with the myrrh-bearers, we ran to the empty tomb, carrying our pain, our sadness, our sorrow and received the good news; like the paralytic, we were raised by Christ from the death of sin to pure life; and like the Samaritan woman who left her clay pot by the ancient well and ran to tell the people in the city about the coming of the Messiah, Christ urges us to leave the muddy waters of the worldly and the sinful and drink from the ever-flowing Divine source, leading us into eternal life. But these holy days are coming to an end: in three days we will mark the apodosis of Pascha and on Thursday celebrate the Ascension of the Lord—our hope in our ascension—us healed, raised, cleansed by the blood of the Savior in His united, undivided Body—the Holy Church. As we watch these last Paschal days pass, the Holy Church wants to strengthen our Paschal joy in anticipation of the feast of the Ascension and teach us that Christ, Whom we now do not see with our physical eyes, is here among us, visible to the eyes of the spirit. In the Gospel reading, the Church tells us about the wisdom of the blind man and warns us against the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. In the Gospel reading, we heard how Christ healed the blind man, gave sight to a man who had been born blind. Behold, a miracle! “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind” (John 9:32). But isn’t the stubborn blindness of those who should be able to see even more surprising? Isn’t the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees more amazing? Spiritual blindness defies not only faith, not only the miracle, but even common sense itself. “Who is He?”—asks spiritual blindness; “A prophet!”—answers faith (John 9:17). “How did He open your eyes?”—persists spiritual blindness, not looking for an answer; “I already told you and you did not listen,”—responds faith (John 9:27). “We do not know him or from where He is!”—declares spiritual blindness rejecting Christ, turning away from Him (John 9:29); “Indeed, it is strange that He gave sight to the one born blind, but you do not know from where He is,”—marvels faith (John 9:30). “He is a sinner!”—yells spiritual blindness, trying to smear all that is bright and heavenly with dirt (John 9:24); “God does not listen to sinners” (John 9:31),—wise faith teaches those who are spiritually blind, “But this One performed a miracle from God.” The false pastors of the Jewish people are mad: “He violates our habits, He heals a man on the Sabbath; He wants us to open our eyes, wash dirt off our faces and look at the sun, but we are used to our dirt, our eyelids are shut with sin and our eyes do not see the sky; He calls us up, but we are more comfortable in a moldy basement. Kill! Drive him out!”—and they seek to kill the Savior and drive out the saved (John 9:34). Aren’t the spiritually blind of all times the same? Don’t they also drive Christ from their hearts and lives under the mask of piety, often not even bothering with a mask? Offering to us the Gospel story about blindness in this the last Sunday of Pascha, the Holy Church calls all who thirst for healing from spiritual blindness to turn to the source of light and to follow the wise faith of the one who was born blind. Because we also, blinded from birth by our sins, look at the world through the empty eye sockets of our hardened hearts. But the resurrection of Christ, the light shining for the world from the gaping eye socket of the tomb by Golgotha, gives resurrection to us also, opens our eyes, shines into our hearts, lifts us up to the heavenly Sun, if in simplicity of faith we can accept the grace which heals us, if we do not stubbornly choose our spiritual blindness. If we stop hiding from God behind the blinds of false piety, behind the false façade of external decorations, and turn to Christ the Savior in simplicity of faith, then the Son of God will find us also, as He found the man born blind, and reveal Himself to us, and strengthen our faith. Let us turn to Christ with a fervent prayer to heal our eyes, our hearts, our whole person on the holy day of the Lord’s Sabbath, the Day of the Lord; and let us carry our Paschal joy through the next few days, through the next year, and, as the foundational principle through our whole life. “Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!” (St. John Chrysostom) Amen!