I. YNET - Obama renews sanctions on Syria
President Barack Obama Monday renewed US sanctions on Syria for a year, accusing Damascus of supporting "terrorist" groups and pursuing missile programs and weapons of mass destruction. There had been no expectation that Obama would lift the measures, but the renewal came at an especially sensitive time in often tense US-Syria relations, despite efforts by the administration to return an ambassador to Damascus. The United States has also recently accused Syria and Iran of arming Hezbollah with increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles, which it says are undermining stability in the region. Obama said in a message to Congress renewing the sanctions imposed by former US president George W. Bush in 2004, that the Syrian government had made "some progress" in suppressing the infiltration of foreign fighters bound for Iraq. But he added that its "continuing support for terrorist organizations and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States." Obama also called on Syria to demonstrate "progress" in the areas that Washington says justify sanctions, to allow them to be lifted in future. Some US lawmakers have seized upon the accusations to argue against any rapprochement between Washington and Damascus. In February, Obama nominated career diplomat Robert Ford as the country's first ambassador to Syria in five years, but his appointment has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. Bush declared a national emergency regarding Syria on May 11, 2004, and imposed economic sanctions over charges it was a state sponsor of terrorism. They were extended in 2006, tightened in 2007 and renewed the following year. Monday's action marked the second renewal of the sanctions regime by Obama.
The delegations of the U.S., Britain and France walked out of the UN General Assembly hall where a review conference on nuclear non-proliferation is under way after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western powers of double standards concerning nuclear non-proliferation. Addressing the delegates from 189 nations, Ahmadinejad said Washington was pushing Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program while continuing to develop its own nuclear weapons. Answering UN Secretary General's call for Iran to agree on the exchange of uranium for nuclear fuel, Ahmadinejad said Iran was always ready for it. "I want to reply to UN Secretary General's call for Iran to agree on the exchange of uranium for nuclear fuel... Iran was always ready for this, and I want to announce once again that it is acceptable for Iran, and we have made our proposal concerning the issue. Now, the ball is on the side of other states, which should accept our proposals," he said. The United States and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program. In line with the UN plan drawn up in Vienna last October, the Islamic Republic was to ship out its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment and subsequently send it to France where it would be made into fuel rods. Tehran stalled the plan, suggesting it could consider a simultaneous swap of its low-enriched uranium for 20%-enriched uranium, but that the exchange should be simultaneous and would have to take place on its own territory.
III. YAHOONEWS - UN envoy: Cyprus peace talks to restart end of May
A United Nations envoy says talks to reunify divided Cyprus will resume during the last week of May. Alexander Downer says the exact date hasn't been finalized, but that it will likely be May 26. Downer says newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and the island's Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias will pick up where the talks left off prior to the April 18 Turkish Cypriot [leader's] election. Cyprus was split into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded. Downer was speaking Tuesday after meeting with Christofias. He met Eroglu on Monday.
Russia will seek direct opportunities to sell weapons to NATO member states, according to Russia's envoy to the alliance, Dmitry Rogozin. He also said Moscow is considering sending weapons to Afghanistan to assist its present government. In return, the Alliance might lift all barriers for free military trade between Moscow and NATO member states. Last December, the alliance's secretary general asked Russia to supply Kabul with military helicopters.
V. B92 - Belgrade-Priština talks
The visit of top European and U.S. officials has prompted the beginning of talks between Priština and Belgrade, the BBC in Albanian said. The radio quoted unnamed international diplomats as the source of its story. The sources also claim that the international officials want Serbia to give up insisting on opening the question of Kosovo's status. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini reported that those talks would begin right after the Western Balkans conference in Sarajevo at the beginning of June. BBC reported that the Belgrade-Priština talks will cover three main topics - decentralization, cultural heritage and northern Kosovo. The BBC sources said that Priština may form eight working groups which would assist in the technical preparations for the talks. The same sources stated that the talks will be made "easier" through European diplomats in Kosovo, most of all Italian Ambassador in Kosovo Michael Giffoni, who is the EU envoy for northern Kosovo, and the head of the Greek Liaison Office in Pristina, Dimitris Moschopoulos, EU envoy for cultural heritage. It is believed that the preparatory period will be conducted in August, so as to open a path afterward for the technical level of the talks, which are expected to be raised to the ministerial level later. The diplomatic sources said that opening the talks about certain questions, excluding the status issue, may happen as soon as the International Court of Justice renders its advisory opinion on the legitimacy of the Kosovo Albanian decision to unilaterally proclaim independence.
VI. WSJ - Google Invests in Two Wind Farms
Google Inc. has invested $38.8 million in two North Dakota wind farms, the Internet giant's first direct investment in utility-scale renewable energy generation. The Mountain View, Calif., company said in a Monday blog post that it invested in wind farms built by NextEra Energy Resources, a unit of FPL Group Inc. The wind turbines, made by General Electric Co., generate 169.5 megawatts of power, enough to serve more than 55,000 homes. Google's stakes in the wind farms are in the form of "tax equity" investments, in which investors take over a project and use federal tax credits granted to the project to offset their own taxes as a return. NextEra said it sold approximately $190 million of Class B membership interests in the two wind farms, with Google's stake represents about 20% of the Class B shares. The companies didn't immediately disclose the other investors. The projects include a 120-megawatt wind farm in Barnes County, N.D., called Ashtabula 2, and a 49.5-megawatt wind facility called Wilton Wind 2, in Burleigh County, N.D. The output from the facilities, which have been operating since last year, are being sold to utilities under power purchase agreements. A Google spokesman said the electricity generated by the wind farms wouldn't be used to power any of the company's data centers. The wind farms are among more than 10,000 megawatts of wind power facilities built across the U.S. in 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association. NextEra, which owns more than 7,500 megawatts of wind farms, is the nation's top wind power generator. The company also owns nearly 12,000 megawatts of mostly nuclear and natural-gas fired power generation. In California, where Google is headquartered, utilities are required to use renewable sources for a fifth of the power they sell by the end of this year, with the mandate set to expand to one-third renewables by 2020 under pending regulations. Thirty-one other states and Washington, D.C., have renewable power requirements or goals, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2008, about 7% of U.S. power supplies came from renewable sources, with about 7% of that amount from wind.
VII. PRAVMIR - The Marrying Kind
The latest statistic on inter-faith marriages among Orthodox singles stands at almost 90%. That means that the vast majority of marriages of Orthodox Christians are to non-Orthodox Christians or even non-believers. So why is this important? Well, maybe it isn’t. But I think it is a symptom of a potential weakness. Let me tell you why. St. Paul said “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) Now, to be sure, this passage is a general teaching about having close relationships with non-believers because these relationships can have a detrimental effect on your own spiritual growth and maturity, but the same principle applies to the closest of human relationships – husband and wife. Some find the above statistic troublesome because they are concerned about preserving a particular cultural identity. Others are concerned that there are certain family traditions put at risk when Orthodox marry outside their own faith tradition. While these concerns may be valid, they really aren’t the most worrisome. No, in fact, my greatest concern about these marriages is that the very cause of their existence may tell us more about the faith commitment of the people involved that we’d like to admit. Young people fall in love. That is just a fact of life, but that fact should not mean we ignore the wisdom of the faith in making this life-changing decision about marriage. There’s just too much at stake. For instance, why would a committed Christian believer want to enter into a spiritual covenant like marriage with someone who is not even a Christian? If our faith is really the center of our lives wouldn’t we desire to have a life-long companion who shares that central, spiritual character of our own hearts? A wise rabbi was commenting on the growth of inter-faith marriages between Jews and Christians when he said “It really isn’t Jews marrying Christians as much as it is non-Jewish Jews marrying non-Christian Christians.” In other words if a person’s faith is really the biggest part of their identity, they will express that truth in the choices they make in life-long companions. If the faith is simply nothing more than a cultural decoration to their lives, then their chose of spouse will reveal that too. Here are some pastoral guidelines for choosing a spouse. First, a spouse must be a Christian believer. This is the minimum requirement. While it may be fashionable to say that “all religions lead to the same place” it isn’t Orthodox. A committed Orthodox Christian who has made their faith the center of their lives and their identity cannot possibly believe that a life-long, healthy marriage can be made from the union of a committed Orthodox Christian and someone who rejects Jesus Christ as the God-Man Savior of all of humanity. It’s like trying to mix oil and water. Second, a non-Orthodox spouse should be willing to consider conversion to Orthodoxy. We Orthodox declare that our Orthodox Christian faith is the fullness of Apostolic Christianity. We declare in the Creed each week that we believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” If this is true, why wouldn’t we desire that every believer in Jesus Christ as savior would embrace the fullness of the Orthodox Christian faith? If that is true of our desire for our Christian friends, how much more should that be our desire for our husband or wife? In pre-marital counseling classes I always make it clear to the non-Orthodox Christian believers that that are invited to embrace, and be embraced by, the Orthodox Christian Church. Finally, a spouse should agree to raise any children in the Orthodox Christian faith. Now don’t misunderstand me here. I’m not talking about making sure the children know how to make traditional, cultural food, as important as that may be. No, I’m referring to making sure that these precious children are schooled in and given examples in the fullness of their Christian heritage in authentic Orthodox Christian discipleship – daily prayers, home icon corners, regular church attendance, and serious participation in the Divine Mysteries of the Church. Please know that none of the above is meant to discount the real emotions and committed relationships that occur in inter-faith marriages. But the exceptions prove the rule in this case. Our desire for our entering into the divine mystery of matrimony, especially from our Orthodox Christian teachings, demand we put our Orthodox Christian faith at the very center of our decision making process when we choose a marriage partner for life! There is more at stake here than just the temporary romantic feelings of a moment. Our marriage is a reflection of our Orthodox Christian commitment and nothing less than serious and faith-educated choices will do.