I. JPOST - Gaza Flotilla Activists threw stun grenades
The IDF Spokesperson's office on Wednesday afternoon released more new footage of Gaza flotilla activists attacking soldiers with a stun grenade, a box of plates, and water hoses. The video was taken before the soldiers boarded the Mavi Marmara in Monday's raid. Also in this video, activists can be seen waving metal rods and chains, which were later used to attack soldiers. Earlier Wednesday, the IDF Spokespersons Office on Wednesday released new footage showing Monday's bloody raid of the Mavi Marmara ship. Several voices belonging to Navy commandos are heard in the most recently released IDF video. The following is a transcript of the dialogue heard in the IDF clip: - I need reinforcements here with me - He wants to pass underneath - Wait, one is in front of me - It's coming from all directions - We need to be evacuated, now - Tell him that he's close already - Real weapons, real weapons (ie.guns) - They have real weapons? - Yes, yes, real weapons - They are firing on us - There is live fire below - Live fire below - Live fire here - Shoot him where is he? - Negative. The IDF previously released footage of the Monday raid, which depicted the activists attacking soldiers with various weapons, including a large metal pole and other metal objects.
Governments around the world might be heralding an age of austerity, and warning citizens that they will need to cut public services, but the aftershocks of the global financial crisis have had little impact on military budgets, a leading thinktank says. Last year, $1.5 trillion was spent on weapons, an annual increase in real terms of 5.9%, according to the latest report by Sipri, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US accounted for more than half of the total increase, though arms spending increased fastest in Asian countries, with China raising its military expenditure most, followed by India. Global spending has risen by nearly 50% over the past decade, said Sipri. The US headed the list of the world's top 10 arms buyers last year, spending $661bn on military equipment. It was followed by China (spending an estimated $100bn), France ($63.9bn), Britain ($58.3bn), Russia (an estimated $53.3bn) and Japan ($51.8bn), according to the report. Of European countries, Britain accounted for the biggest absolute increase (of $3.7bn) followed by Turkey and Russia. Cyprus increased military spending most in real terms, taking inflation into account.
III. B92 - Tadić continues visit to Greece
Serbian President Boris Tadić will meet in Athens today, on the second day of his official visit to Greece, with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. He will also meet with Greek businesspeople at a meeting of the Greek-Serbian Business Council. At the beginning of his three-day visit on Tuesday, President Tadić met with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, who said that Serbia should become a member of the European Union within the shortest possible period. President Papoulias said at a joint news conference after the meeting that the official Athens will continue to strongly support Serbia's European future. Tadić received the Gold Medal of the Greek Parliament in Athens on Tuesday for his contribution in strengthening and deepening the friendly relations between the two countries. Greek Parliament Speaker Philippos Petsalnikos presented Tadić with the medal, saying that the two countries' parliaments would continue improving their relations to benefit both nations. The award ceremony for this highest of recognitions that the Greek Parliament bestows on foreign officials was attended by members of the Greece-Serbia Parliamentary Friendship Group among others. Tadić laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Greek parliament before meeting with Petsalnikos.
Serbia's president on Saturday warned the financial crisis gripping Europe must not be allowed to derail the Balkans' hopes of joining the European Union, ahead of a crunch summit with the bloc. "The policy of the European Union's enlargement must not be interrupted at any price," President Boris Tadic told a conference of regional leaders, held in Sarajevo ahead of a vital EU-Balkans summit on June 2. "The meeting comes as the European Union is facing a kind of enlargement fatigue, which is a consequence of the financial crisis," said Tadic. The Serbian president called on fellow Balkans leaders to send a "clear message" to Europeans that stopping the expansion would be "a huge mistake," that would do "inexcusable and irreparable damage to the European Union." Tadic was meeting with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic and their colleagues from the Bosnian tripartite presidency. Officials and media across the Balkans have expressed concern that the ongoing debt crisis could slow down the enlargement process, with new members perceived as a potential threat to the bloc's financial stability. But Tadic insisted "the crisis, which is currently affecting everyone... is not happening because of the enlargement of the EU." Citizens of the Western Balkans "should not suffer the consequences of this crisis," he said. At the end of the meeting the Balkans leaders signed a joint declaration urging Europe to "recognise the importance of the acceleration" of EU enlargement. The leaders were meeting to pledge better relations with each other, as they each seek membership of the 27-member European bloc.
V. BLOOMBERG - World War II Bomb Kills Three in Central German City
hree explosives experts were killed and six injured as they attempted to defuse a World War II bomb in the central German city of Goettingen, police said. The 500-kilogram (1,100 pound) bomb was found late yesterday under Goettingen’s Schuetzenplatz, the city’s police said in a statement late yesterday. All the dead and injured were in the process of removing the explosive. Police are examining how the bomb went off as experts were preparing to defuse it, Goettingen police chief Robert Kruse told reporters. The three men who died were specialists who had long experience in handling wartime ordinance, he said. The same team had found and deactivated a similar bomb last week at the same construction site, Kruse said at a press conference in Goettingen broadcast live. U.S. and British aerial bombs are routinely unearthed on German construction sites 65 years after the end of the war. Police in Berlin’s Zehlendorf district last week evacuated a neighborhood after diggers found a 500-kilogram American bomb. The residents were able to return after the explosive was defused.
VI. RIANOVOSTI - Russian warship to join NATO naval drills
An amphibious assault landing ship, the Kaliningrad, will take part in the BALTOPS-2010 naval exercises in the Baltic Sea on June 7-18, Russia's Baltic Fleet spokesman said on Tuesday. The BALTOPS exercise has been held annually since 1994 within the framework of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program. It is aimed to promote a mutual understanding of maritime interoperability between U.S. Navy, NATO, and non-NATO participants. "The [Kaliningrad] amphibious assault landing ship will carry out a range of training tasks, including joint maneuvering in a large ship formation, patrol missions and a simulated assault landing," the official said. The vessel is currently heading to the port of Gdansk in Poland, where several dozen warships from 14 NATO countries will team up for the upcoming exercises. The Russian warship visited the Belgian port of Zeebrugge in the North Sea on its way to Poland. The Kaliningrad entered service with the Baltic Fleet in December 1984, and has carried out training missions in the Baltic, North and Mediterranean seas, as well as more than 10 times in the Atlantic Ocean. Kaliningrad class ships are capable of carrying up to 500 tons of cargo, 13 tanks and more than 200 naval infantry. The warship represented Russia at the BALTOPS drills five times since 2003.
VII. VINDY - Military chaplains play integral role
Imagine that it’s early February. The air temperature is 20 degrees but with the wind-chill factor, it feels more like minus 10. Imagine, too, that you’re 18 years old, it’s 7 a.m. and you’re walking to Sunday church services. While this may sound like a scene from a Tolstoy novel depicting life in 19th-century Russia, this actually takes place each week at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, the Navy’s only enlisted boot camp. Here, recruits spend eight weeks training and learning the war-fighting culture of being a U.S. sailor. This process is known as “sailorization” and Navy chaplains play an integral role in the transformational process. In addition to conducting worship services — which really do begin at 7 a.m. — chaplains also provide pastoral counseling, stress management counseling, teach core values classes, mentor recruits and deliver messages from the American Red Cross. Military chaplains serve, quite literally, all over the world with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Chaplains serve onboard Navy ships and are deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They provide ministry to a demographic unlike that found in most civilian parishes — nearly half the active duty force are between the age of 19 and 24. Military chaplains have a long history of service in the ranks of the Armed Forces. On July 29, 1775, nearly a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress officially recognized chaplains and set their salary at $20 per month. Chaplains have not only prayed for and with the troops, they have died alongside them as well. From the Revolutionary War through the Vietnam War, 214 chaplains have died on the field of battle and five have received the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Today, chaplains act as the military’s principal agent for ensuring the free exercise of religion for America’s service members. This includes ensuring that religion is neither prohibited nor compelled on service members. The missions and functions performed by the military today are highly specialized and require a unique set of ministry skills. Foremost, serving as a military chaplain requires one to have the ability to work in a pluralistic environment. Chaplains have a motto of “Cooperation without Compromise.” Their role as both clergy and military officer obli-gates them to answer to their religious bodies and the institution in which they serve. While some of those served may share the same faith as the chaplain, most will have religious affiliations different than the chaplain and many will have no religious preference at all. Military chaplains provide ministry to the total institution and not only to that portion associated with their own religious denomination. At the same time, however, chaplains must remain faithful to their governing religious body and the tenets of their faith. For effective ministry, the military chaplain must learn to negotiate the tensions between these two competing and often opposing realities. In the Navy Chaplain Corps, we say that we provide for those of our own faith, we facilitate ministry for those of other faiths, and we care for all. The role of the military is to fight and win our nation’s wars. In an organization dedicated to violence, the military chaplain stands as a visible reminder of the Holy. As our young men and women continue to deploy in harm’s way, please remember the thousands of chaplains — Reserve, National Guard and active duty — who serve alongside them. Pray for our troops and our chaplains who serve them. The Rev. Stephen Duesenberry is a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. He is endorsed for military service by the Orthodox Church in America and is a native of Youngstown.