I. RIANOVOSTI - Somali Islamists kill two for watching World Cup
Somali militants killed two soccer fans whom they caught watching a 2010 FIFA World Cup game, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) said on its website. In 2006 the Islamic Courts Union which controlled most of Somalia prohibited the World Cup and other soccer competitions on the grounds that it was a "satanic act." The incident took place late on Saturday in a village near the Somali capital Mogadishu. A group of heavily armed militants of the Hezbal Islam radical group attacked a house where a group of soccer fans secretly followed the tense Argentina-Nigeria game. "Two young men who tried to jump over the wall were shot and killed while ten others including my husband and my teenage son were taken into Islamist custody in the village," Halima Ahmed, a mother of five children told AIPS in a phone conversation. A Hezbal Islam leader, Sheik Mohamed Abu Abdalla, said the men violated the Islamic law and those caught by militants will be tried in an Islamic court. "Football descended from the old Christian cultures and our Islamic administration will never allow watching what they call the FIFA World Cup. We are sending our last warning to the people," he said. President of the Somali Football Federation, Said Mahmoud Nur, declined to comment on the report citing "security reasons." Meanwhile, residents in the southern Jubba regions have sent a complaint letter to the Al Shabab militant group, which controls most of the southern and central parts of Somalia and a large swath of the capital seeking permission to watch the world's largest sporting event. But when community elders entered the Al Shabab administrative office in the southern key port town of Kismayo on Saturday, they were told that they would be arrested if they came back with a similar request.
Kurdistan is open for business. That was the succinct message of Barham Salih, prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government (KRG), visiting London this week for a high-profile conference designed to attract western investment to the most stable and peaceful part of Iraq. Seven years since the US-led invasion, semi-autonomous Kurdistan is energetically promoting itself as the "secure gateway" to the rest of the country. Not a single US, British or coalition soldier has been killed in its territory since 2003. Salih is conscious of a painful past but looks doggedly to the future. "Kurdistan was the scene of devastation, genocide and war, and is now a promising territory in the Middle East," the British-educated engineer said in a well-practised pitch. "Kurdistan was seen as a source of threats to its neighbours and is now the gateway to the rest of Iraq and the indispensable link for trade between the nations surrounding us. We have come a long way. We still have a long way to go." Kurdistan's economy is expanding even faster than Iraq's overall annual growth rate of 7.3% . It is developing agriculture – virtually destroyed by Saddam Hussein – as well as industry and tourism. It is experiencing a frenzied construction boom and there is huge interest in its banking sector, amid excited talk of it being the new Dubai. With an estimated 45bn barrels of oil reserves, energy will be the source of much of its future wealth. But a crucial revenue-sharing agreement with the central government in Baghdad awaits ratification. Now the KRG is working to attract businesses from Europe and the US: thus the London event. Big names such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, ArcelorMittal, Lafarge and Rotana are among the 1,200 firms already operating there.Regionally, things are going well for the KRG, despite being the only Kurdish-ruled territory in a region where Kurds are denied their national rights. Relations with Turkey have improved dramatically. Even Iran is getting easier to get along with, despite occasional border incursions. Kurdistan, of course, had a head start on the rest of Iraq in recovering from Ba'athist rule. From 1991, in the aftermath of the Gulf war, it was protected from Saddam Hussein by the allied no-fly zone, courtesy of George Bush Sr and John Major. Nowadays, the distance from Baghdad has grown: young Kurds study English rather than Arabic as a second language. "At the end of the day, big powers should care about morality. You have given Iraq, the Kurds, the chance to develop a decent society. This has not been easy. But the difficulties of the past seven years are insignificant, pale in comparison to the tyranny, the horrors, the devastation we had to endure under Saddam. British and American troops helped save a nation from tyranny."
A group of Israeli left-wing activists who were angry about the Turkish attacks on IDF soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara two weeks ago decided Monday to cancel the flotilla that they were planning to Cyprus to protest the Turkish occupation of the island’s northern half. The Jerusalem Post reported exclusively on June 5 about the planned flotilla, which was to be led by former MK Alex Goldfarb (Tzomet, Yi’ud) and Modi’in Meretz activist Pinhas Har-Zahav. But Israeli government officials persuaded the activists to cancel the voyage, because they were worried that the media attention would remind international media of the Gaza flotilla when most of the world’s attention had shifted to other issues like the British Petroleum spill and the World Cup. “The publicity we already received did its part in reminding the world [that the Turks are occupiers],” one of the organizers of the flotilla said. “Personally it’s depressing for me that we didn’t get to go. But the government officials we spoke to were professionals, and they told us that doing it now was not right for the state, so we listened to them.” The flotilla was to include 23 yachts of six people each. The yachts were donated to the cause by their owners. A group of Israeli students who were planning to go Turkey to remind the world about the Armenian genocide and what they labeled the ongoing Turkish oppression of their Kurdish minority may also cancel their plans.
IV. FINANCIALMIRROR - Greece and Cyprus embark on new course in relations
Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Greece Georgios Nikitiades, referring to the memorandum of cooperation to be signed between the two countries, said that relations between the Ministries of Culture of Cyprus and Greece will be embarking on a new course. Nikitiades was speaking after a meeting on Tuesday with Cypriot Minister of Education and Culture Andreas Demetriou, during which they exchanged views on issues concerning the two Ministries. Demetriou said they discussed many issues, including the memorandum of cooperation to be signed between Cyprus and Greece, and expressed hope that "we will be ready to sign it very soon, when Minister of Culture and Tourism of Greece Pavlos Geroulanos comes to Cyprus." Nikitiades said his meeting with Demetriou was "very productive" and affirmed his commitment to promote the conclusion of the final text of the memorandum the soonest possible. He said the draft was ready and would be sent to Greece within the next few days, and assured that he would make sure a reply was sent by the Greek Ministry the soonest possible, so that Geroulanos would visit Cyprus and sign the memorandum. "I think we are embarking on a new course in relations between the two Ministries, a course we will seek to be more productive," Nikitiades said.
V. B92 - Serbia-Montenegro border demarcated
Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said in Montenegro on Tuesday that the border between Serbia and Montenegro is clearly demarcated. Further talks on this issue would be jeopardizing Serbia's integrity, he added. When asked about the problems that arise between Montenegro and the Kosovo Albanian authorities regarding the border demarcation, Jeremić said that there was no border between Montenegro and Kosovo, but only between Montenegro and Serbia. He added that Belgrade was at Montenegro's disposal for "any technical consideration", whereas "the talks with anybody about the border with Serbia would be jeopardizing Serbia's integrity." At the joint press conference after the meeting of foreign affairs ministers of the Central European Initiative (CEI), Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Roćen pointed out that this issue had been made “needlessly problematic” by the media.
VI. REUTERS - US: no secret deals with Russia on missile defense
There were no secret deals made with Moscow on missile defense or any other issue during negotiations on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty, the chief U.S. negotiator on the pact said on Tuesday. Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller was trying to assuage critics who say they fear the Obama administration made explicit or implicit concessions to the Kremlin that could limit the future development of U.S. missile defenses. "Let me state unequivocally today on the record before this committee that there were no, I repeat no, backroom deals made in connection with the new START treaty; not on missile defense nor on any other issue," Gottemoeller told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But Senator Jim DeMint, one of the treaty's skeptics, said he would continue to press for the transcript of the negotiations with the Russians to be released before the Senate votes on whether to approve the treaty. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty in April, but Senate consent is required for the document to go into force. The pact commits the two countries with 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons to significant cuts in their strategic arsenals, although still leaving them with more than enough firepower to annihilate each other. To read Gottemoeller's opening statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, click here.
VII. HOLYTRINITYORTHODOX - Saint Tykhon, Bishop of Amaphuntum, Cyprus
Sainted Tykhon, Bishop of Amaphuntum, was born in the city Amaphuntum on the island of Cyprus. His parents raised their son in Christian piety, and taught him the reading of Sacred books. There is an account extant, that the gift of wonderworking appeared in Saint Tykhon at a still quite youthful age. His father was the owner of a bread bakery and he sent his son to distribute bread. The holy lad gave bread free to the needy. Learning about this, his father became angry, but the son answered, that he had read in the holy books, that "in giving to God one receiveth back an hundredfold". "I too, – said the youth, – gave to God the bread which was taken" and he persuaded his father to go to where the grain was stored. With astonishment the father saw that the granary which formerly was empty, was now filled to overflowing with wheat. From that time the father did not hinder his son from distributing bread to the needy. A certain gardener brought from the vineyard the dried prunings of vines. Saint Tykhon gathered them, planted them in his garden and besought the Lord, that these branches might take root and yield salubrious fruit for the health of people. The Lord did so through the faith of the holy youth. The branches took root, and their fruit had a particular and very pleasant taste and was used during the lifetime of the saint and after his death for the wine in making the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. They accepted the pious youth into the church clergy, made him a reader, and afterwards the bishop of Amaphuntum Memnon ordained him to the dignity of deacon. After the death of Bishop Memnon, Saint Tykhon by universal agreement was chosen as bishop of Amaphuntum. The ordination was headed by Sainted Epiphanios, Bishop of Cyprus (+ 403, Comm. 12 May). Saint Tykhon laboured zealously for the eradication of the remnants of paganism on Cyprus – he destroyed an idolatrous temple and spread the Christian faith. The sainted-bishop was generous, his doors were open to all, and with love he listened to and fulfilled the request of each person who came to him. Fearing neither threats nor tortures, he firmly and fearlessly confessed his faith before pagans. In the service to Sainted Tykhon it is pointed out, that he foresaw the time of his death, which occurred in the year 425. The name of Sainted Tykhon of Amaphuntum was accorded great honour in Russia. In honour of the saint, temples were constructed at Moscow, at Nizhni Novgorod, at Kazan and other cities. But the saint was particularly venerated in Voronezh diocese, where there were three archpastors in succession sharing the name with the Sainted-bishop of Amaphuntum: Sainted Tikhon I (Sokolov) (+ 1783, Comm. 13 August), Tikhon II (Yakubovsky, until 1785) and Tikhon III (Malinin, until 1788).