I. NYT - Rocket From Gaza Hits Israeli City
A Katyusha-type rocket fired by militants from Gaza struck the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on Friday, damaging buildings and causing panic after more than a year of relative calm. There were no physical injuries, but police said that several residents of Ashkelon, about 10 miles north of Gaza, were treated for shock. The last time the city was hit by rocket fire was in February 2009, according to an Israeli military spokeswoman. She noted that there had been many failed attempts to hit the city since Israel ended its three-week offensive in Gaza in the winter of 2008-9. Ashkelon, with a population of about 125,000, was hit frequently by rockets during the war. Gaza is governed by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which won elections in 2006. Richard Miron, a spokesman for the United Nations Middle East envoy, said in a statement on Friday that “Indiscriminate rocket fire against civilians is completely unacceptable and constitutes a terrorist attack.” Friday’s attack came a day after the Arab League in Cairo endorsed a resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, although it left the timing up to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’s rival, whose authority is now limited to the West Bank. Hamas opposes any resumption of direct peace talks. On Thursday, Jewish settlers claiming ownership of a large building in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City evicted an extended Palestinian family that had been renting the property for decades. That move was also seen by some in the region as an attempt to sour the atmosphere for peace negotiations. Israel annexed the Old City, along with the rest of East Jerusalem, after capturing it from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
II. THESTAR - North Korea soccer coach fears for his life
First, they were made to listen to a public airing of their faults. Then they had to turn around en masse and do the same thing to their disgraced coach, who may not be long for this world. New reports are leaking out of North Korea about the national soccer team’s humiliating return home after losing all three of their matches at the recent World Cup. No one expected North Korea to do well – except, apparently, the leadership apparatus of North Korea. In a country that takes perverse delight in punishing its most loyal servants, you could smell the payback coming. It apparently arrived on July 2, shortly after the North Koreans returned home. The 23-man roster – minus its two Japanese-based ringers, Jong “Weepy” Tae-se and An Yong-hak – was hauled up on stage in front of 400 attendees at the inaptly named People’s Palace of Culture. For the next six hours, players were reprimanded for failures in their play, according to a jarring report from Radio Free Asia. This included a damning player-by-player appraisal of individual mistakes in play, provided by the country’s leading sports broadcaster. More alarmingly, they were accused of “betraying” the country in the “great ideological struggle.” After the players received their collective rollicking, the team was then forced to round on its coach, Kim Jong-hun. Things were far worse for Kim. He was accused of “betraying the young General Kim Jong-un,” the shadowy son of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. In recent months, North Korea has executed two top officials – one who oversaw a recent disastrous currency revaluation and another in charge of diplomatic talks with South Korea. Both were subjected to the same sort of accusations of treachery before they faced the firing squad. Rumours abound that coach Kim has been expelled from the Worker’s Party and forced into the construction industry as a labourer.
A nearly 2,500-year old silver coin of Rhegion, an ancient Greek city located in would become Italy, is expected to bring upwards of $25,000 at the Heritage Signature® Auction of Ancient and World Coins at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Boston, Thursday, August 12. The silver tetradrachm – a coin about the diameter of a quarter but much thicker and heavier, depicts the stylized head of a lion on the obverse and a profile portrait of Apollo, Greek god of wisdom and enlightenment, on the reverse. It was struck between 415 and 387 BC, a time when the Greek cities of Italy and Sicily were competing with each other and with Carthage in North Africa for control of the western Mediterranean. The lion’s head on the obverse uses foreshortening and compression to create an illusion of extreme depth, while his piercing gaze is shifted slightly to the left, as though zeroing in on his prey. The image of Apollo on the reverse is also created with such lifelike distinction that, were he to walk into a room, he would be instantly recognizable from his image on the coin. Rhegion, modern Reggio, Italy, also called Regium, is located on the “toe” of Italy, just across the Straits of Messina from the island of Sicily. The second-oldest city in Italy, it was founded by Greek colonists from two cities on mainland Greece, Chalkis and Messenia. According to legend, the Chalkidians set forth after a famine in their homeland. The citizens appealed to the god Apollo for help, who replied through an oracle that a large body of colonists should seek a fresh start in fertile southern Italy. Rhegion (meaning “it breaks away”) prospered and built a temple dedicated to Apollo, who appears prominently on the city’s coinage. The Messenian component worshipped the demigod Herakles. The lion on the obverse likely refers to the Nemean Lion slain by Herakles as one of his Twelve Labors. Rhegion grew rich and powerful by controlling trade through the Straits of Messina.
IV. FORBES - Indian students demand teachers wear burqas
Students at an Islamic university in eastern India have refused to allow a female lecturer to teach unless she wears an all-encompassing Muslim veil, the teacher said Thursday. The student union has ordered all female students and all eight female lecturers at the small Calcutta campus of Aliah University to wear the veil, called a burqa in South Asia. Sirin Middya, who described herself as a devout Muslim, said she was appointed in March but has not been allowed to teach her classes since she refused to wear the garment, which covers the entire body and face. A mesh net covers the eyes. Nearly a fourth of the population of West Bengal state, where the university is located, is Muslim, and burqas are a common sight in Islamic neighborhoods. But the garment is rare in much of India, a predominantly Hindu country, with a large Muslim minority. "The students have threatened us and have put up banners saying those who oppose the burqa rule can go back home," Middya said. University authorities were not immediately available for comment. However, Vice Chancellor Syed Shamshul Alam told the Indian Express newspaper that they have asked the teacher to shift to another campus of the university. "This is a stray incident ... there is no dress code in our university," Alam said.
Lost in the hoopla over Arizona's immigration law is the fact that state and local authorities for years have been doing their own aggressive crackdowns in the busiest illegal gateway into the country. Nowhere in the U.S. is local enforcement more present than in metropolitan Phoenix, where Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio routinely carries out sweeps, some in Hispanic neighborhoods, to arrest illegal immigrants. The tactics have made him the undisputed poster boy for local immigration enforcement and the anger that so many authorities feel about the issue. "It's my job," said Arpaio, standing beside a sheriff's truck that has a number for an immigration hot line written on its side. "I have two state (immigration) laws that I am enforcing. It's not federal, it's state." A ruling Wednesday by a federal judge put on hold parts of the new law that would have required officers to dig deeper into the fight against illegal immigration. Arizona says it was forced to act because the federal government isn't doing its job to fight immigration. Meanwhile, Gov. Jan Brewer's lawyers went to court to overturn the judge's ruling so they can fight back against what the Republican calls an "invasion" of illegal immigrants. Ever since the main flow of illegal immigrants into the country shifted to Arizona a decade ago, state politicians and local police have been feeling pressure to confront the state's border woes. In addition to Arpaio's crackdowns, other efforts include a steady stream of busts by the state and local police of stash houses where smugglers hide illegal immigrants. The state attorney general has taken a money-wiring company to civil court on allegations that smugglers used their service to move money to Mexico. And a county south of Phoenix has its sheriff's deputies patrol dangerous smuggling corridors. The Arizona Legislature have enacted a series of tough-on-immigration measures in recent years that culminated with the law signed by Brewer in April. But the king of local immigration enforcement is still Arpaio. Arpaio, a 78-year-old ex-federal drug agent who fashions himself as a modern-day John Wayne, launched his latest sweep Thursday afternoon, sending about 200 sheriff's deputies and trained volunteers out across metro Phoenix to look for traffic violators who may be here illegally. Sixty percent of the nearly 1,000 people arrested in the sweeps since early 2008 have been illegal immigrants. Thursday's dragnet led to four arrests, but it wasn't clear if any of them were illegal immigrants. Critics say deputies racially profile Hispanics. Arpaio says deputies approach people only when they have probable cause.
VI. NYPOST - Jewish group opposes ground zero mosque
The nation's leading Jewish civil rights group is opposing the planned mosque and Islamic community center near ground zero. The Anti-Defamation League says it condemns the bigotry expressed against the proponents of the mosque, but says a mosque at that site will cause more pain for some victims. The ADL is known for its advocacy of religious freedom and interfaith harmony. Its position on the mosque was met with shock and condemnation by several groups. The head of the liberal-leaning pro-Israel group J Street says the A-D-L is giving in to fear-mongerers. The Interfaith Alliance in Washington says it's disappointed in the A-D-L. The group planning the mosque, the Cordoba Initiative, did not immediately comment Friday.
VII. PRAVMIR - Christianity: "What’s My Line?"
Do you remember the old TV show “What’s my line?” A panel would have to select from a field of three individuals, who was the real person named and who were the two imposters. The first person would say something like this: “Hi, my name is John Smith and I am the first person to sky dive from 15,000 feet.” The next two people would say the same thing and the objective of the panel was to determine, through a series of questions, who was the real John Smith. In our day and time, we have so many different groups claiming to be Christians that it is difficult to stand up and say, “Hi, I’m John Smith and I am a Christian.” People want to label us. Denominationalism is just that, an “ism”, a disease, a bad habit and finally a new identity that may or may not resemble the real thing. So, what’s your line when someone asks about your faith? It’s usually the follow-up question that’s difficult for us. The first question is often “Are you a Christian?” The second question – what kind? People aren’t satisfied these days with just accepting that a person is Christian. Even people in so-called non-denominational Churches often ask a follow-up question like “Are you a “born-again” Christian or a “spirit-filled” Christian, or a “Bible-believing” Christian. We are so brand oriented in our society, so label conscious. It seeps into our view of ourselves. I can’t just be a high school student; I have to be from a particular school. I can’t just be a baseball player; I have to be on a particular team. I can just be a real estate agent; I have to be with a particular company. “Branding” is a way of life in America and Christianity is no exception. I can’t just be a Christian; I have to be a particular brand of Christian. People ask, “What kind of Christian are you?” I had a guy ask me once, “What flavor?” I hate that! Can’t we just be Christians? We use the words like Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Orthodox, non-denominational. Even “non-denominational” is a type of branding. When people ask me what Church I’m with, I often say, “The Orthodox Church”. Many people respond, “Is that like Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox?” I used to get excited when people asked that, until I discovered most people haven’t the foggiest notion what that means. I’ve told people I’m Orthodox, talked about the New Testament, Church History, the Ecumenical Councils, the difference between the Roman Church and ours, all to be asked about 10 to 15 minutes into the conversation, “Now, Orthodox…is that Jewish?” People aren’t listening. People don’t know. I’ve heard people say, “I’m not Catholic, I’m Christian.” Wow! People ask me, are you Catholic? How would you respond to that question? I tell people, “Yes, but not Roman.” That confuses most people. Honestly, I want to confuse them. I want to make them think “How can you be Catholic, but not Roman?” Catholic is a good word, you know. It’s the name of our Church – the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. That’s the Church we profess belief in when we recite the Nicene Creed. From a missionary perspective, I don’t believe we are going to be very effective simply growing the Church by getting people to switch brands. Most Christians in this country still have a mindset bent towards escaping denominationalism. Quite frankly, so do I. They think they have escaped it by jumping into the non-denomination milieu of churches that make up a large portion of the religious landscape in our country. However, I don’t believe we can really escape denominationalism until we return to the pre-denominational Church, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Let me ask a question, are we calling people home to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church or are we calling people to a better brand called, “Orthodoxy”. I told a friend recently, “I could care less about being Orthodox, unless there is a controversy about the faith; then, I’m Orthodox, meaning that I have aligned myself with the Bishops who have preserved the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” I want people to know I’m a Christian before they know I’m Orthodox. I want them to hear the message of the Gospel before they hear about the issues that forced Christians to distinguish themselves from heretics by calling themselves Orthodox Christians. And I want them to fall in love with the Savior, before they fall in love with a better brand. So, what’s your line? What are you going to say to the next person who asks you about your faith? Let’s introduce people to the Savior, then to the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and finally, to the Orthodox Faith as it has been defined by the Ecumenical Councils of the Church. I think people will respond better, if we “hold our cards”, so to speak, and gradually introduce them to the Orthodox Faith in terms of believing that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all.