The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition force, will take steps to have a peace treaty with Israel cancelled after President Hosni Mubarak steps down. A Muslim Brotherhood leader, Rashad al-Bayumi, told the Japanese NHK television that the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is detrimental to the dignity and interests of Egypt and the Arab world. He said the Muslim Brotherhood wanted to form an interim government in cooperation with other opposition parties.
II. WCSH - UN to evacuate staff from Egypt to Cyprus
Some 350 people working for the United Nations in Egypt will be evacuated to Cyprus because of security concerns in the country. A spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission on the Mediterranean island says two U.N. chartered aircraft will each make two round-trip flights from Cyprus to Cairo today to collect U.N. staff and their family. He says arrangements have been made to accommodate up to 600 staff and dependants at Cyprus hotels. The spokesman says some U.N. staff will remain in Egypt to continue carrying out "essential functions."
III. EUROPEANVOICE - UN-led meeting fails to move Cyprus talks forward
Prospects of a breakthrough in talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots have receded after a fruitless meeting of the leaders of the two communities in Geneva last week under United Nations auspices. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, convened the 26 January meeting between Demetris Christofias for the Greek Cypriots and Dervis Eroglu for the Turkish Cypriots in a bid to meet the informal March deadline he has set. But the hoped-for agreement on a roadmap for the settlement talks did not emerge. Senior diplomats speak of a growing sense of the impotence of the international community – at the UN or the EU level – to influence the process and of growing pessimism about progress. Despite more than 90 face-to-face meetings between the leaders of the two communities since talks began in 2008, and agreement on the concept of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with a single international personality, the talks remain blocked by the question of how to deal with property abandoned by Greeks who fled Turkey's invasion in 1974. Each side accused the other of stalling since Ban met the two leaders in New York in November. The Turkish Cypriots “procrastinated on purpose”, a senior Greek Cypriot diplomat told European Voice, while a senior Turkish Cypriot source said that the Greek side was “comfortable with the status quo”. Both sides are, however, downplaying the importance of Ban's March deadline.
IV. B92 - Kosovo: All election complaints rejected
The Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission has rejected all complaints to the final results of the parliamentary elections in Kosovo. The final results were announced by the Kosovo Central Election Commission on January 30. The elections were repeated several times due to numerous irregularities. The Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission has rejected 22 complaints and parties that are not satisfied with the decision can file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Kosovo, which needs to decide on the appeals in 72 hours. According to the results, Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won the highest number of votes.
V. RIANOVOSTI - Russia rules out being NATO's patsy on missile defense
Russia will do whatever is necessary to ensure its security if NATO attempts to give Moscow a raw deal in building a joint European missile defense system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Russia and NATO agreed to discuss the creation of the European missile defense system in Lisbon in November last year, but as yet the talks have not brought any positive results. "If negotiations between NATO and Russia will only be used as a cover for a NATO-American missile defense system that ignores the Russian interests then of course we will have no choice but to take adequate measures to protect ourselves," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia Today international TV channel to be aired on Saturday. Moscow insists on setting up a joint European missile defense network with NATO to make sure that the planned placement of elements of a U.S. missile defense system in a number of European countries will not threaten Russia's national security. NATO, however, proposes creating two separate systems that would exchange information. Lavrov reiterated that the future missile defense system "must be equal" and "must not create any risks for the strategic arsenals of the Russian Federation... If these two [issues] are resolved positively, I believe we will achieve huge success," the minister said. The missile defense issue will be on the agenda of the upcoming global security conference in Munich on February 4-6.
An exhibition of more than 500 objects, most of them never before seen outside Greece, is set to rewrite knowledge of the Macedonian civilisation that brought forth Alexander the Great – the man who conquered most of the known world, from Greece to Egypt, Afghanistan and India, in the 4th century BC. A magnificent array of objects, from intricate golden crowns to finely sculpted heads, will travel to the Ashmolean in Oxford this spring, for the first major archaeological exhibition to be held in the museum's newly expanded galleries. The exhibition, Heracles to Alexander the Great, will show the fruits of recent excavations in Aegae, the ancient capital of Macedon. Artefacts in the exhibition will include objects from the burial tomb of the powerful King Philip II, Alexander's father, and his son, Alexander IV – and splendid jewellery and ornaments from the tombs of various Macedonian queens. Some of the most revelatory objects in the exhibition are portrait heads. Unlike the idealised faces of classical Athens, they show furrowed brows, wrinkles and laughter lines and may transform understanding of the history of portraiture. "The Macedon of Philip II is the birthplace and birth-time of realistic portraiture," said Dr Angeliki Kottaridi, the lead curator of the exhibition and the director of excavations at Aegae. Among these sculpted heads will be a portrait of Philip II, with a remarkably lived-in face and crinkly eyes. And even more intriguingly, there will be a set of lifesize and lifelike terracotta heads that are, according to Kottaridi, "absolutely unique". Twenty-six were found, by Kottaridi herself, in the grave of a Macedonian queen dating from about 500BC. Dr Susan Walker, keeper of antiquities at the Ashmolean, speculated that these remarkable objects could seen as forebears of the kind of elaborate Hellenistic portraiture created in Alexandria centuries later, which in turn influenced Roman "true" portraiture... The exhibition will show how an introverted, small tribal kingdom – mythologically founded by the descendants of Heracles – was, said Walker, gradually "drawn into the wider world, developing relationships on the eastern side of the Aegean and forming a key relationship with Athens, which it eventually pushed out of the region".
VII. ORTHODOXWAYOFLIFE - First Steps in Nurturing Grace: "Fear" of God
What is meant by "fear of God"? C.S. Lewis describes it in his book, The Problem of Pain, and states that fear of the God is not a fear that one feels for a tiger, or even a ghost. It, is one filled with awe, in which you "feel wonder and a certain shrinking" or "a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant of or prostration before it". It is a fear that comes forth out of love for the Lord. Saint Theophan tells us, as do many other Church Fathers, that having this "fear" is the first step. It is a feeling that comes with our first encounter with God where we know without doubt that He exists. It is the beginning of faith which is necessary for grace to work within us. To nurture this "fear of God" prayer combined with the reading of spiritual books is recommended. Instead of filling our minds with the endless content of the TV, give up some of this time and instead make time at the beginning of the day for prayer and reading of spiritual books including the Scriptures. Saint Theophan says, This reading with prayer preceding strengthens the sole and gives us strength for the entire day. Doctors say you should not leave the house on an empty stomach. With respect to the soul, this is fulfilled by morning prayer and reading. The soul is fed by them, and sets out on the business of the day nourished. To help this process he suggest to get a notebook and to write down the thoughts that you have as you read the Gospel and other spiritual books. This helps you keep focused on the reading material and to nurture the thoughts that are stimulated from it. One of the challenges with such reading and with prayer is that often thoughts overtake our concentration. It is almost like an involuntary distraction. They seem to come from nowhere uninvited. The main problem comes when we do not take action to deal with them. St. Theophan tells us, “as soon as you notice your thought wandering off, immediately put it back in its place.” Prayer and reading of spiritual books are an essential part of our spiritual development. The key is to make choices to provide time for this new activity. You will need to get up at least 30 minutes earlier in the morning. This means you will have to go to bed thirty minutes earlier in the evening and give up some activity. When your desire for grace is strong enough you will be able to act on it and make the necessary changes. Our laziness is our worst enemy.