US troops,Iraq;S-300,Abkhazia;Obama figure replaced by Bush's;Wahabists,Turkey;Hezbollah's theme park;Greek-Armenian-Assyrians;Kosovo Orthodox Shrines

I. VOA - U.S. Stands by 2011 Troop Withdraw Despite Iraqi Officer's Plea to stay until 2020

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is standing by a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of next year, despite a senior Iraqi officer's call for them to stay longer. Gates told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. and Iraqi governments have an agreement setting the deadline for the U.S. withdrawal. He said if a new Iraqi government is formed and wants to talk about extending the U.S. troop presence, the United States is open to that discussion, but the initiative has to come from the Iraqis. Iraq's most senior military officer, Lieutenant Babakir Zebari, says the United States should leave its troops in Iraq until 2020. Zebari told a defense conference in Baghdad that it will be another 10 years before the Iraqi army will be able to ensure the country's security. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that the United States is on track to end its combat mission in Iraq at the end of the month as planned. He said President Barack Obama is satisfied that the Iraqi military will be able to take over security operations. Fifty-thousand U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to serve as a transitional force. Mr. Obama has set a goal of removing all U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of 2011.

II. RIANOVOSTI - U.S. not surprised by Russia's missile deployment in Abkhazia

Washington is not surprised by reports that Russia deployed S-300 air-defense systems on the territory of former Georgian republic of Abkhazia, the U.S. Department of State said. Russian Air Force head Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Wednesday S-300 systems had been placed in Abkhazia to protect the airspace of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He did not say how many S-300s were deployed. "I believe it's our understanding that Russia has had S-300 missiles in Abkhazia for the past two years," Philip Crowley, the department's assistant secretary, told a daily press briefing. "There have been systems in Abkhazia for two years. We can't confirm whether they [Russia] have added to those systems or not... this is by itself is not necessarily a new development. That system has been in place for some time," he added. The Georgian Foreign Ministry described the Russian move as "extremely dangerous and provocative" and threatening "not only the Black Sea region, but European security as a whole." Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia two weeks after a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008, which began when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Russia signed agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia earlier this year on establishing permanent military bases in the republics. The bases are located in Gudauta, on Abkhazia's Black Sea coast, and in South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali. Each base hosts up to 1,700 servicemen, T-62 tanks, light armored vehicles, air defense systems and a variety of aircraft.

III. SALON - Obama figure removed from NJ boardwalk game, replaced by Bush

Operators of a boardwalk game in the town where the MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" is filmed have removed a caricature of President Barack Obama. It has been replaced by likenesses of former President George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton. Manager Tom Whalen says it's to show the "Walkin Charlie" game that requires patrons to throw baseballs at plates held by the rotating caricatures isn't "anti-Democrat or "anti-Republican." A plastic bag was placed over the Obama character's head after some people earlier this week said it was disrespectful to use the president's likeness.Whalen says a Secret Service agent visited the concession Wednesday and told him none of the employees had urged patrons to throw at the Obama likeness. Whalen says the Obama figure might return in a few weeks.

IV. INTERFAX - Two Wahabi ideologists hiding in Turkey

Two renowned Wahabi ideologists, Isa Umarov and Shamsuddi Batukayev, are hiding in Turkey, the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said. "Intelligence information indicates that Isa Umarov, one of the main ideologists of Wahhabism, and Shamsuddi Batukayev, the head of the Sharia court of "Ichkeria" and one of the main Wahabis, are hiding in Turkey," Kadyrov said in an interview to Azeri television. "These people started all this, then escaped and are hiding there and are making efforts to spread Wahhabism and extremism from there," Kadyrov said. Asked by Azeri journalists whether the leaders of illegal armed groups are receiving aid from Azerbaijan, Kadyrov replied that "this support does not exist today." "It used to be, that's for sure. Our terrorists hid under the guise of refugees in Azerbaijan, in Turkey, and in other places," he said. Kadyrov stressed that there is no political agenda in his words. "I don't make political statements. I am talking as a warrior fighting them," he said. Kadyrov said he had met with the Azeri president while visiting Azerbaijan. "We discussed this issue, and I received answers to all of my questions," he said. "Terrorists and extremists are not receiving support in Azerbaijan, and we are really grateful to this country's leadership for that," he said.

V. REUTERS - Devoted crowds throng Hezbollah's Lebanon theme park

If you have an urge to inspect mangled Israeli tanks, toy with a rocket launcher or explore a genuine rock-cut guerrilla bunker, Hezbollah's multi-media theme park in south Lebanon is just the place. The Shi'ite Muslim group, which fought Israel to a stalemate four years ago and has been preparing for the next war ever since, has applied a creative flair to its "resistance tourist landmark" at Mleeta that mirrors its innovative military skills. Here, on the resort's oak-sheathed slopes, the nitty-gritty reality of life as a Hezbollah guerrilla is on display, replete with themes of patriotism and martyrdom, plus a dose of bombast. Despite searing summer heat, more than half a million people have flocked to Mleeta, about 50 km (37 miles) southeast of Beirut, since it opened in May, say Hezbollah guides who conduct tours in English, French, German, Italian as well as Arabic. The Mleeta tour starts in a theatre showing a seven-minute video history of Hezbollah, with ear-splitting martial music. Then comes a museum displaying captured Israeli guns and gear. Wall panels offer a detailed anatomy of Israel's military machine and show satellite pictures -- and map coordinates -- of potential Hezbollah targets in the Jewish state, including its Dimona nuclear reactor in the distant Negev desert. the path ends in "Liberation Square", a garden surrounded by Hezbollah guns and missiles. Stone steps climb up to an esplanade dedicated to the organisation's "martyrs". It seems a safe bet that the Israeli air force will flatten this place early in the next war.

VI. ASSYRIATIMES - Greeks and Armenians Participated in Unveiling the Assyrian Genocide Monument

It was a historic day for the Australian Assyrian community as over 2000 people assembled for the unveiling of the world’s first monument to the victims of the Assyrian Genocide to be erected in a public space. In a proud display of solidarity, the Australian Hellenic and Australian Armenian communities were both well-represented, joining members of Federal, state and local politics on an occasion of remembrance and celebration. The Assyrian Genocide Monument at Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s south-western suburbs is an initiative of the Assyrian Universal Alliance – Australian Chapter, with Mr Hermiz Shahen as Secretary. It is dedicated to the victims of the Assyrian genocide (SEYFO) during and after World War One 1914-1918, committed by the Ottoman Turkish Empire as well as the victims of the 1933 Simele massacre in Iraq and all Assyrian martyrs since then. One of the most powerful addresses of the day was delivered by the Hon. Amanda Fazio MLC, President of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of NSW. Focusing on efforts by opponents of the Monument, Ms Fazio stated that “in the way Jewish Holocaust deniers are reviled, so should deniers of the Assyrian, Armenian and Greek Genocides be reviled”. The theme of the shared suffering of the Assyrian, Armenian and Hellenic peoples was echoed by all the speakers, both during the ceremony and during the seminar that followed. Messages of support were also delivered by His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia, Metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East Australia and New Zealand, Mr Nick Lalich (Member for Cabramatta and Mayor of the City of Fairfield), Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (Liberal Senator for New South Wales), the Hon. Ninos Khoshaba (Member for Smithfield), Mr Victor Dominello (Member for Ryde), and Rev. the Hon. Fred Nile MLC. On behalf of the Australian Hellenic Council (NSW), Dr Panayiotis Diamadis (Secretary) spoke about the common desire of the Australian Assyrian, Australian Hellenic and Australian Armenian communities for recognition of their common experience of genocide in the 20th century. The monument unveiling was the latest expression of solidarity by the Australian Hellenic community to the Australian Assyrian community. Thousands of Assyrians found safe haven in Hellas and Cyprus during the Genocide of 1914-1924. Thousands more fled persecution in Republican Turkey and Iraq, before joining relatives in Australia. It is part of a relationship that stretches back millennia. With this joint presence at the monument unveiling, the Australian Assyrian, Australian Hellenic and Australian Armenian communities declared in no uncertain terms their desire for recognition of their common experience of genocide by the political representatives of their adopted homeland.

VII. VOICEOFRUSSIA - Kosovo Orthodox shrines fight for survival

Moscow fears that NATO's decision to transfer the protection of Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo to the local police maystir up tensions in the region. Spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Andrey Nesterenko believes that this may lead to distrust of international peacekeepers. NATO made this decision without approval of the Serbian Orthodox Church and is breaching the1244 UN resolution. The resolution was adopted in 1999 and states that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia and its shrines should be protected by Serbia. The document is still valid, thus, it has to be followed. Monasteries in Gracanica,Visoki Decani and Monastery of the Holy Archangels will be transferred to the police in late August. Many of them areon the UNESCO World Heritage list. In 2004, 35 Orthodox shrines were vandalized and burnt down by Kosovo Albanians,while they saw no resistance from peacekeepers. Russians expert on Serbia Alexander Kravchenko believes that Kosovo military men are interested in controlling local Orthodox sites to make Serbian enclaves recognize the power of Kosovo government. The goal of Kosovo Albanians is to make Serbs leave Kosovo. This decision is another way to push them put of the region. Now all Serbian monasteries are controlled by Kosovo-Albanian companies. They provide them with water, electricity, communal utilities. As this needs to be fixed in agreements it means recognizing Kosovo's state institutions. The Serbian Orthodox Church believes NATO will revoke its decision, especially when many European countries are also concerned with the situation.

Ground Zero,Imam;Lebanon-US-military asst;Israel-Greece alliance;Arch Tutu letter,Turkey;Kosovo scenario,Romania;Armenian weaponry,Russia fires,Church

I. TELEGRAPH - U.S. sends Ground Zero mosque imam to Middle East

"Imam Feisal (Abdul Rauf) will be travelling to Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) on a US government-sponsored trip to the Middle East," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "He will discuss Muslim life in America and religious tolerance." Imam Feisal is behind plans for an Islamic centre that includes a mosque, sports facilities, a theatre and restaurant that would be open to all visitors to demonstrate that Muslims are part of their New York community, planners say. But the proposed location, two blocks from the gaping Ground Zero hole, where the Twin Towers were destroyed by Al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people, has touched raw nerves. And the imam's trip under the auspices of the State Department is being criticised by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee. "It is unacceptable that US taxpayers are being forced to fund Feisal Abdul Rauf's trip to the Middle East," the pair said in a joint statement. "Abdul Rauf has cast blame for 9/11 on the US, and even refuses to call Hamas what it is - a foreign terrorist organization," they said. "This radical is a terrible choice to be one of the faces of our country overseas. The US should be using public diplomacy programs to combat extremism, not endorse it," they said. "The State Department's selection of Feisal Abdul Rauf to represent the American people through this program further calls into question the administration's policy and funding priorities," they added. When Mr Crowley announced the trip at the daily State Department briefing, he described Imam Feisal as a moderate who has already made two similar government-sponsored trips to Arab and Muslim countries.

II. AP - Lebanon rejects US concerns over military help

Lebanon's defense minister says he would reject any American military assistance to the Lebanese army if it comes with conditions that the weapons not be used against Israel. Elias Murr was commenting Wednesday on a decision by a U.S. congressman to suspend $100 million of aid over concerns the weapons could be turned on Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army. Murr says those who want to help the Lebanese army but place conditions on how their funds or weapons are used, should keep the money. He also says a Lebanese soldier who opened fire across the border with Israel earlier in August was acting on orders. The clash killed two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer.

III. JPOST - Netanyahu set to visit Greece

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to go to Athens next week, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday, adding that this will be the first ever visit by an Israeli premier to Greece. The visit, coming three weeks after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visited Israel, is a testament to the rapidly warming ties between the two countries, and – according to sources – is not disconnected to the tension between Israel and Turkey, Greece’s long time adversary. “This trip shows the new dynamism in the relationship between Israel and Greece,” one diplomatic official said. In addition to meeting Papandreou in Israel last month, Netanyahu also coincidentally met him at a Moscow restaurant during a visit there in February. The Prime Minister’s Office would neither confirm nor deny speculation that among the issues that will be discussed will be the possibility of an agreement on allowing Israeli jets to train in Greek skies. Since the deterioration in Israeli-Turkish ties that was accelerated after Operation Cast Lead a year and a half ago, the IAF has been looking for other places – such as Romania, where an IAF helicopter crashed last month – to train. Netanyahu’s discussions in Greece are also expected to address expanding bilateral cooperation in a gamut of areas, including tourism, trade, establishment of a political dialogue and defense issues. The recent sharp deterioration in ties with Turkey has also led to a warming of ties with other traditional Turkish rivals in the region, such as Cyprus and Bulgaria. Both the Cypriot and Bulgarian foreign ministers were in the country earlier this year. In a briefing before Papandreou’s visit here last month, one diplomatic official said that the Greeks – looking at the Israeli-Turkish and Turkish-US tensions – are realizing that strategic alliances in the region are shifting, and that this might be a good time to get closer to Israel as a way of warming ties with Washington. When Israel had a close strategic alliance with Turkey, the official said, Athens gave up any thought of forging such an alliance with Israel. But now that the situation with Ankara has changed dramatically, Athens is seeing more opportunities with Jerusalem.

IV. KURDISTANCOMMENTARY - Turkish Embassy refuses letter from Archbishop Tutu

A letter from Archbishop Desmond Tutu was to be personally delivered by Rev Matthew Esau, Vice-Chair of KHRAG and a delegation of UK supporters to the Turkish Embassy in London, on Tuesday 10 August 2010 at 11.00 am. However despite prior arrangement the delegation were met on the doorstep by a police officer who not only refused entry to the Embassy but informed them he was under strict instructions not to allow the delivery of any letters. Rev Esau was accompanied by supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish Question, Siobhain McDonagh MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Jonathan Fryer, lecturer and Liberal Democrat politician, Frances Webber, human rights lawyer and Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London. In a letter dated July 2010, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and the Chair of ‘The Elders’ called on the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the political head of Turkey, to use his office and his influence to bring a lasting end to the conflict in Turkey with regards to the Kurdish question. The Chair of ‘The Elders’ pointed out however that he was “concerned at the escalation of the conflict between the Turkish and the Kurdish peoples in which innocent young people, from both sides, are losing their lives.” Tutu continued, “We know from experience that no-one can emerge as the victor in such a conflict.” Like the situation in the Middle East, where “Peaceful negotiations are the only lasting solution to their problems, we are firmly of the view that the Kurdish question can likewise be resolved through peaceful negotiations with the genuine leadership of the Kurdish people.” Archbishop Emeritus Tutu offered the help of the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) “a human rights organisation in South Africa (who are) prepared to help in the initiative and (who will) assist in mobilising international support for the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question in your country.” To download the entire letter in PDF, please click here.

V. VOICEOFRUSSIA - Kosovo scenario in Romania

Ethnic Hungarians in Romania demand a territorial autonomy to Hungarian-populated areas in Romania. Three Hungarian associations linked to the Democratic Union of Romanian Hungarians have filed a request with the UN, accusing Bucharest of breaching the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Romania’s 1.5 million Hungarians are determined to preserve their ethnic identity and homeland. The Hungarian minority in Romania was formed as a result of the redrafting of borders in Europe after the defeat of Austria-Hungary in the First World War. Thus, 1.5 million Hungarians found themselves living on territories which formally belong to Romania. What makes this conflict yet worse is that Hungary and Romania, both members of the EU and NATO, are dreading whatever conflict there might spring from within. But Hungarians in Slovakia and Slovakians in Hungary are facing similar challenges. The Basques are undermining stability in Spain, souring Spain’s relations with France. And France has to deal with separatist-minded Corsicans. The government of neighboring Italy has long included representatives of the Northern League, who seek independence for the northern areas. In Belgium, conflict between Flanders and Wallonia has disrupted overall effort to form a viable government. And the Cyprus issue is a constant headache in Southeast Europe. Cyprus joined the EU as a single whole but part of it is the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognized by Turkey. Instead of stabilizing the situation on the continent, the enlargement of NATO and the EU triggered an upsurge in separatism. Expert Alexander Karasev of the Slavic Studies Institute puts the blame on the double standard approach demonstrated by the West. "The world community should produce a decision which would meet the interests of all parties concerned," he says. "The western support of Albanian separatists in Kosovo, including the recent recognition of its unilaterally declared independence by the UN International Court, has encouraged separatists across Europe. Even though Russia has been urging the UN and the OSCE to work out a common approach regarding ethnic minorities, the West stayed deaf to the demands. No wonder then that these ethnic minorities are claiming ever more rights and are set on following the Kosovo scenario." This dangerous trend can also be felt in Canada’s Quebec and in China’s Taiwan, which sends instability waves throughout the whole of the Pacific Rim countries.

VI. RFE/RL - Armenia Seeking Long-Range Weapons

Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian says the Armenian government plans to acquire long-range, precision-guided weapons for possible armed conflicts with hostile neighbors, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. Ohanian's announcement today followed a meeting of an Armenian government commission on national security that approved two programs envisaging a modernization of the country's armed forces. One of the documents deals with army weaponry, while the other details measures to develop the domestic defense industry. Ohanian said the programs "will qualitatively improve the level of the armed forces in the short and medium terms... The two programs envisage both the acquisition of state-of-the-art weapons and their partial manufacturing by the local defense industry," Ohanian said. "The main directions are the expansion of our long-range strike capacity and the introduction of extremely precise systems, which will allow us to minimize the enemy's civilian casualties during conflicts." Ohanian said that "their application will also allow us to thwart enemy movements deep inside the entire theater of hostilities." He did not specify whether Yerevan will seek to acquire surface-to-surface missiles capable of hitting targets in historic rival Azerbaijan. Ohanian acknowledged that the modernization plan is connected with the risk of another war with Azerbaijan over the disputed breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is not immediately clear whether Yerevan's desire to obtain more powerful weapons is connected with a new Russian-Armenian military agreement expected to be signed soon. The agreement will reportedly take the form of significant changes to a 1995 treaty regulating the presence of the Russian military base in Armenia. Russian and Armenian sources have said in the context of that agreement that Moscow will also commit itself to providing Armenia with "modern and compatible weaponry and [special] military hardware." Armenia and Russia announced plans last month to significantly step up cooperation between their defense industries. According to Baghdasarian, that cooperation includes setting up Russian-Armenian defense joint ventures.

VII. RIANOVOSTI - Russian Church collects $217,000 in aid for wildfire victims

The Russian Orthodox Church has collected 6.5 million rubles ($217,000) for those affected by wildfires, the Moscow Patriarchate said on its website Monday. Wildfires caused by an extreme heat wave are raging in 22 Russian regions. A total of 52 people died in the fires and 472 have received medical assistance. Over 1,900 houses have burned down, leaving 3,500 Russians without a roof over their heads. The Church's Synodal department for charity and social services also invited volunteers to collect and distribute aid to those in need. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia blessed efforts to help those affected by fires. Special commissions have been set up within the Church to distribute donations. "In these testing times for our nation, we are called upon to unite and render all possible moral and spiritual support to those affected," a senior Church member, Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, said. Yuvenaly himself donated 300,000 rubles ($10,000) from his own pocket.

"Child Soldier",GITMO;Bashir arrested;Lebanese spy;Arab"Right of Return";Moscow fires;US border security;"60 Minutes",Ecumenical Patriarch

I. WSJ - Guantanamo Panel Turns To Trial of "child soldier"

The first contested military-commissions trial under the Obama administration is set to begin this week, after the defendant, Omar Khadr, pleaded not guilty on Monday to killing a U.S. serviceman during a firefight in Afghanistan. Omar Khadr, now 23, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a Delta Force medic, among other charges. A jury-like military panel to be seated this week will decide whether Khadr, born in Toronto to a family linked to Osama bin Laden, is a war criminal—or himself a “child soldier” victimized by war. In a second case resuming here, a military judge began seating a jury-like panel of military officers to recommend a sentence for Ibrahim al-Qosi, a former al Qaeda cook and bodyguard who in a deal with prosecutors pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism. But the trial of Khadr may raise some of the most difficult issues surrounding military commissions. Khadr’s father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian citizen, was closely identified with extremist Islamic causes. He became a bin Laden confidant in the 1980s, and in 1993 moved his family to Afghanistan, where U.S. authorities say he funneled money to al Qaeda under the cover of charity work. Omar Khadr was captured after a July 27, 2002, firefight in the Afghan village of Ab Khail. Among other charges, the Pentagon alleged that Mr. Khadr threw a grenade that killed Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Aside from denying the allegations, Khadr’s lawyers have challenged the premise of the prosecution. They contend that Khadr should be considered a “child soldier” who is himself a war victim, rather than a war criminal. Last week, Khadr’s military defense lawyer, Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, asked the Supreme Court to stay proceedings while he pursued another challenge to the commission’s structure. Col. Jackson contends commissions are unconstitutional because they subject foreign citizens to a lower standard of justice than U.S. citizens would receive if charged with identical offenses. The justices declined to stay proceedings, but Bravin writes that the issue is likely to arise on appeal if Khadr is convicted.

II. SMH - We have proof on Bashir say police

Indonesian authorities insist they have compelling proof that Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was instrumental in the formation of a new terrorist group, expressing confidence he will not evade serious charges as he has done in the past. They are also confirmed that Australia's Jakarta embassy - struck by a car bomb in 2004 - was one of many potential targets of the new cell. Bashir - notorious for co-founding the militant group Jemaah Islamiah - was arrested on Monday following raids at the weekend that uncovered a bomb-making factory and led to the arrests of five of his associates. ''They [police] have very strong evidence against him,'' said Ansyaad Mbai, the head of Indonesia's counter-terrorism agency. Bashir has been investigated for his links to the terror cell after its training camp was discovered and disrupted in Aceh in February. Police have alleged Bashir not only organised the funding for the terrorist cell and the camp but also appointed the renowned terrorist Dulmatin as its field commander. According to the Indonesia daily Kompas, Bashir was shown a video of the military-style facility before the February raids and told by his associate Ubeid that it was proof that his money was well spent. Ubeid, who was a member of Bashir's new organisation Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid and knew the slain terrorist mastermind Noordin Top, was arrested earlier this year. It is believed there are at least five witnesses whom police have convinced to testify against Bashir. Bashir is yet to be charged and police have until Monday to do so. [Bashir] says he is innocent.

III. JPOST - Lebanese general faces spy charges

A former Lebanese army general and Christian party member has been charged by a Lebanese military prosecutor with spying for Israel, according to a Reuters report. According to the report, Fayez Karam was a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, headed by Michel Aoun, and was the first politician to be charged in a string of espionage cases that have recently hit Lebanon. Karam's charge sheet said he was accused of dealing with "the enemy's intelligence and meeting their officers abroad, and giving them information by phone" and providing information about the Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah and other groups to Israel. He is alleged to have received weapons and money for the intelligence he provided. Karam will face the death penalty if convicted. He was arrested by the Lebanese intelligence directorate two weeks ago, according to an Al Akhbar newspaper report last Tuesday. Lebanon's Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar has said that his ministry had collected 150 cases of spying for Israel and was planning to raise the issue with the UN Security Council. “The list cites some 150 cases which the law has managed to put its hand on, [including people] of all communities and denominations,” Najjar told the London-based Arab daily al- Hayat, adding that it included findings that were “hardly believable.”

IV. EXAMINER - Legal experts: no Palestinian Arab "right of return"

Law professors Ruth Gavison and Yaffa Zilbershatz handed Israeli PM Netanyahu a paper explaining that there is no legal underpinning for the alleged “right of return” of descendants of Palestinian Arab refugees. If there were, they would have gone to court over it. If Israel grants even a “symbolic” recognition of it, it opens the door to full recognition of it, massive lawsuits would be brought. The Jewish population in Israel would be swamped by an enemy population. If, as some suggest, Israel offers the option with the “understanding” that it would not be implemented, it opens the door to a breach of the understanding. Arabs may choose entry into Israel no matter how much money they offered as compensation. Even if most Arabs did not choose to enter Israel now, their descendants might. The Jewish people would lose its self-determination. You see, the “return” may be brought up as part of peace negotiations, but once it were to be accorded as a “right,” it would be independent of peace negotiations. A right is a right. Incidentally, the territorial negotiations involve the war of 1967. That is a separate matter from the “return” issue, which involves the war of 1948. The refugee issue arose because the Arabs refused the partition plan proposed by the UN. How does the world treat other refugee problems? The world wants disputes settled, rather than perpetuate problems by returning refugees to contested countries. Consider the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. The court took up the matter of Greek refugees expelled from northern Cyprus in 1974. “…five months ago it ruled that due to the time that has passed, it would be wrong to rectify the situation by allowing them to return to their homes and expelling those who currently live in the area.” Some people ask why, if Jews can return to Israel after 2,000 years of exile, Arabs may not after only 60 years. Like many analogies and comparisons, the logic is flawed. Jews do not have such a right, the State of Israel legislated the privilege. Any Arab state could do the same for Arabs in its own state. UNRWA retards Palestinian Arab assimilation and thus that type of solution. It holds that former refugees in Jordan, who obtained Jordanian citizenship, remain refugees. [Actually, Jordan is in Palestine, and other displaced ethnic groups are not considered refugees if they still are in their countries. People of other ethnic groups born abroad are no longer considered refugees. Why should Palestinian Arabs be treated differently?] UNRWA upholds the refugee status of terrorists who commit crimes against humanity.

V. FP - Red Dawn: Wildfires raging across Russia

[PHOTO SLIDE SHOW] Wildfires are raging across Russia and frantic efforts of thousands of volunteers have yet to quell the flames. More than 800 Russian wildfires have been reported since they first ignited nearly a week ago. The wildfires, a result of the country's worst heat wave in recorded history, have claimed 52 lives thus far and left more than 3,000 people homeless. A man stands in a forest ablaze near the village Golovanovo, in the Ryazan region on August 5. Russians and tourists wear facemasks to protect themselves from forest-fire smog that hangs over the Red Square in Moscow on August 6. The heavy smoke contains toxins and is causing alarm over public health. A man stares at the conflagration near the village of Murmino on August 5. Currently, thousands of firefighters, soldiers, and volunteers are working around the clock to keep the wildfires from spreading. According to some officials, 10,000 firefighters aren't nearly enough to control the blaze. A car scorched by the wildfires sits in front of a destroyed house in the village of Mokhovoye, just 130 kilometers outside of Moscow on July 31. A man sprays water on the still-smoldering shrubbery near Golovanovo, a village in the Ryazan region, on August 5. A passerby rides his motorcycle through the scorched remains of the village of Kriusha, in the Ryazan region, on August 5. In the Ryazan region one of the many volunteers attempting to control the blaze, watches as smoke pours across the forest floor on August 5. A woman wears a face mask to protect herself from forest-fire smoke that hangs over central Moscow on August 6. Russian men shovel dirt on smoldering embers in the village of Murmino on August 5. A grove of trees is consumed by a blazing fire near the village of Dolginino on August 4. Men rush to create a fire-break as teh flames approach the village of Dolginino on August 4. A volunteer forest-fire fighter pauses to survey the blaze engulfing nearby trees. A Russian woman stands beside the ruins of her burnt out home in Voronezh on August 2. A man walks a herd of goats past a line of military vehicles transporting soldiers to fight forest fires in Ryazanovka on August 1. Russian police trainees clean up forest debris in the woods near Voronezh on August 3. A Russian man walks past still smoking trees and branches in a forest near the village of Golovanovo, Ryazan region, on August 5.

VI. BOSTONHERALD - Texas Governor tells Obama border security "clearly insufficient"

After greeting President Barack Obama with a handshake at Austin Bergstrom International Airport on Monday, Republican Gov. Rick Perry presented Obama with a four-page letter calling for tougher federal enforcement on the violence-ridden southern border. In the "Dear Mr. President" letter, Perry said Obama’s recent deployment of 286 National Guard personnel to the state’s 1,200-mile border with Mexico is "clearly insufficient" and called for "greater resources" to help protect Texas from the threat of spillover violence from Mexico’s drug wars. Perry has asked the administration for at least 1,000 National Guard troops as well unmanned surveillance drones. "The purpose of this letter is to reiterate the dire threat amassing on our southern border in the form of international drug cartels and transnational gangs and to again request sufficient federal resources to combat the increasing violence," Perry wrote. "Absent stronger federal action, it’s only a matter of time before violence affects more innocent Americans." Perry, who has criticized the administration on a litany of issues from health care to the economy, requested the meeting with the president several weeks ago after Obama announced the National Guard deployment. Republicans and Perry’s campaign organization have seemingly delighted in reminding voters that Perry’s Democratic gubernatorial opponent, former Houston Mayor Bill White, had no plans to meet the president during his daylong visit to Austin and Dallas. As Perry met the president, he pulled the letter from his pocket and handed it to Valerie B. Jarrett, one of the president’s senior advisers.

VII. THAINDIAN - "60 Minutes" Reveals The Plight Of Orthodox Christians In Turkey

In the latest episode of ‘60 minutes’ the audience found themselves shocked to learn that one of the most important Christian leaders of the world feels ‘crucified’ living in a country which is Muslim dominated. With as many as 300 million followers world wide Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew feels that the future of the Church in Turkey is threatened as there have been attacks over the years on the Christian properties as well as anti-Christian movements. On the show, correspondent Bob Simpson interviewed the Patriarch on the issues that plague Christendom in Turkey. The audience were also made aware of the historical importance of Christianity in Turkey. Bob Simpson asked the question that why is such an important leader as him living in a country that has complete Muslim dominance. To this Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said that the Christians were here before the Muslims arrived and the city signified the beginning of the Church of Constantinople. The episode threw light on the forgotten history of the city of Istanbul which was earlier known as Constantinople. Considered one of the most important cities in world history in terms of history and religion, ‘60 Minutes’ showed the changes that have come over the years. Empty churches and lack of recognition of the minority religion by the government is almost threatening to destroy the very foundations of Christendom. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is the leader of 300 Million of the world’s orthodox Christians, said that he is adamant to stay in Turkey because he felt that the orthodox Christians loved the country they were born in and want to die. At the turn of the century there were as many as 2 million orthodox Christians but now there are merely 4000 left. To watch the full interview, please click here.

German 9/11 mosque closed;Ground Zero church;Crete dancers,record;Israel-Turkey-flotilla;S.Ossetia remembers;Serbia-Kosovo;St. Vladimir's new website

I. AP - German mosque used by Sept. 11 attackers shut down

A small Hamburg mosque once frequented by Sept. 11 attackers was shut down and searched Monday because German authorities believed the prayer house was again being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals. The Taiba mosque was closed and the cultural association that runs it was banned, officials in the northern German city of Hamburg said. "We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war," said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for the Hamburg state interior ministry. The prayer house, until two years ago known as the al-Quds mosque, was a meeting and recruiting point years ago for some of the Sept. 11 attackers before they moved to the United States, authorities say. Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta as well as attackers Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah had studied in Hamburg and frequented the al-Quds mosque. Reschreiter said the mosque had been under observation by local intelligence officers for "quite a long time" and this was the first time it had been closed. The local interior ministry said about 45 supporters of jihad live in the Hamburg area. The ministry also said that over the years, the mosque also became a magnet for so-called jihad tourists — Muslims from out of town who bragged about having worshipped at the same mosque were once the Sept. 11 terrorists gathered for prayer. A 2009 report by the Hamburg branch of Germany's domestic intelligence agency said the mosque had again become the "center of attraction for the jihad scene" in the northern port city.

II. MYFOXNY - Church Near Ground Zero Asking For Attention, mosque gets approval

[VIDEO] Reconstruction of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church near ground zero in Manhattan remains stalled nearly nine years after it was destroyed by the falling south towers. It was the only house of worship destroyed on 9/11/01. The church's leader wants answers from the Port Authority of NY & NJ in light of the controversial plan to build a mosque near the World Trade Center site. Good Day New York spoke with Father Mark Arey on Friday. "We have worked with all the agencies. Gov. David Pataki assured us it will be rebuilt (at 130 Liberty Street.) We've hit a bureaucratic impasse with the Port Authority. We haven't heard from the PA in one year," said Fr. Arey. To read more about St. Nicholas Church at the World Trade Center, click here.

III. TorontoSun - Greek dancers attempt to set world record

More than 150,000 people held hands and danced on the Greek island of Crete on Saturday to try to set a world record and dispel the gloom of economic austerity. The dancers, some in traditional costumes, formed a human chain along a 200 km (125 mile) highway across Greece’s largest island while police halted traffic, event organizers said. Locals and tourists tapped their feet to the sound of folk music for about 15 minutes. “We feel proud. We believe we’ve set a new world record,” Spyros Prevezanos, head of the organizing group Planet Crete told Reuters. “Tonight we sent a message of hope, which is not related to money. We proved that there are more important values.” A Guinness World Records spokesman said no record for the biggest Greek dance had previously been set and organizers of Saturday’s event, which initially aimed for 200,000 dancers, said they expected their world record bid to be accepted.

IV. YAHOONEWS - Israeli PM says Turkey ignored flotilla warnings

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told an inquiry into the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza aid flotilla that Turkey had ignored warnings and appeals "at the highest level" many days before the fatal clash. The clash took place before dawn in international waters off Israel, after the flotilla ignored repeated Israeli warnings not to continue to Gaza. The enclave is ruled by the Hamas Islamist movement and sealed off by a tight Israeli naval blockade. "Beginning on May 14, my office held contacts with the highest levels of the Turkish government," Netanyahu said. "These contacts ... were intended to prevent a confrontation with the Marmara flotilla, and they continued until the eve of the flotilla's arrival off Gaza's shores," he said. "Despite our continuous diplomatic efforts, ultimately the Turkish government did not prevent the attempt by the Marmara to violate the naval blockade... It appears that (Turkey) did not see in the prospect of a clash between Turkish activists and Israel something that clashed with its interests..." It was Netanyahu's most explicit public account of behind-the-scenes diplomacy that in the end failed to avert the clash. Netanyahu said Israel could not have allowed the ships to breach its cordon, which it insists is necessary to keep weapons including long-range rockets out of the hands of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement backed by Iran which runs Gaza. "The state of Israel and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) operated according to international law," he said. "As prime minister I can't ignore Hamas as a threat to Israel's existence." The United Nations is conducting two inquiries of its own into Israel's high-seas interception. A panel formed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer is due to meet for the first time on August 10. It will include one Israeli and one Turkish member. A second probe, by the U.N. Human Rights Council, will be run independently and without Israeli cooperation.

V. RT - S.Ossetia remembers Georgian sneak attack

A minute of silence [was] held in South Ossetia on the eve of the anniversary of last year's war. On August 8 last year, as the world’s eyes were turned to the Beijing Olympics, Georgia launched its sneak attack. In the next few days commemorative events will take place in the afflicted region. It is known to the world as the Five-Day War, but in fact it lasted for almost two weeks. With the skirmishes on the border starting in early August and getting more intense each day, South Ossetians knew that something bad was coming. “Some say that they did not think of it. But I did. We just did not expect such fascism. We thought they might shoot a bit, or blow up a house, kill someone – but not that!” said Evelina Kakoeva, a local resident. On Thursday, August 7, Leonid Valiev – also a citizen of the South Ossetian capital – had already sent his younger cousins to relatives in Russia while he stayed in Tskhinval, glued to the TV screen. The summer Olympic Games in Beijing were about to begin. “The Olympics take place once every four years, as you know. We were looking forward to them. Sometimes you just run out of luck. There was tension in the air, people could feel it. I strongly felt that we were in for something bad,” he said. Meanwhile, frantic measures were under way to avoid the escalation of hostilities. A few days earlier South Ossetian forces had taken hostage four Georgian soldiers. Tbilisi threatened a full-blown invasion, but with the help of Russian peacekeepers the soldiers were released. A few hours later, the Georgian president went on national television, calling for peace. “As the commander-in-chief of the Georgian forces, I gave a very painful order that we will not respond even to intensive fire from the South Ossetian side. I demand an immediate ceasefire and confirm our intention to provide South Ossetia with absolute autonomy and offer Russia to be the guarantor of this,” Mikhail Saakashvili said. Milena Razmadze from Tskhinval recalls what happened later: “We heard the sound of shooting, but I was inside, deciding whether to get dressed or not. Then there was the sound of the strikes. I put on a dress at once and we ran to the basement.” It is no longer disputed that the Georgian invasion was well-planned. By early August, Tbilisi had amassed a number of troops and military hardware along the border. Meanwhile, South Ossetia called on its men to defend their land. Madina Gubieva's husband joined the paramilitary forces. August 4 was the last time she saw him. “He did not like either hugs or kisses. When he said goodbye, I sent my son to his room, so that he would not cry,” she said. “But my daughter was only five months old, and I was holding her when I followed him out. When he was about to get into the car, he looked back, came up to kiss me, then got into the car and waved. That was our last meeting.” He was killed by a mortar in his own backyard. His wife, widowed at 25. His daughter – orphaned and too young to remember him. South Ossetians saw the war coming, but were caught unawares when it pounded at their doors. On the eve of the Olympic Games in the middle of the night, amid security assurances and calls for peace, the Georgian army began its ultimately failed invasion of South Ossetia.

VI. B92 - Serbia open to Kosovo solutions, no to UDI

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić told CNN that the Kosovo question divides the UN, EU and NATO, adding that a solution of compromise is needed to bridge the gap. Jeremić said that Belgrade is ready for open dialogue with the Priština institutions and that Belgrade would not say “no” beforehand to any possible solution. “We only said ‘no’ to a unilateral independence proclamation,” Jeremić said as a guest on CNN. Asked why Belgrade believes that Kosovo’s proclaimed independence should not be recognized, he said that it would be the first time in UN history that a secessionist territory achieved statehood without the consent of the parent state. “If this happens in Kosovo’s case, it can happen in other parts of the world tomorrow,” Jeremić said. He stressed that Serbia is not only defending its constitutional, political and democratic rights, but is also trying to stop a dangerous precedent. Jeremić said that Belgrade would continue its policies of seeking a peaceful solution for the Kosovo question, using only diplomatic, political and legal measures, refraining from violence.

VII. OCA - St. Vladimir's Seminary launches new website

On the Feast of Transfiguration, Friday, August 6, 2010, Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary launch[ed] its new website, with a fresh, inviting look, more audio and video content, and some space for interactive exchange. The Seminary's Chancellor, Archpriest Chad Hatfield, says of the new site, which took nearly six months to develop, "With so much good happening at SVOTS we wanted to offer you a website that was easy to navigate, informative, and a pleasure to view, and I believe we have met those goals." Father Chad especially thanked the seminary community who provided valuable information and feedback as the project was being developed, and the web team, made up of Virginia Nieuwsma, editor and project manager; Mark Klinski, site developer and technical advisor; and Joel Wilson, designer. Readers may find the new site at the old address: www.svots.edu, but, according to Father Chad, "should be prepared for dramatic, eye-catching changes."

Georgia refugees;UNSC-Kosovo;Israel-Iran assault,Intel assassination;La Boheme,Cyprus;Ft Hood Shooter's bank;St. John the Baptist relics found

I. REUTERS - Amnesty International: Georgia not doing enough for war refugees

Georgia must do "more than the bare minimum" to provide housing, jobs and health care for more than 200,000 people driven from their homes by war over the past two decades, Amnesty International said on Thursday. In a report two years after Georgia's five-day war with Russia over rebel South Ossetia, the U.K.-based rights watchdog said they suffered unemployment and exclusion from society. Many of those displaced by wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the early 1990s continue to live in "dire conditions", the report said, with some 42 percent still housed in kindergartens, hospitals, hotels and barracks. "Displaced people need more than just roofs over their heads," said Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia Programme Director. "They need the government to ensure employment, access to health care and benefits. They also need to be consulted and be able to make the choices affecting their lives." Pro-Russian South Ossetia and Abkhazia threw off Georgian rule with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. In August 2008, more than 100,000 people on both sides were displaced when Russia crushed a Georgian assault on separatist South Ossetia. Some 26,000 Georgians are unable to return.

II. AKI - UN: Kosovo highlights Security Council divide

The UN Security Council late Tuesday demonstrated deep divisions over Kosovo independence, declared by majority ethnic Albanians two years ago. The Council for the first time discussed the situation in Kosovo, after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled last month that the declaration of independence wasn’t “contrary to international law”. Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic argued that the ICJ stopped short of saying the declaration was in harmony with the international and that Kosovo ethnic Albanians had the right to secession. “Never in the history of the UN had a country achieved statehood by unilateral secession from a state which hasn’t agreed to it,” Jeremic said. “I hope it won’t happen now for the first time,” he added. Serbia opposes Kosovo independence and has asked for a non-binding opinion of the ICJ on the legality of the move. But Jeremic and his Kosovo counterpart Skender Hiseni interpreted ICJ ruling each in his own way. Hiseni told the Council that ICJ ruling was clearly in favour of independence and said in was irreversible. “It is high time that Serbia starts respecting the (ICJ) opinion which she demanded herself,” Hiseni said. Similarly, ambassadors of western countries which have recognized Kosovo argued that the ICJ ruling “decisively confirmed” that Kosovo independence wasn’t contrary to international law. US ambassador Rosemary di Carlo, deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, called on the countries which haven’t recognized Kosovo to do so. But Serbia’s allies Russia and China, along with Brazil and Gabon, argued that Serbian territorial integrity should be respected. In a report to the security council secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said that the situation in Kosovo was stable, but politically delicate and marked by sporadic inter-ethnic incidents. He said that “the overall security situation in Kosovo remained relatively calm, but incidents persisted... The situation in Kosovo has remained relatively stable, although the potential for volatility and instability, especially in northern Kosovo, cannot be underestimated... The absence of significant progress in reconciliation between the communities, coupled with economic difficulties, continues to present a challenge and to foster the risk of unrest,” Ban concluded.

III. RT - Israel needs green light from US to assault Iran

A group of former CIA and military officials have written to President Obama to say they believe Israel is preparing to attack Iran this month. The group explained that Israel wants to launch a war suddenly, and make it politically untenable for Obama to do anything other than offer full US military support. Michel Chossudovsky from the Canadian Centre for Research on Globalization thinks that, in reality, Israel would need Washington's backing first. “It is technically impossible, from a military standpoint, for Israel to actually launch a war on Iran without the green light from the US. This is not strictly an Israeli military project. The US from the mid-1990s in fact has indicated Iran as a possible target,” Chossudovsky evaluated. He acknowledged that the joint program of the US, NATO and Israel to attack Iran was formed sometime in 2004 at the time of invasion in Iraq. Chossudovsky believes that the threats are real and implications are far reaching. “If that war were launched within the next few months, a whole region would flare up from the Eastern Mediterranean right through to the Chinese border.” According to Mordechai Kedar from Israeli Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Israel will never attack Iran by itself for a number of reasons. “First of all, it is very far away from us. We have to refuel the planes above the hostile states – like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan – which we do not have relations with, so it is very complicated to do it. Secondly, the Israel air forces are rather small in comparison to the width of Iran and the numbers of targets which we should deal with in Iran,” he said. “If there is something worldwide that the United States and maybe Britain and other states also take part in – maybe, Israel will take part in this as well. But Israel by itself, I think, will never attack Iran,” Kedar added.

IV. RIANOVOSTI - U.S. to study intelligence reports on Ahmadinejad's assassination attempt

The U.S. will study intelligence data and information from open sources to gain an understanding into controversial media reports about an assassination attempt on the Iranian president, the Department of State said. "We will use the sources that are available to us to best understand what happened. And that will include intelligence sources as well as open sources," a State Department spokesman told a daily press briefing. "We're still evaluating based on the information that we have. We haven't arrived at a judgment as to what happened," Philip Crowley said. Regional media reported on Wednesday that a hand grenade was thrown at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's convoy heading to the city of Hamedan. Unnamed sources said the bomb hit the part of the presidential convoy carrying journalists and some people were injured. The official news agency IRNA later reported that a firecracker was thrown.

V. FINANCIALMIRROR - Pucccini’s ‘La Boheme’ at Cyprus Pafos Aphrodite Festival

The annual Pafos Aphrodite Festival (PAF) gets underway for the 12th consecutive summer this year, with the performance of Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’ by the Opera of the Slovak National Theatre delivering a cultural treat for opera lovers. Performances will take place on 3rd, 4th and 5th September with the medieval castle of Pafos as a stunning backdrop. La Boheme is based on French Author Henry Murger’s literary work ‘Scenes de la vie de Boheme’, and consists of four acts. First performed at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1896, La Boheme is set in 1830 Paris and follows four friends – the poet Rodolfo, the musician Schaunard, the philosopher Colline, and the painter Marcello who live carefree lives, despite their poverty. In this classic, tragic, yet sometimes comic tale, we see Rodolfo develop a relationship with his young neighbour, the frail Mimi. An outstanding line-up of talent will take to the stage to bring La Boheme to life this summer, with separate performers tackling the roles on different evenings. As well as attracting star talent from overseas, La Boheme will also feature talented local performers, like Cypriot soprano Stella Georgiou and performer Kyriakos Sophocleous. Performed in Italian, with supertitles in both English and Greek, the production will be conducted by Stefan Lano.

VI. ABCNEWS - Accused Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan Can't Find a Bank Willing to Cash His Checks

The attorney for the man charged with last year's deadly shooting rampage at Texas' Fort Hood Army post says his client, who is still on the military's payroll, can't find a bank willing to cash his checks. While Maj. Nidal Hasan sits in Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, waiting for his next hearing in October, his lawyer, John Galligan, has been shopping around to banks trying to find a financial institution willing to take on his client as a customer. "Various banks have refused, without any specificity, to permit Hasan to open a checking account where he can have his military pay deposited," Galligan told ABC News. Hasan faces 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder stemming from the Nov. 5 shooting that fatally wounded 13 soldiers. If convicted, Hasan could face the death penalty. Hasan still is receiving payment from the U.S. military because, according to a spokesman, he is still a service member. "He is a major in the United States Army and will therefore be paid until he is no longer a major," said Lt. Col. Chris Garver. "So yes, he's still receiving payment." According to Army records, Hasan stands to receive a check for about $6,000 every month. He is also eligible for what the Army calls an "incentive pay" that could be as much as $15,000 annually. Hasan's lawyer said that his client was notified about a month ago that his longtime bank, Bank of America, was no longer interested in holding his money.

VII. NOVINITE - Bulgaria, Sozopol in Euphoria over St. John the Baptist Archaeology Find

The recently discovered relics of St John the Baptist have been laid in state in Bulgaria’s Sozopol after a transfer processing which brought much excitement and euphoria in the Black Sea town. The relics, which include part of an arm bone, a skull bone, and a tooth, were found in a sealed marble reliquary in the St. John the Forerunner Church on the St. Ivan Island near Sozopol on July 28, 2010, by the team of archaeologists led by Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov. The procession led by the Bulgarian Orthodox Bishop of Sliven Yoanikiy brought the relics of St. John the Baptist from the St. Ivan Island to the St. George Church in the downtown where they were laid in state. Thus, the holy relics have been officially transferred from the archaeologists to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Thousands of Bulgarians as well as dozens of buses with foreign tourists – Germans, Russians, Poles, Czechs - having their vacations along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have immediately arrived on a pilgrimage trips to pay their respects to the relics of St. John the Baptist. The samples from the reliquary and the bones are still to be tested by specialists have expressed their views that there is no doubt whatsoever that absolutely unique archaeological discovery consists of relics of St. John the Baptist. Experts have pointed out that at the time of the building of the St. Ivan the Forerunner Church – 4th century AD – the tradition was to build in relics of saints in the construction instead of to lay them in state for pilgrims, and there was no intentional falsifications of such holy items. The greatest argument supporting the thesis that the relics belong to St. John the Baptist is the “clue” found at 1.2 m from the reliquary. It consists of a small box bearing inscriptions that make it clear who and when brought the relics of St. John the Baptist to Sozopol. The inscriptions make it clear that a man name Thomas, “God’s servant brought a particle of St. John on the 24th.” Even though some of the end letters are missing, the inscription in Greek makes it clear that the date refers to the birthday of St. John the Baptist, June 24. The use of genetive case in the inscription leaves no doubt that the relics belonged to one of the founders of Christianity. “It is important to understand one thing – this is the first time ever in the world archaeological practice that relics of St. John are found together with an inscription which just literally nails the conclusion and leaves no doubts. There are no speculations here,” said the man who made the unique discovery, archaeologist Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov. “I think that this is the discovery of the year, not just in the Bulgarian archaeology but also in the European archaeology. It is hard to speak of the symbols of early Christianity but Apolonia (i.e. the Greek name of Sozopol) and the St. Ivan Island were one of the earliest places where Christians settled as they were persecuted by the Roman authorities. Their heritage is connected with the entire Christian history,” explained the Director of the Burgas Regional History Museum Tsonya Drazheva who is also part of the archaeological team that found the relics of St. John. The relics of St. John the Baptist will lay in state in the St. George Church in Sozopol until the completion of the repairs of the larger St. Cyril and St. Methodius Church nearby. Once the larger church is completed, the relics of St. John will be transferred there, together with two other holy items already kept in Sozopol – the a piece of the Holy Cross of Jesus Christ donated to the town by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the National History Museum, and relics of St. Andrew, which were donated to the town by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I during his visit to Sozopol last month.

UNESCO-Kosovo,"Closed"UN Membership;"Operation Storm";MedDiet,Cancer;Israel-Lebanon;Egypt rockets,Hamas;Wyclef Jean, Haiti president

I. B92 - UNESCO ratifies Kosovo document

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee ratified a document which contains Serbia's statement on the importance of its medieval monuments located in Kosovo. The UNESCO committee met in Brasilia, Brazil. The Serbian Ministry of Culture stated in a statement that Serbia submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Center the text which refers to the exceptional universal value due to which the Serb Orthodox Christian medieval monasteries in Kosovo entered the UNESCO's list of world cultural heritage, and that of endangered world heritage sites. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee ratified the document and added a footnote in which it confirms abidance by UNSC Resolution 1244 on Kosovo. At the session, the committee also adopted a decision on defining the borders for cultural monuments which entered the UNESCO's world cultural heritage list before 2000, which include the Stari Ras and Sopoćani Monastery monument area, and the Studenica Monastery. The session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held in Brazil's capital from July 25 to August 3, and the Serbian delegation was headed by Minister of Culture Nebojša Bradić.

II. RT - UN membership door closed for Kosovo

Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin has made it clear that Moscow will not allow Kosovo to join the organization and that UN Resolution 1244, which confirms Serbia’s territorial integrity, will not be amended. Churkin hinted at the veto power Russia has as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which the country presides in August. In addition, the Russian Ambassador promised that Moscow will back Serbia’s draft resolution on Kosovo. Belgrade submitted the document to the UN General Assembly shortly after the organization’s highest court ruled that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, was not violating international law. Talking to journalists prior to the Security Council meeting on Kosovo, Churkin confirmed that the document will be discussed at the General Assembly session in September this year. “As for Russia’s position, we will support the resolution,” he said. Russia has opposed Kosovo’s unilateral secession from Serbia ever since it was declared, and underlined that The Hague court’s ruling has not changed Moscow's stance. On Tuesday, representatives of both conflicting sides – Serbia and Kosovo – faced each other at the UN Security Council meeting in New York. Kosovar Albanian authorities urged the UN to cancel Resolution 1244 and to let Kosovo become a member of the organization. Encouraged by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, Pristina had filed a request to the UN urging its members to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Belgrade, for its part, maintains that under no circumstances will it recognize Kosovo’s independence. The diplomat said that Resolution 12 44 remains key to sorting out the Kosovo issue. He admitted that there is no perfect solution to the situation, but assured that they will continue working until a compromise on Kosovo is found. He also noted that a significant majority of UN member states, including the Security Council members, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia. So far, Kosovo has been recognized by 69 states, including the US, and 22 out of 27 EU states. Serbia, Russia, China, India, Spain and Greece have insisted that the Albanian-dominated Kosovo has violated international law.

III. AGAIN&AGAIN - Anniversary of “Operation Storm”

August 4 is the anniversary of Operation Storm, in which, in 1995, the Croatian army, with massive American support, killed 14,000 Serbs, expelled 200,000 and destroyed three-quarters of their homes, without a word of protest from the Western press. Many of these refugees found their way to Canada. Hundreds of them live in this city, yet their story remains unknown to most of us. The received wisdom is that, in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic, caused the war by invading the Yugoslav republics to create a Greater Serbia. Parallels were drawn to Hitler and the Third Reich and staged photographs appeared to confirm the existence of concentration camps in Bosnia. The true story is the complete opposite of this one. During WWII, Germany’s ally, the Croatian Ustashe, murdered 600,000 Serbs in Jasenovac concentration camp. The Bosnian Muslims and the Albanians in Kosovo raised battalions for the Waffen SS and Mussolini united Kosovo with Albania. The Serbs were our courageous allies, whose support of us caused them terrible suffering. In the 1990s a pro-Ustashe government in Croatia, an Islamist president in Bosnia, and Albanian nationalists in Kosovo began the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from areas in which they had lived for hundreds of years. During EU negotiations to resolve the conflict, Germany unilaterally recognized the independence of its wartime ally Croatia, despite warnings that this would make peace impossible. Henry Kissinger stated, “Premature recognition called into being a civil war, not a country.” Premature recognition resulted in a bloodbath. The Serbs did not cause the war. Nazi admirers did. For this reason, it is ludicrous for Canadian public opinion to equate Serbs with Nazis. There were two peace agreements negotiated by the EU and the US, both of which the Serbs adhered to. The Vance Peace Accord curtailed hostilities between Croatia and Serbia. The accord was broken by Croatia and a lightly armed Canadian battalion of peacekeepers was engaged in a firefight to protect three Serb villages from ethnic cleansing. Its commanding officer, Col Jim Calvin, is a true Canadian hero, yet few of us have heard of him or his battalion. The Bosnian Muslims broke the second peace agreement, the Lisbon Agreement, designed to secure peace in Bosnia. The Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic then warned, “Abandoning the Lisbon Agreement will lead to hundreds of thousands dead and hundreds of towns destroyed.” Once again, the Serbs kept their word, whereas their opponents did not. The demonization of the Serbs in Canadian minds is pervasive and unjust. Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cernak and Mladen Markac, the Croatian generals who planned and executed Operation Storm, were indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Next time you meet a Serb, please remember this article and greet them with respect. Our slander and ignorance has put them through a very great deal.

IV. NEWSMAX - Mediterranean Diet Lowers Breast Cancer Risk After Menopause

Women who follow a traditional Mediterranean diet may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer after menopause than women with different eating habits, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among 14,800 Greek women followed for a decade, those who kept most closely to the region's traditional diet were less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those whose eating habits were least Mediterranean-like. The link was seen only among women who were past menopause, and not younger women. Among postmenopausal women, those with the highest Mediterranean diet "scores" were 22 percent less likely to develop breast cancer during the study than those with the lowest scores. The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that the diet itself offers protection against breast cancer. If such a link is proven in future studies, however, the authors estimate that if all women in their study population had closely adhered to a traditional Mediterranean diet, about 10 percent of the 127 postmenopausal breast cancers in the group would have been avoided. Despite the preliminary nature of the findings, they add to research tying the traditional Mediterranean diet to lower risks of heart disease and certain cancers, such as cancers of the colon and stomach. In general, the Mediterranean diet is rich in fish, olive oil, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, and relatively low in red meat and dairy. Researchers have long speculated that the diet may help explain why nations in the Mediterranean region have historically had lower rates of heart disease and some cancers, including breast cancer, compared with other European countries and the United States. The current study focused on women in Greece, as it is the "cradle" of the Mediterranean diet, and a large segment of the population still adheres to it.

V. JPOST - Israel: Lebanon responsible for border clash

Facing the first deadly cross-border skirmish in the North since coming into office in March 2009, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that he held the Lebanese government directly responsible for the “violent provocation” that killed one officer and left another seriously wounded. Following consultations throughout the day with senior security, intelligence and diplomatic officials, Netanyahu issued a statement saying Israel viewed the incident “very gravely,” and saw it as a blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the Second Lebanon War in 2006. “I see the Lebanese government as directly responsible for this violent provocation against Israel,” he said. “Israel responded, and will respond aggressively in the future, to all efforts to disturb the quiet on the northern border and harm the citizens of the North and the soldiers protecting them.” Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet on Wednesday to discuss both the Lebanon incident and Monday’s rocket attack from Sinai on Eilat. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, warned Lebanon against continued provocations, and called on the Lebanese government to probe who was responsible for Tuesday’s attack.

VI. AP - Egypt admits rocket attack from its own soil, Hamas responsible

The deadly rocket attacks on Israel and Jordan's Red Sea ports were carried out by the militant Palestinian Hamas group operating from Egypt, an Egyptian official said Wednesday after days of denials. Immediately after a barrage of rockets crashed into the sea near Israel's Eilat resort town and killed a taxi driver in Jordan's Aqaba port, Egyptian officials had strongly denied they had come from its soil. The security official said Hamas had fired seven rockets, including one which misfired and left debris near a security facility in the town of Taba. The attackers fired Soviet-style Grad rockets of the type used by militants in Lebanon and Gaza, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The rockets hit a narrow area of the Red Coast where the Israeli and Jordanian ports are located side by side. One person was killed and four people wounded. It was the second such attack this year, after a similar volley in April that Israel also said was fired from Egypt. Aqaba and Eilat are more than 190 miles (300 kilometers) from Hamas' stronghold in the Gaza Strip.

VII. CNN - Wyclef Jean says he will run for president of Haiti

Six years ago, hip hop icon Wyclef Jean released a soulful tune called "President," in which he fantasized about what it would be like to lead a country. That fantasy may come closer to reality when the Haitian-American recording artist announces exclusively on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he intends to run for president of Haiti. Jean, who had been an outspoken proponent for Haiti through his Yele Foundation, told CNN Tuesday that plans to make the major announcement on King's show Thursday night. He was one of the first celebrities to offer aid after the devastating earthquake there in January. He told CNN late last month that he has filled out the necessary paperwork to make a run at the country's highest office. "I've always promoted Haiti in my music, since my first album with the Fugees where we talked about what Haitians are going through and about human rights for people around the world," Jean said. "This is how we came in the game, we never thought we were going to be music stars because the topics we talked about were not very popular in mainstream music." The January 12 earthquake in Haiti killed more than 220,000 people, destroyed 60 percent of government infrastructure and left more than 180,000 homes uninhabitable. While little is known about Jean's political agenda, some of the lyrics from his song "President" may provide a sneak peek: "Instead of spending billions on the war. I can use that money, to feed the poor."

Ahmadinejad-Obama;Israel fears,Turkey-Iran ties;Rockets hit Israel,Jordan;Kosovo;Cyprus heat wave;Gas,Med Sea Nat Oil;Orthodox Parish Life

I. YAHOONEWS - Ahmadinejad calls for TV debate with Obama

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday to face him in a televised one-on-one debate to see who has the best solutions for the world's problems. The provocative proposal comes as Iran deals with a new wave of international sanctions -- driven by Washington -- aimed at putting pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad suggested such a debate last September, which was not taken up by Washington. He said Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had declined similar invitations because he was "scared". Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil producer, says its nuclear program is a peaceful bid to produce electricity. But its uranium enrichment activities, a process which can have both civilian and military uses, has fed fears in some countries that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon. In his speech, the president mocked the sanctions and the potential for a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, an option that the United States and Israel say they do not rule out. "Who do you think is going to attack us? The Israeli regime? ... We don't consider the regime in our equations, let alone attacking us," he said. "They say we'll issue sanctions? Okay, do it. How many resolutions have you issued so far? Four? Make it 4,000," he said to loud applause from the conference. Both Iran and the United States have indicated willingness to return to nuclear talks which stalled last October, leading to the new sanctions. Amid the anti-American rhetoric in which he said U.S. policy was based on colonialism and the "law of the jungle", Ahmadinejad said he was ready for talks "based on justice and respect". "We are ready to hold talks at the highest level," he said. "We have always favored talks, Iranians have never, ever favored war."

II. AFP - Israel fears Turkey spy chief is "supporter of Iran"

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has expressed concern over Turkey's appointment of a new spy chief he called a "supporter" of the Jewish state's archfoe Iran, army radio reported Sunday. "Turkey is a friendly country, a strategic ally, but the nomination in recent weeks of a new chief of the Turkish secret services who is a supporter of Iran worries us," he told a meeting of his centre-left Labour party. Barak added that the appointment could result in "the Iranians having access to secret information," in a recording of his remarks broadcast by military radio. The Turkish official, Hakan Fidan, 42, was appointed to head the National Intelligence Organisation, known by its Turkish acronym MIT, on May 27 after serving as undersecretary for foreign affairs to the prime minister and representing Turkey at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The latter position placed him at the forefront of Turkey's efforts to resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, according to the Turkish press. Israel has viewed Turkey's efforts with suspicion, especially a deal brokered with Iran and Brazil in May that would have seen Iran ship some of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for high-enriched uranium. The deal was promptly rejected by other world powers, which backed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on June 9 over its refusal to halt its controversial uranium enrichment programme. Turkish-Israeli relations plunged to an all-time low following the deadly May 31 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which naval commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists, one of whom was also a US citizen. Israel views Iran as its greatest strategic threat because of the nuclear programme, which it believes is aimed at developing weapons, and the frequent predictions of the demise of the Jewish state by Iran's leaders. Like the United States, Israel has said it prefers to resolve the nuclear standoff peacefully but has not ruled out a military strike. Iran has always said its nuclear enrichment programme is for purely civilian purposes.

III. REUTERS - Rockets hit Israel and Jordan resorts

Rockets from Egypt's Sinai, an area where Islamist militants have operated in the past, struck Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea port resorts on Monday, killing a Jordanian civilian and injuring three others, Jordanian and Israeli police said. A Jordanian interior ministry source said one of the four injured when one rocket exploded near a five star hotel in Aqaba, died from his injuries. There was no word of casualties in the adjacent Israeli port and holiday resort of Eilat, police said. Israeli President Shimon Peres condemned the rocket fire and said Israel and Jordan were "partners in the uncompromising struggle to eradicate terrorism." "There is a real struggle in the Middle East between the peace camp of moderate countries and the camp of extremists, who want to sabotage any chance for peace," Peres said. Asked where the Aqaba rocket was fired, the Jordanian source said without elaborating: "It came from the west." Experts were investigating the site to find out where the short-range rocket had been launched, he said. Egyptian security sources were quoted by the state news agency as saying rockets could not have been fired from Sinai. Eilat District Police Commander Moshe Cohen told Israel Radio that his forces were still trying to confirm that five explosions heard in the morning had been caused by shelling. Two of the suspected rockets or mortar bombs appeared to have landed in the sea, while another hit Aqaba, he said. "It's a little early to say, but it is reasonable to assume that it came from the southern area," he said, referring to neighboring Egypt, whose Sinai desert has seen occasional violence attributed to Islamist militants. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab states to have full peace accords with Israel. Those ties were frayed by Israel's crackdown in 2000 on a Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

IV. WASHINGTONTIMES - Recognizing Kosovo at expense of U.S., Serbs

We have humiliated, denigrated and dehumanized the Serbs, who were our allies in two world wars and rescued more than 500 downed American pilots in World War II at great sacrifice to themselves ("Kosovo cheers independence ruling," Friday, Page 1). We need to examine the Kosovars with whom we are getting so cozy. Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), has been implicated by former chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte in the macabre harvesting of body parts of young Serbian soldiers. We have known since 1999 the terrorist connections of the KLA, when Washington Times reporter Jerry Seper wrote, "Some members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which has financed its war effort through the sale of heroin, were trained in terrorist camps run by international fugitive Osama bin Laden." According to Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, Mr. Thaci is one of three KLA kingpins running the Albanian mafia rackets in Kosovo. For giving refuge to Kosovar Albanian refugees in 1999, America was rewarded with the attempted Fort Dix bombing. Four of the six terrorists involved were Albanians from the Kosovo region. One of the four plotters, Agron Abdullahu, was a former sniper in Kosovo, trained with the Egyptian military and admitted in 1999 as a Kosovar Albanian refugee. If the Serbs ethnically cleansed Kosovar Albanians, as has been claimed, why do Kosovar Albanians make up more than 90 percent of the population and the Serbs, once the majority, less than 10 percent?

V. FINANCIALMIRROR - Cyprus heat wave soars to 46 degrees

Temperatures soared to 46 degrees Celsius on Sunday, defying Met Office projections of 42 degrees in the capital Nicosia, forcing thousands of people to seek shelter on the beaches and in the mountains, while many others chose to stay home with their air conditioners blasting throughout the day. The heat wave conditions are expected to continue until mid-week, accompanied by high levels of humidity, particularly in the south-eastern coastal region. Senior Met officer Cleanthis Nicolaides told CyBC that some relief in the form of cooler breezes could be found on the east and west of the island in the coastal regions but that the heat wave was not expected to let up until Monday, after which the island will see a gradual drop in temperatures. Nicolaides noted however, that he did not expect temperatures to drop below 37 degrees Celsius before Wednesday, at least not inland, adding that this was normal for this time of year. Last week, humidity levels reached as high as 98% in Larnaca and 87% in Nicosia.

VI. FUTURESPROS - Gas fields in eastern Mediterranean Sea still untapped

An eastern Mediterranean Sea exploration boom could make it one of the world's biggest natural gas producing regions, if its reserves are fully exploited, a scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Monday. Christopher Schenk, who heads a USGS team assessing global oil and gas reserves, said the Levant Basin Province lying mostly off the coast of Israel and Lebanon could hold 122 trillion cubic feet (3.4 trillion cubic metres) of recoverable gas -- making it one of the world's richest deposits. The survey of the basin, which the USGS completed in March, showed "great potential" and has already been validated by the discovery of two large offshore fields, Schenk told Reuters in an interview. Schenk was invited by Israel's Infrastructure Ministry this week to discuss the results of the survey of the area, which stretches from a few miles inland in Israel and Lebanon out towards the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The discoveries have sparked an exploration fever in Israel, which this summer alone granted four new off-shore drilling licenses. Much of Israel's territorial waters have been divvied up, and some of Israel's drilling plans have alarmed Lebanon, which is also looking to get in on the action but may lose out because it lags behind and the hostile neighbours have no sea border.

VII. PRAVMIR - Orthodox Parish Life in the Contemporary West and the Role of the Laity

In order for a parish to start, three spiritual things are needful: faithful people; God's blessing; the permission of the local bishop. Three practical things are also needful. These are: a group of people who wish to start a parish, including at least one who can sing; public-access premises to hold church services (private premises discourage visitors and encourage a ghetto mentality); a priest. Their importance is in that order, with the priest coming last. For example, if a group of faithful who have some musical ability have premises with public access, then sooner or later the local bishop will find them a priest, if only once a month at first, and later he may even be able to ordain a suitable candidate for the priesthood from among the faithful themselves. In our interactive age, some are critical that Orthodox laity appear to have no role to play in church life, and seem to be mere passive spectators of services. This impression is sometimes founded in reality, but only in dying parishes where laity may indeed have reduced their role to that of passive spectatorship. It is not the natural role of laity. Laypeople can only be passive if they wish to be passive. If there are individuals who complain that laity have no role in Orthodox parish life, then they are complaining without reason. Today, for example, many Orthodox parishes in the West have a younger priest who is often exhausted because outside services he also has to earn his living in a full-time secular job. This is either because the laity are too few in number to support him, or else too ungenerous to pay him a stipend whereby he could work fewer hours in a secular occupation. At the same time, within parishes there are retired laity who have time on their hands and nothing else to do. Such priests are only too glad if laypeople pull their weight. It must be a matter for concern if they do not carry out many of the tasks incumbent on them for which a priest is not essential. If a priest working full-time elsewhere scarcely has time and energy even to devote to services, including baptisms, weddings, funerals, house-blessings, confessions, memorial services and services of intercession, then most certainly the laity should be supporting the community by carrying out other tasks. What are they? Firstly, the very least that any laypeople who call themselves Orthodox can do, is to come to services, to support their local church in presence and prayer. At many services parishes churches are half-empty. And once at church, people should not stand passively. They should pray. And then, where are the acolytes? Where are for the candidates to be reader, subdeacon, deacon and priest? Where are the people to see to the sale of candles and prosphora? Where are the people to blow out candles at the Six Psalms, light them again at 'God is the Lord' and see to guttering candles? Where are the people to bake the prosphora? Where are the people to bring wine to church? (Eucharistic wine should be unadulterated, sweet red wine - speak to the priest, if you do not know what sort to bring). Where are the people to welcome newcomers and visitors? (Not bully then or interrogate them, but welcome them!). Where are the people to man the bookstall? Where are the people to write parish bulletins and service timetables? Where are the readers to read the Psalms, the Prophecies and the Hours? Where are the bell-ringers? Who prepares the boiling water before the Liturgy? Where are the people to light the lamps before the service begins? (A person complained in one church that olive oil was not used for the lamps. He was told that the church would be happy to use olive oil, providing that he bought it and came early to services to trim the wicks and light the lamps, making sure that he did not spill oil anywhere. After this, he stopped complaining!) Secondly, there are all the activities outside the services. Where are the people to do the sewing? (I know churches where there are no covers in the different liturgical colours for the lecterns, no tunics of different colours for the altar-boys, and even no vestments of different colours for the priest - there is no-one to sew them). Where are the people to clean the church and the church-hall once a week? (Especially, where are the readers to clean the altar, if the priest has no time?) Where are the people to paint? Where are the people to do the church garden? Where are the people to prepare coffee and tea after the service? Where are the people to prepare food for the parish feast and Easter? Where are the people to see to the children and teach Sunday school, if the priest has no time? Where are the people to visit the sick, if the priest has no time? Who is the prison-visitor in the parish, if the priest has a full-time job and cannot manage this? Thirdly, there are the organizational tasks and financial sacrifices. Where the people to organize meetings and pilgrimages? Where are the candidates for churchwarden, treasurer, secretary, auditor? Where are the members of the parish council? Who will see to administrative tasks and go to the Bank and the Post Office? And where are the people who are willing to donate money in collections and parish contributions so that the parish can live? Some may object that these are all menial tasks. We do not think so. These are essential tasks for if they are not done, a parish cannot live. A church cannot function if these tasks are not carried out. A church cannot live without bread and wine. If people want a community, then they have to work for it to create it. As they say: no pain, no gain. Today, especially in Western countries, many people seem to have adopted a Welfare State mentality, a consumer mentality, towards the Church. As a result they expect church services and activities to be laid on for them, as if it were their right. This is totally unrealistic. We have to combat the mentality which says that 80% of church activities are carried out by 20% of the parishioners and the remaining 20% of activities are carried out by the other 80% of the parishioners. To paraphrase an American President of some forty years ago: 'Ask not what your parish can do for you; ask what you can do for your parish'. There is nothing so dispiriting as entering a church which feels neglected and unloved by its own supposed members. Such churches close down. As our Lord said: 'Let the dead bury the dead'. Finally, there is the one activity which we have not yet mentioned, in which most laypeople can participate: the choir. In principle, everybody should sing in church. In reality, of course there will always be some who do not wish to sing and really cannot sing. Nobody should ever be forced to sing. On the other hand, the reality is that in many parishes, the choirs which sing on behalf of all the people in response to the priest, are often very small. People should be encouraged to sing. Even those who are not musical can learn to 'sing along' in certain parts of the services, in a low voice. Here one of the problems is that bigger parishes, and especially Cathedrals, tend to have semi-professional choirs and paid 'choir directors'. This tends to exclude ordinary lay participation. Although parishes do need people to lead choirs, the tendency to have 'choir directors' seems to me to have a secular origin in the mentality that church singing is a 'concert'. It seems to me that we should speak not so much of choir directors, but of choir leaders. True, every parish choir should have as large a musical repertoire as possible. One convert who came to our parish was astonished by the melodies he had never heard before. He had honestly thought that all parishes sang the same melodies, because at his church they only ever sang the same melodies for everything! On the other hand, most of the melodies sung should be fairly simple, so that they can be picked up by most people. Though the melodies should change, they should not change too often. There must be some continuity. Again every choir leader should ideally have one or two deputies. No parish should be dependent on one person. Others should learn how to sing and lead the choir. In the same way as any parish should eventually be able to provide a parish with a deacon and possible a second priest, so others should come forward to provide a parish with choir leaders. Here above are some considerations about the role of laypeople in contemporary Western Orthodox parish life. We pray that they may bear fruit in the hearts of those who read them.