Pirate attacks worldwide in the first nine months of 2009 exceeded the whole of last year's total because of more frequent raids in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia, an international maritime watchdog said Wednesday. The number of attacks rose to 306 between January and September, surpassing the 293 incidents recorded throughout 2008, according to a statement released by the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. Vessels were boarded in 114 cases and 34 were hijacked so far this year, with 661 crew taken hostage and six killed, the bureau said in its quarterly report. The use of guns in the attacks more than doubled to 176 cases in the first nine months of 2009 from 76 in the same period of last year, the report added. The higher number of attacks was due mainly to increased Somali pirate activity off the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest sea lanes, and the east coast of Somalia, which combined accounts for 147 cases, the report said. Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since 1991 and piracy has flourished off its coast, making the Gulf of Aden one of the most dangerous waterways in the world. The International Maritime Bureau said Somali attacks decreased in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the first half of the year because of monsoon-related poor weather. However, the pirates have recently started to increase attacks after a period of quiet. The pirates use sophisticated equipment and so-called larger "mother ships" to enable them to strike hundreds of miles (kilometers) offshore. The multimillion-dollar ransoms they share are a fortune in their impoverished country. Among other nations that reported significant attacks over the same nine months, Nigeria had 20, Malaysia reported 14, Bangladesh had 12, while India and Peru recorded 10 each.
Amid tight security and a large turnout of protesters, Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders told an assembly of Temple University students that Europe and America must fight an ongoing "stealth jihad" that threatens democracy and free speech. "Where Islam sets roots, freedom dies," Geert Wilders told the students during his 30-minute address organized by a new student group called Temple University Purpose and funded by the California-based David Horowitz Freedom Center, a foundation that promotes conservative scholarship. His remarks were met by a mixture of applause and boos, and occasionally gasps — particularly when he stated that "our Western culture is far better than the Islamic culture and we should defend it." He decried as a "disgrace" a resolution co-sponsored by the U.S. and Egypt, and backed by the U.N. Human Rights Council earlier this month, deploring attacks on religions while insisting that freedom of expression remains a basic right. Wilders also criticized President Barack Obama for his efforts to extend a hand to the Islamic world, saying that such appeasement marks "the beginning of the end." If the spread of Islam continues unabated in the Western world, "you might at the end of the day lose your Constitution," he told the assembly. "Wake up, defend your freedom." He also touched on common themes in his speeches, including calling for an end to Muslim immigration and referring to the Muslim holy book, the Quran, as "an evil book" that promotes violence and intolerance.
Talks between Bosnian political leaders and U.S. and EU officials ended today in Butmir without reaching any agreement. A set of proposals to address open issues in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been offered by representatives from Washington and Brussels, which Bosnian leaders have thus far rejected. Republic of Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, Party of Democratic Action (SDA) leader Sulejman Tihić, Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina leader Haris Silajdžić, Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Zlatko Lagumdžija, th Croatian Democratic Union’s (HDZ) Dragan Čović, Božo Ljubić of the Croatian Democratic Union 90 (HDZ 90) and Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) leader Branislav Borenović are taking part at the Butmir talks. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn are chairing proceedings. While international representatives said that an important step had been made—the determination of Bosnian officials to move towards Euro-Atlantic integration—Bosnian officials said negotiations so far had been “unsuccessful.” The success of these negotiations has been questioned because the representatives of the largest parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina are not satisfied with the proposed reform of the Constitution presented by American and European mediators. Republic of Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik stated that it was important to the representatives of U.S. and EU “to hold some sort of meeting,” adding that they had discussed the principles of the negotiations yesterday and which solutions were possible and which were not. “We said yesterday that the proposed package was unacceptable for us, that it was anti-Dayton and that it could not be a foundation for the talks, and we repeated that today. The talks have turned into talks about the principles, with the clear opinion that this is not a foundation for any negotiations,” he told Republic of Srpska TV. According to Dodik, “it has become clear now that the reality in Bosnia-Herzegovina is quite different to the ideal wishes that some want to promote.” He added that “various requests” had been made, adding that Party of Democratic Action (SDA) leader Sulejman Tihić had called for a Supreme Court to be incorporated into the Constitution, which was unacceptable to the Republic of Srpska. “My request to incorporate the right to a referendum in the Constitution and a procedure for possible peaceful separation in Bosnia-Herzegovina are probably unacceptable to him,” Dodik said. He said that Bosnia-Herzegovina would either continue to function as a two-entity state, respecting the RS or “it won’t exist.”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday addressed a special session of the Serbian parliament. This is the first time that a foreign statesman has addressed Serbian MPs, and the first time for Medvedev to speak in a foreign parliament. Medvedev started his speech by congratulating those present on today's anniversary of the 1944 liberation of Belgrade from Nazi German occupation – fought together by Partisans and Russia's Red Army – by saying it was a day "jointly written in history". Serbia respects all those who gave their lives for freedom. You fought against fascism bravely. Such resistance to the Nazis was not seen everywhere. The Third Reich at the time did not meet resistance in a number of European states. What resistance can there be, when a number of countries in Europe not only supported, but fought on the side of the Hitler regime," said the Russian leader. "Other countries decided to collaborate and help Germany. It must be said openly that the responsibility of those political regimes is also evident. If there were no support, the history would have been different. This must be remembered, especially by those who would like to change the history according to their benefit and interest. They need the thesis about the equal responsibility of Hitler and the USSR for the start of the war. No one can idealize Stalin's regime, but the USSR did not start that war, and that is known to the people of good will. For this reason, the task ahead of us is to create a new European system of security that does not stand against it, but will be independent of the economy. We offer new obligations based on international principles that we all share among ourselves. One cannot deal with security issues at the expense of others. That is the lesson of the Second World War and the sad events in the 1990's. I have in mind both the Balkan crisis, and Georgia's aggression in the Caucasus. All that points toward an inefficient system of security that is in place now. The need to sign a contract on the European security is an obligation of all countries." The Russian president also told MPs that Russia supports Serbia on the Kosovo issue, and that further improvement in relations between Serbia and Russia would benefit not only Belgrade and Moscow, but the Balkans and the entire Europe as well. Speaking about Kosovo, Medvedev said he thought it intolerable to use a lack of progress in negotiations, "in the way it was done with the Kosovo precedent" as a cause for unilateral action. "The basis for the solution to the Kosovo problem should be international law and a UN Security Council resolution, in particular the Resolution 1244," Medvedev said, adding that Russia was still "prepared to provide the necessary assistance to Serbia in defending its legal rights." He stated that Russia was "categorically opposed to drawing any wrong parallels between the events in the Balkans and in the Caucasus." Stressing that Russia was ready to harmonize its relations with the U.S. and other western partners, including a peaceful and constructive cooperation with NATO, Medvedev said that a strategic partnership between Russia and the EU should be the cornerstone of a new Europe.
Iran has agreed to a draft deal on its nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday, and diplomats say it has the Islamic Republic shipping most of its enriched uranium to Russia. Representatives from Iran, Russia, the U.S. and France have signed off on the draft deal after talks held in Vienna this week. A diplomat inside the closed meeting told The Associated Press the draft deal includes the export of most of Iran's low-enriched uranium, taking away most of the material needed to potentially make a nuclear weapon. Iran has claimed its nuclear facilities are for energy purposes, and has previously balked at shipping most of its low-enriched uranium abroad, saying it needs it for nuclear fuel. But the international community was expected to press for the export of the nuclear material, as even low-enriched uranium could be used to make the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Based on the Iranian stockpile, the U.S. has estimated Tehran could produce a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015.
Greece and Cyprus said on Monday they supported Turkey's bid to become a full member of the European Union and needed its help to end the island's decades-old division. The division of Cyprus has defied mediation for decades, remaining a key obstacle to Turkey joining the EU and a source of tension with Greece, its neighbour and partner in NATO. "This is an issue which we can either solve and therefore (will) unite us, or keep us divided," newly elected Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told journalists in Nicosia, Cyprus's ethnically split capital. An architect of closer ties with Ankara, Papandreou said Turkey had every right to be a member of the European Union, but needed to meet entry requirements. Turkey has had a large military presence in northern Cyprus since 1974, when it invaded the north in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup. The island is now in the EU represented by Greek Cypriots, but EU membership is suspended in the north, a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state recognised only by Ankara. Turkey has been urged to open its ports to Cyprus, which it does not recognise, and help resolve the division of the island. "Turkey has obligations it must comply with or it will not be able to continue on its accession course without obstruction," said Cypriot President Demetris Christofias. Turkey began EU entry talks in December 2005 but their pace has been slowed by delays in Turkish reforms and by the Cyprus issue. "I'll always be sincere about the problems which separate us and those we need to solve. Among those the biggest one is the continued occupation of Cyprus," Papandreou said. Cyprus's Greek and Turkish communities launched peace talks in September 2008. They are trying to unite the island under a federal umbrella and any agreement will be put to a referendum.
From Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain - I have realized that the destruction of man lies in the abundance of material goods, because it prevents him from experiencing the presence of God and appreciating His benevolence. If you want to take someone away from God, give him plenty of material goods. He will instantly forget Him forever. I realized this when I was younger. When I was on Mount Sinai [at St. Catherine's Monastery], I lived in a place that had no water. I had to walk for two hours to get to a rock where water was leaking from its side. I placed the jug underneath and waited about an hour until it was filled up. The limited amount of water created in my soul various feelings: Every day I was in agony: “I wonder, will the water be dripping from the rock?” I prayed to God to continue to make it drip. As I was walking towards the rock, I was anxious to see whether I would find some water and I prayed. When I could detect from far away the water glittering as the sun beams were falling on the rock, I glorified God. On my way back, I constantly thanked and glorified Him for the water He gave me. So, the small amount of water impelled me first, to constantly pray to God to make the rock drip and secondly, to thank and glorify Him, as He is the giver of all good things. When I left Sinai, I went to the Scete of Iviron [on Mt. Athos], where there was no shortage of water. We had plenty of water, which was sometimes wasted, as it was left running for no reason. At some point, I felt that I had developed a different attitude inside my soul. I realized that during my stay at the Scete, I hadn’t said, not even once, “Glory to God.” While the small amount of water became a reason for me to pray and glorify God, its abundance made me forget that water is indeed a gift from God and I should be grateful to Him. The same thing applies to material goods. I will give you another example. I could never feel the need to thank God for giving me the opportunity to sit down and rest, as I thought it was natural for me to do so. Now, I suffer from hernia and I cannot make myself comfortable while sitting down; the moment I find a comfortable position, I glorify God for giving me the opportunity to feel at ease. This led me to the conclusion that being able to sit down is also a gift from God and we should thank Him for it. The same thing applies to everything. If we are found in a difficult situation, we must not be upset; instead we should realize this is God’s way to make us feel closer to Him and become aware that He is the grantor of everything in our lives.