I was meaning to make mention of the fact that this blog has gone over 1,000 posts but it got away from me. So I just noticed that I passed that milestone.

Thanks to all who read these pages.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Saturday it was shocked and distressed by a senior Vatican cardinal’s likening of Gaza under Israel’s military offensive to a concentration camp.

A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the cardinal, whose remarks appeared in an interview Wednesday, adopted the kind of language that Hamas and other Islamic militant groups have used to demonize Israel and equate it with Nazi Germany.

“It was shocking to hear the same kind of terminology from such a high-ranking member of the church,” Israeli spokesman Yigal Palmor said Saturday.

Cardinal Renato Martino, a former Vatican envoy to the United Nations and now Pope Benedict XVI’s top official on issues of peace and justice, said in the interview that Gaza now resembles a “big concentration camp.”

Commenting on Israel’s two-week military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Martino told the online newspaper Il Sussidiario.net that both sides were concerned only with their own interests.

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GENEVA (AFP) — The plight of Palestinians trapped in Gaza is becoming increasingly precarious as the Israeli attack on the territory enters its third week, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday.

“People trapped in zones where military operations are taking place are particularly affected,” it said in a statement from its Geneva headquarters.

The organisation, which has had to scale down its operations for security reasons, said it had received dozens of calls from people who were in zones which could not be reached and were experiencing increasing difficulty in maintaining contact with the outside world.

“Yesterday, we received a call from a family of 40 people, including 20 children, staying in a house in the Netzarim area. They told us they had not had drinking water for almost six days because the well supplying water to their house had been damaged,” the statement quoted an ICRC employee in Gaza as saying.

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SARAH ROLLES
The Prince Albert Daily Herald, Canada

The Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Prince Albert traditionally holds all its sermons in the Ukrainian language – but that’s changed. It has recently started holding one Sunday ceremony a week in English.

“We want to open our doors to everyone,” said Rev. Michael Lomaszkiewicz. “And language is the tool of communication.”

It has been evident that younger generations have been few in attendance at all Sunday services for any faith and the Ukrainian Orthodox church realizes that.”

The expansion to English-language services will aid attendance by allowing access to those who otherwise may not understand the nuances of the service, he added.

“We want the young people we have and others to feel comfortable praying with us as well as understand us,” said Lomaszkiewcz.

The church still adheres to all its traditions but believes that a few ceremonies in English may help a few people who don’t understand Ukrainian hear and understand the words of God easier.

“It doesn’t hurt our traditions,” said Lomaszkiewcz. “The lord gave us the gift of being able to speak different languages.”

The Holy Trinity Orthodox church will also be holding their annual Epiphany Eve Service on Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. in English. The Epiphany is a traditional annual event that involves blessing members of the churches homes with holy water. The service will start with the blessing of the water then a holy supper to follow.

SOFIA, Bulgaria: Bulgarian school children bundled in wool coats sang songs to keep warm in their bitterly cold classroom. Bosnians drove hours to snap up electric heaters. And in Serbia, millions woke up to the Eastern Orthodox Christmas under the threat of winter hardship.

Russia’s decision to cut gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine on Wednesday hit the Balkans hard as a deep freeze descended on much of the region.

Tens of thousands of households were left without heat because of a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine that has left more than a dozen countries with dwindling energy supplies in the coldest months of the year.

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