Russian Warships Gather in Mediterranean

 (RIA Novosti) - About a dozen Russian warships are converging on the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden as part of a large-scale strategic exercise, a high-ranking representative the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces said on Tuesday.

“This part of the world’s oceans is very important from the point of view of Russia’s geopolitical interests, including the fact that the Russian Navy has a logistical base here [in Syria],” he said.

The warships will conduct air-defense, anti-ship and anti-submarine drills and call at some foreign ports, including Tartus in Syria, he said.

He declined to specify whether the large landing ships were carrying military equipment for Syria.

“The main aim of sending the ships to the Mediterranean is to accomplish the missions set by the navy command, conduct exercises and show the flag,” he said.

On Monday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov dismissed media reports there were commando units and military equipment for Syria on board some of the warships.

A naval task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet left the Severomorsk base last Wednesday and set course for the Horn of Africa on a new anti-piracy mission, the Defense Ministry said.

It includes the large antisubmarine ship Severomorsk, the salvage tug Altai, and the tanker Dubna, as well as a contingent of naval infantry subunits. The force will travel the length of the Mediterranean, pass through the Suez Canal and relieve the Pacific Fleet task force that has been there on an anti-piracy mission since November.

A Baltic Fleet task force set sail last Tuesday for the eastern Mediterranean where it will relieve a group of Black Sea warships. The force includes the frigate Yaroslav Mudry, the large landing ships Kaliningrad and Alexander Shabalin, the salvage tug SB-921 and the tanker Lena.

The new anti-piracy mission is expected to reach the region by mid-January.

Russia keeps a naval task force in the Gulf of Aden as part of the international effort to fight piracy off the Somali coast.

On Monday, large landing ships Azov and Nikolai Filchenkov from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet left Novorossiysk for the Syrian port of Tartus. The ships are carrying naval infantry units for protection during the voyage. They are expected to join the Black Sea Fleet task force comprising the missile cruiser Moskva and the frigate Smetlivy in the Aegean Sea on December 28 before heading to Tartus.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich confirmed on Monday that Russia has a contingency plan for evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria if necessary.

The conflict between Bashar al-Assad regime and opposition forces in Syria has claimed the lives of over 30,000 people since March 2011, according to UN figures.

Egypt: Report: Morsi Suffering From Brain Tumor

Recently installed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is apparently suffering from a brain tumor, Egyptian media reported

Mohammed Morsi

AFP photo

Already saddled with a restive population that appears set on repeating last year's revolution against the regime and mass protests against his style of governing, recently installed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is apparently suffering from a brain tumor, Egyptian media reported Thursday. 

The Al-Wafed newspaper said that the tumor in his brain was currently small, but spreading, and that Morsi needed to have it removed before February. If it was not taken out, his life would be in danger.

The report quoted medical officials said to be familiar with the president's condition, but did not name any specific doctors, and no independent verification was cited. Al-Wafed is considered among the leading newspapers in Egypt opposing Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi's office vociferously denied the report, calling it a “ridiculous lie.” A spokesperson for Morsi said that the government was likely to bring libel charges against Al-Wafed for the story.

Egypt, like many other Arab countries, has a long history of obfuscating the facts about the health of its leaders. Former President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in the Egyptian revolution last year and jailed, was subsequently found to have been suffering from a range of maladies that have been ongoing for years, and were only revealed after he was jailed – with attorneys and family pleading for leniency for Mubarak from the new regime because of his poor health.

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"Dramatic Increase" in Bible Translations Worldwide, Reports Wycliffe

Wycliffe Bible Translators has reported it is on course to translate the Scriptures into every worldwide language by 2025. The organization said it has dramatically increased its efforts of late. Bob Creson, president of Wycliffe USA, in a statement shared with The Christian Post: "(Statistics) demonstrate, not only to ourselves, but to those who invest in us, and those we invite to join us, that what we are doing is making a difference in the pursuit of our God-given mission."

Wycliffe also reported that it and its affiliates have translated the Bible into nearly 2,100 different languages, and that most of the world's population now has access to the Bible in their own language. The statistics even show that the number of those who have access to the Bible now outnumbers those who do not.

"Every generation before us has seen the numbers increasing as more and more languages were discovered, and more translation needs were verified," Creson added. "Now that trend has been reversed."

Wycliffe and its affiliates, The Seed Company and SIL International, have been using new computer and satellite technologies to more efficiently make the Bible available to the world.

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