Breaking news in all electronic media in Kosovo on Thursday morning was the acquittal of ex-Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander Ramush Haradinaj. Haradinaj was acquitted of all charges for crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanian civilians from March 1 until September 30, 1998 in Kosovo.

For the second time, an international tribunal has acquitted a former Kosovo prime minister and two others of abusing and killing Serbs, raising fears that the Thursday ruling could further strain tense relations between the two countries.

The judges ruled there was no evidence that Ramush Haradinaj, who was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army before becoming prime minister, and two other former commanders murdered, tortured and unlawfully detained Serbian civilians, according to the summary judgment.

It's the second recent high-profile acquittal on appeal by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Two former Croatian generals were cleared of war crimes on November 16. The indictment alleged that Haradinaj, and former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, were part of a joint criminal enterprise to consolidate control over the Dukagjin area of western Kosovo through the unlawful removal and mistreatment of civilians. The charges against the former prime minister stemmed from 1998, when he was a commander in the army and Kosovo was fighting for independence from Serbia. Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, but Serbia has refused to recognize the move. The three men were initially indicted in March 2005. Haradinaj was originally charged with 37 counts, but the trial court decided in April 2008 there was insufficient evidence to back up the charges and acquitted him, along with Balaj and Brahimaj. Prosecutors appealed, and the appeals chamber reinstated six counts against all three men, including murder, torture, cruel treatment and unlawful detention.

Patriarch Irinej held a memorial service for the Serb victims of the wars in the 1990s at the Cathedral Church in Belgrade on Sunday, following the acquittal of Croat Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač before the Hague Tribunal and said that the Tribunal showed that it was a political court devoid of the basic legal and ethical norms.  According to him, the Hague Tribunal compromised law and justice with this decision and confirmed that it was not based on legal norms but on the interests of the powers of this world and age.

He also said on the occasion that the Hague Tribunal covered up crimes against Serbs, and that it seemed "as if the Serbs committed the crimes against themselves." "We ask the unfair judges who is guilty," the patriarch said at the time. Irinej pointed out that, after the acquittal, the Hague Tribunal could hardly keep the title of an honorable court or the attribute “international”. "In such a situation, where several powerful countries are ruling, Serbs should turn to themselves, their religion, philanthropy and patriotism. Our strength lies in harmony and unity. Let us return to spiritual values that have been guiding our spirituality and history," he concluded.

Republic of Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik has said that the acquittal of “another criminal” Ramush Haradinaj is shameful and humiliating for all victims. He told news agency that Serbs were once again “exposed to unscrupulous international justice conducted through the Hague Tribunal, the international legal falsifying of history and scandalous legal terror from The Hague”. “Founders of the Hague Tribunal and the international community are obligated to give Serbs an explanation for this bestial legal violence, primarily on whose orders the Hague Tribunal is washing the criminals’ bloody hands with the Serbs’ blood? When will the Hague Tribunal stop being only a court for Serbs,” wondered Dodik.

source: B92 news, CNN news

Fasting gives us back our lost equilibrium and brings into harmony our mind, our soul and our body. Abstaining from excessive food results in the lightening of the capabilities of the mind and the soul. Food is conducive to sleep rather than activity, be It physical -or mental. Man must eat In order to survive. Eating is certainly not sinful from the spiritual point of view. It pains us to see hunger In this world.

Fasting leads to the total equilibrium and harmony of our mental, spiritual and physical selves. if our physical self becomes dominant, it is good to reduce physical activity so as to liberate the spirit and establish the equilibrium of spiritual purity. Even the stoics taught that spiritual purity leads to the harmony of man's entire being.

Why does the Church prescribe the choice of foods for fasting periods?

Our physiological activity Is a function of the food we eat. The more we eat foods which are located higher up on the ladder of organic and animal world, the more active we become In the physical sense. Apart from its physiological aspect, fasting Is Important for spiritual development and the training of will.

The Lord gave man the freedom of will so that he may do good deeds, seek the Truth and create beautiful things. But the freedom of will does not mean the absence of will, lack of volition, or weakness. If man is given his freedom of will, than he must know what he wants, towards what end his will should be directed. The freedom of will must never lead man to immorality, lack of concern, indecency, licentiousness. Having decided what is good and what evil, man Is under an obligation to use his will to do good which would lead him to God. Man Is called to the doing of good deeds, to spiritual activity, the building of the City of God. For this reason, fasting, as every form of self-denial, Is a marvelous instrument in the education of man's will and the taming of his licentiousness.

It is good for us to fast at times and in the manner prescribed by the Church. It is good for us, for our salvation, to be subject to the discipline of the Church, to be together with all others, to have the personal ego conform with the general desire of the Church. It Is Imperative for a man to be active not only in his own cause but also in the 'Common Cause" and to submit to the discipline of the Church. Incidentally, the word 'liturgy" means "common cause."

Fasting, of course, is not merely an exercise In abstinence. It also consists In performing good deeds. The Church insists on this aspect of fasting in Lenten hymns. it is evident, for instance, in the following liturgical text: "While fasting, brethren, In our bodies let us also fast in our spirits, let us destroy every alliance of deceit, let us give bread to the hungry and let us bring the poor and the homeless into our homes." Today, there are not many who stop to think about the meaning of fasting. This is a result of the overall spiritual weakening, of the lack of spiritual vigor and responsibility.

Minister of Natural Resources, Mining and Spatial Planning Milan Bacevic said today that there is a great interest of foreign investors for the construction of the waterway Danube-Morava-Vardar.

In a statement to Radio Television Serbia Bacevic said that the Ministry is currently negotiating the creation of conditions for the preparation and provision of financial support for spatial plans, adding that companies from Russia, China, Germany, Macedonia and Greece are showing great interest.

The Minister said that foreign investors are very interested in the exploitation of oil shale and building the South Stream pipeline through Serbia.

He said that the gas pipeline project will be declared a project of national importance, which greatly simplifies and speeds up the start of its implementation.

According to him, the main goal is to avoid misunderstandings, delays and potential problems in the process of expropriation.

Bacevic pointed out that some companies from China, Estonia and Canada are showing a great interest in exploitation of oil shale project in Aleksinac.

He announced an international tender for that project at the end of December this year.

When it comes to the Russian loan for the Serbian budget, the Minister said that the decision on the new $1 billion loan has been made ​​and we are waiting for formal confirmation of the government of the Russian Federation.

The loan should be approved at an interest rate of less than 6% and with a repayment period of seven years, and the first tranche of $300 million will be available by the end of the year, he said.

source: Serbian government

Violence is usually defined as a way of expressing aggressive behavior, with the conscious intent of causing pain or injury. However, violence should be viewed more broadly, including everything that inhibits and limits the realization and development of positive human capabilities. This understanding of violence includes all of its types (physical and psychological, rational and irrational, direct and indirect, individual and social, one-time and long-lasting, mass and singular, manifest and latent, rough and refined), all of its manifestations (on the micro, mezzo and macro levels) and all of its carriers and perpetrators.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy Stana Bozovic said that 47 women were killed in Serbia last year, while 27 murders were committed in domestic violence. Addressing the conference "The fight against domestic violence – what next?", organized by the Gender Equality Directorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Bozovic said that violence against women in Serbia is mostly domestic violence. She pointed out that the perpetrator in 78% of cases is mostly the partner – married or unmarried, in 9% of cases sons are violators, 4.2% are fathers, and 2% are daughters. According to data from the non-governmental sector, one in two women suffer physical violence, every third suffers psychological violence and every fourth is sexually harassed. Violence is a major problem not only for the victim and her children, but also for the whole society, Bozovic said and stressed that the state provides a maximum contribution in order to suppress it as much as possible. According to her, today there are a number of legal and institutional mechanisms to combat violence, such as the Law on gender equality, the National strategy for the empowerment of women and promotion of gender equality and the National strategy to combat violence against women.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy Brankica Jankovic reminded that the research carried out in 2010 on domestic violence against women in Central Serbia showed that 54.2% of women were exposed to some kind of violence. Jankovic pointed out that confidence in institutions has increased and that as many as 75% of women who were victims of violence asked the relevant institutions for help.

First Secretary of the Embassy of Norway in Serbia Roger Jorgensen said that violence against women is a universal problem that must be addressed, including the prosecution of perpetrators. As bullies are usually men, changing consciousness at the earliest period must be carried out, said Jorgensen.

One way of giving help to women who are in danger is the help of civil society in the form of call centers and help with writing criminal complaints. One-sided and one-time help is not a sustainable solution, but it is a current goal. With the development of society, women becoming active economically and more and more economically independent the status of women changes and the system is subjected to new kinds of violence. What makes women’s status even more difficult is the fact that they retain their previous role in the household (taking care of elderly family members and children, housework) that is a given part of a traditional way of life. It should be mentioned that Serbia has recently been facing a new form of violence, mobbing, that has only now been recognized as an existing problem, but is a legally regulated part of the legislature of capitalistic countries.