text: Expressing that the annual inflation rate in March appeared to be 10.86%, Turkey's Central Bank explained that the annual inflation rate of the goods group increased due to the law base of the first quarter of the previous year, that the increase in the services prices kept same as that of last year and that the special scope consumers price index (CPI) indicators rose due to these factors. The Central Bank added that the given rose is temporary and that they expect a gradual decrease tendency in the inflation rate, beginning from the upcoming months. For March, the annual CPI level, except for the energy, unprocessed food products, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products reached 9.98%, mostly due to the base effect. The prices of goods group rose by 1.07% and that of services group rose by 0.49% in March. (EkoTurk 05.04)
  The economic costs of signing the Kyoto Protocol in its current form could result in as much as a 37% drop in Turkey's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was $148b in 2006, reported a paper prepared by the State Planning Organization (DPT. According to the report presented by the DPT to the Parliamentary commission investigating the matter, by signing the protocol Turkey would be willingly accepting responsibility to undertake certain measures and the repercussions of these measures could cost between 10 to 37% of the GDP. The Kyoto Protocol would see Turkey decrease its carbon emission, while providing the opportunity to increase such emissions to countries like Greece, Norway, Australia and Portugal. The DPT report notes that Turkey is behind many countries in terms of decreasing its carbon emissions. The per capita per year carbon emission of the United States is around 20 tons, followed by 17 tons for Canada, nine tons for Japan, eight tons for EU countries, seven tons for Poland, five tons for Bulgaria and three tons for Turkey. Turkey comes 75th in per capita carbon emissions, while on a national basis, it comes 22nd. (TDN17.04)
  On Sunday night, 22 April and 23 April, Israel observed Memorial Day. Events to mark Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers will begin at 7:30 P.M. with a ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, attended by the Prime Minister, other dignitaries and bereaved families. At 8 P.M., a one-minute siren was heard across the country. The siren sounded again, for two minutes, at 11 A.M. Sunday, marking the beginning of memorial services at each of Israel's 43 military cemeteries. Though a regular work day, activity is usually curtailed and many leave their offices early pending the Independence Day celebrations that follow.
  Celebrations for the 59th anniversary of Israel's regaining its independence will begin on Monday evening of 23 April throughout the country, continuing throughout Tuesday, 24 April. The official observance starts when the state flag is raised to full mast at a national ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Israel Independence Day is celebrated annually on 5 Iyar, which corresponded to 14 May 1948, the date the British mandate ended over the Land of Israel. A religious and national holiday, Yom Atzmaut – Independence Day is a celebration of the renewal of the Jewish state in the Land of Israel, the birthplace of the Jewish people. In this land, the Jewish people began to develop its distinctive religion and culture some. Here it has preserved an unbroken physical presence, for centuries as a sovereign state, at other times under foreign domination. Throughout their long history, the yearning to return to the Land has been the focus of Jewish life. With the rebirth of the State of Israel, in 1948, Jewish independence, lost two thousand years earlier, was restored.
  Yad Vashem has designated the Hebrew calendar month of Nisan (April 2007), including both Passover and Yom Hashoah, as Names Recovery Month, marked by the simultaneous spearheading of individual grassroots campaigns around the world. Names Recovery Month is part of the overall 11th hour campaign calling upon people to memorialize Jews murdered in the Holocaust by recording their names, and when available, photos and other biographical data on Pages of Testimony. It has taken upwards of five decades to document over 3.1 million names currently listed in the online Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names. Millions of victims remain unidentified. Yad Vashem urgently calls upon Jewish communities to recover their names through a worldwide Names Recovery Project. Since 1955, Yad Vashem (http://www.yadvashem.org.il) has worked to fulfill its mandate to preserve the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust by collecting their names, the ultimate representation of a person's identity. (Yad Vashem10.04)
  April 23 is the "National Sovereignty and Children's Day" (Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayram?±) in Turkey. The date commemorates the opening of Turkish National Assembly in 1920 during the Turkish Independence War. The designation of Children's Day came in 1929 upon the recommendation of the Institution of Children's Protection. Since 1986 the Turkish government organizes an international children's festival on April 23. On April 23 of every year, children in Turkey celebrate this "Sovereignty and Children's Day" as a national holiday, and is celebrated by citizens throughout the country during ceremonies preceding the day. Among the activities on this day, children from all around Turkey gather in the capital city, Ankara, and they replace the selected members of the Grand National Assembly. They have an elected president and prime minister and they govern Turkey for one day in order to emphasize the importance of the children in the society. In many places governmental agencies leave the authority to children symbolically for the day. Traditionally since 1986, children come to Turkey to represent their country of origin to children of the world with artistic performances. They're housed in Turkish homes and can meet with Turkish children. This event is organized by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation. The groups of foreign children also participate in the special session held at the Grand National Assembly. Turkish people hope these children will remember the day for their lives and will contribute to a bond with other cultures. The internationalization is thus aimed toward Turkey's principle of, "peace at home, peace in the world", and "Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the people".