One of the advantages to being 5 hours ahead of the United States is that the British are awake in time to come up with eloquent commentary about the news before most Americans have finished their first cup of coffee. They’ve done it again, expressing the way many feel about the Nobel committee’s decision: The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself. Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world. Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace... Mr Obama becomes the third sitting US President to receive the prize. The committee said today that he had “captured the world’s attention”. It is certainly true that his energy and aspirations have dazzled many of his supporters. Sadly, it seems they have so bedazzled the Norwegians that they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.
The new US missile defence plan "raises more questions than answers," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday, warning that Moscow could still have objections to the revised missile shield. Lavrov's comments came ahead of a trip to Russia next week by his US counterpart Hillary Clinton, and indicated that ties between the two former Cold War foes remained bumpy despite the US shift on missile defence. "The statements that are constantly being voiced raise more questions than answers," Lavrov said, referring to the plan unveiled last month by the administration of new US President Barack Obama. "We would like to receive full clarification," Lavrov added, speaking to reporters during a visit to Moldova for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of ex-Soviet countries. The Obama administration said last month it was scrapping an older plan to deploy anti-missile facilities in eastern Europe, which had been strongly backed by former US president George W. Bush. Russia, which fiercely opposed the Bush missile shield, welcomed the Obama administration's move but said it needed to study the details. Under the new plan, Washington would replace the land-based facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic with a sea-based system designed to protect against short- and medium-range missiles from Iran. Moscow is deeply suspicious of any US military cooperation with former Soviet republics such as Ukraine or Georgia. Lavrov said he would discuss a range of issues with Clinton during her visit to Russia October 12-14, including Iran and Afghanistan, where US forces are struggling to put down a Taliban insurgency. "We are not indifferent to what is happening now in Afghanistan," Lavrov said. Clinton would most likely meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev while in Moscow, Lavrov said. Ties between Moscow and Washington have been badly strained in recent years amid disputes over missile defence and last year's Russia-Georgia war, but they have warmed somewhat since Obama's inauguration in January.
The German embassy in Tbilisi has demanded that Georgian television channels correct the false reports distributed earlier this week. The reports in question claimed that the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was offered a high post with Russian natural gas producer Gazprom in exchange for lobbying Russia’s interests during the international investigation into 2008 war in South Ossetia. The statement by the German embassy, distributed on Thursday, categorically denied the Georgian reports, and expressed hope that such journalistic blunders would not take place in the future. On October 7, several Georgian nationwide TV channels reported that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier intended to take a high post in the Gazprom corporation. The reports said that the Russian authorities offered the minister this position in return for his position in the investigation made by the so called Tagliavini Commission – an independent investigation of the 2008 conflict involving Russia, Georgia and South Ossetia. In a report published earlier this month, the commission put the blame for the start of the military operation on Georgia, although it also admitted violations by the Russian military and South Ossetian militia. Georgia claimed that Minister Steinmeier has a biased opinion on the report, and also that one pro-Russian member of the commission – law professor Otto Luchterhandt – got into it with the help of the foreign minister. The same reports claimed that Luchterhandt had money transferred to him from Gazprom accounts. After the report by the Tagliavini commission was published, German Foreign Minister Steimeier called it truthful and balanced. In comments made after the report was made public, Professor Otto Luchterhandt said that Russia was acting under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter when it ordered an army operation in reply to the Georgian attack on the peacekeepers stationed in South Ossetia.
Greece supports Turkey’s European prospect provided Turkey itself indicated willingness. Mr. Papandreou called on European partners to support Turkey –EU accession procedures, stressing that the country needs new dynamic. Mr. Papandreou underlined that the EU should again send the right messages to Turkish people saying that Turkey is welcomed in the EU but it also has obligations to the EU block and its member states. Mr. Papandreou will have an informal meeting with Turkish Prime-minister Tayip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Interbalkan conference. Referring to EU-Turkey accession at the Interbalkan Conference, the Greek Prime-minister said that Turkey should indicate willingness to further necessary reforms and meet its obligations to the EU block and its member states. Mr. Papandreou also referred to FYROM issue, saying that Greece shares common interests with it and underlining that we should further stability and safety in our region. Specifically referring to the name dispute he said that we want to resolve it. He also underlined that Greece’s position is clear and well-known, trying to find possible ways to resolve it and this is the correct road. Mr. Papandreou added that European prospect of the Balkans would contribute to the resolution of FYROM issue.
The Macedonian government on Friday rebuffed media claims that it was mulling a referendum on whether to change the country's name for a speedy entrance into the EU and NATO. This is "fiction" and "has nothing to do with the reality", the government said in a statement. Athens has been opposed to its neighbor being called the "Republic of Macedonia," arguing that the name implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia. Last year, Athens blocked Skopje's NATO accession because of the row and threatened to do the same with Skopje's EU aspiration spending a solution. "Macedonia will change its name if it gets firm promise and a date for entry in the EU and NATO", local Vest daily wrote on Thursday citing an "unnamed diplomat." The daily also said that the government is mulling a referendum question that would validate such a move by asking the people whether they "support EU and NATO entrance under the name Northern Republic of Macedonia". In ongoing U.N. sponsored talks concerning the name issue, Athens has insisted on a compound name with a geographic qualifier such as "Northern" that would make a distinction between the state and the Greek province. Skopje, on the other hand, has argued that a name change could mean intrusion into country's identity.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings on the question of the Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo (request for advisory opinion) from Tuesday 1 December to Friday 11 December 2009, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the Court. Thirty States and the authors of the unilateral declaration of independence have expressed their intention of participating in the oral proceedings before the Court. These States are, in alphabetical order: Albania, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Jordan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Venezuela and Viet Nam.
The six-winged mosaic angel face figure uncovered during restoration work in July in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Museum has drawn many visitors to the museum. 'When the nearly 50-meter scaffold is removed, nobody will be able to see it that closely again. This is why those who are interested in the Hagia Sophia and the history of art, as well as Byzantologists, won’t want to miss this chance to see the figure closely,' says museum director Haluk Dursun. Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum, which hosts nearly 2 million visitors a year, has been recently flooded with visitors wanting to the see the newly uncovered “Angel Face.” Academics from the world’s most prestigious universities like Harvard and Oxford have written articles on the figure that has also received great interest from the Orthodox world. Important dignitaries, including the culture ministers of Russia and Romania, have come to see the six-winged angel figure named “Serafim,” which was uncovered last July for the first time in 160 years during restoration work in the northeastern dome of the museum. To see it, visitors must obtain special permission from the museum directorate; those lucky enough to be given the chance to see the figure can climb to the top of the 50-meter scaffold to get a better view. The Hagia Sophia, which has stood for 1,500 years and hosts nearly two million visitors a year, is one of the most visited museums in the world. The museum, which was built during the rule of the Emperor Justinian in 533 A.D., has been praised by the world’s architects and has always enjoyed exclusive visitors, including Prince Charles and U.S. President Barack Obama.