The US and Turkey are trying to stave off a clash at next month’s Nato summit after a year in which Ankara’s traditional ties to the west were strained. At issue is Turkey’s reluctance to endorse Nato-wide missile defence plans, as well as its objections to language in the alliance’s new guiding “strategic concept”. The Obama administration has sought to win backing from the alliance as a whole for its missile defence plans, partly to defuse Ankara’s objections to a US proposal to locate a radar base on Turkish territory. The two sides are stepping up senior level contacts to pre-empt any damaging clash at the summit. Some officials in Washington express hope that Turkey will accede to missile defence and avoid further deterioration in the two countries’ ties. But they also acknowledge the outcome is far from certain and the dispute unresolved. Nato-wide support for missile defence is a necessary first step if the alliance is to agree with Moscow about co-operating in the system – an important goal for the summit in Lisbon on November 19-20. While there are other options for the radar base – including Bulgaria or Romania – because of the alliance’s system of consensus, the US needs Turkey’s approval for missile defence protection of European territories to become a formal part of Nato’s mission. Officials say Turkey also objects to language about the European Union and reforms to Nato’s command structure, and insists that Nato strategy does not describe Iran and Syria as threats. The problem follows a difficult year for US-Turkish relations. The US was upset by Turkey’s vote against UN sanctions on Iran.
The Obama administration has accused Syria and Iran of destabilising Lebanon by providing arms to the Hezbollah militia. The stinging criticism was led by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice. Dr Rice accused Iran and Syria of violating UN resolutions, saying they are seeking to undermine Lebanon's independence and stability. The US says Syria has displayed a flagrant disregard for Lebanon's sovereignty by providing weapons to militias, including Hezbollah. "If it wants to have a better relationship with the United States then it has to be a more constructive player in the region," state department spokesman PJ Crowley said. US officials spoke out a day after UN-backed investigators examining the 2005 murder of prime minister Rafic Hariri were attacked in Beirut.
III. RIANOVOSTI - Iran ready to resume talks on its nuclear program
Iran is ready to resume talks with the Iran Six on its controversial nuclear program after November 10, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs said. Speaking during an EU summit in Brussels, Catherine Ashton said Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, had agreed to resume negotiations with the six international mediators "in a place and on a date convenient to both sides." Ashton said she would speak to Jalili later in the day to discuss the details of the planned meeting. Last week, the top EU diplomat sent a letter to Iran's ambassador to the EU, inviting Jalili to restart talks from November 15-17. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said earlier in October that Tehran was ready for a new round of talks but only on a number of conditions, including a comment by the Iran Six on Israel's nuclear capability. Western powers suspect Iran of building nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear program, an accusation Tehran strongly denies. The Iran Six, which comprises Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, has been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and to alleviate concerns about its nuclear ambitions. Talks between Tehran and the Iran Six came to a halt in 2009, after an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution condemned the Islamic Republic over the construction of a second uranium enrichment facility. The UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in June.
IV. AFP - Russia slams Canada's new visa rules
Russia protested on Friday against a new visa application form issued by Canada, complaining it will "seriously complicate" the application process for Russians and could provoke reciprocal measures. "The modified Canadian form goes beyond the conventional criteria, and its adoption goes against the global tendency to ease visa regimes," foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said at a briefing. The new form will "make the process for Russian citizens to receive Canadian visas much harder," he added. Russian tourist operators earlier this week complained that the form, required for visa applicants outside Canada, asks for information that is illegal for Russian citizens to disclose. Applicants are asked to provide details about military service, including location of the military unit and name of the commanding officer. The new form, which will be used from Monday, is much more complex than the form that Canadians fill in to apply for a Russian visa, Nesterenko complained. Russia will discuss the form with Canada during talks on consular and visa issues, he said. "If some tangible progress is not achieved, we don't rule out using reciprocal measures towards Canadian citizens planning a visit to Russia," he said.
V. WSJ - Shots Fired Across Korean Border
North Korean soldiers fired gunshots at South Korean soldiers in a guardpost along the inter-Korean border and the South Koreans fired three shots in return, the South's military said, in a new flare-up of hostility between the two countries. No injuries were reported from the incident, which happened in a remote area northeast of Seoul in mountainous Gangwon province. The shooting happened at 5:26 p.m., a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. South Korean government officials gave no immediate reaction. The incident is certain raise concern in South Korea because it happened just two weeks before the country hosts a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 wealthiest nations. South Korea's wariness of North Korea grew after the sinking of a South Korean naval ship in March killed 46 South Korean sailors. South Korea blamed the North for the sinking after finding remnants of a North Korean torpedo and other evidence. Pyongyang denies it sank the ship. In the past two months, the two Koreas have taken small steps to move beyond the dispute over the ship sinking. Earlier this week, South Korea provided food aid to help the North cope with the aftermath of flooding in August and September. And this weekend, the two Koreas planned a reunion in the North for about 100 families separated since the Korean War of the 1950s. The two Koreas started the reunions in 2000 hoping to foster a humanitarian program separate from inter-Korean politics. But they've instead become an annual tussle over whether the reunion will occur and, once that's settled, under what conditions. With a registry of more than 90,000 people who would like to see relatives in the North, South Korea has pushed for years to make the reunions a regular occurrence—and did so again this week. In meetings facilitated by the International Red Cross earlier this week, South Korea proposed staging reunions once a month. North Korea said it only wanted three or four a year and, before allowing them, wanted South Korea to provide 500,000 tons of rice, 300,000 tons of fertilizer and resume tourist activities for South Koreans in the North. Seoul halted most tourist projects after a North Korean soldier in July 2008 shot and killed a South Korean woman at the same mountain resort where this weekend's reunions will be held. Earlier this year, North Korea took over the resort, which was built and run by a South Korean company, and forced the South Korean workers to go home.
VI. TIMESOFMALTA - 2,500-year anniversary: Greece showcases original Marathon
The annual Athens Marathon will feature a record number of participants and events on Sunday in celebration of the 2,500-year anniversary of the famous battle that gave the event its name, organisers say. Some 12,000 runners are expected to participate in Sunday’s 42-kilometre race, a threefold increase over last year, raising operators’ hopes that the event will become a tourist and cultural attraction in its own right. “The 2,500-year anniversary of the battle can create an international movement,” the head of the Greek tourism organisation Nicholas Kanellopoulos told reporters in a recent presentation. “This famous battle is a symbol of victory over totalitarianism,” said Greek State Sports Secretary Panos Bitsaxis, referring to the defeat of the Persian empire by citizen soldiers from the democratic city states of Athens and Platea. According to legend, the distance from Marathon to Athens was first run by Pheidippides, an Athenian messenger who in 490 BC dashed to the city to announce victory over the Persians, before dying of exhaustion. Run on a four-lane concrete avenue through the urban districts of east Athens with a finish at the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium, site of the 1896 Olympics, the race is a challenge for runners as much of it is uphill. The Marathon became one of the main competitive events when the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. It still culminates at the Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympics were held.
VII. RUSSIAIC - Early Christian Church Unearthed in Sochi
The most ancient Christian church located in Russia has been found in the course of excavations in the Olympic Park in Sochi. Earlier the city portal Gold of Sochi already informed about archeological excavations of an early Christian church in Imeretinsky lowland that would start in September 2010. It also mentioned that 12 monuments of ancient culture had already been found there. The architecture of the church reminds of the orthodox relics of Abkhazia. On three sides the church was surrounded with enclosing narthexes, which later came to be used as sepulchers. In one of them archeologists unearthed remains of a married couple. According to a preliminary decision of researchers, the church dates back to the 9th - 10th centuries. Excavation is conducted by experts from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Artifacts will be transferred to museums of Sochi. Negotiations are carried out about creating an open-air museum in the church place.