Turkey said Monday it wants to be in command of the NATO missile defense system if it is installed on its territory, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. "If the missile shield system is thought to be installed on our territory, its command should definitely be in our hands, otherwise, it is impossible for us to accept such a thing," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters in Istanbul after returning from visits to South Korea and Bangladesh early Monday. The Turkish military was working on the issue and the system would be debated in the NATO Summit to be held in Lisbon on Nov. 19-20, said Erdogan. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has proposed to expand NATO's existing missile defense system, which currently only covers deployed troops, to protect citizens of all member states by linking up anti-missile systems of member states. The United States has been talking to Turkey as well as Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria, over the missile shield. A NATO member since 1952, Turkey has demanded the missile shield be launched under the framework of "deterrent" concept and opposed naming of a particular state in NATO papers as a threat against the alliance.
II. RIANOVOSTI - Russian UN envoy condemns Albanian actions, NATO presence in Kosovo
Russia's permanent representative to the UN condemned the actions of the Albanian authorities in Kosovo and NATO presence on the territory of the region at a Security Council meeting on Friday. Vitaly Churkin said that while Russia supports the idea of resuming negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina to resolve the Kosovo issue, it considers "unacceptable" the unilateral actions of Pristina and the international presence in northern Kosovo. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said Belgrade is ready to resume talks, but that Serbia still does not accept the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence either directly or indirectly. Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. The UN International Court of Justice ruled on July 22 that Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia did not violate general international law. A total of 69 out of 192 UN member states have recognized Kosovo, which unilaterally proclaimed independence in February 2008. Serbia, Russia, China, India and some other countries have not recognized it, saying the declaration of independence violates international law.
III. HINDUSTANTIMES - World's oldest Copper Age settlement found
A "sensational" discovery of 75-century-old copper tools in Serbia is compelling scientists to reconsider existing theories about where and when man began using metal. Belgrade - axes, hammers, hooks and needles - were found interspersed with other artefacts from a settlement that burned down some 7,000 years ago at Plocnik, near Prokuplje and 200 km south of Belgrade. The village had been there for some eight centuries before its demise. After the big fire, its unknown inhabitants moved away. But what they left behind points to man's earliest known extraction and shaping of metal. Scientists had previously believed that the mining, extraction and manipulation of copper began in Asia Minor, spreading from there. With the find in Plocnik, parallel and simultaneous developments of those skills in several places now seem more likely. Indeed, the tools discovered in southern Serbia were made some 75 centuries ago - up to eight centuries older than what has been found to date. The site at Plocnik, believed to cover some 120 hectares in all, is buried under several metres of soil. Serbian archaeologists have so far exposed three homes - the largest of them, measuring eight by five metres, discovered this year. The layer of earth it stood on is still blackened from the scorching heat that destroyed the village. It is unclear what caused the fire, but no damage that would indicate an outside attack has been found. The huts collapsed on their contents, with mud bricks and ashes burying all that was inside - pottery, statues, tools and a worktable. After dusting the still embedded artefacts off, archaeologists began extracting them, most of all hoping to find more precious copper tools. Scientists are debating whether the Plocnik village led the world to the Copper Age in the 6th millennium BC, particularly as remains of primitive copper smelters were recently found not far away, near today's mines and smelters in Majdanpek and Bor.
IV. RT - New START treaty discussed in Japan
Global nuclear security has come into sharper focus on the sidelines of the APEC summit being held in Japan. Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama have discussed the future of the new START Treaty, which would see the atomic arsenals of Russia and the US cut by a third. President Obama assured President Medvedev that the US Senate regards the issue of START treaty ratification as a top priority, and both leaders seemed very determined to keep to their commitments. The two leaders signed a deal to ratify the treaty in April, but it still needs to be passed by both the Duma and the Senate. The chief US negotiator on the issue, Rose Gottemoeller, believes the ratification process has dragged on too long, and says it is now critical that it happens soon. Richard R. Burt, America's chief negotiator for the first START treaty, which was signed in 1991, believes that not ratifying the treaty now would send the wrong signal to the world – and in particular to countries in some of the world's trouble spots. According to the head of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation Yuri Rogulev, President Obama might try to persuade Congress to ratify the START treaty during the upcoming “lame duck” session (a Congress that assembles after its successor has been elected, but before the successor's term begins). According to political analyst Mikhail Troitsky, the non-ratification of a nuclear-reduction treaty would do serious damage to US-Russia relations. Still, there are other areas where the two could continue their “reset,” he believes. The summit in the Japanese city of Yokohama brought together the leaders of the 21 member states of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) for two days of talks focusing on free trade and other pressing economic issues.
V. YNET - Palestinians waiting for U.S. guarantees
After Israel received a list of promises from the United States in exchange for agreeing to an additional settlement construction freeze, Palestinian sources said Monday morning that their leadership in Ramallah was awaiting a guarantees and aid package from Washington as well. The Palestinian sources told the London-based Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper that the commitments would be given in exchange for a Palestinian agreement to renew direct peace talks with Israel. The sources added that the commitments were not enough and that Palestinian Authority leaders plan to consult heads of Arab countries on the matter. According to the sources, the United States is expected to give the Palestinians a list of commitments due to Israel's failure to include east Jerusalem in the second freeze agreement. They implied, however, that Washington would promise to intervene in the negotiations in a bid to reach a peace agreement within one year. The agreement itself is expected to be implemented in stages. The sources added that the American commitments would include setting the Palestinian state's borders within three months and solving the refugee problem, including compensation through an international fund comprised of most of the region's countries (including Israel). The sources also said that the American list of commitment would include financial and diplomatic aid in exchange for returning to the direct negotiations. They estimated that the talks would be resumed in early December. Meanwhile, Israel is waiting for the decision of the Political-Security Cabinet, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a majority of seven to six ministers for an additional three-month building freeze. US President Barack Obama appears to view the new building moratorium as an established fact and has already commended Netanyahu for "making such a constructive gesture. It's not easy for him to do, but it signals he is serious." Netanyahu changed his mind and agreed to an additional three-month construction freeze after the US offered Israel 20 advanced warplanes worth about $3 billion and a promise to veto any UN attempt to impose a peace agreement on Israel.
Haitian hospitals face overcrowding as the cholera epidemic continues to spread through the impoverished country. As of Nov. 12, more than 917 people had died and at least 14,600 had been hospitalized, the Haitian government said Sunday. Health care workers consider those numbers to be understated. The United Nations forecasted up to 200,000 Haitians could contract cholera as the outbreak extends. Aid workers fear the growing numbers may soon overwhelm Haiti’s health care facilities. The disease, mainly spread by fecal contamination of food and water, had never had a confirmed case in Haiti before it appeared in late October along the Artibonite River and spread across the country. The strain is one mainly found in South Asia. Even before a massive earthquake left 1.3 million people living in temporary tent villages, most Haitians did not have access to clean water or reliable sanitation. The central rural province of Artibonite is the worst-affected, accounting for nearly 600 of the total deaths, Reuters reported. Other affected provinces are Centre, Nord, Nord Ouest, Sud, and Ouest, where the capital Port-au-Prince is located. The United Nations Friday said $163.9 million in aid is needed over the next year to combat the epidemic, with $89 million going to sanitation and hygiene efforts.
VII. OCA - Why fast before the Nativity?
We fast before the Great Feast of the Nativity in order to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Our Lord's birth. As in the case of Great Lent, the Nativity Fast is one of preparation, during which we focus on the coming of the Savior by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. By fasting, we "shift our focus" from ourselves to others, spending less time worrying about what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and so on in order to use our time in increased prayer and caring for the poor. We learn through fasting that we can gain control over things which we sometimes allow to control us -- and for many people, food is a controlling factor. [We live in the only society in which an entire TV network is devoted to food!] While fasting from food, however, we are also challenged to fast from sin, from gossip, from jealousy, from anger, and from those other things which, while well within our control, we all too often allow to control us. Just as we would refrain from eating a lot before going to an expensive restaurant for dinner -- if we "ruin our appetite" we will enjoy the restaurant less -- so too we fast before the Nativity in order to more fully feast and celebrate on the Nativity itself. During the Nativity Fast, we are called upon to refrain from meat, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil. At the same time, we are challenged, within this framework, to fast to the best of our ability, and to do so consistently. If we must modify the extent to which we fast within this framework, it is of course possible, but in every instance our fasting should be consistent and regular, for Christ does not see fasting as an option, but as a "must." In Matthew Christ says, "WHEN you fast, do not be like the hypocrites," not "IF you fast" or "IF YOU CHOOSE to fast." Finally, it seems quite odd that in our society -- a society in which people gladly and freely spend huge sums of money for diets, most of which recommend that one refrain from red meats and dairy products -- fasting is not more widely embraced. How odd that a Jenny Craig consultant or diet guru or physician will tell us to refrain from eating meat or cheese or butter and we will gladly embrace -- and pay large sums of money for -- his or her advice, while when the Church offers the same advice [at "no cost"] we tend to balk, as if we were being asked to do the impossible. To read more about the Nativity and the fast, please click here.