I. MIAMIHERALD - Feeling spurned by Turkey, Israel beefs up ties to Greece, others
Newly divulged State Department cables confirmed this week what Middle Eastern diplomats have been whispering for some time: that Israel's long-touted partnership with Turkey is effectively broken. The cables, released by the WikiLeaks website, help set the context for a major shift by Israel, which for the last two years has quietly intensified its military cooperation with Turkey's neighbor and rival, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries. The deterioration of once-close ties between Turkey, a secular Muslim country, and Israel, an avowedly Jewish nation - both close American allies - has significant implications for the United States in the Middle East, and even on U.S. efforts to press Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment program. The cables portray Israel as convinced that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is anti-Israel, and indicate that the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the Turkish capital, essentially agrees. In a secret cable sent Oct. 26, 2009, then-U.S. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey relayed the assessment of Gabby Levy, Israel's ambassador to Turkey, that Erdogan is "a fundamentalist" and "hates us religiously." Jeffrey commented that U.S. discussions with contacts inside and outside the Turkish government confirm the Israeli thesis that Erdogan "simply hates Israel." Erdogan responded to the accusations in these and other cables... and demanded Wednesday that the U.S. issue an apology. "The U.S. is responsible in first degree for the slanders its diplomats make with their incorrect interpretations," Erdogan said. "There are lies and incorrect information in those documents." The cables tell only part of the story of the growing distance between Israel and Turkey. Until now, Israeli officials have insisted in public that the two countries remain regional partners, especially in light of their military cooperation. Now they say that as early as 2008, Israel's military has pursued other partners for joint aerial and naval exercises. These include Greece, first and foremost, as well as other countries in the Mediterranean. Because of its limited airspace, Israel has constantly sought close ties with countries with which it can hold training exercises. Israeli aerial exercises over Turkey have long been viewed as dry runs for a potential strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, and joint naval exercises off the coast of Turkey have allowed Israel to practice refueling and communication drills. Israel is now turning to a number of countries, including Greece, to hold new joint drills. A Greek training official, who described himself as "in charge of new purchases and new recruits" in Athens, told McClatchy last month that there has been a "boom" in military relations between Israel and Greece. In late July, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visited Israel, and less than a month later Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israeli leader to make a state visit to Athens. During his two-day stay, Netanyahu said the two nations were "opening a new chapter" and that he and Papandreou had discussed military cooperation. The Israeli navy official said that in the last year, Israel expanded its relations with a number of other Balkan nations, including Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia. The United States, meanwhile, has appeared increasingly concerned about Turkey's shifting politics for years. In a Dec. 12, 2004, cable, former U.S. Ambassador in Ankara Eric Edelman wrote that Erdogan, who'd recently become prime minister, had "Islamist tendencies." The cable also spoke of Erdogan's "susceptibility to Islamist theories."
II. EURONEWS - While the north freezes, Greeks go to the beach
Those stranded in snowdrifts in northern Europe are not going to enjoy finding out what they are up to in Greece. At Piraeus near Athens, people plunged into the sea and played ball games on the beach as if it was September, not December. Record heat thanks to warm air masses from the south has brought temperatures well into the 20s. Forecasters say the situation is the exact reverse of the cold snap gripping the north. For the past month the weather has been dominated by a strong southwestern stream in the atmosphere. “We have broken a decade-old record in our area. Specifically the other day in Athens it was 25 degrees, when the average temperatures are 17 to 18 degrees,” said Anastasia Papakrivou, head of the National Meteorological Service. Commenting on the difference in weather experienced by northern and southern Europe, she went on: “That there is a huge range in temperatures, which has as a result different phenomena – heat here and snow there – has to do exactly with these positions of the meteorological systems. In other words, we are on the southern warm part of these systems, whereas western and northern Europe have the lows that constantly move and affect them with all those phenomena.” Tourists from the north, who perhaps simply wanted to escape the big freeze back home, probably never imagined they would be getting a very late summer holiday. “I think it is incredible,” said Lawrence Roszoski, a visitor from Warsaw. “In Poland now it is something like 20 degrees below zero, so for me it is really, really great.” Other parts of the southern Mediterranean are feeling the heat too. Cyprus had the driest November for more than a century. But anyone thinking of booking a last-minute trip south should think twice. Temperatures are expected to return to normal come the weekend.
Authorities in Serbia and Montenegro say hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in the two Balkan countries because of floods caused by heavy rains. In western Serbia, the river Drina has flooded houses, farming land and roads. Police say that the area close to the border with Bosnia has power outages and lack of drinking water. Serbian police say 140 people have been evacuated in that area as well as further to the south. Authorities in northern Montenegro say that some 600 people have been evacuated from their homes, spending the night in a community centre. Authorities in the town of Berane say traffic on local roads has been disrupted. Officials say more floods could follow with the rivers rising after heavy rains.
IV. EXAMINER - Cyprus named top honeymoon destination among Europeans in 2010, Dominican Rebublic, Cape Verde follow
According to a new travel industry which surveyed over 1,000 newlyweds, Paphos on the island of Cyprus, was voted the most popular destination for honeymooners in 2010. Cyprus has long been known as the "island of love," so it really comes as no surprise that this popular destination among Europeans was chosen. Surprisingly, traditional romantic destinations such as Paris was never chosen, while Venice was picked a mere two times. With Cyprus at the top of leader board, the Dominican Republic came in second and Cape Verde in Africa took third place. Other notable destinations included New York at number five and Sharm el Sheikh, which came in tenth. "Cyprus is often credited for having the longest summer in Europe, which gives travellers the chance to experience great weather all year-round. It's also known as the ‘island of love' because it is named as the home of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. So while Cyprus is ideal for honeymooning couples, it's also a great destination for any holidaymaker, regardless of their marital status, as short breaks and all inclusive holidays in Cyprus offer visitors countless activities, tours and luxuries to suit most tastes."
A killer shark was caught off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh a day after it badly mauled four swimmers on Wednesday, the Egyptian environment ministry said. The 2.25-meter adult whitetip shark was tracked down and captured in a large-scale effort involving 12 environment ministry specialists and two boats. The shark was "identified" by an Egyptian diver, who rescued one of the tourists. He recognized the predator's damaged fin. However, additional research will be carried out to confirm that this particular shark was responsible for the attacks. The shark will be sent to a taxidermist and then put on display in the Ras Mohammed National Park some 20 kilometers from Sharm el-Sheikh. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism made an unprecedented decision to close all beaches and halt all watersport activities across the entire Sharm el-Sheikh coastline. Hesham Gabr, who heads the country's Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS), urged tourists to remain calm, saying that shark attacks are an extremely rare occurrence at Red Sea resorts, visited by about 3 million people each year. Richard Peirce, the chairman of the Shark Trust in Britain, also confirmed that such behavior is extremely unusual. "It is probable that the tragic attacks were triggered by a specific activity or event... Attacks on humans by sharks are extremely rare and this species would normally not be found close to shore on bathing beaches," he said. According to the International Shark File, which has a global shark attack database, there have only been nine reports of attacks by oceanic whitetip sharks on humans since records began in 1580, and only one of them was fatal.
VI. MOSCOWTIMES - U.S., Russia Adoption Agreement Expected
The U.S. government said it expected to finalize an agreement with Russia on Wednesday to regulate adoptions after an American woman rejected her adopted son and sent him back to Russia alone in April. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said a fifth round of talks between U.S. and Russian officials would take place Wednesday, when the two sides were expected to complete the agreement so that it can be signed "in the near future." Russian officials began pushing for a treaty on adoptions after a U.S. woman sent her seven-year-old adopted son back to Moscow on a plane with a note describing him as mentally unbalanced and violent.
A festive ceremony on Tuesday overlooking Wadi Kelt marked the completion of five months of work on the access road to the Monastery of St. George, facilitating easy and convenient access to the Christian holy site. The NIS 2 million infrastructure work, which included a drainage system and safety rails, was jointly funded by the Tourism Ministry, the National Roads Company and the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria, in response to a request by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III to improve pilgrim and tourist access to the site. For the last three years, access was extremely difficult due to water erosion from flash floods and damage caused by a small earthquake. The fifth-century monastery is one of the oldest in the country and one of six active monasteries in the Judean Desert. Participating in Tuesday’s ceremony were Archbishop Aristarchos, one of the heads of the Greek Orthodox Church in Israel; Tourism Ministry Director-General Noaz Bar-Nir; civil administration deputy head Col. Raed Mantzur; and National Roads Company CEO Alex Viznitzer. Bar-Nir stressed that his ministry “is working to make tourist sites in Israel accessible and thereby expand the variety of the tourism product both for Israeli visitors and for tourists and pilgrims. The stunning monastery combines ancient history, spectacular landscape, religion and welcoming monks that make this a must-see site.”