I. BOSTONGLOBE - Photos: Scenes from riots in Egypt
Thousands of protesters stormed the streets in Egypt on Friday, marking the fourth day of riots against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Encouraged by the anti-government protests in Tunisia, Egyptians protested against years of unemployment, increasing food prices, and government neglect of poverty. It is the largest demonstration of protests Egypt has seen in years. Scroll through to see scenes from the riots in Egypt...
Cyprus foreign minister says Israel has turned down a proposal to use the east Mediterranean island as a staging post to ship humanitarian aid to blockaded Gaza. Markos Kyprianou said the joint Cyprus-Greece proposal was not discussed with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki during talks in Nicosia on Friday. Under the European Union-backed initiative, ships would have used Cypriot ports to ferry aid directly to Gaza, some 240 miles (386 kilometres) away.
III. EKATHIMERINI - EU strikes deal with Turkey to return migrants
The European Commission on Thursday announced that it had struck a deal with Ankara foreseeing the repatriation of illegal migrants arriving in Greece via Turkey though this will only apply to Turkish immigrants at first. “The final adjustments to the draft European Union readmission agreement with Turkey were agreed and the negotiation has now come to its end,” European Home Affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said. In a written statement issued on Thursday, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said he hoped “the agreement will be put into effect as soon as possible and help curb illegal immigration.” But the pact - to be rubber-stamped by EU interior ministers in Brussels on February 24 - does not satisfy Greece’s demand for the repatriation of all migrants arriving from Turkey. According to EU officials, the pact will apply immediately for Turkish illegal migrants but will only be extended to cover migrants from third countries, who entered Greece via Turkey, in four years from now.
IV. RIANOVOSTI - EU concerned over Abkhazia refugee situation
The EU special representative for the South Caucasus has said he is "concerned" that Georgian refugees are not returning to their homes in the Kodori Valley in eastern Abkhazia. Peter Semneby was speaking during a meeting with Abkhazian Prime Minister Sergei Shamba in Sukhumi. He said Abkhazia should create conditions for the refugees to return. Up to 200 Svans (an ethnic minority related to the Georgians) have returned to their homes in the Kodori Valley since Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August 2008 over South Ossetia. Thousands of ethnic Georgians were displaced following the fighting. Shamba said however that the issue is Abkhazia's internal affair. "The government's policies are aimed at helping people who have already returned to adapt," he commented.
V. SWISSINFO - EULEX opens preliminary Kosovo probe
The rule of law mission to Kosovo, EULEX, has announced that it is has opened a preliminary investigation into the Kosovan organ-trafficking allegations. The claims were made in a report presented by Swiss senator Dick Marty last December, which was adopted by the Council of Europe on Tuesday. Marty’s report implicated high ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the murder of Serbian and Kosovan Albanian prisoners and the selling of their organs. Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is among the accused. In a statement on Friday, EULEX said that it took the allegations “very seriously”. “EULEX has the capacity, the expertise, the location and the jurisdiction to handle the judicial follow-up. We are ready, willing and able to assume that responsibility.” The European Union mission in Kosovo called on all relevant organisations and individuals, including Marty, to present their evidence and expressed confidence in its witness protection unit. Marty has called for an investigation to be carried out independently by someone from outside the region and expressed concerns about witness protection in Kosovo.
NATO-led forces have regained the momentum against rebels in Afghanistan but still face a tough fight, the alliance's top officer said Thursday, comparing the campaign to a turning point in World War II. Italian Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola said "the tide has been reversed" in the fight against Taliban rebels and expressed confidence Afghan forces will be ready to take over security responsibility nationwide by 2014 as planned. However, warning of another "tough fight ahead in 2011," Di Paola drew a parallel with 1942, a tough year for Allies in World War II when Nazi troops continued to advance in Russia and their Japanese allies across Asia. But it was also in November that year that British forces defeated the Germans in the Battle of El Alamein, north Africa, seen as a turning point in the war. "Think of World War II: 1942, if you were an American you knew were in the worst moment of history, and still the tide had already changed," he argued. "There was a lot of fighting in '43, '44, but in '42 when the horizon was very bleak and the sky was very dark, the light was already coming in... What was happening in 1942, that's what's happening today in Afghanistan," he said... NATO aims to increase the number of Afghan security forces from 256,000 to 306,000 by October this year.
Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed on Tuesday said Syria has had a significant role in building the human civilization and adding to its prosperity. Al-Sayyed's remarks came during a meeting with Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch an All the East, Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, and Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, at Mar Afram Monastery of the Assyrian Church. The Minister highlighted the importance of spreading the culture of dialogue and exchange of ideas and strengthening the concept of religious fraternity and its role in spreading peace, security and stability in the world. "What brings the Syrians together is their love for homeland and honest commitment and loyalty to its principles," said al-Sayyed, noting that this was further consolidated through the values and beliefs of Islam and Christianity. Patriarch Iwas, for his part, underscored the importance of the visit of Archbishop Ieronymos II in activating cooperation relations between the churches in Syria and Greece. Archbishop Ieronymos II, in turn, agreed with Patriarch Iwas on the significance of enhancing dialogue and sharing ideas between the churches in the two countries in a spirit of amity to serve the interests of their friendly peoples.