Israel contacted Turkey concerning a Gaza aid flotilla planned for May of this year, reiterating Israel's objection to a breaking of Gaza's naval blockade and its willingness to transfer aid to the Strip via legal channels. Security officials and the Foreign Ministry have been preparing feverishly for the expected arrival of another Gaza flotilla in late May. More than 1,000 leftists and pro-Palestinian activists are expected to take part in the flotilla, which sources say will include more than 20 vessels of various sizes. In recent weeks, Jerusalem has engaged in a large-scale diplomatic effort aimed at pressuring heads of states in countries from which ships are expected to sail, to discourage their citizens from taking part. Israel's ambassador to Ankara said that the missive Israel sent out to Turkey did not indicate whether or not the flotilla would be stopped by force, saying: "Our position in this matter is known and international law allows us to intervene if the ships pose a security threat."
II. REUTERS - Rasmussen says NATO not slow to act in Libya
NATO was not too slow to act in Libya, its Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday. "I don't agree with (the description of) NATO being slow, we have kept a very high operational tempo," Rasmussen told reporters at a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss Libya's future. "Our operations will end when there is no longer a threat to civilians on the ground."
III. RIANOVOSTI - France to ditch NATO, embrace Russia if National Front comes to power
The ultra-right National Front will pull France out of NATO and forge a privileged partnership with Russia if it wins next year's presidential election, its leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday. "I believe that France's interests are in Europe, but in Great Europe, especially including its partnership with Russia," she said during a party congress. A privileged partnership with Russia is necessitated by "obvious civilization and geostrategic factors" as well as France's "energy security interests." She also pledged to revise the country's relations with the United States and pull France out of NATO, saying that the National Front has from day one been opposed to NATO membership. Marine Le Pen said on Friday France would also dump the euro and impose heavy levies on imports to boost French industry.
IV. THECANADIANPRESS - EU's Barroso urges FYROMacedonia to step up reforms, solve name issue with Greece
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged FYROMacedonia to speed up reforms and make an extra effort to solve the name issue with neighbouring Greece in order to get the country closer to the EU and NATO. Barroso said that FYROMacedonia needs to reform the judiciary and public administration as well as step up the fight against corruption and organized crime and that it was "essential" to resolve the name dispute with Greece "as soon as possible." FYROMacedonia and Greece have been an odds for almost two decades over the name Macedonia, with Greece alleging that use of the name implies territorial claims on its own region of Macedonia. Athens has been blocking the landlocked Balkan country's efforts to join NATO since 2008 and has threatened to also block Skopje's attempts to join the European Union. Although the European Commission in 2009 recommended that the EU open membership talks with FYROMacedonia, no date has been set. FYROMacedonia has been a candidate for membership since 2005.
V. EKATHIMERINI - Mediterranean diet battles metabolic syndrome
A recent study suggests that following the Mediterranean diet helps reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, a set of health disorders which can be responsible for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. According to the study, a diet that is low in animal fats and rich in fruit, vegetables and fiber can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by up to 19 percent or even 25 percent when combined with light exercise. The direct link between the Mediterranean diet and metabolic syndrome is the main conclusion of the study. The study defines the Mediterranean diet as the following: Using olive oil instead of other fats in cooking or other oils when consumed raw; daily intake of fresh fruit, vegetables, wholegrain cereals and low-fat dairy products; weekly intake of fresh fish, poultry, dried nuts and pulses; low consumption of red meat (only twice a month); moderate consumption of alcohol, with meals.
Serbian Orthodox Church Partiarch Irinej said that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija live in constant fear and that many have laid down their lives for the right to stay on their homesteads at the time when European forces came to stabilize the situation in Kosovo and protect the local population. "Many more people were killed in this period than before the peacekeeping forces arrived, and this is a tragedy," Irinej said and added that chaos dominates in the territory of Kosovo. According to the patriarch, a great number of people want to return to Kosovo but cannot go back because of the lack of stability and normal living conditions. Maybe some better, safer times would come when many people would be able to return, Irinej said.
VII. FINANCIALMIRROR - Two stolen Byzantine icons recovered by Church of Cyprus
Two Byzantine icons of the 18th century depicting Apostles Andreas and Iacovos, were located in Dusseldorf, Germany and recovered by the Church of Cyprus. Their origin, read the Church of Cyprus’ statement, is believed to be a monastery or church in the occupied areas of Cyprus, although reports indicate they come from the Monastery of Agios Anastasios in Peristeronopigi, Famagusta. They were taken out of Cyprus illegally and were up for sale in Europe, following the plundering and looting of Christian churches during the 1974 Turkish invasion. Thousands more icons remain unaccounted for, it added. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Hundreds of religious and archaeological artifacts have been stolen from the occupied areas, many of which have found their way in the black market. Some have been repatriated, others are still in the hands of illegal art dealers.