Israeli scientist wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Israeli scientist Ada Yonath, a leading researcher in the structural biology field, was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday, the Nobel committee in Stockholm announced. Yonath shares the prize with Britain's Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz, an American, for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.

Yonath has focused her research on the structure of the ribosome, a part of the cell that synthesizes protein and translates genetic code in the production of protein.

Yonath was the first Israeli biologist to work with NASA in sending research material to outer space. She cooperated with NASA on 12 missions. Her research contributed greatly to the development of more effective antibiotics, which can overcome phenomenon of drug resistant pathogens.
 
 Yonath is the fourth woman to win the Nobel chemistry prize and the first since 1964, when Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin of Britain received the prize.

…….Yonath is a professor and head researcher in the field of structural biology and biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.

Jerusalem Post, Oct 8 - Oz misses out on Nobel Prize in literature - The Swedish Academy on Thursday announced that Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller, and not Israeli author Amos Oz, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature.

….The Swedish Academy said Thursday that Mueller was honored for work that "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."

The 56-year-old author, who immigrated to Germany from then-communist Romania in 1987, made her debut in 1982 with a collection of short stories titled "Niederungen," which was promptly censored by the Romanian government. In 1984 an uncensored version was published in Germany and her work depicting life in a small, German-speaking village in Romania was devoured by readers.

That work was followed by "Oppressive Tango" in Romania.
Because of her vocal criticism of Romania's government, and its feared secret police, she and her husband left the country.

The prize includes a 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) prize and will be handed out December 10 in the Swedish capital.

Barack Obama and the Nobel peace prize - Haaretz, Oct.11 - Analysis / Nobel prize is signal to Obama to avoid war in Iran, By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent - …..Nobel Prizes are given for proven accomplishments, and not for intentions and hopes. Israeli chemist Ada Yonath won a Nobel prize after decades of effort in her Weizmann Institute laboratory. In contrast, Obama is receiving a Nobel for a research proposal, for a speech in Cairo full of promises and one at the United Nations, where he presented his vision for a better world of mutual respect and a world free of nuclear weapons.    

Spiegel, Oct 11 - Obama's Nobel Prize Is More of a Burden than an Honor - The Nobel Peace Prize has come too early for Barack Obama. The US president cannot point to any real diplomatic successes to date and there are few prospects of any to come.

Economist, Oct.9 - Even greater expectations - Is it premature to give Barack Obama the Nobel peace prize, less than a year into his presidency? - ……..Mr Obama’s aspirations may be laudable, but he has several tough years ahead. The Nobel committee evidently wants to encourage him but it might have been wiser to hold judgment until he has achieved more.

JERUSALEM

Euronews, Oct 9 - During its long and often brutal history, control of the city of Jerusalem has changed many times. Its religious significance remains a key obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians – both wish to establish their capital there - Every Friday thousands of Muslims come to what they call the noble sanctuary to pray.

Just below Jews also gather in front of the wailing wall, the only remaining relic of the ancient temple of Solomon.

It remains one of the most sacred holy places for Jews and Arabs, and the two religious sites continue to bear witness to clashes.

In 2000 a visit by Ariel Sharon to the site the Jews call Temple Mount sparked a violent response. Arabs saw it as a clear provocation with the incident setting off the second intifada.

In 1967, Israel captured East Jerusalem, which had been under Arab control since 1948. From an
Israeli point of view, the victory brought reunification and the city’s holy sites back under Jewish control.
“We have returned to our holy sites, and we’re never going to leave,” declared General Moshe Dayan on arriving at the wailing wall.

….Today, out of around 750,000 inhabitants, more than a quarter of a million Arabs live in East Jerusalem.

The building of a giant barrier along the West Bank, as well as a ring of Jewish settlements, makes access to and from the old city for Palestinians increasingly difficult. Indeed, one could say their dream capital has become an impregnable fortress.

Jerusalem Post, Oct,9 - Temple Mt. access to remain restricted, By Abe Selig - Following another day of Arab violence in Jerusalem, access to the Temple Mount was to remain restricted on Tuesday to Muslim men over the age of 50 and women, police said.

Police also announced that they would remain on high alert for the annual Jerusalem March, in which organizers said they expected some 70,000 people from across the world to participate.

The march began on Tuesday morning, with a 12-kilometer route going from Ammunition Hill to Mount Scopus and then passing by many of the east Jerusalem neighborhoods that straddle the Old City before reaching Sacher Park near the Nahlaot neighborhood.……

EUROPE

October 10, 2009 - Pressure on Czechs After Poland Signs EU Treaty, By Reuters - Warsaw - Polish President Lech Kaczynski signed the European Union's reform treaty into law on Saturday, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to ratify the document.

The Lisbon Treaty is designed to streamline decision-making and give the 27-nation bloc a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief. It can only take effect when all member states have approved it.

"Only (Czech) President Vaclav Klaus' signature is missing. Europe eagerly awaits this to happen, Europe needs no more delays," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who attended the televised signing ceremony in Poland's presidential palace.

Klaus set out his terms on Friday for signing the treaty, demanding an exemption to protect Prague from post-war property claims and safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary.
France and Italy welcomed Kaczynski's signature…..

Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer's office welcomed Poland's ratification and said he believed his country would ratify the document "in the foreseeable future."

The Czech parliament has approved the document but the president must sign international treaties. Fischer's government, which conducts foreign policy, has yet to take a position on his demands.

Before he signed the document, Kaczynski, a eurosceptic conservative, stressed the EU remained a union of sovereign nations and said it must remain open to new members, including countries in the Balkans and Georgia.

….Kaczynski had refused to sign the treaty, which Poland's parliament approved last year, until Irish voters backed it in a referendum. Ireland overwhelmingly approved it on October 2.

Greece's election - An emphatic win - Economist, Oct 5 - George Papandreou’s Pasok is victorious in Greece’s election.

In the run up to the general election in Greece opinion polls showed that the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) was poised for a comeback amid growing popular discontent over the faltering economy. Yet the scale of its landslide victory after the poll on Sunday October 4th has surprised seasoned political observers and delighted its supporters.. 
 
ROMANIA

Holocaust memorial unveiled - October 9, 2009 - The Jerusalem Post, By The Associated Press - Romania on Thursday unveiled a monument in memory of some 300,000 Jews and Gypsies killed during the Holocaust in the country, which at times denied that the extermination even happened.

Romanian President Traian Basescu said it was Romania’s duty to "recognize the genocide during World War II" and to honor the victims.

Basescu was joined by Holocaust survivors, both Jewish and Gypsies, and other leaders during the unveiling the €5 million (US$7.35 million) marble and concrete tomblike monument.

Romania today has only 6,000 Jews. The country’s role in the Holocaust and the deportation of Jews were ignored by the Communists and minimized by subsequent governments after communism collapsed in 1989.

"This monument is full of symbolism. Hundreds of thousands were killed who would have contributed to the cultural and economic prosperity of Romania," said Rabbi Menachem HaCohen, Romania’s chief rabbi.

Romanian authorities set up the Elie Wiesel International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania in 2003 after one ministry in the Social Democratic government denied there had been a Holocaust in Romania during World War II.

Some Romanians admire pro-Nazi Marshal Ion Antonescu, whose administration was responsible for the deaths. They see him as a hero who fought against the Soviet Union to recover Romanian territories.

"It is important that Romania acknowledges its past. It’s not an easy past," said Radu Ioanid who has written several books on the Romanian Holocaust. "There are still people opposing this," he said.

Historians have documented several pogroms in Romania, including one in June 1941 in the northeastern city of Iasi, where up to 12,000 people are believed to have died as Romanian and German soldiers swept from house to house, killing Jews. Those who did not die were systematically beaten, put in cattle wagons in stifling heat and taken to a small town. Of the 120 people on the train, just 24 survived.

Other Romanian Jews were deported from Transylvania by Hungarian fascists to Nazi concentration camps. Part of Transylvania was controlled by Hungary during World War II.

Nobel Peace prize laureate Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who was deported to Auschwitz, called on Romanians not to forget their past.

"Passer-by, stop and remember," he said in a message read out. "In this wonderful country and in Trans-Dniester under the criminal regime of Antonescu, hundreds of thousands of Jews were persecuted and assassinated in bloody pogroms."
Critics say that Romanians are beginning to learn about the Holocaust.

AFGHANISTAN

New York Times, October 9 - 17 Die in Kabul Bomb Attack - Kabul, Afghanistan — A car packed with explosives blew up beside the Indian Embassy on Thursday morning, leaving 17 people dead in what India’s foreign secretary said was a direct attack on the embassy compound, the second in two years.

The blast appeared to be similar in pattern to the earlier attack, in July 2008, in which a car bomber detonated at the embassy gates around the same time. American intelligence officials concluded within weeks that Pakistan’s intelligence agency had helped to plan that attack. Pakistan denied any involvement.

India is Pakistan’s archrival, and militant groups once nurtured by Pakistan’s intelligence service have struck at Indian targets, most recently last year in Mumbai.
But it was too early to tell who was behind Thursday’s bombing, which served as a reminder of the reach of Afghanistan’s insurgency. The heavily guarded area was reopened to traffic only recently, having being closed for months after the previous bombing, which killed 54.

Ria Novosti,  Oct.7 - Calls for Russian help in Afghanistan - Brussels, October 7 - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Russia on Wednesday to provide assistance in training and equipping the Afghan Army.

At his first news conference as NATO chief, Rasmussen, who took office on August 3, said he hoped for a "true strategic partnership" with Russia and called for active practical cooperation with Moscow on Afghanistan, international terrorism, piracy and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"Russia could provide equipment for the Afghan security forces. Russia could provide training. We could explore in a joint effort how we could further Russian engagement," Rasmussen said.

Moscow and Washington signed a deal on military transit to Afghanistan via Russian territory, both overland and by air, on July 6 during President Barack Obama's visit to Russia.

Russia already has bilateral transit deals with Germany, France and Spain, and also signed an agreement with NATO in 2008 on rail transit of non-lethal supplies to Afghanistan.

NATO is set to add up 40,000 troops to the Afghan Army to increase its number to 134,000 by the end
of 2010 as the fight against the Taliban, deposed by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, goes on.
The NATO chief also announced on Wednesday he would visit Russia in December for talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and other top Russian officials.

Relations between Russia and NATO collapsed after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, which provoked the alliance to suspend formal NATO-Russia Council meetings and cooperation in some areas.

Rasmussen also told reporters that the findings of an international commission investigating the causes of the war would not affect the prospects for Georgia joining NATO.

The report, compiled by the Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, along with 30 European military, legal and history specialists, puts the blame firmly on Tbilisi for starting the conflict, but says that subsequent Russian actions "went far beyond the reasonable limits of defense" and also were "in violation of international law."

Mr Obama’s aspirations may be laudable, but he has several tough years ahead. The Nobel committee evidently wants to encourage him but it might have been wiser to hold judgment until he has achieved more.