Cyprus

The Annan Plan in 2004 failed to unify Cyprus because of the thorny issue of Turkish troop removal and security guarantees failed to provide a proper security umbrella, without the need of Turkish intervention hanging over the heads of Cypriots.
The latest talks taking place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, are entering their second week, and the make or break chapter of security and guarantees is expected to be negotiated by both sides.
Cyprus Mail reports…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a strong rebuke of the Saudi authored ultimatum which Riyadh has attempted to force on Qatar as a prerequisite for normalising relations. Doha has rejected the ultimatum while Saudi’s ally the UAE has suggested that a break in relations between Saudi, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt on the one hand and Qatar on the other could last for the foreseeable future.
READ MORE: COLD WAR IN THE DESERT: How the Qatar crisis is becoming a stalemate

The Turkish Education Ministry has announced that Darwinian evolution will no longer be taught at a high school level and that such “controversial” theories will instead only be covered at a university level. This brings Turkish schools in line with those in several American states as well as Saudi Arabia.
Alpaslan Durmus who heads the Turkish Education Ministry’s curriculum board has stated,

Cypriot press reported last week on a large joint Israeli-Cypriot military drill.
The following Israeli video publicises an elite Israeli commando brigade engaged in aggressive military routines around Cyprus’ Troodos Mountain range.

Neo-Ottoman foreign policies combined with a singular, egotistical attitude have earned Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the nickname ‘Sultan’ and even ‘Mad Sultan’.

Sergey Lavrov wrapped up a visit to Cyprus where the Russian Foreign Minister attended the 127th Ministerial Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the last event under Cyprus’ chairmanship of the CoE.
Lavrov also held bilateral talks with his counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.
While holding a joint news conference with Cypriot FM Kasoulides Lavrov commented on Turkish threats in Cyprus’ EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) where large deposits of natural gas are currently being researched for development…

In the recent French election, it was received wisdom, based largely on the statements from the candidates themselves, that a vote for Marine Le Pen was a vote for Euroscepticism, some even went so far as to say that Le Pen wanted to break-up the EU.
Emmanuel Macron by contrast was painted as ‘Mr. Europe’, the man who wanted to preserve the status quo with gusto.

21st Century Wire says…
President Tayyip Erdogan could be in office until 2029 if voters in today’s Turkish referendum give him the majority. Poll indications show a narrow lead but their reliability is questionable.

You may have come to expect cowardly conservative careerists in the Senate like Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to cross the aisle and rubber-stamp virtually all of Trump's horrendous nominees for high public office.

Back in November I wrote a bleak account of the situation in Greece as I witnessed it following a brief visit there.
More recently I have written pointing out how the IMF has itself concluded that the situation in Greece is unsustainable.