Mikhael Gorbachev has penned an article in the New York Times reflecting on how the period since the fall of the Berlin Wall (the 20th anniversary of which will be celebrated on Friday) has not necessarily heralded a less distrustful approach to Russia.  He cites the open letter to  to Barack Obama by Vaclav Havel and other European luminaries in September, counseling the US President to take a firm stand on Russia, and the OSCE resolution equating Stalinism and Nazism as moves demonstrating that latent russophobia is still hampering unity in Europe.To my regret, the events took a different course. This has stalled the emergence of a new Europe. Instead of the old dividing lines, new ones have ...

TODAY: US disappointed with Russia's stance on OSCE; Medvedev hopeful on Obama talks; Abkhazia's President Bagapsh wary of Russian control; Russia suggests ruble reserve currency for G8; prognosis not good for Russia-EU; gay rights parade broken up Talks on replacing the START treaty will begin today, the Economist reports.  President Medvedev is apparently optimistic that in his upcoming meeting with President Obama even thorny topics will be discussed.  US defense missile sites in Eastern Europe, one such example, will apparently be on the agenda.  Will OSCE monitoring also be?  Washington is apparently frustrated with Russia's veto of the security watchdog's activity in Georgia.  'It is disappointing and we hope that Russia will reverse its stance',  says a State Department spokesman.  An article ...

Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the Holy Land for a week long tour, the first since Pope John Paul II came in 2000 and only the third visit in recent papal history.

Bringing and escorting the Pope around Israel is not a simple matter.  In fact, much of Jerusalem is coming close to shutting down this week to make way for an enormous security detail.  Dubbed “Operation White Cloak”, His Holiness will have over 80,000 security personnel in his retinue, including over 60,000 policemen.

Hashmira Security Technologies LTD. has set up a command and control center to supervise secuirty during the Pope’s visit to Israel.

According to an article in Globes:

Hashmira’s command and control center will provide remote monitoring solutions of the sites being visited by the Pope to Israel’s police and security forces.

The system

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