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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-05-11Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>CONTENTS
THURSDAY 11 APRIL 2000 [01] HEADLINES--- A new date and venue for the UN-led proximity talks on the Cyprus problem is expected to be announced later today. Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has asked the UN to hurry up, as he has things to do.--- The remains of yet another person missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion have been identified. --- Israelis demonstrated today against Israel's plans to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon by July 7. --- In the United States, a fire drove all residents of Los Alamos from their homes and briefly set fire to a building inside the biggest US nuclear weapons laboratory. And --- British scientists have said that children should be discouraged from using mobile phones, because of potential health risks. [02] CYPRUSGreek government short- and long-term plans on Greco-Turkish relations and the Cyprus problem were discussed yesterday during a meeting in Athens, with the participation of Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou.Sources said it was agreed that efforts must be made to strengthen the mobility on the Cyprus problem, despite the small delay in starting the third round of UN-led proximity talks, due to the illness of President Glafcos Clerides. The same sources said that the Cyprus problem was discussed also from the view of the island's European Union accession course. [03] KASOULIDESMinister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoulides is expected to discuss the Cyprus problem and the island's European Union accession course on Wednesday, during a meeting in London with his British counterpart Robin Cook.Mr. Kasoulides departs for London on Tuesday. The meeting will take place in view of a possible change in the dates for the third round of talks on the Cyprus problem. Sources said the talks may start on June 26 in Geneva, instead of May 23 in New York. Other sources in New York said a date and venue are to be set later today. [04] DENKTASHTurkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, requested that the United Nations notify him of the new date for the third round of talks.Turkish Cypriot media reported that Mr. Denktash said he needs to know when the talks will be held, as he cannot schedule any meetings or trips, due to this loose end. [05] MISSINGThe group of scientists carrying out tests on the remains of 26 bodies found in a mass grave, has identified a Greek military man, who went missing during the 1974 Turkish invasion.The remains belong to Christos Koukoularis, who was 21 years old when he disappeared. His relatives have been notified. The remains of the other 25 soldiers belong to Cypriots. [06] MEATAttorney General Alecos Markides said today that there was not enough evidence to back a case regarding the case of selling rotten meat to the National Guard.He noted, however, that investigations are still underway for certain aspects of the case, such as what happened to the 1810 kilos of meat, which were found unsuitable and returned to the provider. Mr. Markides said that he was investigating whether that quantity of meat ended up in a supermarket for Easter. He also said that it was a very difficult case, as there is no evidence to prove that the provider actually sold the meat to a supermarket. [07] VASSILIOUThe post-operation condition of Giorgos Vassiliou, chief negotiator for European Union accession, is considered to be satisfactory.Doctors at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, where the operation to remove a benign tumour from Mr. Vassiliou's cerebellum, said that the chief negotiator passed a quiet night. The biopsy indicated that the tumour, which was the size of a small egg, was benign after all. [08] PLANEThe 96 passengers of the Eurocypria Airbus 320, which remained grounded last night due to engine problems, left for Bristol around midnight on a different plane.The mechanical fault caused the plane to remain in the middle of the runway at around eight o'clock last night. Mechanics said that the hydraulic system of the engine had shut down, noting that had the fault appeared during the flight, it would have caused a very dangerous situation. [09] STOCKThe Cyprus Stock Exchange general price index closed at 553 units today, compared to 550 yesterday.Total dealings were lower than yesterday, reaching just 30 million pounds. [10] ISRAELIsraelis burned tyres and took to the streets of the northern border town of Metulla today, to protest at Israel's plans to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon by July 7.Metulla residents fear Hizbollah guerrillas will lob Katyusha rockets onto their town after Israel leaves the south Lebanon security zone it set up in 1985. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has vowed to end Israel's 22-year-old occupation of south Lebanon by July 7. Waving Israeli flags and shouting "Security, Security," about 100 Metulla residents blocked the entrance to the town with burning tyres and then marched through streets lined with closed restaurants and businesses to the border. Some homes in the town stand only a stone's throw from the frontier. Hizbollah guerrillas fighting to oust the Israeli occupation have warned Israelis not to expect peace even after Barak's planned withdrawal. [11] FIREA raging wildfire drove all 11,000 residents from the town of Los Alamos today and briefly set fire to a building inside the biggest US nuclear weapons laboratory, where high explosives and plutonium are bunkered in disaster-proof shelters.A pillar of yellowish-gray smoke rose more than 5,200 metres into the sky over the mountains of northern New Mexico as a slow convoy of evacuees drove their cars bumper to bumper down the main road from the town, which borders the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The fire, which started when a fire deliberately set by the US National Park Service ran out of control, was sending embers into the grounds of the laboratory, where the world's first atomic bomb was built in 1945, but officials said they were being extinguished quickly. A weapons research building briefly caught fire, sustaining minor damage. With gusty winds fanning the flames, the town was ordered evacuated. The fire began consuming scattered homes on the town's western edge, where 500 homes were evacuated on Sunday as a precaution, and spread down a canyon that leads to the heart of town. The forest fire has ripped through more than 4,000 acres since last Thursday. [12] WORLDAnd now for a look at developments around the world in brief.- - - - A coalition of loyalist forces blocked a rebel advance on Sierra Leone's capital as UN peacekeepers helped by British paratroops dug in to defend the city. - - - - Philippine and Libyan negotiators returned empty-handed after meeting Moslem rebels holding foreign hostages but said the guerrillas would decide in 24 hours whether to free an ailing German woman. - - - - Zimbabwe's main opposition party is seeking new strategies to marshal political resistance to President Robert Mugabe in the face of spreading violence that threatens to mar elections. A third day of talks between white farmers and the black militants who have been seizing their land and intimidating their workers ended without a deal. - - - - Half of South Africa's workforce went on strike for 24 hours yesterday, protesting against soaring post-apartheid unemployment. [13] MOBILESThe chief of a British government-commissioned inquiry into the safety of mobile phones said today that children should be discouraged from using the phones, because of potential health risks.Sir William Stewart of Tayside University in Scotland said however that there was no firm evidence that mobiles damage the general population's health. But it could take a decade for evidence of risks to emerge and if harmful effects were found, they would be more likely to be seen in children because their bodies are still developing. Children have thinner skulls, smaller heads, and their nervous systems are still developing, which make them more vulnerable to any adverse effects from the phones, he said. [14] STREAKERA German psychologist with a passion for naked jogs through a park in his home town of Freiburg was fined 1,100 dollars by a court and ordered to keep his pants on in the future.The 50-year-old psychologist, who was seen jogging in the park in running shoes and socks, had argued that running around without clothes on was the most natural thing in the world. He said nude bathing is widely accepted in many parts of Germany, particularly on the Baltic Sea and North Sea shorelines. He had even informed the police before his three naked runs that he was about to go for a jog. [15] WEATHERThis afternoon will be mainly fine with a moderate sea breeze of three to four beaufort, over slight seas.Tonight will be clear. Winds will be northwesterly, light, two to three beaufort. Temperatures will drop to 14 degrees inland, to 15 along the coast, and to 11 over the mountains. The weather over the weekend will be mainly fine, with no significant change in temperatures. Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |