Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 01-01-11

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From: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Clerides

[03] Tziakourmas

[04] Strike

[05] Stock

[06] Mideast

[07] World

[08] Nude

[09] Weather THURSDAY 11 JANUARY 2001

[01] HEADLINES

--- Niki Tziakourma crossed over into the Turkish occupied areas today to visit her husband, Panicos.

--- Government doctors are heading full speed for a 24-hour strike tomorrow, noting that there had been no positive development in promoting their demands.

--- Israel has reopened a major road in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police traded banter instead of bullets today in a new joint security effort aimed at reviving deadlocked peace talks.

And

--- A British nudist campaigner accused of being a menace for repeatedly stripping off in public has walked free and naked from court.

[02] Clerides

Speaking after the meetings, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said Sir David had agreed that the process of talks would not change.

He also said the US and Britain were continuing efforts from the point where the fifth round of talks broke off.

Sir David noted however that UN Special Adviser Alvaro de Soto would have the last word.

[03] Tziakourmas

Panicos Tziakourmas was abducted on December 13 by Turkish troops within a British Bases area and is being illegally held in the Turkish occupied areas.

This morning, schoolmates of Panicos' daughter gathered at the Ledra Palace checkpoint for a demonstration, during which they submitted a resolution to an UNFICYP representative.

The pupils urge the UN Secretary-General to intervene for the release of Panicos.

Yesterday, Britain's Special Representative for Cyprus Sir David Hannay said he intended to raise the issue with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash during their meeting today.

Sir David added that during his trip to Ankara he made intense representations regarding Tziakourmas' abduction.

[04] Strike

The strike, which will paralyse all state hospitals, begins at half-past-seven tomorrow morning and ends at the same time on Saturday.

Trade union representatives told CyBC that for the strike to be called off, doctors must be given indications that specific proposals have been prepared.

They said there would be skeleton staff on duty at all hospitals during the strike and that casualties and outpatients would be sent to the private sector, apart from cases which could only be treated at hospital.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Frixos Savvides said there was no indication that the crisis would be diffused.

He said the government would not put forward any proposals, under the threat of tomorrow's strike.

Mr. Savvides noted that the government would open a dialogue with the doctors' trade union, as long as the strike was called off.

The Minister added that some of the demands of the doctors were just and said he was prepared to give solutions.

[05] Stock

Traded value reached about nine million pounds.

[06] Mideast

Witnesses said Palestinian cars moved along the road near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim for the first time in weeks after the army removed concrete barriers and tanks retreated several metres to the roadside.

Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs agreed to take steps towards ending a 16-week spate of violence during a meeting at the Israel-Gaza border yesterday.

The United States said it would delay sending Middle East envoy Dennis Ross back to the region until Israel and the Palestinians acted to stem the bloodshed in which more than 360 people, mainly Palestinians, have been killed since late September.

US President Bill Clinton, leaving office on January 20, has been racing against the clock to try to forge an Israeli-Palestinian agreement on a blueprint he has sketched for a final peace treaty.

While senior commanders from both sides toured Gaza flashpoints together, lower-ranking Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police chatted amiably for the first time in months.

Palestinian aviation authorities said that Gaza International Airport would reopen tomorrow. Israel closed it after a car bomb explosion wounded more than 40 people in the central Israeli city of Netanya on January 1.

Under interim peace deals, Israel controls points of entry into the Gaza Strip and West Bank, areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

In the West Bank, witnesses said Israeli soldiers removed cement blocks that had cut off traffic between the towns of Qalqilya and Nablus and allowed Palestinians to drive through.

But another two Israeli checkpoints were still in place near Qalqilya.

[07] World

- - - -

In Indonesia, six men suspected of murdering three UN aid workers in West Timor went on trial, launching a court case that will be closely watched by the international community.

- - - -

In Uganda, presidential elections are to take place on March 6, the electoral commission announced. President Yoweri Museveni is running for re-election against six rival candidates including former ally Colonel Kiiza Besigye, who is seen as the most potent threat to Museveni's long political dominance.

- - - -

In Russia, officials said they were scouring the rebel region of Chechnya for a US aid worker seized by masked gunmen two days ago. Russia blamed separatist guerrillas for the kidnapping of Kenny Gluck, a worker for aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres. A rebel spokesman denied any separatist involvement.

- - - -

In Australia, scientists who inadvertently created a killer mouse virus said that the global Biological Weapons Convention must be given teeth to prevent such discoveries falling into the wrong hands.

- - - -

The United States welcomed a Japanese move toward international talks on its whaling programme but insisted that questions remained over the need to hunt and kill the world's largest mammal.

- - - -

In Yemen, six people were shot dead at a mosque when an argument between tribesmen over nominating candidates to run in upcoming municipal elections erupted into violence.

- - - -

In Colombia, a car bomb wrecked a parking lot in a busy shopping mall in the city of Medellin, killing one person and wounding 50 as the government struggled to revive peace talks with leftist guerrillas.

- - - -

In Sudan, severe drought in the west and parts of the south has put at least 900.000 people at risk of famine.

- - - -

In India, the organisers of the Hindu Maha Kumbh Mela are bracing for the arrival of millions of pilgrims and grappling with erosion on the banks of the Ganges as the next auspicious bathing day approaches.

- - - -

In Turkey, police arrested eight people for shooting at the moon during an eclipse for what they said were traditional reasons.

- - - -

Britain's Prince Charles has flown to the aid of the albatross, accusing trawlers of overfishing the world's oceans and calling for an end to the use of long lines that trap the giant birds.

[08] Nude

A British nudist campaigner accused of being a menace for repeatedly stripping off in public has walked free and naked from court.

Prosecutors said Vincent Bethell, 28, who appeared nude in public six times last summer to campaign for the "Freedom to be Yourself" group, had been likely to "harm the morals of the public or their comfort".

But a jury of 10 men and two women -- who were advised to avert their eyes as he walked to the witness box to give evidence -- disagreed and found him not guilty of being a public nuisance at Southwark crown court in London yesterday.

Braving the freezing cold outside court, naked Bethell told reporters that this would only be a true success when everyone overcame their fears about their body.

He promised to continue his campaign saying the verdict was vindication of his belief that non-sexual nudity was not a crime.

His solicitor said the public were at worst bemused and at best exhilarated by what his client did.

[09] Weather

Winds will be southwesterly, moderate, four beaufort, over slight seas.

Tonight will be generally clear.

Winds will be northwesterly, light, two to three beaufort, over slight seas.

Temperatures will drop to 8 degrees inland, to 10 along the coast, and to 4 over the mountains.

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