Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 02-01-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] simitis-annan

[02] desoto cy

[03] mideast

[04] afghanistan

[05] pak-ind

[06] tailer

[07] drinking himself to death!

[08] weather THURSDAY 10 JANUARY 2002

[01] simitis-annan

During the meeting, which was also attended by Greek Foreign Minister Yiorgos Papandreou and the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor for Cyprus Alvaro deSoto, Kofi Annan reiterated the world body's committment to a settlement of the island's long-standing problem, and further voiced the belief that a framework towards this end will emerge by the end of June. At the same time however, he stressed the need for contacts between the two sides involved in the dispute to intensify, reaching a frequency of three times a week.

Prime Minister Simitis also noted that the UN Chief is asking the political leaderships of both Greece and Turkey to prepare their respective peoples for a compromise solution.

As regards Cyprus' EU-accession course, Costas Simitis said that while this will be realised within 2003, with or without a settlement of the island's political problem, a solution will definitely facilitate the process.

On a different tack, the Greek Prime Minister noted that the only differences between his country and Turkey are the neighbouring country's claims over purported "grey areas" in the Aegean Sea, and called on Turkey to either seek recourse with the International Court in the Hague, or abandon all such claims.

[02] desoto cy

According to the Athens News Agency, the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor for Cyprus and Greek Foreign Minister Yiorgos Papandreou held a detailed discussion, in New York, of the current plans governing the entire process, which provide for UN intervention only when and if the two parties request it.

The same source mentioned that Mr deSoto is looking at a total of ten rounds of talks being held in Nicosia, with another round to take place in New York.

[03] mideast

Palestinian security sources said six tanks and bulldozers rolled into Rafah early this morning, with Israeli shooting scaring people out of their homes. Palestinian witnesses and the security sources said that about 30 homes and other buildings were destroyed in the area, next to the border with Egypt.

Justifying its action, the Israeli army said that the operation was aimed at buildings used by Palestinians to shoot at soldiers in the area. Military sources said that 10 buildings had been destroyed and that the bulldozers had been escorted not by tanks, but by armoured vehicles.

Late yesterday meanwhile, the Israeli army also destroyed two Palestinian security posts in southern Gaza near the border with Israel, and closed three naval buildings on the Mediterranean Sea coast.

[04] afghanistan

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said that the attacks were focused on Zhawar, 30 km southwest of Khost. Several helicopters ferried in about 50 US ground troops to eastern Khost, taking the total number of American personnel in the area to about 150.

Meanwhile, the interrogation of two senior al-Qaeda fighters captured in the region, along with computers, cell phones and other valuable intelligence material, is reported to be continuing, with the aim being to obtain possible clues about the whereabouts of fugitive militant Osama bin-Laden or the ousted Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Some 368 al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners are to be transported to the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where secure facilities are being built to hold as many as 2,000 detainees from the war in Afghanistan.

In a separate development, seven US Marines were killed yesterday when a military refuelling plane crashed in flames in a remote corner of Pakistan. The crash, which is being investigated, was described by US officials as an accident.

At the same time, security in the Afghan capital of Kabul has been boosted by the arrival of a British-led international force mandated by the United Nations. The force will eventually number up to 5,000 men and women.

[05] pak-ind

According to a local official, Indian forces fired mortars at two villages in the Khotli district of Pakistani-ruled Kashmir late last night and early this morning, while a witness said that Pakistani troops returned fire, leading to intermittent exchanges through the night.

Yesterday, India said that it had fired at but missed an unmanned Pakistani spy plane flying over the part of Kashmir under its control. Pakistani military officials said they were checking the report, but refrained from further comment.

Since December 13th, when an Islamic suicide attack against India's parliament led to the current crisis, there have been daily exchanges of fire across the border, with dozens of people, soldiers and civilians, killed and wounded on both sides of the frontier.

[06] tailer

Professors Andrew Oswald and Jonathan Gardner of Warwick University tracked 9,000 families over the past decade to study whether there was a link between cash windfalls and contentment, and have decided, in a direct quote, that "there's a very strong link between cash falling on you and higher contentment and better mental health in the following year."

The researchers however stress that they looked at the average person and could not account for everyone. The Sun newspaper, for example, yesterday carried a story about a tramp who won nearly two million pounds in Britain's National Lottery two years ago... but ended up

[07] drinking himself to death!

[08] weather

Skies will clear up by this evening, even though intermittent cloud cover will once again lead to light dustings of snow and mist in mountainous regions. Frost is also expected to form in many areas. Winds will abate to moderate northeasterlies, 4-5BF, with seas however remaining moderate to rough, while temperatures will drop to 3C inland, 5C in coastal regions, and minus 3C on the higher reaches of the Troodos mountains.

Tomorrow's forecast includes generally fair conditions, with skies being marked by sparse cloud, and winds abating further to light to moderate northeasterlies, 3-4BF, on moderate seas. Temperatures will post a slight increase, reaching 11C inland, 13C along the coasts, and 3C at higher altitudes.

The depth ofsnow on Mt Olympus is 1m 20cm, and 1m in Troodos Square.

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