Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 99-05-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES 2 MAY 1999 EVENING

[02] SOLDIERS ARRIVED

[03] YUGOSLAVIA STRIKES

[04] NATO PLANE

[05] CRETE MISSILES

[06] ACCIDENTS DEATHS

[07] TURKEY GOVERNMENT

[08] WORLD IN BRIEF

[09] MOTOR RACING

[10] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES 2 MAY 1999 EVENING

--- NATO admitted today that one of its missiles had accidentally hit a bus in Kosovo.

--- NATO lost its second warplane in combat in five weeks of raids on Yugoslavia today.

--- Twenty-two Russian technicians and Cypriot officers are in Crete to make sure that the S-300 missiles fully operational.

AND

--- Michael Schumacher took over the leadership of the Formula One world championship today.

[02] SOLDIERS ARRIVED

The US army C-9 medical plane touched down 5:45 Cyprus time after a flight of about 90 minutes from Zagreb.

There were about 200 people and an army honour guard from the soldiers' division, the 1st Infantry Division, at the air base to welcome the soldiers.

The three soldiers -- Steven Gonzales, 22, of Huntsville, Texas, Andrew Ramirez, 24, of Los Angeles, and Christopher Stone, 25, of Smiths Creek, Michigan were captured by the Yugoslav army a month ago.

They were released to US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson in Belgrade today.

The three soldiers are expected to undergo medical checks and debriefings.

[03] YUGOSLAVIA STRIKES

Yugoslav authorities said between 34 and 60 people were killed, many of them children, when the missile hit the bus as it crossed a bridge in Kosovo at midday yesterday.

Dozens of bodies and body parts, including a child's arm, were scattered near the bridge. The charred bodies of at least two children could be seen.

The "Nis Express" was split apart by the force of the blast as it was crossing a bridge in the town of Luzane, 20 km north of Pristina.

Part of the bus plunged from the bridge while the other half remained on the span. The bridge was not destroyed in the strike.

A police officer at the scene, 20 km north of the Kosovo provincial capital Pristina, said at least 34 people were killed, including 15 children. Serb state television put the death toll at 60.

Shortly after the attack, an air strike hit another bridge 18 km away, wrecking an ambulance and wounding a doctor.

Serbian media said that NATO's overnight raids hit an oil refinery in the northern city of Novi Sad, a factory in the central Serbian town of Cacak and two bridges in central Serbia.

[04] NATO PLANE

A NATO spokesman said that the US F-16CJ suffered engine failure as it returned from a mission over Yugoslavia and the cause was being investigated. Serbian media said the aircraft had been shot down.

The F-16 came down in Serbia 18 km east of the town of Kozluk on the border with Bosnia.

NATO's first combat loss over Yugoslavia was a US F-117 stealth bomber, which went down three days after the bombing began on March 24.

NATO rescue teams are on permanent standby during air operations. Once they have located a downed pilot, heavily armed helicopter-borne troops go in to pluck him to safety, often as hostile troops close in.

Since it began its air campaign against Yugoslavia, NATO has also lost an Apache helicopter which went down during training in Albania last month. Four pilotless reconnaissance "drones" have also been lost.

[05] CRETE MISSILES

The Athenian newspaper "To Vima" reported that the Hellenic Air Force General Staff will set up an independent Air Command, which will have full operational responsibility over the missiles.

The deployment of the missiles has entered its final stretch in Crete, and Cypriot National Guard officers, trained in Moscow, are already there.

The newspaper also reported that two batteries of US-made Patriot missiles ordered by Greece are expected to be delivered to the country by the beginning of June.

[06] ACCIDENTS DEATHS

In the first accident, Panayiotis Moleskis, from the village of Sotira, was hit while riding his moped by a car driven by 20-year-old Costas Fellas, also from Sotira.

The soldier was seriously injured and was taken to the Larnaca Hospital, where he died at around 2 o'clock in the morning.

Fellas was submitted to an alcotest and was arrested.

In the second accident, Eleni Evangelou, a resident of the Kokkines Housing Estate, was struck by a car and killed while attempting to cross Athalassa Avenue at around 9 o'clock last night.

The driver of the vehicle, 46-year-old car mechanic Antonis Hilis, was arrested.

[07] TURKEY GOVERNMENT

First to visit the president's Cankaya palace was current caretaker Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, leader of the biggest group in the assembly and favourite to be given the mandate to form a government.

Mr Demirel is expected to make the appointment tomorrow. It is likely to be followed by weeks of drawn-out bargaining before a government emerges.

Mr Ecevit was followed by hard-line nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli, who has given signs he would be prepared to work with Mr Ecevit in a coalition.

Even though they lead the two biggest groupings in the assembly, Mr Ecevit and Mr Bahceli do not have the 276 seats needed for a majority.

Conservative leader Mesut Yilmaz appeared to volunteer to make up the numbers in a three-way coalition.

[08] WORLD IN BRIEF

- - - -

Violence linked to Maoist insurgency intensified in Nepal on the eve of an election that is likely to be inconclusive and could generate more political instability.

- - - -

British police held a suspect for further questioning and authorities urged Britons to unite against Neo-Nazis claiming responsibility for bombings in London that have killed three people.

- - - -

A bitter row, fuelled largely by Asian anger against the United States over who should be the new director-general of the World Trade Organisation, pushed the 134-member body, a pillar of global economic cooperation, towards paralysis.

- - - -

In a pivotal moment in Panama's history, voters went to the polls to choose the president who will oversee US military withdrawal and transfer of the Panama Canal into Panamanian hands on December 31.

- - - -

China has arrested at least 20 dissidents nationwide over the past two days in a clampdown on activities to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest.

- - - -

A bloodless military coup on the Comoro Islands has been met with international condemnation but many residents say politicians have made such a mess of running the country that the army might do better.

[09] MOTOR RACING

Schumacher finished 4.2 seconds clear of second placed Briton David Coulthard in a McLaren after both of their team mates had retired during an eventful race.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, in a Stewart, was third just nine tenths of a second ahead of Briton Damon Hill in a Jordan.

Schumacher's win lifted him to the top of the drivers' standings with 16 points ahead of his Ferrari team mate Briton Eddie Irvine on 12.

Defending world champion Mika Hakkinen, starting from pole position in his McLaren, led for the opening 17 laps before making a mistake and crashing opposite the pits on the start-finish straight.

Schumacher's win confirmed Ferrari's lead in the constructors championship, in which they now have 28 points to McLaren's 16 to the delight of a flag-waving full-house crowd at the AutoDromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

[10] WEATHER

The sea will be slight to moderate in windward areas, towards the afternoon.

The temperature will be higher than normal for the season. Inland it will be 35 degrees and on the coast 29, that is in both cases 7 degrees higher than normal. Over the mountains the temperature will reach 24 degrees, that is 4 degrees above normal.

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