Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 99-10-27

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

CONTENTS

WEDNESDAY 27 OCTOBER 1999

[01] HEADLINES

[02] NATIONAL COUNCIL

[03] CLINTON CYPRUS

[04] COHEN CYPRUS

[05] CLERIDES PARACHUTES

[06] RUSSIA CHECHNYA

[07] ISRAEL LEBANON

[08] CLIMBER KILLED

[09] WORLD IN BRIEF

[10] BRITISH AGENTS

[11] WILD BOAR

[12] MAMMOTH

[13] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

--- US President Bill Clinton is scheduled to visit Greece on November 13.

--- Russian troops pushed on with their advance from the east into the breakaway republic of Chechnya today.

--- Israeli warplanes attacked suspected guerilla positions today.

AND

--- Britain has released information on gadgets used by its World War II secret agents.

[02] NATIONAL COUNCIL

President Glafcos Clerides briefed the members of the Council on the results of Mr. Moses' talks, who was accompanied by US State Department coordinator for Cyprus, Thomas Weston.

[03] CLINTON CYPRUS

White House spokesman, Joe Lockhart, also said that Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, plans to visit Athens shortly after the President's trip.

On November 17, President Clinton will visit Turkey.

[04] COHEN CYPRUS

In a response to a letter sent by Senators, Mr. Cohen stresses that the Cyprus problem is the last unsolved problem of foreign occupation in Europe.

He also says that the continuing Turkish occupation of the northern third of the island violates UN resolutions.

[05] CLERIDES PARACHUTES

The Union comprises European veterans, former heads of state, and military officers.

Addressing the veterans, President Clerides referred to the contribution of parachutists during World War II.

He also said that a parachute saved his life when his plane was hit by German anti-aircraft fire over Hamburg, in 1942.

[06] RUSSIA CHECHNYA

Dozens of Russian armoured columns rolled closer to the capital, but commanders of the federal forces were silent over whether they planned to storm it.

Russian troops were reported to have moved closer on the west, northwest and eastern sides of Grozny and generals showed few signs of wanting to end their air and artillery strikes against what they say are rebel targets in Chechnya.

[07] ISRAEL LEBANON

Two planes fired four rockets near the village of Zibkin, 15 km southeast of the port city of Tyre. There was no immediate report of casualties.

Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed Hizbollah organisation in Beirut claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the Israeli position of Blat on the edge of the western sector of the zone.

[08] CLIMBER KILLED

An avalanche hit the 41-year-old Harrison at over 6,500 metres between camp two and camp three on October 24.

Harrison was part of an American expedition to an 8,167-metre peak through the normal northeast ridge route in Nepal's central Himalayas.

[09] WORLD IN BRIEF

- - - -

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko called on Russia to give quick approval to a pact merging the two former Soviet republics, saying that otherwise people in both countries would lose faith in the idea.

- - - -

French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany urged Britain to end an escalating row over British beef, but his British counterpart said it was time to take France to court.

- - - -

French police arrested 39 Iranian dissidents this morning, hours before the arrival in Paris of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.

- - - -

Yemeni authorities negotiated with the kidnappers of three US citizens seized in the impoverished Arab state, apparently by disgruntled tribesmen.

- - - -

Indonesia's new economics czar Kwik Kian Gie pleaded for time to get to grips with the country's economic mess and appealed to the International Monetary Fund to resume lending.

- - - -

Australia's ambassador to Indonesia said after a meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid that the new government in Jakarta clearly wanted to mend ties between the two neighbours.

- - - -

The senior UN humanitarian coordinator in Baghdad urged Security Council members to separate relief issues for ordinary Iraqis from the more controversial political issues of disarmament.

[10] BRITISH AGENTS

Secret files released by the Public Record Office have shed new light on the work of the Special Operations Executive -- whose agents were parachuted behind German lines to help local resistance movements carry out sabotage and subversion.

Equipment specially created to help SOE agents outwit the Germans included artificial logs made of plaster for concealing weapons, cigarette lighters adapted to hide messages and hand grenades disguised as sugar beets.

For agents operating in Italy there was the exploding Chianti flask, whose top half was filled with wine and whose bottom was packed with high explosive and a time delay fuse to make every social occasion go with a bang.

But perhaps most impressive were the exploding rats.

It was simple -- rats were skinned and their skins then filled with plastic explosive and sewn up to make them look like rats again.

[11] WILD BOAR

Local authorities have set up a task force to clear the city of more than 60 boar.

Officials in the city, in the far north-western corner of Poland near the Baltic coast, said they hoped to round up the animals and may have to shoot them.

The boar roam sand dunes and public parks. They have dug up all the grass on the historic promenade and some have even shown up in front of city hall.

One tourist was even bitten by a boar earlier this year while walking along the promenade.

[12] MAMMOTH

If France's expert is right, the ice may contain a virtually intact carcass. Careful thawing and dissection could unlock the secrets why the species, an ancient hairy cousin of the elephant, died out.

But a Russian Zoologist thinks there is much less in the ice than his French colleague hopes. He wants to keep the block of ice intact for visitors to see in a permanently frozen cave.

[13] WEATHER

Winds will be mainly southeasterly to southwesterly, light to moderate, three to four beaufort.

The sea will be slight to moderate in windward areas.

Tonight will be mainly clear.

Winds will be northwesterly to northeasterly, light, two to three beaufort, and the sea will slight.

The temperature will drop to 15 degrees inland and along the coast, and to 10 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is extremely high in all forest areas.

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