Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 99-11-15

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER 1999

[01] HEADLINES

[02] DENKTASH TALKS

[03] CLERIDES TALKS

[04] CLINTON CYPRUS

[05] PAPANDREOU TALKS

[06] TURKEY QUAKE

[07] RUSSIA - CHECHNYA

[08] YELTSIN

[09] JAPAN SPACE

[10] WORLD IN BRIEF

[11] PSEUDOSTATE

[12] STOCK EXCHANGE

[13] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

--- In Turkey, hopes faded today of finding more survivors from Friday's devastating earthquake, which has claimed 452 lives so far.

--- Russian warplanes resumed bombing the breakaway region of Chechnya today.

AND

--- Japan has failed once again to put a satellite in orbit.

[02] DENKTASH TALKS

Mr. Denktash had initially accepted the invitation, but later on stepped back, saying that the UN chief had issued a relevant statement, in which Glafcos Clerides is called a President, and the form of the talks was other than that agreed on.

After this development, the United Nations changed the wording of the statement.

[03] CLERIDES TALKS

President Clerides also said that he had received assurances from the United Nations and the United States that the proximity talks would be substantive and would deal with the basic aspects of the Cyprus problem.

He stressed that it would be a grave mistake to turn down the invitation, with adverse effects on the Cyprus problem and the island's European Union accession course.

[04] CLINTON CYPRUS

Speaking during his flight to Ankara, Mr. Clinton said he hoped the two leaders would stay together long enough to reach direct negotiations.

He urged the two sides to approach this opportunity in good faith and to build a better future for the whole of the Cyprus people.

White House officials said that the agreement to hold talks on the Cyprus problem is one of the most important goals of Mr. Clinton's ten-day visit to the region.

[05] PAPANDREOU TALKS

He said that Mr. Annan's invitation is the beginning of a process, which needs continuous monitoring.

Speaking before a Foreign Ministers' Summit in Brussels, Mr. Papandreou said that the fact that President Clerides responded positively to Mr. Annan's invitation, shows his willingness for substantive negotiations.

[06] TURKEY QUAKE

Rescuers worked through a third night of freezing cold and fog in the northwestern region of Bolu where Friday's tremor registering 7.2 on the Richter scale created a sorely familiar landscape of shattered concrete and twisted metal.

The official death toll jumped to 452 with 2,836 injured. A quake on August 17 in nearby Izmit province killed 17,000.

Searchers ranging from miners from Turkey's Black Sea coal pits to teams from Greece, Russia, the United States, Israel and elsewhere have worked non-stop since Friday to pluck survivors from concrete tombs.

The government has pledged to provide first tents, then prefabricated housing, for the survivors. Some tents have been diverted from the scene of August's quake to Bolu province.

Despite the tragedy, world leaders headed for Constantinople for the OSCE summit.

[07] RUSSIA - CHECHNYA

Russia launched its fiercest air strikes yet against the rebel province over the weekend, shrugging off international criticism before the summit of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which begins on Thursday in Constantinople.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed to fight until all the "terrorists" blamed for a series of bomb blasts in Russian towns had been destroyed and peace could be brought to the region.

Russia launched its campaign at the start of October saying it planned a limited offensive to set up a security zone against Islamic guerrillas, but has since steadily escalated its drive into an all-out onslaught to restore control of the province.

Western leaders are generally sympathetic to Russia's security concerns, but say Moscow is using too much force.

[08] YELTSIN

He was quoted as saying that he would prove to Western states that they have no right to blame Russia for destroying bandits and terrorists on its territory.

[09] JAPAN SPACE

The Japanese H-2 rocket carrying a multi-purpose satellite for aviation control and meteorological observation blasted off from the Tanegashima space centre in southern Japan this morning.

It was Japan's second failure to place a satellite into geostationary orbit in nearly two years.

[10] WORLD IN BRIEF

- - - -

China and the United States signed an agreement that paves the way to Beijing's entry to the World Trade Organisation, a milestone that will throw open a vast market of 1.2 billion consumers to unprecedented access by foreign firms.

- - - -

Northern Ireland nervously awaited a verdict from the main pro-British Protestant party on an offer from Irish republican guerrillas aimed at reviving the deadlocked peace process.

Political sources said that today could be the final session of an 11-week bid by US mediator George Mitchell to get both sides to join the power-sharing government which they appeared to have agreed on in the April 1998 Good Friday accord.

- - - -

Ukrainians overwhelmingly rejected a return to the communist past and re-elected President Leonid Kuchma at the weekend despite his unpopularity after years of economic decline.

Official figures showed that Kuchma, overcoming deep voter dismay at his failure to halt a slide in living standards, root out corruption or overhaul the economy, landed 56.31 percent of the vote aganst Communist rival Petro Symonenko's 37.76 percent.

- - - -

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that today's planned Israeli handover of more West Bank land to Palestinian rule would be delayed for lack of agreement on the land to be transferred.

- - - -

Commonwealth leaders are wrapping up their summit in South Africa with decisions on Pakistan and a world trade strategy in place and a determination to make the body relevant for the next century.

Outgoing Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku read a declaration linking a plea for a fairer trade deal for poor nations with a pledge to pursue clean and democratic government.

[11] PSEUDOSTATE

A demonstration was held at the Ledra Palace checkpoint in Nicosia and demanded the liberation of the northern third of the island, occupied by Turkish troops.

[12] STOCK EXCHANGE

Dealings totaled 48.5 million pounds, with over six thousand exchanges.

[13] WEATHER

Winds will be mainly southerly to southwesterly, light to moderate, three to four beaufort, and the sea will be slight to moderate in windward areas.

Tonight will be mainly clear, with passing clouds and light showers in the east.

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

The temperature will drop to 12 degrees inland, to 14 along the coast, and to 7 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is extremely high in all forest areas.

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article