Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-02-10

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

CONTENTS

THURSDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2000

[01] HEADLINES

[02] CLERIDES

[03] OCCUPATION

[04] PLANE

[05] CHECHNYA

[06] TURKEY

[07] FLOODS

[08] WORLD

[09] SLEEP

[10] STOCK

[11] TAX

[12] TELEPHONES

[13] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

--- The five-day hijack of the Afghan Ariana airline ended peacefully this morning.

--- Russia unleashed furious air strikes on Chechnya's rebel-held southern mountains today.

--- Four bombs exploded in Constantinople, Turkey, last night.

--- At least 35 people have died in flooding from torrential rains in southern Africa.

And

--- Scientists have now proved what millions of people already know -- that the brain does not work properly after a sleepless night.

[02] CLERIDES

Speaking yesterday evening on his return from Geneva, where the second round of proximity talks took place, the President said that a third round of intensified proximity talks would take place in May in New York.

Asked to explain what "intensified" meant, President Clerides said that the talks may eventually include direct negotiations, but noted that this was to the discretion of UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

He also said that there were speculations in Geneva for a fourth round of talks.

Invited to say what the outcome of this second round was, President Clerides pointed out that this round was not scheduled to produce results.

He said the Greek Cypriot side is discussing a bizonal federation and human rights, and that the sovereignty issue is not negotiable.

Asked if any confidence building measures were discussed in Geneva, President Clerides said they had not.

President Clerides has called a national Council meeting for tomorrow, during which he will inform the members on the second round of proximity talks.

[03] OCCUPATION

The demonstrators urged Turkish Cypriots to boycott the forthcoming illegal elections in the occupied areas, and called on the so-called finance minister to step down.

Turkish Cypriot newspapers feature the demonstration on their front pages.

[04] PLANE

The final drama of a multi-nation saga that started in Afghanistan on Sunday morning was played out over three hours with two releases of passengers.

The end of the standoff still left unanswered the motive for the 97-hour long hijack.

The safe release of all passengers was a victory for elated British police negotiators who adopted a "softly softly" approach to dealing with an estimated eight hijackers armed with pistols and grenades.

[05] CHECHNYA

Russian helicopters and planes were reported to have flown about 200 sorties over the past 24 hours, more than double the average, as today dawned bright and clear over the rebel region Russia has fought for the last four months to subdue.

With Grozny's fall, Russia now says it will cut back its force in Chechnya, sending some conscripts home while paratroops and marines remain to pursue the rebels in the highlands.

The capital has been reduced to rubble. Journalists who visited this week saw wraith-like civilians, survivors of months of relentless bombardment, emerge from cellars into a landscape of the worst urban devastation since World War Two.

[06] TURKEY

Media reported that guerrillas of the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front had left "calling cards" at the scenes of the attacks -- the Constantinople mufti's headquarters, a museum to secular hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and two mobile telephone shops.

Turkish authorities have been engaged in a masssive clampdown on radical Islamic groups since the discovery of dozens of bodies found tortured and buried in basements and backyards by the Hizbullah guerrilla group.

Militants from Front, although unrelated to Hizbullah, have also been caught in the dragnet. Both groups seek the establishment of an Islamic state in Turkey ruled by strict Sharia religious law.

[07] FLOODS

The South African emergency services said water levels were rising in most rivers and advised people not to try to cross them.

Officials said floods had cut off a road linking Botswana to Zimbabwe and South Africa and links between Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa.

The South African Weather Bureau forecast more rain and thunderstorms through to next week, threatening further flooding with most rivers already at their highest levels in 50 years.

[08] WORLD

- - - -

Northern Israelis emerged from their bomb shelters after fears lifted of cross-border rocket attacks by Lebanese Hizbollah guerillas.

Meanwhile, an opinion poll showed that most Israelis want to pull their troops out of Lebanon as soon as possible.

- - - -

The Indonesian attorney-general's office declared former President Suharto a suspect in an investigation into alleged corruption at charities he controlled and said he would be questioned on Monday.

- - - -

Boeing Co. has urged airlines to inspect tail mechanisms on more than 2,000 planes after investigators found damage to a key screw retrieved from the wreck of a downed Alaska Airlines plane.

- - - -

Russia's Foreign Minister arrived in Japan today amid growing doubt that the neighbours will sign a peace treaty this year to end the technical state of war that has existed between them for 55 years.

[09] SLEEP

In what could be the first step towards devising ways to alleviate the effects of sleep deprivation and jet lag, researchers in California have monitored brain activity to see how it compensates for lack of sleep.

They found that the effects of sleep deprivation differed depending on what the brain was asked to do -- the sleepy brain increases activity in certain regions if it has to deal with verbal problems but slows down for mathematical dilemmas.

[10] STOCK

Total dealings reached 24 million pounds.

Today's floor was favourable for insurance, commercial and other companies, as well as tourist enterprises.

[11] TAX

Those who have not received a notification must proceed to the District Offices of the Road Transport Department to renew their road tax.

[12] TELEPHONES

CYTA told a press conference that each district will have its own full-colour Yellow Pages, incorporated in the district's phone book.

Nicosia's book will be published in two volumes, due to the large number of telephone subscribers.

CYTA is also moving towards the world of information, with a CD-ROM for the Yellow Pages and one for the standard phone books.

Also on the agenda is a special Internet site, from where subscribers may search for any information included in the phone books and the Yellow Pages.

[13] WEATHER

Winds will be generally easterly to southeasterly, moderate, three to four beaufort, over slight to moderate seas.

Tonight will be cloudy.

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

Temperatures will drop to 4 degrees inland, to 7 along the coast, and to zero over the mountains.

The snow on Mount Olympus is 35 centimetres deep, and in Troodos Square 30.

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