Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-02-23

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

CONTENTS

WEDNESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2000

[01] HEADLINES

[02] FUEL

[03] OPEC

[04] STOCK

[05] MILITARY

[06] SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

[07] POPE

[08] WORLD

[09] SURGERY

[10] WHALE

[11] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

--- Gulf Arab oil ministers, meeting today in Riyadh, are expected to reassure that they will provide more crude oil to replenish dwindling stockpiles and tame volatile prices.

--- Pope John Paul starts a millennium tour tomorrow, to the origins of Western religion.

--- A British woman performed brain surgery on herself and claims to be feeling much better.

And

--- In Japan, a killer whale which swam upriver into a Japanese city, causing massive traffic jams, returned to the ocean today.

[02] FUEL

Minister of Finance, Takis Klirides, said that various alternatives are being discussed regarding the price of fuel.

Minister of Commerce, Nicos Rolandis, said that he would submit three proposals, that is increasing the price of fuel, covering the difference from state funds, or a combination of both.

The cabinet will also study the views of political parties, which favour the second option, that is covering the costs from state funds.

Regarding the water problem, the cabinet will look into the suggestions submitted by the Water Development Department.

Sources said that one of the options being discussed is to use private wells and impose new restrictions on water.

Another option is to increase the output of the Dhekelia desalination plant.

The Council of Ministers, which convened this morning, will also discuss the issue of creating new desalination plants.

[03] OPEC

Influential Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and ministers from fellow OPEC states Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and non-OPEC Bahrain and Oman are meeting just a month before a crucial OPEC meeting in Vienna to set output policy.

Producers have been under pressure from the world's biggest oil consumer the United States to loosen the reins on output to replenish dwindling fuel stockpiles.

Before leaving for the Gulf Cooperation Council ministerial session, the United Arab Emirates Oil Minister said the group would send a reassuring message to concerned oil consumers.

Oil prices have trebled since oil producers last year agreed to slash output by more than four million barrels per day to lift prices from decades-low levels.

[04] STOCK

Total dealings on today's floor dropped to 17 million 400 thousand pounds, compared with 18 million 600 thousand yesterday.

[05] MILITARY

Defence Minister, Socratis Hasikos, told the CyBC that the issue is being discussed with the Ministry of Health, adding that a meeting will be held tomorrow, with the participation of both ministers, to look into the matter.

Mr. Hasikos noted that the military hospital, as it is today, operates as an outpatient unit.

[06] SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

The Movement issued a statement reaffirming the basic principles of the Declaration regarding the Cyprus problem.

It also states that a solution must safeguard the unity of the state and the single sovereignty, and the respect of human rights of all citizens of the Republic.

The Movement also expressed its support for the island's European Union accession course, and the government's cooperation with Greece.

[07] POPE

The 79-year-old Pontiff, who has already visited most of the world's countries, will finally realise his dream of walking in the footsteps of Moses and Jesus.

His latest journey takes him to Egypt for three days which will be followed by a trip to Jordan and Holy Land sites ruled by Israel and the Palestinian authority from March 20-26.

The most important stop on his Egypt visit will be at Mount Sinai. There, he will pray where God is said to have appeared to Moses in the burning bush, giving him the Ten Commandments and ordering him to lead the Hebrews out of slavery.

The Pope was to have started his pilgrimage in Ur, the southern city in Iraq where the Old Testament Biblical patriarch Abraham was born.

After difficult negotiations, that part of the trip was called off by Iraq, which said it would not be possible because of UN sanctions and the no-fly zone over the country.

[08] WORLD

- - - -

Occasional shots rang through the Nigerian city of Kaduna as security forces tried to prevent more riots between Christians and Moslems who are demanding the introduction of Islamic law.

- - - -

US, French and British peacekeeping troops in Kosovo launched a surprise early morning weapons search in the tense city of Mitrovica.

- - - -

Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano appealed for urgent international aid to help more than 800,000 people victims of devastating floods and a cyclone.

- - - -

Spaniards mounted a wave of protests against the separatist group ETA and politicians suspended election campaigning to condemn the latest fatal bomb attack in the Basque Country.

- - - -

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said police in the capital, fearing a massive protest, were on red alert.

- - - -

In Indonesia's remote eastern islands, at least 12 people have been killed and dozens wounded in several days of religious bloodshed.

- - - -

David Trimble, leader of Northern Ireland's pro-British Ulster Unionist Party, said the peace process would continue, although he was less optimistic on about whether paramilitary groups on both sides would disarm.

- - - -

Regional heads of state arrived in the Zambian capital for a one-day summit called to try to save a fragile peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but South Africa, the region's powerhouse, was absent.

[09] SURGERY

Heather Perry, 29, performed the ancient technique of trepanning -- cutting away a section of the scalp and drilling into the skull -- in her bid to overcome myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, which leaves sufferers feeling permanently exhausted.

Perry's bid to rid herself of the inflammation of her brain and spinal chord, by drilling a two-cm hole to allow blood to flow more easily around the brain, almost went wrong when she drilled too far and penetrated a membrane protecting her brain tissue.

British doctors had refused to help Perry with the ancient procedure, so she flew to the United States where she was given medical advice and then did it herself. She said the 20-minute operation had improved her quality of life.

Perry, who performed the operation under local anaesthetic in front of a mirror and a camera crew, said she felt something radical needed to be done to overcome her occasional bouts of depression.

She told reporters at her home in western England that she felt the effects immediately and that she had more mental clarity.

[10] WHALE

The five-metre-long young male orca swam back to the open sea after local authorities and aquarium officials led the way out with metal pipes in hand.

The pipes were used to create metallic sounds which killer whales are believed to hate.

The whale had swum five kilometres up the Hori river into Nagoya, a city of two million located 300 kilometres west of Tokyo, causing traffic jams as people flocked to see it.

Local aquarium officials said they believed the orca wandered towards the big lights of the city after losing touch with its pod, or family, while chasing a school of fish near the river.

[11] WEATHER

Winds will be mainly westerly, moderate, four beaufort, and five beaufort on the western coast.

Seas will be slight to moderate on the western coast.

Tonight will be cloudy with local showers.

Winds will be westerly, light to moderate, three beaufort, and locally four beaufort, over slight to moderate 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 40 centimetres deep, and in Troodos Square 35.

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