Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-04-13

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

CONTENTS

THURSDAY 13 APRIL 2000

[01] HEADLINES

[02] BLAIR

[03] MOSES

[04] REFINERY

[05] GREECE

[06] ZIMBABWE

[07] ELIAN

[08] WORLD

[09] STOCK

[10] BOMB

[11] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

--- US envoy Alfred Moses has proposed measures to Turkey to intensify the third round of proximity talks on the Cyprus problem, to be held next month in New York.

--- The new Greek Government was sworn in today.

--- Zimbabwe's High Court ruled today that police must carry out a court order to evict squatters occupying white-owned farms.

And

--- The US government has ordered an end to the tug of war over six-year-old Elian Gonzalez.

[02] BLAIR

Mr. Blair told Cypriots living in London that the Turkish side continues to maintain a negative stance, adding that President Clerides has done everything possible for an effective dialogue.

He also said that pressure on the Turkish Cypriot side for progress on the Cyprus questions was an opportunity for Turkey to prove its positive approach to its European Union accession course.

The CyBC correspondence in London quoted Mr. Blair as saying that Britain would do everything possible for talks on the Cyprus problem to lead to an effective dialogue for a solution.

He also said that this period is appropriate for progress on the Cyprus problem, due to the great interest on the matter.

[03] MOSES

Mr. Moses has put forward suggestions to Turkish Foreign Undersecretary Faruk Lologlu and State Minister responsible for Cyprus affairs, Sukru Sina Gurel, whom he met in Ankara.

The US envoy stated that Ankara was receptive to his proposals.

[04] REFINERY

The trade unions have not ruled out further measures, and noted that if the refinery is upgraded it can become a viable business.

Commenting on the strike, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Nicos Rolandis, said that the Council of Ministers had not yet decided on the future of the refinery and so the reaction of the workers was unnecessary.

Mr. Rolandis said a committee had been set up to look into the upgrading of the refinery, which he said would have to take place before Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

[05] GREECE

The new cabinet comprises 15 new ministers and undersecretaries, out of which 6 are being appointed to their new posts for the first time.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Papandreou, Defence Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Finance Yiannos Papantoniou, and the Interior Vaso Papandreou retain their positions.

Theodoros Pangalos and Alecos Papadopoulos, who had resigned after the Ocalan case, have been brought back into the government.

Evangelos Venizelos, Gerasimos Arsenis and Evangelos Yiannopoulos have been left out of the new cabinet.

[06] ZIMBABWE

The judge did not explain his ruling, saying he had not had time to deal with all the issues raised during a police application on Monday to overturn the order for the eviction of farm squatters.

Veterans of the 1970s war against white minority rule in the former Rhodesia have invaded more than 500 of Zimbabwe's 4,500 mainly white-owned commercial farms, plunging the country into its worst crisis since independence from Britain in 1980.

Zimbabwe's Attorney General Patrick Chinamasa said in Monday's application that 60,000 war veterans were occupying an estimated 1,000 farms and that trying to evict them could trigger a civil war.

President Robert Mugabe has called the invasions a morally justifiable effort to reclaim land taken by the former Rhodesia's white rulers, but says he did not order them.

[07] ELIAN

But the Miami relatives appeared in no mood to cooperate, saying after a meeting in Miami with Attorney General Janet Reno that the family would not willingly hand over the boy.

Reno said a letter containing the transfer instructions has been delivered to the Miami relatives, who have been battling to keep the 6-year-old motherless child in the United States rather than send him back to Cuba to grow up under communism.

[08] WORLD

- - - -

Peru's presidential election will go to a runoff between incumbent Alberto Fujimori and a one-time shoeshine boy, Alejandro Toledo, the National Election Office said, averting a possible political crisis.

- - - -

Pakistan's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, has briefed United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan about his plans to restore democracy in his country.

- - - -

More than 250 suspected illegal immigrants, including women and children, were feared drowned after three boats went missing between Indonesia and Australia in the past month.

- - - -

The White House and key Democrats are nearing agreement on legislation that would increase congressional oversight of Chinese human rights policies, as part of a plan to shore up support for a landmark trade agreement with Beijing.

- - - -

South Koreans began voting in a parliamentary election widely seen as a mid-term referendum on President Kim Dae-jung's administration.

- - - -

In Pakistan, gunmen using hand grenades and automatic weapons killed 14 Shi'ite Moslems praying at a rural mosque in the run-up to one of the most sacred days in the Shi'ite calendar.

- - - -

Bolivian police and soldiers broke up marches by striking workers protesting a state of emergency clamped on the Andean nation over the weekend after an outbreak of violence.

- - - -

Chinese President Jiang Zemin began the first visit to Israel by a Chinese head of state amid strong signs that Israel would sell advanced radar to China despite US opposition.

- - - -

Israel has agreed to a wider US role in peace moves with the Palestinians, hoping to meet a May deadline for a framework peace deal on the toughest issues of their conflict.

- - - -

Cuban leader Fidel Castro began a Third World summit by demanding a "Nuremberg" trial for financiers, but more moderate African and Asian leaders emphasized fair access to world markets and debt relief.

- - - -

Three Mexican federal drug agents were killed in the north of the country in a chilling warning to authorities from one of the country's most-feared drug cartels.

- - - -

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen presented a set of new ideas to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan over plans to put on trial those accused of atrocities under the Khmer Rouge regime.

- - - -

A leading conservation group has said that the world's marine turtle populations are still falling despite a ban on international trade, and six of the seven species still face extinction.

- - - -

US museums said they had not been involved in any wrongdoing when they accepted as gifts or bought works of art that might turn out to have been looted by the Nazis.

[09] STOCK

Total dealings reached 31 million pounds, marking an increase of 6 million pounds.

[10] BOMB

The tourists were taken to hospital with slight injuries and hearing complaints and were later discharged.

An improvised device exploded under the bonnet of a car belonging to local lawyer Charalambos Loizou. The car was parked outside the lawyer's house.

The Police have arrested three people in connection with the explosion.

[11] WEATHER

Low visibility due to dust in the atmosphere will gradually get better.

Winds will be westerly to southwesterly, moderate to strong, four to five beaufort, and locally very strong, six beaufort, over moderate to rough seas.

Tonight will be mainly clear with a few passing clouds.

Winds will be westerly, moderate, four beaufort, over moderate seas.

Temperatures will drop to 12 degrees inland, to 15 along the coast, and to 10 over the mountains.

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