Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-10-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] MIDEAST

[03] SHARON SPEAKS

[04] ATHENS CYPRUS

[05] GRAPES BLOCK

[06] YUGO SITUATION

[07] CSE DOWN

[08] GERMANY UNITY

[09] ABU SAYAF

[10] SYDNEY AFTERMATH

[11] TAILER

[12] WEATHER TUESDAY 3 OCTOBER 2000

[01] HEADLINES

The Cyprus issue will be at the forefront of talks between Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, the Greek and Cyprus political leadership and foreign dignitaries, in the next two weeks, AND

The second day of a blockade and campaign of civil disobedience called by opponents of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had little effect on the capital early today.

The opposition, which is trying to force Milosevic to concede electoral defeat to its candidate Vojislav Kostunica, has called a series of demonstrations for later in the day in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia.

[02] MIDEAST

According to eye-witness reports, the soldiers withdrew from the Ayosh junction near the Palestinian-ruled city of Ramallah, a spot that one Israeli army official had called a "battle zone".

Israeli and Palestinian security officials agreed earlier to try to end days of fierce fighting before Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat meet in Paris tomorrow with US foreign minister Madeleine Albright in an effort to end the bloodshed.

Two earlier ceasefires failed to halt the worst fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians in at least four years.

There were no early reports of violence today in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the main flashpoints.

The clashes, in which at least 56 people have been killed and more than 1500 injured, erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last Thursday following a visit by Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a site in Jerusalem's walled Old City which is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.

The riots, which have seriously dented peacemaking efforts in the region, have usually started later in the day and the ability of commanders to control protesters is uncertain.

[03] SHARON SPEAKS

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the right-wing Sharon's visit last Thursday to the site revered by Muslims as Al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as the ancient Temple Mount was "definitely counter-productive".

Siaron blatantly accused Palestinians and some Israeli-Arab lawmakers of helping to incite the unrest.

He dismissed as "an incorrect presentation of the situation" charges that the bloodshed might have been avoided had he not made the visit to the site where two mosques are built over the traditional Jewish site of the biblical temple.

[04] ATHENS CYPRUS

Mr Papandreou will brief Greek political leaders as well as the parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee, during the week on the situation in the Cyprus issue, as it stands after the fourth round of UN-sponsored proximity talks held last month in New York.

Tomorrow, Giorgos Papandreou will discuss current developments on Cyprus with Cyprus parliamentary party leaders.

Cyprus will also top the agenda at Mr Papandreou's meeting with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanof, expected in Greece next Wednesday.

Later this month, the Greek Foreign Minister will meet his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem in Rhodes and Turkey and are expected to discuss developments in the Cyprus problem.

[05] GRAPES BLOCK

The producers demanded a rise in grape prices, to make up for lost income from low production due to bad weather conditions.

The blockade caused car tails that run for miles, as there is no other road linking Paphos and Limassol.

Three out of the four agricultural Unions supported the move.

Responsibility for low grape prices as well as inadequate compensation for lost income, was thrown on Commerce and Industry Minister Nikos Rolandis.

The protest ended peacefully.

[06] YUGO SITUATION

A few businesses were closed, but traffic flowed smoothly, public transport was working, and all bridges and roads leading from the outskirts to the centre were clear.

Even obstacles that had been placed on the roads yesterday, had been removed.

The opposition, which is trying to force Milosevic to concede electoral defeat to its candidate Vojislav Kostunica, has called a series of demonstrations for later in the day in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia.

Yesterday the wave of protests caused widespread disruptions across Serbia, blocking major roads and railways and threatening to cripple the republic's power supply.

[07] CSE DOWN

The General Price Index declined by almost two and a half percent and slumped to its lowest point this year.

It closed at three hundred and forty-eight point seventy two units as opposed to 357 yesterday.

The volume of trading was particularly low in comparison with yesterday.

It reached 11 million pounds, falling by eight million compared with yesterday's meeting.

[08] GERMANY UNITY

French President Jacques Chirac, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and prime ministers from Germany's eastern neighbours joined Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and other guests at the Church of the Holy Cross.

Like the rest of this baroque gem of a city, it was destroyed in a British fire-bombing raid in 1945. Starkly rebuilt with little trace of its former decoration, it spent a further four decades behind the Iron Curtain.

On October 3, 1990, the regions of once Communist East Germany acceded to the Federal Republic, less than a year after its people had forced open the Berlin Wall. With the blessing of a flagging Soviet Union, a bridge was thrown across the east-west chasm dividing Europe.

[09] ABU SAYAF

It also said it had received information the Abu Sayyaf rebels planned to kidnap more people from neighbouring Malaysia to replace the hostages they had lost in an 18-day-old military assault on their hideouts on southern Jolo island.

12 Christian evangelists were recovered from rebel captivity yesterday.

The Abu Sayyaf originally seized 21 people, including foreign tourists seized in Malaysia in April.

Twenty of them have been freed after alleged payment of ransom running up to one million dollars per hostage.

The rebels have also released two journalists from Germany and France while two members of a French television crew escaped.

The five hostages still in captivity include one American, three Malaysians and a Filipino resort worker.

[10] SYDNEY AFTERMATH

Two days after International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared Sydney's Games the best ever, hundreds of thousands of people turned out to honour the Australian team with a ticker-tape parade.

Australia's biggest stars, including athlete Cathy Freeman and swimmer Ian Thorpe, received thunderous applause as they drove past in open cars while military bands played "Waltzing Matilda" and "Advance Australia Fair."

Australian Governor-General Sir William Deane said Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Australia's head of state, had sent him a letter praising Sydney's Olympics, saying that the result was a tribute to all that is best in Australia.

[11] TAILER

Fraga was on the 14th floor of a Rio de Janeiro building discussing interest rates and institutional risk when three well-dressed robbers using official identification entered the 13th-floor Banco do Brasil branch.

The armed men took a bank employee hostage and made off with about 54,000 dollars that was about to be paid to the bank's workers.

Fraga walked out of the building minutes before the police surrounded the area.

Sadly, the robbers escaped.

[12] WEATHER

Winds will be light to moderate, northeasterly, three to four beaufort and the sea will be moderate on the north and east coast.

Temperatures will reach 32 degrees centigrade inland and on the south and east coast and 30 on the west coast.

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