Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 01-01-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Denktash

[03] CoE

[04] Florides

[05] Baggage

[06] World

[07] Bush

[08] Weather WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2001

[01] HEADLINES

--- The British Bases this morning carried out a reconstruction of the events leading to the December 13 abduction of Panicos Tziakourmas.

--- Middle East peace hung in the balance after Israel suspended intensive 11th hour negotiations with the Palestinians following the killing of two Israelis in the West Bank.

--- An army officer in northern Spain escaped unhurt when a bomb under his car failed to explode properly.

And

--- Both sides in Congo's war are pouring in fresh arms and troops, raising prospects of renewed fighting after the death of Laurent Kabila as analysts warn of hard choices, soaring costs and an escalating war.

[02] Denktash

Mr. Denktash said he would not accept a solution formula which would be against Turkish Cypriots, just to avoid being called intransigent.

He also said that during the fourth round of proximity talks, President of the Republic Glafcos Clerides managed to gain promises and guarantees.

The Turkish Cypriot leader described the talks as a waste of time.

So far, five rounds of UN-led proximity talks on the Cyprus problem have been held since December 1999.

The UN Secretary-General has invited the two sides to a sixth round in late January.

The Greek Cypriot side has accepted the invitation, but Mr. Denktash has put forward unacceptable conditions for the resumption of the talks.

[03] CoE

The Tziakourmas issue was raised by British Labour MP Tom Cox during the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Mr. Cox expressed the concerns of the British government and noted that many efforts were being made for Tziakourmas' release.

The Council of Europe's Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer expressed his concern over the matter and urged those responsible for his illegal detention in the Turkish occupied areas of the Republic to respect international law provisions for the health of persons denied their freedom.

[04] Florides

Mr. Florides is on an official visit to Cyprus, to discuss ways to promote cooperation between the two countries in the sports sector, with emphasis on the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The Greek official said after meeting President Clerides that it was very important for Greece that Cyprus participated in planning the Olympics.

Mr. Florides also met with Archbishop Chrysostomos and is scheduled to have meetings with political party leaders.

He will also give a speech tonight on the 2004 Olympics, which will be broadcast live on CyBC's First Radio Channel, after the seven o'clock news.

[05] Baggage

Mr. Kasoulides, who is on an official visit to Spain, had to dash out to the shops to find a presentable suit to wear for a banquet with Spanish King Juan Carlos after discovering the clothes in the suitcase forwarded to him were a little too short and tight.

Similarly, House of Representatives President Spyros Kyprianou, on a visit to Russia, was none too impressed when he found Mr. Kasoulides' clothes instead of his own.

[06] World

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak recalled top negotiators from the talks in Taba, Egypt, for consultations that would decide whether he continues the push for peace less than two weeks before a prime ministerial election on February 6.

- - - -

New Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo won pledges of support from the United States and international financial institutions as she grappled with a depleted treasury and volatile markets.

The legacy of disgraced ex-president Joseph Estrada, ousted in a popular uprising on Saturday, is a ballooning budget deficit, a flight of foreign investment and a host of other economic headaches.

- - - -

Fiji rebel leader George Speight, charged with treason and facing a possible death sentence for leading an assault on parliament last May, appeared before a court and wept as he held his one-year-old son.

The court in the capital Suva ordered that 21 charges against Speight be consolidated into a single charge of treason.

- - - -

Falun Gong members staged fleeting protests on Tiananmen Square on the Lunar New Year festival, a day after five adherents of the spiritual movement set themselves on fire in an attempted group suicide.

Penetrating a police net, at least three Falun Gong practitioners managed to sneak onto the vast plaza in a new act of defiance.

- - - -

Millions of devout Hindus plunged into the cold waters of India's holy Ganges river to wash away their sins at the climax of a huge six-week festival.

Led by naked, ash-smeared Naga Sadhus or holy men, pilgrims surged towards the Sangam, the confluence of India's most sacred river, the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mythical third river.

- - - -

New US President George W. Bush telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to tell the leader of his most important Asian ally that he wanted to meet soon.

The two leaders agreed to hold a summit "at an early date", according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry official.

- - - -

An army officer in northern Spain escaped unhurt when a bomb under his car failed to explode properly.

The attack in the town of Zizur Mayor near Pamplona, the capital of the Navarre region, appeared to be the work of Basque separatist group ETA, which has been waging a campaign of bombings and shootings to back its demands for independence for more than 30 years.

- - - -

Both sides in Congo's war are pouring in fresh arms and troops, raising prospects of renewed fighting after the death of Laurent Kabila as analysts warn of hard choices, soaring costs and an escalating war.

The conflict in the former Belgian colony, potentially Africa's richest nation with complex interlocking regional interests, has involved the armies of at least six African nations and turned the country into a widening battlefield.

[07] Bush

President George W. Bush has lost his middle initial from many computer keyboards at the Old Executive Office Building in the White House complex.

In an apparent prank carried out by departing Clinton administration staffers, Bush aides discovered that dozens of computer keyboards were missing the "W" key.

Bush aides said that the W was marked out in some cases but often the key had been removed -- and sometimes taped on top of doorways -- or damaged with the spring broken.

The new team was studying whether any of the keyboards could be salvaged, but it appeared in many cases they would simply have to be replaced.

Bush made a big deal out of his middle initial during campaign rallies, often holding up the middle three fingers of his hand to form a W.

Bush's middle name is Walker.

Bush aides were working to repair or replace the keys.

[08] Weather

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

Tonight will be cloudy with rain, local thunderstorms and snow on Troodos.

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

Temperatures will drop to 6 degrees inland, to 8 along the coast, and to 1 over the mountains.

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