Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 01-04-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Clerides presser

[03] imms

[04] crime

[05] turkey

[06] mideast

[07] space tourist

[08] bahrain ban

[09] weather MONDAY 30 APRIL 2001

[01] HEADLINES

A Lebanese-flagged vessel with 25 passengers on board is apprehended by police and turned back off Cyprus' southeastern tip;

Turkey's treasury announces measures aimed at easing its financial crisis, while the country's Prime Minister is re-elected to the leadership of his party;

Israel's Foreign Minister begins four days of UN and US contacts;

The first space tourist reaches his orbiting destination;

The Cyprus Stock Exchange opens the week hale and hearty;

and....

Bahrain restricts visits by single women.

[02] Clerides presser

Speaking during a Presidential Palace press conference, Cyprus President also referred to three mainstays of his internal administration, comprising:

- Legislative amendements to institutions as regards the island's adoption of the EU aquis communautaire,

- the modernisation of societal and economic institutions, and

- the setting up of a reliable defence which will act as a deterrent to Turkey's expansionist goals and which will contribute positively to the strengthening of the island's diplomatic potential in the effort to reach a just and viable solution to the Cyprus Issue.

In addition, the President of the Republic also noted during his opening statement that the island's EU-accession course can only act as a catalyst towards the modernisation and restructuring of Cyprus' economy and society.

[03] imms

Following the apprehension and boarding of the craft, it was ascertained that the 25 were planning to illegally enter the Cyprus Republic. The small vessel was duly escorted back to Lebanon by a police boat.

Speaking on our Third Radio Channel this morning, the Chief of Cyprus' Port Police, Theodoros Stylianou, said that a lot of information has been coming in over the last few days concerning the departure of intended illegal immigrants from Turkey, Lebanon and Syria.

Meanwhile, Saturday morning saw the apprehension by Police of 5 illegal immigrants in the Dhekeleia area. They comprise one man, two women and two children, all of them Iraqi Kurds.

[04] crime

The 5 a.m. blast caused extensive damage to the car, parked in the Ephesos Court lot on Ermokleous Street at the time. Two other cars parked in the same lot were also damaged.

In a separate incident, a fire which broke out at Ayia Napa's "Yiannis Motorcycle Rental" agency at around 1 a.m. today caused extensive damages to the premises themselves, as well as to a machine shop, a pub and a car parked just outside.

Police investigations into both incidents are continuing.

[05] turkey

Handling Turkey's hefty domestic debt load is one of the main aims of the 10 billion dollar rescue package the country has agreed with the IMF and World Bank, as it tries to clean up the mess in its crisis-rocked financial sector.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit last night comfortably retained the leadership of his Democratic Left Party at a congress held in the capital, Ankara.

The result firmly placed the 75-year-old Ecevit at the helm of the largest party in a coalition government which last week suceeded in obtaining the IMF and World Bank loans. Party delegates gave Ecevit 963 votes against 86 for challenger Sema Pishkinsut, whose request to address the congress before the voting was turned down in a vote of hands.

In a brief acceptance speech, Bulent Ecevit vowed to work day and night to be worthy of the trust placed in him.

[06] mideast

Before heading to the US, Peres held late-night talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, after which he remained cryptical as to whether or not Israel had lifted its reservations about the Egyptian-Jordanian proposal, which also calls for confidence-building measures and a return to peace talks.

Peres is to start his US visit by meeting the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today. He's also scheduled to hold talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday and see US President George W. Bush at the White House on Thursday.

Late yesterday meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian security officials held another round of talks at the Erez crossing between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip. As they met however, a gunbattle raged between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, while other violent incidents also marked the day, underlining the urgency of peace efforts.

[07] space tourist

Live television pictures at Russian mission control showed the Soyuz float toward the round docking port on the station's Russian-built Zvezda module.

The capsule carried 60-year-old California millionaire Dennis Tito and two Russian cosmonauts on a resupply mission to the space station. They will spend a week as guests of the orbiter's current crew of two Americans and a Russian.

Tito became the first tourist in space on Saturday, when he took off for his 20 million dollar trip to the space station, a journey made despite angry protests from NASA.

A spokeswoman at mission control said that Tito was feeling well today, but that yesterday he'd been sick and had vomited. Motion sickness is common even in professional spacemen on their first flights.

[08] bahrain ban

According to an Information Ministry official, the Gulf Arab state will restrict visits by single women, with those wishing to visit having to obtain visas from Bahrain's embassies abroad or through the companies employing them, rather than wait to receive visas at the airport, as most foreigners do.

The Bahraini official was specifically quoted by Reuters as saying "Women travelling alone will not be given visas upon arrival at the airport."

Families, couples and men will continue to be granted visas on arrival. It was not immediately clear however if the restriction applies only to unmarried women, or to all women travelling alone, regardless of their marital status.

No reason for the restriction was given.

[09] weather

Scattered showers are also forecast for this evening, while limited visibility due to an increased incidence of dust in the atmosphere can also be expected. Winds will abate to light to moderate northeasterlies, 3-4BF, on moderate seas, while temperatures will drop to 14C inland, 17C in coastal regions, and 12C on the higher reaches of the Troodos mountains.

Tomorrow's forecast meanwhile once again includes scattered showers as well as isolated thunderstorms.

The fire hazard is high in all forest areas.

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