Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 02-01-02

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Euro

[03] Missing

[04] Lellos

[05] Accident

[06] Australia

[07] Afghan

[08] Weather WEDNESDAY 2 JANUARY 2002

[01] HEADLINES

--- President Glafcos Clerides today received the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons, to talk about the results of his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

--- After thirty years of holding the post of Nicosia Mayor, Lellos Demetriades handed the position over the newly-elected Michalakis Zambelas.

--- Bushfires threatened homes in the leafy northern suburbs of Sydney for a second day today as searing heat and strong winds forced firefighters to battle blazes house by house in Australia's biggest city.

And

--- Officials in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, former powerbase of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, said today negotiations were under way to try to capture the fugitive cleric without bloodshed.

[02] Euro

The largest financial switchover in history got off to a remarkably smooth start yesterday, with no major glitches reported in the 12 European Union states that have abandoned their national coinage and adopted the common currency.

But most major shops and businesses were closed on "e-day" itself, meaning some 300 million Europeans, from the Arctic Circle to the fringes of Africa, only get their first real chance to try out the new money today.

A planned strike by bank and post office staff in France, and a one-day stoppage by workers at Italy's central bank might snarl the euro rollout in those two countries. Elsewhere, officials were confident that all would go according to plan.

The appearance of the notes and coins on New Year's Day was the culmination of the EU's most ambitious project to date, giving Europeans tangible, everyday proof that they share more than just an accident of geography with their neighbours.

Automated teller machines will provide only euros, and stores are expected to offer change in the new money, the death knell for such familiar currencies as Germany's Deutschemark, the French franc and Italian lira.

Most of the 12 old national currencies -- from Ireland's punt, or pound, around since 1928, to Greece's drachma, with a history that goes back some 2.500 years -- will cease to exist by March.

[03] Missing

During the meeting, which lasted over an hour, the President exchanged views with the members of the Committee, whom he told he detected positive intentions on Mr. Denktash's side.

Speaking after the meeting, the Committee's President, Nicos Theodosiou, said that after a four-year deadlock, there seemed to be positive signs from Mr. Denktash.

Mr. Theodosiou expressed satisfaction, because the President had brought up the issue with the Turkish Cypriot leader.

[04] Lellos

The ceremony took place this morning outside the Town Hall in pouring rain, which Mr. Zambelas said was a good omen.

On undertaking his new duties, Mr. Zambelas said his priority over the next few days was to meet all the municipality's staff.

He also intends to launch a month-long campaign to keep the town clean.

[05] Accident

Just before midnight, Charalambous was walking along the Pomos - Polis Chrysohous road, when he was knocked over and seriously injured by a car driven by student Gavriel Kyriakou, 21, from Yiolou.

Charalambous was taken to Polis Chrysohous' hospital, where the doctor on duty found he was already dead.

[06] Australia

Forecast summer temperatures of up to 35 Celsius and winds gusting up to 70 km an hour fanned a blaze on several fronts just a 10-minute drive from Sydney's central business district in the suburb of West Pymble.

Residents and firefighters fought flames with hoses pumping water from backyard swimming pools and with aerial water bombing by helicopters. No houses have been lost in the Sydney fire.

More than 100 fires, most lit by arsonists, have burnt along Australia's east coast since Christmas Day.

Australian police have arrested 21 people for arson.

Police have found two incendiary devices in bushfire areas. One is believed to have started a fire in Sydney's northern suburbs yesterday which has threatened hundreds of homes and forced firefighters to battle blazes house to house.

While thousands of firefighters battle the blazes across NSW, Australia's most populous state, a 35-person police unit, named Strike Force Tronto, is trying to track down serial arsonists suspected of starting the fires.

Australia's worst fires in seven years have destroyed 300,000 hectares of bush, twice the size of greater London, destroyed 150 homes and killed thousands of livestock since Christmas Day. There have been no deaths.

[07] Afghan

About 200 US Marines have also been scouring a suspected hide-out in southern Afghanistan as the US forces hunt for the world's most wanted man -- Osama bin Laden -- his al Qaeda fighters and the Taliban who gave him protection in their rugged and landlocked country.

Mullah Omar is second only to bin Laden on Washington's list of most wanted men and, since 1996, had provided a home to the Saudi-born millionaire militant accused of masterminding the airliner suicide attacks on September 11 that destroyed the World Trade Center and sliced into the Pentagon, killing about 3,000 people.

However, the Marines who rumbled out of Kandahar in a pre-dawn convoy yesterday were not directly taking part in the hunt for Mullah Omar, said the US Central Command, which is running the military campaign that began on October 7.

In the Afghan capital Kabul, a reconnaissance team from 12 nations contributing to an international security force that will work with the interim government in the city arrived today to assess the needs on the ground.

In New York, the new mayor, billionaire publisher Michael Bloomberg, took office and pledged to rebuild the damaged city after the September 11 suicide hijackings that triggered the US-led war in Afghanistan and the toppling of the Taliban.

The intelligence chief in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, Haji Gullalai, said on Tuesday as many as 2,000 fighters were closing in on Mullah Omar and die-hard Taliban fighters who may be protecting him.

[08] Weather

Winds will be southwesterly, strong, five to six beaufort, over rough seas.

Tonight will be partially cloudy with rain and snow.

Winds will be westerly to southwesterly, strong, five to six beaufort, over rough seas.

Temperatures will drop to 3 degrees inland, to 6 along the coast, and to minus 2 over the mountains.

Frost will form in several areas.

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article