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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 02-01-23Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>CONTENTS
[01] Headlines--- President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash continue their direct talks on the Cyprus problem this afternoon, with their third meeting since the negotiations began.--- Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has said that Cyprus' accession to the European Union will act as a catalyst towards ending the de facto division of Cyprus. --- Two women died from wounds before dawn today, hours after a Palestinian gunman went on a shooting spree in Jerusalem's main shopping street wounding 14 other people. And --- Afghanistan shifted its focus today to ways of turning aid pledges of more than 4,5 billion dollars into tangible benefits -- security, schools and hospitals -- for a country shattered by two decades of war. [02] TalksPresident Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash continue their direct talks on the Cyprus problem this afternoon, with their third meeting since the negotiations began.The meeting is scheduled to start at five o'clock and talks will begin on the authorities of the two sides. Yesterday, the two leaders submitted general positions on a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. Although the meetings at this stage are just to get to know each other's positions, the two sides seem to have a different starting point regarding strategy and tactics. CyBC sources said President Clerides directly links one aspect of the problem with another, especially as regards territory, while Mr. Denktash tries to focus on constitution aspects, in order to obtain some benefits without actually giving anything in return. Mr. Denktash is also insisting on the unacceptable position for a confederation settlement. [03] PapaharvGovernment Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou has clarified that the meetings abroad between groups of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots never discussed anything that did not comply with National Council decisions.Mr. Papapetrou said that there was no secrecy surrounding the meetings. He added that these meetings took place to exchange views on ways to bring the two communities closer together. [04] SimitisGreek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has said that Cyprus' accession to the European Union will act as a catalyst towards ending the de facto division of Cyprus.He added that benefits from full membership will reach both sides on the island. Mr. Simitis affirmed that Greece would continue its initiatives towards Turkey, in the context set out by the European Union, so as to apply the Helsinki agreement and the time frame for Turkey's European Union course. The Greek Premier was speaking from Sofia, where he was on an official visit to promote a Balkan economic development plan. [05] CoEThe Cypriot delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has managed to secure important amendments to paragraphs in the Assembly's resolution.However, the resolution does include a paragraph urging the European Union to create a mechanism that would allow products from the Turkish occupied areas of the island to be exported to the 15-nation bloc. The Cypriot delegation managed to hinder Turkish efforts for some form of recognition of the regime in the occupied areas. Meanwhile, a member of the Assembly's panel suggested that Turkish Cypriots be given the right to attend meetings and express their views. This effort failed, as the Cypriot delegation made clear that this could not be accepted for political and procedural reasons. [06] BudgetThe House of Representatives starts discussing the state budget for the year 2002 this afternoon.The plenary session will first hear the report of the House Finance and Budget Committee, followed by political party speeches. Deliberations will continue tomorrow and conclude Friday, when the deputies will cast their vote on the proposed budget. The discussion will be broadcast live over the three days from CyBC's TV Channel One and the Radio Channel One. [07] MideastTwo women died from wounds before dawn today, hours after a Palestinian gunman went on a shooting spree in Jerusalem's main shopping street wounding 14 other people.Yesterday's attack came after Israeli troops killed four Islamic militants in another round of retribution that drew US concern but no immediate action. The two women who died were aged 56 and 78, a hospital spokeswoman said. Their identities were not released. Two others victims were said to be in serious condition. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a news briefing in Washington the United States planned to send Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region -- but gave no date. The gunman, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, sprayed bullets at a bus stop and into shops before police chased him into a parking lot and shot him dead. The militant group, linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, said it carried out the attack to avenge the death in a bomb blast last week of one of its leaders, Raed al-Karmi, and what it called other assassinations. Israel said it would retaliate "appropriately". The latest bloodshed dealt a new blow to US-led hopes of ending bloodshed that has claimed the lives of more than 1.000 people since a Palestinian uprising began almost 16 months ago. Boucher said the United States was pushing Arafat to dismantle militant groups. In tandem with US diplomatic pressure on Arafat, Israel has besieged his main West Bank headquarters with tanks and demanded he arrest the killers of an Israeli cabinet minister. Palestinians say Israel is out to topple him. Boucher said the United States continued to oppose Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled territory. [08] AfghanAfghanistan shifted its focus today to ways of turning aid pledges of more than 4,5 billion dollars into tangible benefits -- security, schools and hospitals -- for a country shattered by two decades of war.Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai flew to Beijing to meet Chinese leaders who are wary of the US military presence in Afghanistan now the Taliban militia has been defeated. The United States dismissed mounting criticism of its handling of captured Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insisting they were treated humanely. Washington blames Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network for the September 11 attacks on the United States that killed more than 3.000 people. As international critics called for the United States to consider as prisoners of war the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters it is holding at a US military base on Cuba, Rumsfeld emphatically denied they were being ill-treated. In Afghanistan, officials pledged to battle corruption amid concerns over how the billions of dollars pledged at a donor conference in Tokyo this week would be distributed. [09] Short storiesGunmen attacked police guarding a US cultural centre in Calcutta, killing at least four and reviving tensions in South Asia during a dangerous military stand-off between India and Pakistan.- - - - The United States gave credence to reports that fewer Pakistan-based militants were crossing into India in divided Kashmir, increasing pressure on New Delhi to give credit to Pakistan's president for trying to end what it calls cross-border terrorism. - - - - Emergency workers bulldozed a route through drying lava to allow trucks to start ferrying food to the volcano-stricken Congolese town of Goma. - - - - Foreign governments and banks urged Argentina to get its act together and defuse a chaotic financial crisis, while the International Monetary Fund gave strong hints that an aid deal might fall short of expectations. - - - - Two former Bosnian Serb leaders accused of helping to mastermind one of the bloodiest campaigns of "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia go on trial in the Hague today charged with genocide. - - - - Zimbabwe police said they were investigating the deaths of four people in political violence over the past week as President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the main opposition party traded accusations on the murder of their supporters. - - - - Russia abruptly pulled the plug on its only nationwide independent television station, giving the Kremlin a monopoly of the airwaves for the first time since the Soviet era and sparking international concern. - - - - Netscape, AOL Time Warner Inc Internet browser unit, have sued Microsoft Corp seeking damages for violations of antitrust law found in a landmark government case against the software giant. [10] Tailer SexFrequent sex won't increase the chances of a heart attack in middle-aged men. Nearly a thousand men aged 45-59 were recruited in and around the Welsh town of Caerphilly and tracked for 20 years. A quarter said they did the deed at least twice a week, whilst one in five performed less than once a month. The rest came somewhere in between. The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, concluded that there was no clear evidence of more frequent sex increasing the chances of a stroke. Those who had sex less than once a month were more likely to suffer sudden death from heart disease, although the likelihood decreased as the men got older. With the evidence in mind, the researchers concluded that, based on a lifetime of sex once a week on average for 50 years, only one in 580 men might die as a result of sexual exertions.[11] WeatherIt will be mainly fine this afternoon. Winds will be light northeasterly three to four beaufort, over slight seas. Tonight it will remain mainly clear. Winds will be light northwesterly two to three beaufort, over slight seas. Temperatures will fall to three degrees inland, six on the coast and one below zero on the mountains, where frost is expected to form. The depth of snow on Mount Olympus is 90 centimetres, with 60 on Troodos square. All roads to Troodos are open to traffic, except the Prodromos-Troodos road open only to non-slip chains or four wheel drive.Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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