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Friday, 27 December 2024
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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 02-12-19Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>CONTENTS
[01] HeadlinesAn unexpected last minute glitz overturned developments around the issue of the replies of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides to the second letter by the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan,The Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who underwent heart surgery in October, was rushed to hospital and discharged one hour later, stating that he felt well, European Commission President Romano Prodi proposed an ambitious federalist constitution for the European Union, seeking wide new powers for his EU executive and rejecting an appointed "president of Europe" and "Pretty Woman" star Richard Gere's animal magnetism has won him the unwelcome accolade of being declared the year's worst celebrity waffler by Britain's Plain English Campaign. [02] Sec councilThe UN Security Council expressed regret for the lack of progress at the recent talks aimed at the reunification of Cyprus, but also reiterated its hope that there can be agreement soon. It also expressed unanimous support for the efforts of the UN Secretary General for achieving a settlement in the first few months of 2003. The Council convened last night and was briefed by the UN Secretary General's advisor on the Cyprus problem Alvaro De Soto on the results of his negotiations in Copenhagen, on the sidelines of the European council. The president of the Council, Colombian representative Alfonso Vadivieso, expressed regret that the leadership of the Turkish cypriots has not responded to Kofi Anan's initiative.[03] Powell CyprusAmerican foreign minister Colin Powell expressed support for Kofi Anan's efforts to solve the Cyprus issue, based on the Anan plan and called on the four interested parties to make every effort to achieve a solution by the end of Februrary. Meanwhile, the president of the EU council of ministers, Danish foreign minister Per Sting Meller stressed, that this historic opportunity for a united Cyprus to join the Union, must not missed. Powell and Meller met last night in Washington.[04] Turkey EUTurkey rejected the European Union's decision to allow Cyprus to join on first May 2004. In a written statement, the Turkish foreign ministry claimed that the EU violated international agreements and has no right to decide on the future of Cyprus. It also announced that it will keep supporting the break away pseudo state in occupied Cyprus, under the leadership of Rauf Denktash and did not rule out annexing the occupied part of the island. In response, Greek foreign minister Yiorgos Papandreou stressed that the issue of EU accession for Cyprus, has closed. Commenting on the Turkish announcement, Papandreou remarked that the answer to this issue us the decision in Copenhagen.[05] House meetingThe house of representatives convenes today in an all-day meeting during which the president of the house and party leaders or representatives will put forward their positions on developments in the Cyprus issue, before and after the Copenhagen summit. Today's meeting, the last before the Christmas holidays, will see the passing of no less than 50 bills, most of which concern the harmonisation with the acqui communitaire and have to be passed before the end of the year.[06] Turkey academicAn academic was shot dead outside his home in Ankara yesterday in an attack reminiscent of political killings that plagued Turkey in the 1990s.Necip Hablemitoglu, a political science professor at Ankara University, was ambushed and shot in the head by one or more attackers as he returned home from work, state-run Anatolian news agency said, citing police sources. Some of his publications had focused on radical Islamist groups but there was no immediate word on the motive for the killing. Police surrounded the scene on a city centre street and the interior minister cut short a meeting to oversee the case, Anatolian said. A series of secular intellectuals in the country, which hopes to join the European Union, were killed in the 1990s in similar hitman-style. Most of those cases remain unsolved. [07] Brazil tragedyAt least seven people died and dozens were missing after a boat crammed with up to 300 passengers capsized and sank on a river in Brazil's Amazon jungle.The riverboat, the Dom Luiz 15-1, licensed to carry 140 passengers but with additional cargo capacity, sank on Tuesday night near the town of Barcarena, about 2,000 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. It was heading for the Para state capital of Belem from Manaus, a journey of several days The spokeswoman said 207 passengers had been rescued but authorities did not know how many people were missing -- estimates ranged from 50 to 80 -- as many aboard the ship were unregistered passengers. It is not unusual for the authorities to be left guessing about how many people are missing when an overcrowded boat capsizes on one of the many rivers in the northern jungle. The spokeswoman said the Dom Luiz 15-1 was checked last week and no problems were found. [08] VenezuelaVenezuela's government authorized the military to commandeer private ships, trucks and planes to keep supplies running during a strike against President Hugo Chavez that is throttling oil exports and food and fuel deliveries.Strike leaders denounced the move as illegal, accused Chavez of trying to seize private property, and vowed to maintain the 17-day-old protest to demand that he quit the presidency of the world's No. 5 oil exporter. In a clear setback for Chavez, the Supreme Court ordered the government to relinquish its military takeover of the Caracas police and return the force to the leadership of anti-Chavez Mayor Alfredo Pena. Citing national security, Chavez's government decreed the strike-breaking measures to counter the opposition shutdown, which has crippled South America's largest petroleum producer, slashing its oil output to less than 15 percent of normal. [09] Iraq usMeanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was expected to say that Iraq's weapons declaration contained omissions that amount to a violation of a U.N. Security Council disarmament resolution.But as the chief U.N. weapons inspector prepared to brief the Security Council on Baghdad's weapons dossier, it remained unclear whether the United States would declare Iraq to be in "material breach" of the resolution. Such a declaration could set the stage for a military attack but U.S. officials insisted on Wednesday that this would not be an immediate trigger for war. But at the same time, the U.S. military was told to notify up to 50 thousand troops that they may be sent to the Gulf early next year as the United States builds up its forces there. Officials said U.S. President George W. Bush had made no final decision on the preliminary plan to deploy reinforcements to an area where the United States currently has about 60,000 troops. [10] SudanThirty-one people including 16 children were killed when a bus plunged into a ditch and caught fire in southeast Sudan, the independent Al-Ayam newspaper said on Thursday.Al-Ayam said the bus was travelling north from the town of Damazin, about 500 kilometers southeast of Khartoum, when it fell into the ditch, split in two and caught fire, engulfing many passengers in the flames. Forty-six people were injured in the accident. [11] TailerA swingers club in Berlin has been forced to shut because a court ruled that members' moans and shrieks of pleasure broke noise regulations.Partner-swapping customers at the ground-floor club called "Zwielicht" -- a German word meaning both "twilight" and "dubious" -- upset those living upstairs, a Berlin court ruled this week. "There are other clubs and brothels in this area and the customers there don't make so much noise. They are more discreet," a court spokeswoman said. Berlin actress Anouschka Renzi, who lives above the club, told the court she was tired of seeing men wearing only bathrobes getting out of limousines on their way into the club. "This is not a red-light district," she said. [12] WeatherIt will be rainy this afternoon, with thunderstorms in some areas. Sleet will fall on the Troodos mountains. Winds will be southeasterly to southwesterly, moderate to strong, force four to five inland and very strong force six to seven on the coast, over moderate to rough seas. Temperatures will reach 15 degrees inland, 17 on the coast and 7 on the mountains. Tonight it will be rainy, with snow on the Troodos mountains. Winds will be moderate to strong westerly to southwesterly, force four to five, moderate to strong, force six to seven, over rough seas. Temperatures will fall to seven degrees inland, ten on the coast and three on the mountains.Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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