Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-07-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] MACSHANE CYPRUS

[03] STEPHANOPOULOS

[04] IRAQ EXPLOSION

[05] MIDEAST

[06] MIDEAST ANNAN

[07] GIRL MARINE

[08] AUSSIE FORK

[09] KOSOVO COURT

[10] WEATHER EUROPE

[11] WEATHER Wednesday 16/07/03

[01] HEADLINES

-- An explosion killed a U.S. soldier in Iraq today, bringing the death toll of servicemen killed in combat since the U.S.-led invasion to 147, equalling the total of American fatalities in the 1991 Gulf War.

--Israeli commandos today freed unharmed an Israeli taxi driver held by Palestinians in a kidnapping that jolted relative calm ushered in by a Palestinian ceasefire crucial to a U.S.-backed peace plan.

And, -- A 12-year-old British girl who ran off with a former U.S. Marine she met on the Internet has contacted her parents and told them she is safe.

[02] MACSHANE CYPRUS

Asked by a british MP how Turkey's candidacy for EU accession is affected by the country's non-complaince with the decision of the European Court of Human rights the decision to pay damages to Greek Cypriot Titina Loizidou for loss of enjoyment of her property, Mr. MacShane repeated Britain's support to Turkey's candidacy.

[03] STEPHANOPOULOS

Acceping his italian counterpart, Carlo Angelio Champi who is visiting Athens, Mr. Stephanopoulos referred to the positive prospects for the people of Cyprus with Cyprus' accession to the EU, and expressed the hope that Turkish Cypriots will realise the benefits of participating in the european family.

[04] IRAQ EXPLOSION

A military convoy driving on a highway near Abu Ghraib, 25 km west of Baghdad, was hit by an explosion that badly damaged a military truck and left two other soldiers wounded.

The body of the dead soldier lay on the highway covered with a yellow sheet as the two wounded men received treatment. Helicopters hovered above and U.S. soldiers stood guard, pointing their machineguns towards the edge of the road and peering through binoculars for other possible attackers.

The blast was the latest in a spate of increasingly bold guerrilla attacks. U.S. forces have come under daily attack in recent weeks which have continued despite a crackdown by U.S. troops in areas to the northeast and north of the capital, once a hotbed for Saddam loyalists.

[05] MIDEAST

In London, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to disarm and dismantle militant groups to bolster the Middle East "road map" to peace.

The release of Eliahu Gurel, in his early 60s, came a day after a Palestinian fatally stabbed an Israeli strolling along the Tel Aviv seaside promenade in the first militant attack inside Israel since the truce was declared on June 29.

The elite security forces were led to Gurel by two kidnappers arrested earlier in the day. A third was detained while trying to escape during the rescue, the army said.

[06] MIDEAST ANNAN

The appeal, read on Mr. Annan's behalf at the start of a two-day seminar, came as the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it had received nothing but promises in response to its latest appeal.

Despite a worsening humanitarian situation in Israeli-occupied areas, pledges of only $3 million had come in since an emergency appeal last month for 103 million dollars.

Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, told a news conference that as of now they have received nothing.

Even if the agency received 10 times the amount pledged so far, Mr. Hansen warned, food distribution could be cut by half, thousands of local UNRWA-linked jobs lost, and many education and trauma-treatment services scaled back or scrapped.

The European Commission, which is one of the Palestinian Authority's main aid donors, said it had already given UNRWA 57.8 million euros (65.3 million dollars) for its general fund in 2003.

[07] GIRL MARINE

A Manchester Police spokeswoman said the girl rang her mother at home to say that she was safe, but did not say where she was.

British police launched an international hunt for Shevaun Pennington after she ran away from home and flew to France with Toby Studabaker, 31, on Saturday.

Studabaker himself has also been in contact with his family and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) saying the girl -- who he claims lied about her age -- is "fine".

Studbaker's sister-in-law said the marine is very upset because the girl has lied about her age to him.

The schoolgirl's disappearance has rekindled concern in Britain over so-called "grooming" by paedophile adults who prey on children via the Internet. Home Secretary David Blunkett addressed those concerns in the House of Commons yesterday.

[08] AUSSIE FORK

A 22-year-old Australian man was arrested when Flight TG 991 landed in Sydney.

A Thai Airways spokeswoman said the victim had been stabbed with a metal fork used for in-flight meals. The 50-year-old Thai victim was treated in hospital for cuts to his head and neck. His injuries were described as "non-life threatening".

The Thai Airways spokeswoman said the man who had stabbed him was restrained by flight crew and two other passengers.

The alleged offender was also receiving medical treatment for unspecified reasons and had yet to be interviewed by police.

A string of recent security breaches have rattled passengers already skittish after the September 11, 2001, aircraft attacks in the United States.

[09] KOSOVO COURT

In Kosovo's first war crimes trial against ex-members of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, a panel of three international judges sentenced ex-commander "Remi" to 17 years imprisonment.

A prosecutor in the U.N.-run province had charged the four with torturing fellow ethnic Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serb officials during the conflict. Remi and two of the others were also accused of murdering civilians.

[10] WEATHER EUROPE

Three other people were still missing after the sudden storms broke a heatwave along the southern part of France's Atlantic coast late on Tuesday evening, they said.

Falling pine trees devastated tents and trailers at a campsite in Biscarosse, a beach resort between Bordeaux and Biarritz. Winds and occasional hailstorms knocked out power supplies in the area and interrupted train services.

Several hundred people had to seek shelter in local schools or municipal building.

[11] WEATHER

Temperatures will rise to 37 C inland, 33 C on the south coast, 30 C on the west and 29 over the mountains.

Tonight the weather will be clear with some cloud in the atmosphere and thin mist and low cloud forming in some areas.

Winds will be south-westerly to north-westerly light, two to three beaufort and the sea slight. Temperatures will fall to 21 C inland, on the south and east coast and 19 over the west, north and mountains.

The fire hazard is extremely high in all forest areas.

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