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Monday, 25 November 2024
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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-08-26Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>CONTENTS
[01] headlinesThe government dismissed Rauf Denktash's charges that the Greek Cypriot side has a vested interest in the occupied north's so-called parliamentary elections,Joint Greece-Cyprus committees working on the Annan plan are making good progress, the government says, A fire at an Ayia Napa hotel forced the evacuation of scores of hotel guests, AND India has stepped up security nationwide to avoid Hindu-Muslim clashes following deadly car bombings in Bombay. [02] DenktashRauf Denktash claimed the Greek Cypriot side has a vested interest in a possible victory by Turkish Cypriot opposition parties in the occupied north's so-called parliamentary elections this December.Mr. Denktash urged Turkish Cypriots to realise the games he said are being played and to take the right decision at the ballot box. He also claimed that the Greek Cypriot side sees Turkish Cypriots as second class citizens and is eager to see an opposition election victory purely out of self-interest. Mr. Denktash called on President Tassos Papadopoulos to accept that there are two separate states on the island if he really wishes for progress in settlement talks. The Turkish Cypriot leader also urged the President to take action and solve the property issue and to stop "threatening" Greek Cypriots who heeded his call to seek compensation from his regime. [03] ChrysostomidesCommenting on Rauf Denktash's remarks, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the government does not interfere with the so-called elections in the north.Mr. Chrysostomides said Rauf Dentkash's negative stance and his chauvinist and extremist positions constitute the main obstacle to a Cyprus settlement. The government spokesman added that what's necessary is a policy change by Ankara which continues to prop up Rauf Denktash and Turkish Cypriot political parties that toe his line. Mr. Chrysostomides repeated that the government aims to achieve a Cyprus settlement based on the Annan plan by the first of May, 2004. [04] Chrysostomides2Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the joint Cyprus-Greece committees on the Cyprus issue are functioning properly and that several meetings have already been make.He said studies are being carried out on the legal, economic and political aspects of the Annan plan. Speaking on CyBC radio, Mr. Chrysostomides said the studies will be forwarded to National Council members who will ultimately decide on what changes need to be made to the UN blueprint, once talks re-start. The government spokesman repeated that the Papadopoulos' administration's position hasn't changed since The Hague talks. He added that the Greek Cypriot side is ready for negotiations based on the Annan plan without any conditions so that a functional framework can be worked out for the benefit of both Greek and Turkish Cpriots. Mr. Chrysostomides said it's acknowledged by all that under prevailing circumstances, some points to the UN settlement blueprint need to be changed. [05] FireGuests at an Ayia Napa hotel were rudely awakened last night after a a fire destroyed a car parked in the basement parking.The fire, believed to be the work of arsonists, also caused extensive damage to the hotel. Hydrogen cannisters and oil containers were almost set alight. The heavy smoke forced hotel guests to evacuate their rooms. The fire, which broke out at around 2:30 am, destroyed 30 sunbeds and other hotel equipment. Damage is estimated at 30,000 pounds. The car, estimated at around 2,500 pounds, belonged to 50 year-old Lakatamia resident Michalis Ioannou. Police believe professional rivalries were behind the arson attack. [06] IndiaIndia stepped up security nationwide to head off any Hindu-Muslim violence as grieving families of the victims of twin car bombings in the financial capital Bombay prepared to cremate their dead.Police have blamed the bombings, which killed 48 people, on an outlawed Muslim students group, acting along with a Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatists. Among the victims were eight people from western Gujarat state, where at least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, died last year in revenge killings following an attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims from the northern holy town of Ayodhya. The eight Gujaratis had been on a pilgrimage to a Hindu festival and were in Bombay on holiday. Gujarat police officials said authorities had posted police along the route where the bodies of the eight Gujaratis would be returned for cremation. In Bombay, police raided slums and picked up people for questioning about Monday's bombs, which were planted in two taxis. [07] mideastIsrael asked Japan to use its clout to persuade Palestinians to crack down on "terrorist organisations" and raised concerns over a nuclear programme in Iran, one of Japan's biggest oil suppliers.Tokyo, which relies on the Middle East for the bulk of its oil supplies, has extended more than $630 million in economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority over the past decade. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom also warned of links between Iran's nuclear plans and those of North Korea, a diplomatic crisis over which has left Japan on edge since last autumn. Concerns over Tehran's nuclear programme are hampering Japanese efforts to strike a deal with Iran to develop a giant oil field. [08] IraqU.S. troops hunting guerrillas and criminals raided homes overnight in Iraq's restive "Sunni triangle", as tension simmered among ethnic groups in the north and Shi'ite factions in the south.The U.S. 4th Infantry Division said hundreds of soldiers had raided homes north of Baghdad last night, looking for a gang accused of crimes in the area. Officers said several people had been detained. U.S. forces have mounted scores of raids in Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland around Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, looking for the fugitive ex-dictator, his lieutenants and guerrillas who have killed 64 U.S. soldiers since May 1. Senior U.S. officers based in one of Saddam's former palaces in Tikrit say they believe the deposed president is in disguise and moving every few hours to evade capture. [09] GreeceRussian prosecutors said they were preparing a request to extradite former Russian media baron Vladimir Gusinsky from Greece.51-year-old Gusinsky was one of a small group of Russian businessmen who made vast fortunes in the immediate post-Soviet period, but fled Russia in 2000 after prosecutors opened a criminal case against him. He was arrested at Athens airport on August 21 on an international warrant on suspicion of a $250 million fraud and a Greek prosecutor yesterday ordered him to be detained while the extradition issue was settled by Greece's top court. His arrest came in the midst of a row between the Kremlin and another "oligarch", Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which has fuelled talk that President Vladimir Putin is reining in the super-rich elite ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections. [10] weatgerThis afternoon will be fine with some cloudy periods.Moderate sea breezes, force 4 to 5, will be accompanied by slight to moderate seas. Temperatures will reach 37 degrees inland, 33 on the south coast, 31 in the west and 28 in the highest mountains. More fine conditions tonight with the chance of fog and low cloud developing along the coasts. Winds will be westerly to northwesterly light, force 2 to 3 with calm to slight seas. Temperatures will drop to 20 degrees inland, 21 on the coasts and 19 in the highest mountains. A reminder that the fire hazard is extremely high in all forest areas. Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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