Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 04-08-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] OLYMPICS GREECE

[03] OLYMPICS-MEDALS-TABLE

[04] PAPS KARAMANLIS

[05] IRAQ

[06] BUSH CAMPAIGN

[07] MINISTER STOP LIST

[08] OLYMPICS TAXI

[09] WEATHER THURSDAY 26 AUGUST 2004

[01] HEADLINES

--Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos held a one hour meeting today with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

-- A mortar attack on an Iraqi mosque where supporters of a rebel cleric were gathering today killed at least 25 people and wounded 60.

And --Russia today observed a day of mourning for at least 89 people who died in a mysterious double air disaster, which some fear could have been a terrorist attack ahead of a key election in rebel Chechnya.

[02] OLYMPICS GREECE

The Athens stadium went crazy berserk after she coasted to an effortless triumph, as did Thursday's Greek press, happy to forget the doping scandals that have hit the Games' hosts; one paper called her "a wild steed that could not be held".

Halkia, a former high jumper who quit athletics to become a journalist before making a dramatic comeback, said it was good to catch drug cheats but she stood up for Kenteris and Thanou.

World champion Jana Pittman, running less than three weeks after surgery on her right knee, faded to fifth and crushed the hopes of Australians, who four years ago hailed their own Cathy Freeman for her superb victory in the same race in Sydney.

"Halkia has done a Freeman. She's carried a nation on her back to victory," one Australian television commentator told sports-mad fans, who rose before dawn to watch the race.

In the men's high hurdles, world champion Allen Johnson literally crashed out of the Games when he fell at the ninth flight in the second semi-final.

America's best known athlete at the Games, triple champion Marion Jones, made a low-key return to Olympic competition by successfully qualifying for Friday's long jump final.

Australia's baseball manager Jon Deeble cried foul after Cuba won their third gold medal in the event with a 6-2 win, saying a bad call had stifled his team's drive for the title.

[03] OLYMPICS-MEDALS-TABLE

G   S   B   T
1.  United States            25  29  22  76
2.  China                    24  16  12  52
3.  Australia                16  11  15  42
4.  Japan                    15   9  10  34
5.  Russia                   14  19  21  54

Greece ranks thirteenth with six gold, three silver, three bronze and a total of 12 medals.

[04] PAPS KARAMANLIS

Welcoming the President at his office, Mr. Karamanlis extended an invitation to the Cypriot President to watch together the final of the women's water polo between Greece and Italy which will take place this afternoon.

No statements were made after the meeting.

[05] IRAQ

Iraq's Interior Ministry said the mortars hit a mosque in Kufa, a town adjacent to the holy city of Najaf where supporters of militant rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have staged an uprising against U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Meanwhile, Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was heading for Najaf to try to persuade Sadr's Mehdi Army militia to leave a shrine where there are holed up and end fighting that has killed hundreds.

Sadr followers had gathered at the mosque and planned to march on Najaf. His supporters blamed U.S.-led forces for the attack. The U.S. military had no immediate comment.

Overnight, U.S. warplanes unleashed a fierce attack on rebel targets in Najaf. The air strikes shook Najaf just after U.S. artillery fire and cannon assaults from an AC-130 gunship rattled the city which has a peacetime population of 500,000, about 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

[06] BUSH CAMPAIGN

The survey taken Saturday through Tuesday showed that 49 percent of registered voters favored Mr. Bush, while 46 percent preferred Kerry. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Survey responses indicated that mr. Kerry had been hurt by attacks on his Vietnam service record by Mr. Bush backers, the Times said.

In a poll taken just before the Democratic convention last month, Mr. Kerry had a 2 percentage point lead over Mr. Bush.

[07] MINISTER STOP LIST

In statements to CyBC, Mr. Theodorou said the illegal airport is a gap in the island's security and at a wider extent a gap in the EU's security, adding that the government is determined to take measures against this.

Mr. Theodorou said the number of persons who have left is small, stressing that if no measures are taken, then the issue will become more serious.

[08] OLYMPICS TAXI

"I put it on and, for a few moments, became a medallist myself," Yannis Zavos told Apoyevmatini newspaper today, only to add that "the wife started teasing me."

The rotund, bespectacled Zavos, a cabbie for 42 years, said he never thought of keeping the silver medal, left by Dutch rower Diederik Simon in the back of his taxi: "I didn't win it. Somebody worked very hard for that."

Crooked cabbies have been a byword among visitors to Greece for years and Zavos was keen to stand up for his profession:

"You hear a lot about taxi drivers but we are not all the same," he said. "There are a few in every profession who don't do their jobs properly and give everyone a bad name."

[09] WEATHER

Tomorrow, the weather will be clear with some passing cloud in the afternoon. Winds will be north-easterly to south-easterly light to moderate, three beaufort, turning to moderate sea breezes, three to four beaufort. The sea will be slight. Temperatures will rise to 38 C inland, 33 C on the south and east coast and 30 C on the west, north and mountains.

During the weekend and Monday the weather will be clear with some passing cloud. Temperatures will not mark a substantial change.

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