Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 04-09-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] morphou liturgy

[03] morphou broadcast

[04] kibris mamas

[05] russia terrorists

[06] french hostages

[07] road accident

[08] tailer

[09] weather WEDNESDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2004

[01] HEADLINES

Armed attackers take some 400 adults and children hostage in southern Russia, while at least ten people were killed in a suicide-bombing in Moscow last night;

Uncertainty still surrounds the fate of two French hostages held by Iraqi militants;

Two people are seriously injured and another killed in two separate road accidents on the island yesterday;

...and

Smoking and sex. Is there a connection?

[02] morphou liturgy

In a relevant announcement, Morphou Mayor Charalambos Pittas said that the occupied town's entire Municipal Council will attend the church services, adding that while every effort will be made to pass through the message that Morphou rightfully belongs to its legitimate residents, a parallel message of co-existence in conditions of peace and security with the Turkish-Cypriots will be conveyed.

Calling on all displaced residents of the occupied town to attend the event, Mayor Pittas also mentioned that particular satisfaction would be given by the presence of representatives from political parties across the spectrum, noting that the church services present a chance for unity at a strictly religious however venue.

Government partner AKEL has already announced that it'll be represented by a delegation headed by parliamentary spokesman Nikos Katsourides, while the opposition Democratic Rally Chairman Nikos Anastassiades and United Democrats leader Yiorgos Vassiliou have also said they'll be attending.

On the diplomatic front, this evening's vespers will be observed by Ireland's Ambassador to Cyprus and his wife, the Ambassador of Spain, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

[03] morphou broadcast

Both church services will be available throughout Europe on HellasSat-Two, EutelSat's Hotbird-3, as well as islandwide on our Second Television and First Radio Channels.

This evening's vespers are set to start at a quarter-past-six, while tomorrow's liturgy is scheduled to begin at a quarter-to-eight.

Given tonight's live broadcast, our nightly TV news bulletins in Turkish and English will be going on air not before eight o'clock and right after the end of the church service.

[04] kibris mamas

The newspaper further cites Turkish-Cypriot Teachers' Union General Secretary Sener Elcin as also calling, on behalf of the platform, on all to attend so that an anathema may be delivered to bombers and provocateurs and to all those urging them on in their divisive actions.

"Kibris" also mentions that Platform members have seen to the necessary security measures, while the illegal statelet's police has also been placed on alert.

[05] russia terrorists

In an assault that bore the hallmarks of a Chechen rebel operation, the gang, numbering up to 17 heavily-armed men and women, stormed into the secondary school in Beslan in North Ossetia province during a ceremony to mark the first day of the new school year.

RIA news agency said the gang, some of whom were strapped with explosives, had herded their captives into the school's gymnasium and mined it. They had threatened to blow up the building with their captives if interior ministry forces tried to take it by force...

...while Itar-Tass news agency said the militants were demanding the release of fighters seized in neighbouring Ingushetia in June during a huge rebel raid on the region.

At least three civilians were killed and 11 injured in the initial phase of the attack, even though Tass later reported that some 50 children had managed to escape.

Last night meanwhile, ten people were killed and 51 injured by a female suicide bomber in a busy central Moscow precinct.

The Islambouli Brigades group claimed responsibility for the bombing at the crowded Riga metro station, and vowed there would be more attacks on "infidel" Russia, according to a statement published on a Web site.

The blast follows a series of suicide attacks in Russia over the past year, including near simultaneous plane crashes exactly a week ago, all of them linked by officials to Chechen rebels seeking independence from Moscow.

[06] french hostages

The kidnappers holding reporters Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have demanded France scrap a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.

French President Jacques Chirac, refusing to back down over the headscarf ban, led a broad diplomatic push from Russia to appeal to the militants, while Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, racing through Middle East capitals, secured pledges of help in Jordan after visiting Cairo, as France called in its many favours in the Arab world.

Offering a ray of hope meanwhile, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa last night cited contacts in Iraq as saying that the deadline expires today, while the al-Jazeera network's 20-hundred hours GMT news bulletin, 24 hours after it broadcast the statement, passed with no report of any new statement or news on the fate of the reporters.

[07] road accident

As announced by police, a Safari Jeep type vehicle driven by a 49-year-old man with nine non-Cypriot passengers, including three children, collided with a car driven by the 57-year-old. All were ministered to at Limassol General, with three of the ten given First Aid and discharged, and the other seven being kept in for treatment. The non-Cypriots had been staying at Protaras hotels and were due to return home today.

Meanwhile, a 72-year-old Swiss tourist, hit by a car in Ayia Napa last night, succumbed to his injuries early this morning after having been admitted to a local polyclinic. The driver of the car, a 47-year-old Larnaka resident, was submitted to a breathalyser test which proved negative.

[08] tailer

Reuters quoted Liu as saying that Feili, as the chimp is called, picked up her nasty habits by imitating visitors who behaved "improperly" around her, even though he stressed that the root cause of her transformation from a "gentle girl" into a "shrew" lay with the inability to find her a satisfactory mate.

A male chimpanzee at the zoo has failed to live up to Feili's sexual demands, and she has snubbed other potential suitors.

Zoo officials further said that even though Feili is not addicted to nicotine, she's recently taken to puffing away, using sticks and branches to nab lit cigarette butts discarded by visitors.

We'd heard that chocolate can act as a sex-substitute, but smoking?

[09] weather

Generally fair conditions will continue into this evening, even though skies will continue to be marked by patchy cloud, and light mist also expected to form in areas. Winds however will abate to light northeasterlies, 2-3BF, on smooth to slight seas, with temperatures dropping to 20C inland, 21C in coastal regions, and 16C on the higher reaches of the Troodos mountains.

And of course a reminder that the fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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