Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 05-11-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] TURKEY BOMB

[03] MIDEAST

[04] ETHIOPIA CLASHES

[05] IRAN BLAST

[06] FRANCE RIOTS

[07] BIRDFLU GENERAL

[08] BLAIR SECURITY

[09] CYPRUS AIRWAYS

[10] COMMISSION SETTLERS

[11] WEATHER WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2005

[01] HEADLINES

-- Palestinian gunmen shot dead an Israeli soldier during a raid in the occupied West Bank today, a day after an Israeli airstrike killed two militant commanders in the Gaza Strip.

-- Six people were killed and 17 wounded today in a second day of anti-government protests in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

And

-- The situation at the national carrier Cyprus Airways remains tense after the company put forward the restructuring plan and unions reacted to it.

[02] TURKEY BOMB

The blast ripped through Semdinli on the border of Iraq and Iran, leaving four soldiers, three police officers and 16 civilians hurt, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.

CNN Turk said on its Web site that the explosion occurred outside the local paramilitary police headquarters.

"We ask our people and the authorities to be vigilant on the subject of terror activities," the Hakkari governor's office said.

It said separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels had planted the explosives in the vehicle and operations have been launched to capture those responsible. It said 67 houses and workplaces were damaged in the blast.

The PKK launched its campaign for self rule in the southeast of the country in 1984 and more than 30,000 people have died in the conflict.

[03] MIDEAST

More than a week of bloodshed, the worst flareup since a truce was declared in February, has hit hopes that Israel's Gaza pullout in September would revive peacemaking.

The soldier's death, which followed militant vows for revenge after yesterday's Gaza airstrike, was Israel's first military fatality in action since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon engineered the withdrawal after 38 years of occupation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said there would be no let-up in raids and strikes against militant targets in Gaza as long as the Palestinian Authority did not rein in gunmen.

[04] ETHIOPIA CLASHES

"We have received today six dead and 17 wounded," the source at the Black Lion hospital told reporters.

Eight people were killed in clashes between riot police and opposition supporters yesterday.

The disturbances are seen by many as a sign of persistent political tension in Africa's top coffee grower.

[05] IRAN BLAST

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which appeared to be a carbon copy of a bombing outside the same offices in August. The perpetrators of the August blast have not been identified.

Anglo-Iranian diplomatic relations are experiencing a rough patch, with Tehran obstructing British imports and accusing London of fomenting Arab separatist bomb attacks this year in the southwestern oil province of Khuzestan.

[06] FRANCE RIOTS

A heavy police presence kept a tense order in Clichy-sous-Bois, where the clashes broke out last week after two teenagers of African origin were electrocuted while apparently fleeing the police.

But the street fighting spread to other parts of the poor suburbs ringing the eastern side of the capital, police said. A total of 34 people were detained by police overnight, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio.

French media reported President Jacques Chirac was expected to make a statement about the unrest at a cabinet meeting today.

The unrest in the eastern suburbs, heavily populated by North African and black African minorities, was sparked by youths' frustration at their failure to get jobs and recognition in French society.

[07] BIRDFLU GENERAL

Samples from 704 birds found 24 percent tested positive for strains of the H5 subtype of avian influenza. None is believed to be the H5N1 strain that officials fear will infect humans, but more tests to identify the strains are being conducted.

Meanwhile, officials said today that the illegal movement of infected poultry, especially fighting cocks and ducks, has helped spread the bird flu virus to seven provinces in Thailand.

In the latest outbreak of the H5N1 virus, which has killed 13 Thais, laboratory results confirmed it in chickens and pigeons in the central province of Ang Thong, the Department of Livestock Department said on its Web site.

In another development, US President George W. Bush asked Congress for 7.1 billion dollars in emergency funding to prepare the United States for a feared avian-influenza pandemic by building stockpiles of drugs and vaccines and encouraging vaccine makers to modernize.

[08] BLAIR SECURITY

A loss for the British premier would compound a rocky period in which one top ally is under pressure to resign over breaking ministerial rules while others have openly squabbled about key government policies.

The proposed new laws follow suicide bomb attacks on London's transport system in July which killed 52 people.

Civil rights campaigners say holding suspects without charge for up to three months undermines centuries-old tenets of British law and risks alienating the Muslim community.

"Effective internment of up to 90 days undermines the rights to liberty and to a fair trial," pressure group Amnesty International said. "It is also an excellent advertisement for terrorist recruitment."

Britain says its detention plans are not extreme but comparisons with other countries are difficult.

Suspects in France and Spain for example can be held for questioning for years. But a judge, not the police, controls the process.

[09] CYPRUS AIRWAYS

The restructuring package is to be submitted to the EU for approval, in order for CY to secure a 58 million pound loan needed to save the company from closure.

Unions believe the plan does not solve the airline's problems and is criticising the board for trying to impose it without prior discussion of it. The pilots' union did not rule out taking strike action.

The plan is being debated today at the cabinet. CY chairman Lazaros Savvides yesterday warned that unless agreement was reached with the unions on the restructuring plan, the airline would be forced to close.

The national carrier already secured approval for a 30 million pound loan last May, which will be paid back from the 58 million pounds. The remainder is to go on the 10 million pound cost of redundancies and 18 million pounds for the cost of restructuring under the plan.

[10] COMMISSION SETTLERS

The position was conveyed to Cypriot Euro MP Yiannakis Matsis from the Commission, following a relevant question.

In its reply, the Commission said that the registering of population does not fall under its capacity and that the Council of Europe could back such initiative.

[11] WEATHER

Tonight it will be mainly clear with thin cloud. Winds will be south-westerly to north-westerly light, force two to three and the sea slight. Temperatures will fall to nine degrees inland and on the east coast, to eleven on the south and west and four over the mountains.

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