The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 04-04-21

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Israeli troops kill eight in Gaza after reprisals

Israeli troops killed eight Palestinians, the youngest 13 years old, in a raid into Gaza today to stop reprisal rocket attacks for the assassination of a Hamas leader. At least three gunmen died in Israels deadliest attack for a month in the territory it is planning to abandon -- with a clear warning that it will always strike back if it sees fit.

[02] Suicide car bombers kill 68 in southern Iraq

Suicide bombers killed at least 68 people, 17 of them children incinerated in minibuses taking them to school, in coordinated strikes on police stations in Iraqs mainly Shiite city of Basra today.

[03] Council of EU agricultural ministers in Luxembourg

Greek Minister of Agriculture Savvas Tsitouridis and deputy Minister of Agriculture Evangelos Basiakos had separate meetings and consultations with their counterparts within the framework of the first day of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture in Luxembourg. The first round of bilateral consultations with the EU Presidency and the European Commission was also launched.

[04] PM Karamanlis meets with Turkish counterpart in Sarajevo

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a meeting today on the sidelines of the South East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) summit in Sarajevo.

The talks were also attended by Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. The meeting focused on matters of mutual interest, Turkeys European prospects and the Cyprus problem, where Karamanlis reiterated his governments positions.

[05] EU "cheated" by Greek Cypriots ahead of key vote

The European Unions enlargement chief Guenter Verhoigen accused the Greek Cypriot government today of "cheating" him over efforts to reunite the island, pledging its support only to denounce a U.N. plan at the last.

The European Parliament passed a resolution 422 to 30, in an added appeal to both Turkish and Greek Cypriots to vote for the plan, adding «a broad, fact-based information campaign is still necessary.» It also said there was «no alternative» to the Annan plan.

[06] Drive for UN resolution on Cyprus hits brick wall

The United States and Britain ran into a brick wall today in their search for a last-minute U.N. resolution they hoped would encourage Greek and Turkish Cypriots to back a plan to unify their island. Most council members rejected a British draft Security Council resolution, backed by Washington, as too ambitious and too late in the game.

[07] Annan rules out last-minute delay on Cyprus vote

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan today ruled out a last-minute delay of this weekends twin referendums on a U.N. plan to reunite Cyprus and called on all island residents to approve the plan. Mr. Annan also underlined that his role would be over in the event the plan is not approved.

[08] Weather Forecast

Cloudy in most parts of the country. Temperatures in Athens will range between 8-18 and in Thessaloniki from 8-17.

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