Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 02-09-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Paris today

[03] Eckhard

[04] Court Cyprus

[05] Mideast

[06] Iraq

[07] Restaurant

[08] Weather THURSDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2002

[01] HEADLINES

--- A Palestinian militant opened fire towards a school near the Jewish settlement of Nisanit in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding at least two Israelis, after Israeli police found a massive car bomb.

--- US President George Bush said he would ask Congress to back possible military action against Iraq and would outline the "serious threat" posed by Iraq's arms program at the United Nations.

And

--- Diners at Berlin's newest restaurant cannot see what they are eating and have to be guided to their table by blind waiters because the bar is pitch black.

[02] Paris today

It is for this reason that it was deemed necessary that President Clerides' aides fly to Paris as well.

CyBC's journalist Soulla Hadjikyriakou, who is in Paris to cover the meeting, reported that Mr. Annan would not be submitting any ideas to the leaders of the two communities tomorrow.

A package of ideas is expected late November or early December, i.e. as close to the Copenhagen European Council as possible, when the two sides will be more vulnerable to pressure.

CyBC's reporter said Kofi Annan would now try to prepare the ground for intensified talks.

Mr. Annan will be meeting Rauf Denktash first tomorrow morning and then President Clerides.

The separate meetings will be followed by a joint meeting, which will be wrapped up with a working lunch.

[03] Eckhard

Mr. Eckhard also said Mr. de Soto would be briefing Kofi Annan today in view of tomorrow's meting in Paris with the leaders of the two communities.

[04] Court Cyprus

Cyprus is represented at the Conference by a delegation headed by Deputy Attorney General Petros Klerides.

The Convention forming the Court came into effect on July 1st and has so far been ratified by 78 countries and signed by 139.

The International Court of Justice can try persons accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

[05] Mideast

Barghouthi is leader of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank.

He was expected to reject the court's authority to judge him in the proceedings which began last month.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian militant opened fire towards a school near the Jewish settlement of Nisanit in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding at least two Israelis, after Israeli police found a massive car bomb.

Israeli military sources also said an Israeli tank rolled over an explosive device in central Gaza Strip and there could be some Israelis injured. There were no further details.

- - - -

Warning of a serious humanitarian crisis among Palestinians, a UN envoy said Israel needed to do much more in easing closures in the West Bank and Gaza to arrest sharply declining living standards.

Otherwise the humanitarian situation "will quickly spiral out of control," said Catherine Bertini in a formal report given to the UN Security Council yesterday.

- - - -

The Israeli army dumped the brother and sister of a Palestinian militant in a Gaza Strip vineyard to fend for themselves after deporting them from their West Bank homes.

Israel uprooted the two under a policy it said would deter suicide bombers in a Palestinian uprising.

- - - -

The foreign minister of EU president Denmark said Israeli leaders had welcomed a European Union initiative for Middle East peace he presented to them, but Israeli sources cited "reservations".

A three-stage proposal for creating a Palestinian state endorsed by EU foreign ministers has been pitched to Middle East capitals in the past few days by Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

[06] Iraq

Seeking to blunt criticism that he has failed to make a case for any strike against Iraq, Bush said he would lay out his arguments against Baghdad in a Sept. 12 speech at the United Nations and in consultations over the next week with the leaders of Britain, Russia, China, France and Canada.

- - - -

China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, is talking to the United States about possible U.S. plans to attack Iraq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"The United States has contacted China on the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a news conference. "The two sides are in discussions."

- - - -

The implications of a U.S. and British-led war on Iraq have not been fully considered, Iraq's ambassador to Britain was quoted as saying.

"The way wars are presented these days makes it sound like a trip to Legoland," Mudhafar Amin told The Times newspaper.

- - - -

U.S. military action against Iraq could bring chaos to the region, Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel was quoted as telling a Belgian newspaper.

Gurel said Washington had not yet sought Turkey's permission to use its air bases for a strike on Iraq, and Ankara did not know what action the United States was planning and when it would be carried out.

- - - -

Pressing his case against an assault on Baghdad, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark said the United States had no legitimate reason to attack Iraq and that it would be a grave mistake to do so.

"The claim that Iraq is a threat is a complete fraud. I don't think they believe it for a minute," Clark said, referring to the Bush administration's stated grounds for seeking to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

[07] Restaurant

The restaurant, which opened yesterday, aims to make guests concentrate on senses other than sight.

In the "unsicht-Bar", which means invisible in German, diners cannot choose complete dishes from the menu but can only indicate whether they would like a fish, meat or vegetarian option.

Manfred Scharbach, head of the organisation for blind and sight-restricted people, which is running the bar, said people were surprised that their tongues and taste senses are taking over and are sending signals, which their eyes would normally have sent.

Of the 30 staff, 22 are blind.

An average meal lasts about three hours and the waiters are always around to help.

And at the end of the night, they will even reveal what customers have actually been eating.

[08] Weather

Winds will be southwesterly, moderate, four beaufort, over slight seas.

Temperatures will reach 33 degrees inland, 30 along the coast, and 26 over the mountains.

Tonight will be clear with a few passing clouds.

Winds will be westerly to northwesterly, light, two to three beaufort, over slight seas.

Temperatures will drop to 19 degrees inland, to 21 along the coast, and to 14 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is extremely high in all forest areas.

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