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Friday, 19 April 2024
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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-10-17Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>CONTENTS
[01] HeadlinesGreek Prime Minister Costas Simitis said Turkey now realises that the Cyprus issue must be resolved, while his Turkish counterpart said the Annan plan is the launching pad for talks,Turkish Cypriot opposition parties continue to lead opinion polls ahead of December's so-called parliamentary elections, despite voter registry rigging, AND three US military police and two Iraqi policement were killed in Kerbala. [02] Simitis2Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis said given the EU's positions, Turkey now understands that the Cyprus issue must be solved.Mr. Simitis told a news conference in Brussels that his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan acknowledges this fact and is trying to bring about a solution that for the Greek Cypriot side is not a solution. The Greek PM said the difference lies in the type of settlement each side wants - the Greek Cypriot side insists on a solution based on the UN blueprint, while Turkey is suggesting something else. Mr. Simitis said settlement talks must have an ending date sometime in 2004, since nothing much can happen before Turkish Cypriot so-called parliamentary elections this December. [03] Erdogan2Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the Annan plan is the way forward towards the start of settlement talks, even if it contains good and bad points.Replying to reporters' questions that this view is completely different than that held by Rauf Denktash, Mr. Erdogan said this was Ankara's position. The Turkish PM said his administration's position is that the UN blueprint contains good and bad points that can by ironed out through negotiations. Speaking after an hour-long meeting with EU enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen, Mr. Erdogan said his country wishes a commonly accepted Cyprus solution and not to keep the issue unresolved. [04] VerheugenEU enlargement commissioner Guenther Verheugen said Nicosia has the full backing of the European Commission in its efforts towards a Cyprus settlement.Speaking to CyBC reporters, Mr. Verheugen said there would be no bargaining with Ankara over Cyprus and anyone believing they can use the island as a bargaining chip is mistaken. He also said that a Cyprus solution would be even more difficult to reach after May 1st, 2004 and that Turkey has plenty of problems with its own EU accession course. [05] Verheugen2Meanwhile, Mr. Verheugen said he appreciates President Papadopoulos' statement that Nicosia wouldn't veto the start of accession talks between Ankara and Brussels, even if there's no progress on the Cyprus issue.The EU Commissioner added that he holds particular appreciation for the President's remark that past mistakes shouldn't be repeated. Referring to meetings on Turkey-EU relations, Mr. Verheugen said the talks concentrated on the course of reforms passed by Ankara to meet the Copenhagen accession criteria. He added that in next year's final EU report on Turkey's progress the bloc will be fair and impartial. [06] VotesTurkish Cypriot opposition parties continue to hold the lead in opinion polls ahead of December's so-called parliamentary elections.Acording to a survey carried out by the Turkish Cypriot Sociological Research Centre, opposition parties concentrate 55% of the vote, even after Rauf Denktash inflated the voting registry with 11,000 Turkish settlers. Speaking to the CyBC, Research Centre officials said voters for the 1998 elections numbered 122,000, but that has increased by nearly 20,000 this time round. The officials said Turkish settlers will affect the election results by around 6 to 7 percent. According to the survey, Mehmet Ali Talat's Republican Turkish Party is in first place with 26 to 31% of the vote, followed by Dervis Eroglu's National Unity Party with 22 to 26%. [07] StrikeSome 2,500 non-permanent civil servants are threatening to walk off the job if the goverment doesn't re-hire them on a permanent basis once hundreds of new positions are announced.A spokeswoman for the civil servants told the CyBC that a round of contacts has begun with party and labour union leaders, MPs and government officials. She said the government now wants to leave non-permanent workers twisting in the wind after years of exploiting and denying them their rights. The spokesman said the government plans to hire permanent staff sitting written exams, even though non-permanent workers expected that they would get the jobs after 30 months of service as per EU regulations. She explained that many non-permanent workers with families and debts are in no way able to fairly compete with young, university graduates for the jobs. [08] CleanersLaundry service employees at Nicosia General and Athalassa Mental Health hospitals staged a two-hour work stoppage this morning to protest against government plans to privatise the service.Representatives for some 110 workers said the lowest bid to run the service that the government received was two million pounds, while they cost the state only 800,000 pounds. [09] VotesTurkish Cypriot opposition parties continue to hold the lead in opinion polls ahead of December's so-called parliamentary elections.Acording to a survey carried out by the Turkish Cypriot Sociological Research Centre, opposition parties concentrate 55% of the vote, even after Rauf Denktash inflated the voting registry with 11,000 Turkish settlers. Speaking to the CyBC, Research Centre officials said voters for the 1998 elections numbered 122,000, but that has increased by nearly 20,000 this time round. The officials said Turkish settlers will affect the election results by around 6 to 7 percent. According to the survey, Mehmet Ali Talat's Republican Turkish Party is in first place with 26 to 31% of the vote, followed by Dervis Eroglu's National Unity Party with 22 to 26%. [10] Israelis50 Israeli tourists are on an airplane back home a few hours after arriving to the island after purposely deceiving authorities over where they would be staying.The Israelis told Larnaca airport customs officials that they would be staying in Ayia Napa, but they boarded a bus on its way to Ayios Dhometios where they would cross into the Turkish-held north. Police caught up with the bus near the village of Koshi and the Israeli tourists were told to return home. [11] DrugsA 25-year-old Limassol man is in police custody on suspicion of drug trafficking.A police search through the suspect's home found 30 grammes of cannabis in a rooftop shed. Another 1,600 grammes were found in a house adjacent to the suspect's home. Police said the 25-year-old admitted that the drugs were his and that he hid them when he saw police coming on a closed-circuit TV system he set up outside his home. Police said the suspect couldn't account for 14,000 pounds in cash that was also found in his room. [12] IraqThree U.S. military police and two Iraqi policemen were killed when rooftop attackers fired on their patrol in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Kerbala.An American army spokesman said four U.S. military police and five Iraqi police were wounded in the attack with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles late yesterday The U.S. deaths brought to 100 the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1. It was the deadliest single attack on U.S. troops since three American soldiers died in an ambush near Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit on September 18. [13] MideastPrime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared to rule out expelling Yasser Arafat, playing down an Israeli threat against the Palestinian leader that had drawn international outcry and U.S. misgivings.But in remarks to an Israeli newspaper Sharon stood firm on erecting a vast barrier in the West Bank, saying he was ready to defy U.S. opposition despite Washington's warnings that it might cut loan guarantees to the Jewish state. Some hawkish members of Mr. Sharon's cabinet had even proposed killing Mr. Arafat, an idea the prime minister dismissed at the time and which Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom then ruled out. Israel has not said how or when it might take action against the Palestinian President. [14] IranAnd finally, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said his country has no plans to build nuclear weapons and pledged to cooperate with nuclear inspectors.He said Iran did not rule out signing the Additional Protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on snap inspections but insisted that his country's rights should be respected. [15] weatherThis afternoon will be fine with some cloudy periods.Winds will be southwesterly to westerly light to moderate, force 3 to 4 with slight seas. Temperatures will reach 28 degrees inland and the south coast, 25 in the west and 19 in the highest mountains. More fine conditions tonight with some scattered clouds and the chance of light fog at dawn. Winds will be westerly to northwesterly light, force 2 to 3, with calm to slight seas. Temperatures will drop to 16 degrees inland, 17 on the south coast and 10 degrees in the highest mountains. A reminder that the fire hazard remains very high in all forest areas. Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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