Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-10-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Headlines

[02] Ivanovgone

[03] Kasoulides

[04] Ivanovmid

[05] Mideast

[06] Space

[07] World

[08] Dinosaurs

[09] Gorilla

[10] Feet

[11] Weather THURSDAY 12 OCTOBER 2000

[01] Headlines

--- The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, arrived in the Middle East today to chair a high-level Israeli-Palestinian security meeting to try to end two weeks of violence.

--- The space shuttle Discovery roared off the launch pad last night on an ambitious construction mission to the International Space Station, marking the 100th launch of the US shuttle programme.

--- An American scientist who found five Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons this summer believes the dinosaur fossils are far more common than previously thought.

And

--- A female gorilla enjoyed an hour of freedom yesterday after escaping from her habitat and roaming around Los Angeles zoo.

[02] Ivanovgone

He said his country focuses its interest on talks to solve the Cyprus problem and insists on the implementation of UN resolutions.

Departing from Larnaca Airport, Mr. Ivanov said that efforts to reach a settlement should be intensified.

[03] Kasoulides

Mr. Kasoulides said that Mr. Ivanov's visit to Cyprus signaled the further development of ties between the two countries.

[04] Ivanovmid

Speaking at Larnaca Airport on his departure for Athens, Mr. Ivanov said the situation must be ironed out, to create favourable circumstances in which to continue the dialogue.

He said Russia insists on the position that the crisis must end and a peaceful settlement reached through talks.

[05] Mideast

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said after two days of shuttling between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat that the two sides had agreed to the meeting in efforts to halt the cycle of violence.

Mr. Annan later went to Lebanon, with whom Israel's relationship has been strained by the capture of three of its soldiers by pro-Iranian Hizbollah guerrillas.

UN sources said a meeting was also scheduled with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, whose country founded and backed Hizbollah, but Mr. Kharrazi said he saw no quick solution to the issue of the Israeli soldiers.

The casualty toll climbed despite the intense international diplomacy aimed at quenching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

An 11-year-old Palestinian boy shot by Israeli soldiers in a clash in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday died of his wounds. His death raised to at least 95 the number of people killed in the unrest, all but five of them Arabs.

More clashes erupted in the West Bank.

Diplomatic sources said the two sides were still at odds over the nature of an international inquiry into clashes in which Palestinians -- and the UN Security Council -- say Israel has used excessive force. Israel rejects the charge.

The sources said Mr. Annan would return from Lebanon later today to try to bridge gaps on the inquiry's "mandate and composition and source of authority".

[06] Space

The seven astronauts have a complex and difficult job ahead, adding two segments to the International Space Station and conducting four spacewalks on consecutive days.

Rain and dark clouds moved away from Cape Canaveral about an hour before launch, ending a week of frustration for the launch team as bad weather and hardware surprises kept the orbiter grounded.

[07] World

- - - -

Top US trade negotiator Charlene Barshefsky arrived in Beijing to meet Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in an attempt to sort out problems in Beijing's bid to join the World Trade Organisation.

European and US trade officials say China's bid to join the WTO before year end is in doubt after talks in Geneva last month stalled over how Beijing would implement rules on intellectual property and meet other obligations. Adding to the urgency, US President Bill Clinton wants to bring China into the WTO before his term ends in January next year.

- - - -

Yugoslavia's reformers were headed for a showdown with the allies of ousted ruler Slobodan Milosevic, manoeuvring to hold onto control of the Serbian government and fight back against the new order.

Leaders of the Socialist Party, still headed by Milosevic, said the government of Serbia, driving force in the Yugoslav Federation that includes Montenegro, would ignore supporters of new reformist President Vojislav Kostunica and seize back control of the police and the media.

- - - -

In the US, the House of Representatives voted to ease a four-decade-old embargo on Cuba to allow food and medicine sales to Havana, and the White House said it would sign the change into law.

Cuba has been subject to US economic sanctions since 1962, when it accepted Soviet aid. With the passing of the Cold War, US sentiment has shifted toward a revision of the embargo, especially with hopes that trade may foster democracy.

- - - -

Peru's President Alberto Fujimori, mired in the worst political crisis of his decade in office, will fly to the United States this week after asking Congress for a special "family leave".

Officials in Congress said Fujimori had submitted a formal request to travel to the United States from Friday to Monday for unspecified family reasons in what will be his second trip there in as many weeks. Two of Fujimori's four children live in the United States.

- - - -

North Korea and the United States held more than four hours of intensive, detailed talks, the second day of a groundbreaking visit by the highest ranking North Korean ever to go to Washington.

[08] Dinosaurs

"They are basically a dime a dozen," Jack Horner, curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies in Montana, told New Scientist magazine.

Horner said the discoveries by him and his colleagues could mean that searches could find more than enough Tyrannosaurus rex fossils for every major museum to have one of its own, preventing the price wars that have occurred in the past.

At the moment there are between 30 to 40 skeletons of the giant meat-eating dinosaur throughout the world and most of them are only half complete.

Three years ago the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, nicknamed Sue, sold for 12,27 million dollars at auction.

[09] Gorilla

Visitors at the zoo were evacuated while Evelyn, who weighs in at about 127 kg, had the run of the park and feasted on bananas and apples.

But the bid for freedom by the 24-year-old "gentle giant" was ended after about 60 minutes by a tranquilliser dart and minutes later she fell asleep in a nearby men's room.

No-one was hurt in the incident and zoo officials said Evelyn was probably as alarmed as her keepers by the break-out.

Zoo officials said they had no idea how the gorilla got loose.

[10] Feet

Noel Benjamin, a professor of clinical pharmacology at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, said the idea was that one would put the trainers into the box and activate it every few weeks.

The treatment leaves it with a nice, disinfectant-like smell, rather than the smell of rotting feet.

The device was developed under Benjamin's supervision by a student, Robin Gilbert, who said the major obstacle to the deodoriser's success may be people's attitudes.

"Lots of lads were quite proud of how smelly their trainers were," Gilbert said after the inventors advertised for people to donate their stinking shoes to the cause of science.

Gilbert and Benjamin have patented the device.

[11] Weather

Winds will be northeasterly to southeasterly, light to moderate, three to four beaufort, over moderate seas.

Tonight will be generally clear with a few passing clouds and isolated light rains.

Winds will be northeasterly, light to moderate, three to four beaufort, over moderate seas.

Temperatures will drop to 16 degrees inland, to 18 along the coast and to 8 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is very high in all forest areas.

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