Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-11-09

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Headlines

[02] Elections

[03] Document

[04] Islamic

[05] Child

[06] Mideast

[07] World

[08] Bridge

[09] Police

[10] Weather THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2000

[01] Headlines

--- Florida officials are due today to finish recounting 6 million votes that will decide who won Tuesday's US presidential election, but legal challenges could delay any victory parties for some time.

--- Israel blocked religious Jews from praying at a holy site near Bethlehem today to avert confrontations with Palestinians before White House talks on ending six weeks of violence.

And

--- It appears to be healthier to sit on a chair for hours, rather than exercising and having a good night's sleep.

[02] Elections

Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore are both projecting confidence that they will ultimately capture Florida's 25 electoral votes and clinch the presidency.

Behind the scenes, both men are already busy at work plotting how to run the White House and shape their cabinets.

In Florida, each of them has teams of lawyers sifting through the results of Tuesday's roller coaster election night ride, with Gore aides hinting broadly that they will challenge suspected voting irregularities in the state.

Former Republican Education Secretary William Bennett told CNN he feared a long legal battle over the results.

[03] Document

The document also notes that political equality did not mean numeric equality, but that the equal status of each side would be reflected in the final agreement, and that there must be an effective participation of Turkish Cypriots in the central government.

The non-paper states that in the issue of property, international law must be implemented.

The sources added that in the framework of a comprehensive settlement, a considerable area must be returned, so as to safeguard the return of as many refugees as possible to their homes, under Greek Cypriot administration.

The UN Secretary-General also considers Cyprus' accession to the European Union to be given, and supports that a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem should not obstruct accession, but instead comply with the acquis communautaire, so that re-negotiations were not needed after a settlement.

However, there are still a few negative references in the non-paper, such as the issue of security and adoption of the 1960 guarantee system.

[04] Islamic

The agenda was set out by senior officers of Islamic countries, who are meeting in Qatar as of yesterday.

Apart from the Cyprus problem, the agenda includes issues such as that of the Moslems of Thrace.

Both issues have been submitted by Turkey.

The Palestinian issue will also be focused on during the Conference, and a strong resolution is expected to be adopted, supporting the Palestinian people.

Turkish Cypriots are to participate in the Conference as observers and as a Turkish Cypriot Moslem minority, and will be represented by Rauf Denktash.

[05] Child

The issue was discussed today at the House of Representatives Labour Committee, which expressed willingness to vote for the convention.

MP Marios Matsakis said that there was a problem of exploiting children in the Turkish occupied areas, but noted that children of Greek Cypriots enclaved there were not among those exploited.

The Ministry of Labour has deplored internationally child exploitation and the fact that enclaved children have no access to education.

Senior Ministry officer, Lenia Samuil, said that in the free areas of the Republic there were exceptions to the rule, which were found in family enterprises, such as restaurants or in the agriculture sector, where the children usually work with their parents.

International, the problem becoming more and more intense, as 250 children under the age of 15 work full time, while 130 million on a part time basis.

[06] Mideast

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is due to meet US President Bill Clinton later in the day. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sees Clinton on Sunday.

But the political uncertainty in Washington after the virtual dead heat in the US presidential election was expected to overshadow Arafat's visit, in which he hopes to win backing for a UN peace force to protect Palestinians.

Tempers flared at an Israeli army barricade outside Bethlehem in the West Bank as dozens of religious Jews demanded to be allowed access to Rachel's Tomb, the traditional burial place of the biblical matriarch.

Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said the army had planned to bring worshippers to the holy site in armoured buses for an annual pilgrimage, but changed its mind fearing attacks.

Israel had received "concrete warnings of plans to carry out an attack at the shrine itself", he said.

Gunshots rang out in other parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in what has become a daily routine after six weeks of bloodshed in which at least 186 people have been killed, most of them Palestinians.

The army said Palestinian gunmen opened fire at military bases and Jewish settlements and an Israeli motorist was shot at on a West Bank road.

[07] World

- - - -

Sudanese government forces have regained control of Kassala after rebels said they had completed an "organised withdrawal" from the border city.

- - - -

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she was willing to try to start a process to reach a negotiated settlement with Tamil rebels but vowed to press ahead with military action against terrorism.

In a speech ceremonially opening the parliament elected in last month's elections, Kumaratunga said the government was interested only in "substantive political negotiations".

- - - -

Tens of thousands of Germans, headed by political and religious leaders, will march through Berlin to condemn neo-Nazi violence, 62 years after the Kristallnacht pogrom that heralded the Holocaust.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and leaders of all the other major political parties will join trade unionists, bishops and Jewish leaders and sports and cultural celebrities for a rally against intolerance in central Berlin. Marches are also planned in Dresden and Cologne.

- - - -

Despite US moves to modify the trade embargo against Cuba, Washington faces its ninth annual UN trouncing when the General Assembly calls for an end to the 38-year old trade sanctions.

Nearly identical resolutions to the one before the 189-member assembly have been adopted by large majorities each year since 1992. Last year the vote was 155 to 2 with eight abstentions. Only Israel voted with the United States.

- - - -

Officials from North and South Korea are narrowing their differences in Pyongyang on a set of rules to make investment in the North safer. But there are signs discussions on other issues are faltering.

- - - -

Beleaguered Philippine President Joseph Estrada vowed to see out his six-year term until 2004 and promised a few surprises when he faces an impeachment trial in the country's senate.

- - - -

US experts working on a programme to rid Yemen of its land mines have left the Arab state after receiving threats.

- - - -

Tanzanian authorities unconditionally released 18 opposition activists on the islands of Zanzibar who had been jailed for over three years on treason charges.

[08] Bridge

Want to stay healthy? Play bridge. A new study by a University of California-Berkeley researcher indicates that playing contract bridge leaves people with higher numbers of immune cells.

A study presented by Marian Cleeves Diamond, professor of integrative biology at Berkeley, at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans may be the first evidence that the human cortex -- which is subject to voluntary control -- can play a role in stimulating the immune system.

She said these data, though preliminary, show that brain activity affects the immune system, and support the possibility of us learning to voluntarily control the level of white blood cells to help combat disease and other illnesses.

Diamond's study is founded on some 15 years of research into rat and mouse brains in which researchers have sought to identify a specific area of the cortex which might play a role in the body's immune response.

[09] Police

All motorists heading towards Limassol are requested to take the old road at the Sha turn-off.

This part of the highway is currently dangerous, as a truck transporting soft drinks overturned and littered the road with boxes and bottles.

[10] Weather

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

Tonight will be generally clear with fine mist inland.

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

Temperatures will drop to 12 degrees inland, to 14 along the coast, and to 9 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is very high in all forest areas.

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article