Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 01-01-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Survey

[03] Kasoulides

[04] Seatbelts

[05] Stock

[06] World

[07] Duck

[08] Fantasies

[09] Weather TUESDAY 16 JANUARY 2001

[01] HEADLINES

--- Commenting on the results of the survey, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoulides said he agreed with the majority that a solution was not just around the corner.

--- The House of Representatives Communications Committee views the government bill for the mandatory use of seatbelts in back seats of cars and small buses positively.

--- In El Salvador, the confirmed death toll from the devastating earthquake rose to more than 600 with about 500 people still missing and feared dead.

--- Israel and the Palestinians agreed to resume talks on US President Bill Clinton's peace parameters after an emotion-charged day of violence in the Gaza Strip.

And

--- In a bizarre ritual that is enacted just once every 100 years, some of Britain's finest academics paraded around an Oxford University college with a decoy duck on a pole.

[02] Survey

The same percentage believes that the Cyprus problem is not close to a settlement.

These conclusions are part of an all-Cyprus survey of political culture and electoral behaviour, the first part of which was presented by CyBC last night.

The second part of the survey, dealing with Cyprus' society, will be presented tonight, while the remaining two parts will be broadcast tomorrow and on Thursday.

The survey was carried out for CyBC by political analyst Yiannis Mavris and Cymar Market Research.

Asked what fate the Cyprus problem would most probably have, almost 37 percent of those asked said the situation would remain as it is.

Seventeen percent said the island would eventually be divided, 16 percent said a confederation would be set up and 12,7 percent believed a federation solution would be reached.

Sixty-five percent of those questions said Greek and Turkish Cypriots could live together, while 29 percent said they could not.

Sixty-four percent was satisfied with the way the Greek government was addressing the Cyprus problem and 56,2 percent said the Joint Defence Pact between Greece and Cyprus was really in effect.

Eighty-nine percent of those questioned said relations between Greece and Cyprus were good to very good.

[03] Kasoulides

Mr. Kasoulides said a solution would only be achieved when Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash abandoned his intransigent stance.

[04] Seatbelts

The bill provides for up to three months imprisonment or fines up to 500 pounds or both, for those breaking the law.

The Committee discussed whether children and adults of up to 1,5 metres height should be seated in special seats, as seatbelts tend to pass from their necks.

Minister of Communications and Works, Averof Neophytou, said eight in ten people who died in road accidents were not wearing seatbelts.

Taxi drivers have requested to be exempted from the mandatory use of seatbelts from their customers.

[05] Stock

The Index closed at 241,19 units, compared to 223 units yesterday.

Traded value reached around 10 million pounds.

[06] World

Strong aftershocks from the 7.6 magnitude quake on Saturday rattled buildings and triggered fresh landslides throughout the day, frustrating rescuers whose hopes of digging out more survivors were all but gone.

- - - -

Israel and the Palestinians agreed to resume talks on US President Bill Clinton's peace parameters after an emotion-charged day of violence in the Gaza Strip.

Clinton, who hands over to President-elect George W. Bush on Saturday, proposed last month five "parameters" for a peace agreement covering the key issues, but also requiring radical compromises that neither side has been ready to accept.

- - - -

The Islamic militant group Hamas joined a crackdown launched by the Palestinian Authority on Palestinians suspected of collaboration with Israel, threatening to strike with an "iron fist".

- - - -

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was reported to be on a secret visit to China in what would be only his second known official trip abroad in 18 years.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the North Korean embassy in Beijing professed ignorance of any such visit, as they did during Kim's clandestine visit to China last May, just ahead of his historic summit with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

- - - -

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he was confident OPEC ministers would agree to cut crude production by 1,5 million barrels a day.

- - - -

Japanese prosecutors arrested a lawmaker from the party of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, setting the scene for a rowdy session of parliament this month as new scandal threatens to engulf his government.

Prosecutors arrested Takao Koyama, a member of the Upper House from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, over allegations he accepted more than 168.000 dollars in bribes from scandal-hit industrial insurance provider KSD.

- - - -

In the United States, reaching out to blacks who voted overwhelmingly against him, President-elect George W. Bush vowed to improve public schools as a way to realize Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial equality.

- - - -

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer confronted his radical street-fighting past as a character witness at the murder trial of an erstwhile comrade from his militant days in the 1970s.

Hans-Joachim Klein, who was on the run for two decades, is on trial for murder for his role in the attack led by international guerrilla Carlos the Jackal on an OPEC oil ministers' meeting in Vienna in 1975 in which three died.

[07] Duck

The event was the Mallard Dinner at All Souls College which commemorates the chase after a huge wild duck which flew out of a drain during 15th century building work at Oxford University.

Classics don Martin West was the proud holder of the title Lord Mallard for the year 2001.

Following in the distinguished footsteps of the Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Gordon Lang who led the parade in 1901, West was picked to carry the duck aloft and sing "Let us drink and dance a Galliard in remembrance of the mallard."

The fellows, fearful of animal rights activists, opted for a decoy duck.

In 1801, they had no such scruples. A dead duck was tethered to the pole and its blood used to lace the red wine drunk by revellers.

[08] Fantasies

Reputedly hot-blooded Argentines and Chileans led the way in the Harlequin Enterprises' survey, with 95 percent of those polled in the two countries saying they had fantasies.

Japan was bottom of the list with only 50 percent of people there admitting to erotic flights of fancy.

Globally, 45 percent of people said they had acted out their fantasies and were generally satisfied with the result.

Roughly one third of those polled said they fantasised about their partners. Danish women were the most faithful, with 58 percent of them keeping their thoughts fixed on their man.

Only 15 percent of Argentines said they fantasised about their partners, while more than a third dreamed of having sex with a complete stranger.

According to the poll 28 percent of Greek men fantasised about work colleagues, while only four percent of French did.

Almost one in four people dream about going to bed with actors and actresses. Musicians, models and athletes also proved popular sex symbols, the poll said.

The poll, carried out last July, questioned 5.484 men and women, who were both single and in relationships.

[09] Weather

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

Tonight will be cloudy at times with a few local showers.

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

Temperatures will drop to 8 degrees inland, to 10 along the coast, and to 2 over the mountains.

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