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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-11-11Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>CONTENTS
[01] HeadlinesThe EU's enlargement commissioner said the bloc clearest message yet to Ankara will generate new momentum for Cyprus settlement efforts,The government is almost ready to unveil a completed proposal on reducing car taxes, Iraq's UN staff are in Cyprus for consultations, AND Saudi security forces detained militants in connection with Sunday's deadly bombing in Riyadh. [02] VerheugenEU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen said the European Commission's most recent and clearest message yet to Turkey will create new momentum for Cyprus settlement efforts.In an exclusive interview with the CyBC which will be broadcast at 10:00 pm tonight, Mr. Verheugen said everyone understands the Commission's message which translates into strong motivation to bolster settlement efforts. He said the message that a Cyprus solution will bode well for Turkey's EU aspirations is clear to Ankara and Rauf Denktash. [03] PapadopoulosPresident Tassos Papadopoulos reiterated his commitment to carry on with efforts to reach a Cyprus settlement by May 1st, 2004.Speaking at an official dinner in honour of Moldavian President Vladimir Vorovin, the President said he expects the international community to support those efforts. He added that if a settlement cannot be reached, the Greek Cypriot side will not lose heart, but will rather intensify its efforts to solve the problem and reunify the island. [04] ChristofiasHouse Speaker Demetris Christofias said he believes the European Union will continue to turn up the pressure on Turkey in order to assist in Cyprus settlement efforts.He emphasised the Greek Cypriot side's resolve to finding a solution, whenever UN Secretary General Kofi Annan deems it appropriate to restart negotiations. Mr. Christofias added that the Greek Cypriot side is ready to wade in deep waters as far as negotiations based on the Annan plan are concerned. [05] KazamiasThe government is very close to submitting a complete proposal on revising the car tax regime that would see prices on new autos drop significantly.Communications Minister Kikis Kazamias told the CyBC that his ministry is working hard to round out the proposal which will be submitted to the House of Representatives for a vote in the very near future. Mr. Kazamias said consumers' interest underlies the proposal, but noted press reports on plan itself is to a large extent guesswork. He said the final draft of the proposal will contain many revisions to what has seen the light of day in the press. Referring to reactions from used car salesmen who warn the new regime could put them out of business, Mr. Kazamias said their views are being taken into account. But he noted that talks are being held only with parties which express the public will. [06] AnnanUnited Nations staff that was evacuated from Iraq for security reasons are now in Cyprus for consultations on how the world body will handle operations in post war Iraq.The talks will be held in Nicosia and their outcome will be conveyed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York. Last week, the UN announced it would pull out its last 20 staff members stationed in Baghdad. [07] AfrikaTurkish Cypriot newspaper Afrika critised the Turkish Cypriot opposition for opting to remain silent over remarks on Cyprus by Turkey's Army Chief of Staff Hilmi Ozkok.The paper writes that opposition leaders pretended they neither heard nor seen what Mr. Ozkok said, even though the General's remarks were labelled a bombshell by top Turkish newspaper Hurrieyet and prompted strong reaction from the Cyprus government. Afrika columnist Mehmet Levent writes that General Ozkok make statements that did not differ from what Rauf Denktash has been saying all along. Mr. Levent also writes that the General's remarks outline Turkey's strategy on Cyprus and accused Ankara of meddling in the occupied north's so-called parliamentary election campaign. [08] Christofias2House Speaker Demetris Christofias said the government will support Moldavia's expressed wish to join the European Union.Speaking after meeting with Moldavian President Vladimir Vorovin, Mr. Christofias said a new chapter in Cyprus-Moldavia relations has opened. He also thanked Moldavia for its unwavering support for a Cyprus settlement based on United Nations resolutions. Mr. Christofias added that Moldavia shares a common struggle with Cyprus in fighting for its territorial integrity. The House Speaker accepted an invitation to visit the eastern European country. [09] Christofias3The memory of the victims of both world wars was honoured this morning in a solemn ceremony organised by the Pancyprian Association of World War Two Veterans in Nicosia.Speaking at the event, House Speaker Demetris Christofias said there were no greater tragedies than the two world wards. He said the 21st century calls on us all to ponder if humanity has learned from the past and is striving to avoid the same mistakes. Mr. Christofias said modern warfare no longer discriminates between combattants and innocent civilians as in the past. According to a recent study, civilian deaths in the First World War amounted to only 6 percent of all casualties, while in World War Two, that figure jumped to 66 percent. It's estimated that today's civilian deaths make up 86 percent of all war casualties. [10] Saudi ArabiaSaudi security forces have detained militants suspected of involvement in the weekend bomb attack that killed at least 18 people in a housing compound in the capital Riyadh.Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is suspected of staging Sunday's suicide attack that also wounded 120. In May, a triple suicide bombing on a housing complex in Riyadh killed 35 people. Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has vowed his country would strike with an "iron fist" against militants, while U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the al Qaeda network was trying to topple the Saudi royal family and the pro-Western government of the world's biggest oil exporter. A compound resident said two attackers used a car with military markings to get past a checkpoint outside the compound. When they reached the main entrance they shot a security guard and one other man, an Indian. [11] Iraq1A bomb planted on a street in the southern Iraqi city of Basra tore apart a minibus, killing at least three Iraqis in the latest deadly guerrilla attack.Iraqi police said no British soldiers were in the area at the time of the blast near a police checkpoint in the mainly Shi'ite city. Southern Iraq has seen fewer attacks on occupying troops than Baghdad and the surrounding Sunni Muslim heartland. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said that Washington was not looking for an exit strategy, and that his top commanders had assured him the insurgency was under control. But Mr. Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush are coming under political pressure due to the mounting U.S. death toll in Iraq and the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction. A group of more than two dozen House of Representatives Democrats have said they had introduced a resolution urging President Bush to fire Mr. Rumsfeld. [12] Iraq2Meanwhile, American soldiers handcuffed and firmly wrapped masking tape around an Iraqi man's mouth as they arrested him for speaking out against occupation troops.Asked why the man had been arrested and put into the back of a Humvee vehicle on Tahrir Square, the commanding officer said at the scene that the Iraqi was detained for making "anti-coalition statements." He refused to say what the man said. U.S. politicians and military commanders often say they toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein so that Iraqis can enjoy free speech and democracy after years of iron-fisted rule. [13] SnowThe winter's first snow fell on Troodos in the early hours when temperatures dipped to one degree below zero.Snow accumulation reached five centimetres. According to police, all roads leading to Troodos are open, but the Prodromos-Troodos road is slippery and drivers are urged to be extra-cautious. Fog continues to blanket the mountain peaks. [14] WeatherCloudy periods this afternoon will yield showers and isolated thundershowers mainly in the eastern part of the island.Winds will be southwesterly to westerly moderate to fresh, force 4 to 6, with moderate to rough seas. Afternoon temperatures will reach 17 degrees inland, 19 on the coasts and 8 in the highest mountains. Mainly fine tonight with light, northwesterly winds, force 3, and with moderate seas. Temperatures will drop to 7 degrees inland, 9 on the coasts and plus one in the highest mountains. Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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