Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 04-12-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] Headlines

[02] EU Turkey

[03] Greece Bus

[04] Truckers

[05] Turkey fire

[06] Kenya narcotics

[07] Indonesia attack WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 2004

[01] Headlines

Two foreign gunmen hijacked a Greek bus carrying 26 passengers this morning and demanded to go to Athens airport to leave the country,

Truckers have decided to continue their industrial action, despite a proposal last ditch effort last night by the government, to call off a two day strike, which has paralyzed vital sectors of the economy

and

A fire in a Turkish cinema injured hundreds of people attending a film premiere last night.

[02] EU Turkey

Despite last-minute rhetoric from Turkey and those countries most sceptical about its fitness to join the 25-nation bloc, diplomats said the pieces of the jigsaw were falling into place.

Leaders would agree on Friday to open talks in October or November 2005 with the clear aim of membership.

"I think it is time," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said this morning. "We can say 'yes' to opening negotiations," he told France 2 television.

However, diplomats said a paragraph in the leaders' final statement would say that negotiations are "an open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand".

After a 41-year wait, Turkey could not join the bloc until 2015 at the earliest, and the negotiations would require a transformation of its economy and society far beyond the political and human rights reforms already enacted.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted last night as saying Turkey would not hesitate to say "no" if the final deal on opening talks included "unacceptable issues".

[03] Greece Bus

Police surrounded the bus, which was seized about 6:00 a.m.along a highway on the Athens suburb of Marathon.

Confusion surrounded the identity and aims of the gunmen carrying out the hijack, the first such incident since a spate of bus hijackings in Greece in 1999-2000.

An authoritative government source told Reuters the nationality of the gunmen was not known although a passenger contacted on the bus said at least one of the hijackers spoke what appeared to be "Russian".

Police initially thought the hijackers were Albanian but the source said that possibility was receding.

There were also unconfirmed media reports that the gunmen wanted to go to Russia.

Just before noon, the hijackers released five of the hostages, three men and two women.

One of the male passengers released, has heart problems.

[04] Truckers

[05] Turkey fire

Ambulances rushed 130 people to hospital, most suffering from smoke inhalation.

Earlier media reports said around 40 people had been hurt.

Private NTV news channel showed people with blackened faces stumbling out of the cinema along a red carpet in an upmarket district of Constantinople.

Unconscious victims were carried out in the arms of others.

Fabric draped to add to the atmosphere for the premiere of the Turkish horror film "Buyu" caught fire from candles, sparking the blaze.

Some moviegoers complained that access to fire exits had been blocked.

[06] Kenya narcotics

They said smugglers were suspected to be trying to move it from Colombia to Europe.

Police sources said another raid on a speedboat moored off the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi yesterday, had also netted a quantity of cocaine.

Kenya is increasingly becoming a conduit for narcotics to Europe, from drug producing countries.

[07] Indonesia attack

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, advised Australians in neighbouring Indonesia to avoid all international hotels and other places where foreigners are likely to gather.

Australia, a strong U,.S. ally and one of the first to join the war in Iraq, has never suffered a major terror attack on home sail but 88 Australians were among 202 people killed in nightclub bombings on the popular Indonesian holiday of Bali in 2002.

A car bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on Sept. 9 this year killed 10 people and injured more than 180. Australian and Indonesian police have worked closely in investigating both attacks.

Weather Scattered showers and snowfalls on higher ground, is forecast for this afternoon. Winds will be moderate to strong, northerly to northeasterly, force four to five, over moderate to rough seas in windward areas. Temperatures will reach 13 degrees inland, 16 in coastal areas and four over the mountains. Tonight it will be cloudy, with rain and light snowfalls over higher ground and in some semi-mountainous regions. Winds will be light to moderate, northerly to northeasterly, over slight seas to moderate seas in windward areas.

Temperatures will drop to two degrees inland, five in coastal areas and four below zero on higher ground, where frost is expected to form.

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