Thursday 21st of August 2008
MEDIA HEADLINES IN ENGLISH
You’re listening to NEWS REPORT, a summary of today’s media,
prepared by UNMIK ON AIR
No ethnic division of Kosovo Police
Russia warns Europe and beyond
And 3 days of national mourning for Spain
KOSOVO
Confirming that while on leave, SRSG Zannier statements regarding police,
customs and parallel structures were misinterpreted by local media.
The SRSG said “Following the reconfiguration, UNMIK will stay
in Kosovo, especially in the areas inhabited by Serbs such as Mitrovica,
Gracanica, Shtërpcë and Pejë,”
The UNMIK Chief also confirmed that there won’t
be a Serb ethnic police force with a separate chain of command, that
there will not be more than one customs zone in Kosovo and that he will
not meet the mayors of Serb parallel municipalities.
The newspaper Zëri quotes the SRSG as saying,
“He (Goran Bogdanovic) suggested to me to reinstall the command
of UNMIK so that Serb police officers can return to their jobs. I told
him that the transition is over. I said to him very clearly that we
are rewriting history. This is what happened and now we must encourage
people to return to their duties.” “I have seen that the
proposals of the Serbian side are unrealistic, and the role they have
requested from UNMIK is a role that I am not able to perform. I have
informed the Government of Kosovo about this,”.
During a visit to the village of Krusha e Madhe, where
there are still 75 people missing, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu stated
that “It is our and your concern to learn the fate of those still
missing, and the Government is doing its best to return the most beloved
to their families.” President Sejdiu has accused Serbia of not
returning the missing persons to Kosovo.
The Deputy Minister of Health and Kosovo Assembly
deputy of Serb Parliamentary Party New Democracy, Branislav Grbic, said
Wednesday. “We will withdraw from the Parliamentary Group of Serb
Independent Liberal Party, because we are not satisfied with the work
this group is doing in protecting Serb community interests,”.
The Kosovo Police Service spokesperson confirmed that
four police cameras were installed at the Zubin Potok crossing between
Kosovo and Serbia. The mayor of Zubin Potok, Slavisa Ristic reportedly
gave his approval under the condition that the cameras are connected
with UNMIK only and that no customs check point is set up at Zubin Potok.
Regional
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has asked the UN war crimes
tribunal to replace the judge in charge of the preparatory stage of
his trial. Mr Karadzic said the Dutch judge would convict him to reinforce
rulings in his earlier cases against Bosnian Serbs.
Russia has warned that a US-Polish missile defence
deal creates a new arms race in Europe and beyond. A Russian foreign
ministry statement said that Moscow "will be forced to react, and
not only through diplomatic demarches". The comments came just
hours after the US and Poland signed the deal to locate 10 US interceptor
rockets in Poland.
Data protection officials in Germany have called for
privacy laws to be tightened amid a scandal over illegal sales of personal
data. The officials say they were able to buy six million items of personal
data on the internet, including bank account details and phone numbers.
Call centres and lottery firms are suspected of trading in the data.
International
Spain has declared three days of mourning after more than 153 people
were killed when an aircraft (Spanair MD-82) crashed in Madrid during
takeoff, 19 people survived. The crash at Madrid's Barajas airport yesterday
was Europe's worst air disaster in 25 years
The French President said on Wednesday French troops
must stay in Afghanistan to fight terrorism, a day after insurgents
killed 10 French troops, the biggest single loss of foreign forces in
Afghan combat since 2001.
Two car bombs killed at least 12 people and wounded
31 others on Wednesday in the Algerian town of Bouira, a day after a
suicide bombing killed 43 people and wounded 45 others in a neighbouring
region. The car bombs went off around 6 a.m. badly damaging the military
compound and barracks in Bouira, about 60 miles southeast of Algiers.
Weather
Today will be sunny with a low tonight of 15 degrees; tomorrow will
be sunny with a high of 30 degrees Celsius.