WHAT HAPPENED ON 5th April 1999?

4th April 1999

COOK URGES MACEDONIAN REFUGEE SANCTUARY

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has urged the international community to set up a sanctuary in Macedonia for Kosovo refugees. "This place of refuge would be created protected & supplied by Nato troops " he added. International Development Secretary Clare Short visits Macedonia tomorrow. Mr Cook has said Britain will give an extra £10m to help the thousands of refugees flowing out of Kosovo.

5th April 1999

BLAIR HAS DOUBTS OVER REFUGEE AIRLIFT

The Government has expressed grave doubts over plans to airlift tens of thousands of Kosovan Albanian refugees ` a day after agreeing to house them. The Prime Minister warned the Nato plan could make the West complicit in ethnically cleansing Kosovo. International Development Secretary Clare Short & Foreign Secretary Robin Cook expressed similar reservations. Removing them to distant countries made their return far harder they said.

5th April 1999

COOK THROWS DOWN GAUNTLET TO SERBIANS

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has urged the Serb people to question President Milosevic over his personal wealth. "Mr Milosevic should show the people of Serbia pictures of his villas in Athens and Crete & of his yacht " he said. Mr Cook claimed that Mr Milosevic's son has avoided the military draft by escaping to his villa in Greece. "Milosevic should tell his people how much wealth he has sucked out of Serbia " Mr Cook added.

4th April 1999

INDONESIA RELIGIOUS STRIFE ` "MORE DIE"

Religious strife in Indonesia's Kai islands is continuing & estimates put the latest death toll at 34. The regional head of government said hundreds of Muslims & Christians were still fighting in villages in the islands this morning. Two bodies with severe lacerations were found in a drain in the islands' chief town early today. And a local hospital said two people had died from gunshot wounds.

5th April 1999

BLAIR HAS DOUBTS OVER REFUGEE AIRLIFT

The Government has expressed grave doubts over plans to airlift tens of thousands of Kosovan Albanian refugees ` a day after agreeing to house them. The Prime Minister warned the Nato plan could make the West complicit in ethnically cleansing Kosovo. International Development Secretary Clare Short & Foreign Secretary Robin Cook expressed similar reservations. Removing them to distant countries made their return far harder they said.

5th April 1999

LIBYAN "TERROR LINKS SOON TO BE PROVED"

The trial of the two Lockerbie suspects will put on record claims that Tripoli backs terrorism Libyan opponents hope. Libyan dissidents based in Cairo said the case would offer the chance to prove the responsibility of the Libyan government itself in terrorist crimes. "It's good because I think it will prove the involvement of the political system " said a former senior official. "Nobody can believe that these two agents acted on their own" he added. I

4th April 1999

The Vatican newspaperOsservatore

Romanosays that "the conscience of the whole world should be moved by the tragedy of the Kosovo refugees". Le Soirin Brussels says that while the countries of Western Europe express horror at the wave of refugees from Kosovo they are showing "little enthusiasm about taking them in". The countries of Western Europe the paper says "are not hiding a wish to see the refugees stay in the Balkans".

5th April 1999

BLAIR HAS DOUBTS OVER REFUGEE AIRLIFT

The Government has expressed grave doubts over plans to airlift tens of thousands of Kosovan Albanian refugees ` a day after agreeing to house them. The Prime Minister warned the Nato plan could make the West complicit in ethnically cleansing Kosovo. International Development Secretary Clare Short & Foreign Secretary Robin Cook expressed similar reservations. Removing them to distant countries made their return far harder they said.

5th April 1999

SHORT SEES REFUGEE MISERY IN MACEDONIA

International Development Secretary the human misery of the Kosovo crisis. In a visit to Yugoslavia she saw a body in a meadow at the chaotic Blace border crossing where an estimated 65 000 Kosovo Albanians are trapped. The minister was then shown a reception camp built by British troops in Macedonia lying empty nearby. Aid workers say the refugee plight is being hampered by Maceodonian red tape.

4th April 1999

NUT RENEWS THREATS OVER PERFORMANCE PAY

The leader of the biggest teaching union has threatened an escalating strike campaign over performance pay. "I hope David Blunkett will recognise the depth of opposition " said National Union of Teachers General Secretary Doug McAvoy of "payment by results". But NASUWT leader Nigel de Gruchy has cautiously backed a performance link. He told GMTV his union did not oppose linking pay to "sensible & fair" appraisal of teachers' abilities.

5th April 1999

BLAIR HAS DOUBTS OVER REFUGEE AIRLIFT

The Government has expressed grave doubts over plans to airlift tens of thousands of Kosovan Albanian refugees ` a day after agreeing to house them. The Prime Minister warned the Nato plan could make the West complicit in ethnically cleansing Kosovo. International Development Secretary Clare Short & Foreign Secretary Robin Cook expressed similar reservations. Removing them to distant countries made their return far harder they said.

5th April 1999

SHORT SEES REFUGEE MISERY IN MACEDONIA

International Development Secretary the human misery of the Kosovo crisis. In a visit to Yugoslavia she saw a body in a meadow at the chaotic Blace border crossing where an estimated 65 000 Kosovo Albanians are trapped. The minister was then shown a reception camp built by British troops in Macedonia lying empty nearby. Aid workers say the refugee plight is being hampered by Maceodonian red tape.

4th April 1999

What People were saying on

"Cheese is much more fattening & unhealthy but there is something about chocolate which makes it more devilish."

Joanne Harris author of bestselling novel Chocolat.

"When he turned his crinkly smile on me I was reduced to a giggling wreck. It's that heady mix of Geoff Boycott & Richard Burton."

Lauren Booth the Prime Minister's sister-in-law on Michael Parkinson.

"I loved the idea of being grown up mainly because I was a rather repellent teenager."

Actress Joanna Lumley.

5th April 1999

BLAIR HAS DOUBTS OVER REFUGEE AIRLIFT

The Government has expressed grave doubts over plans to airlift tens of thousands of Kosovan Albanian refugees ` a day after agreeing to house them. The Prime Minister warned the Nato plan could make the West complicit in ethnically cleansing Kosovo. International Development Secretary Clare Short & Foreign Secretary Robin Cook expressed similar reservations. Removing them to distant countries made their return far harder they said.

5th April 1999

As the Easter holidays begin in much of

Western Europe those newspapers with Good Friday editions are preoccupied by the refugees fleeing Kosovo. Le Mondein Paris reports that France is working together with Germany & Italy to provide aid for the refugees. The paper quotes French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin as saying that "everyone is profoundly moved by the tens of thousands of people who are leaving Kosovo". WORLD TODAY: Monday-Friday only