WHAT HAPPENED ON 23th April 1999?

22nd April 1999

Berlin'sMorgenpostclaims that Nato is

preparing a political initiative for the settlement of the Kosovo war to coincide with its 50th anniversary. The paper says that the initiative is based on the controversial peace plan of the German Foreign Ministry. The plan would grant Serbia a cease- fire if Belgrade begins to withdraw its army from Kosovo.

23th April 1999

SERBS DENY TALKS ON UN TROOPS IN KOSOVO

Yugoslav officials have said their talks with a Russian peace envoy focused on the possible admission to Kosovo of an unarmed UN presence. The statement seems to contradict envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin's earlier claim that Belgrade would allow troops in. He had hailed this move as a major compromise by Yugoslav officials. But a Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman insisted that the UN presence discussed was an "observer force".

23th April 1999

ISRAEL Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon is set to formally invite Pope John Paul II to visit the Holy Land during the Millennium year. IRISH REPUBLICFormer president of the International Olympic Committee Lord Killanin 84 has died at his home in Dublin. He was head of the IOC from 1972 to 1980. GERMANY Four people were killed when a Swiss-registered light aircraft crashed soon after take-off from an airfield close to the south-western town of Friedrichshafen police said.

22nd April 1999

Berlin'sMorgenpostclaims that Nato is

preparing a political initiative for the settlement of the Kosovo war to coincide with its 50th anniversary. The paper says that the initiative is based on the controversial peace plan of the German Foreign Ministry. The plan would grant Serbia a cease- fire if Belgrade begins to withdraw its army from Kosovo.

23th April 1999

SERBS DENY TALKS ON UN TROOPS IN KOSOVO

Yugoslav officials have said their talks with a Russian peace envoy focused on the possible admission to Kosovo of an unarmed UN presence. The statement seems to contradict envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin's earlier claim that Belgrade would allow troops in. He had hailed this move as a major compromise by Yugoslav officials. But a Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman insisted that the UN presence discussed was an "observer force".

23th April 1999

NATO PLEDGES "NO COMPROMISE" ON KOSOVO

Nato has vowed to intensify military and economic pressure on Yugoslavia but said it was ready to suspend air raids if Belgrade accepts its peace proposal. The allied leaders said the raids would be halted once Belgrade "unequivocally accepted" Nato's terms. The Yugoslav government must also pull out its forces from Kosovo according to a "precise & rapid timetable". The Nato alliance is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.

22nd April 1999

Berlin'sMorgenpostclaims that Nato is

preparing a political initiative for the settlement of the Kosovo war to coincide with its 50th anniversary. The paper says that the initiative is based on the controversial peace plan of the German Foreign Ministry. The plan would grant Serbia a cease- fire if Belgrade begins to withdraw its army from Kosovo.

23th April 1999

SERBS DENY TALKS ON UN TROOPS IN KOSOVO

Yugoslav officials have said their talks with a Russian peace envoy focused on the possible admission to Kosovo of an unarmed UN presence. The statement seems to contradict envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin's earlier claim that Belgrade would allow troops in. He had hailed this move as a major compromise by Yugoslav officials. But a Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman insisted that the UN presence discussed was an "observer force".

23th April 1999

NATO PLEDGES "NO COMPROMISE" ON KOSOVO

Nato has vowed to intensify military and economic pressure on Yugoslavia but said it was ready to suspend air raids if Belgrade accepts its peace proposal. The allied leaders said the raids would be halted once Belgrade "unequivocally accepted" Nato's terms. The Yugoslav government must also pull out its forces from Kosovo according to a "precise & rapid timetable". The Nato alliance is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.

22nd April 1999

MONUMENT TO LENIN BLOWN UP IN SIBERIA

A concrete monument to Lenin the father of the 1917 Russian Revolution has been blown up in western Siberia. The three-metre monument in Sverdlovsk Region was destroyed by the blast the Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio reported Local officials believe that the attack was timed to coincide with the 129th anniversary of the birth of the Bolshevik leader the radio added. Communists in the Russian capital marked the occasion by laying wreathes at the Lenin mausoleum on Red Square.

23th April 1999

SERBS DENY TALKS ON UN TROOPS IN KOSOVO

Yugoslav officials have said their talks with a Russian peace envoy focused on the possible admission to Kosovo of an unarmed UN presence. The statement seems to contradict envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin's earlier claim that Belgrade would allow troops in. He had hailed this move as a major compromise by Yugoslav officials. But a Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman insisted that the UN presence discussed was an "observer force".

23th April 1999

RUSSIAN TORPEDO THIEVES FACING JAIL

Officers of the Russian navy are facing jail sentences for stealing components from live torpedoes. The gang broke up the submarine torpedoes in search of components including batteries which contained silver Itar-Tass news agency said. The stolen parts were then sold on to a number of civilian "customers". The gang members who are facing prison sentences of up to 10 years are thought to have caused damage worth more than £40 000.

22nd April 1999

ROYALS END KOREA TRIP MEETING VETERANS

The Queen has concluded her state visit to South Korea by meeting British & Commonwealth veterans of the Korean War With the Duke of Edinburgh she paid tribute to the veterans at a special Royal garden party. Some 84 British veterans were in South Korea for an annual visit of remembrance & commemoration. Some 56 000 British troops part of a UN force fought on the side of South Korea in the early 1950s.

23th April 1999

SERBS DENY TALKS ON UN TROOPS IN KOSOVO

Yugoslav officials have said their talks with a Russian peace envoy focused on the possible admission to Kosovo of an unarmed UN presence. The statement seems to contradict envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin's earlier claim that Belgrade would allow troops in. He had hailed this move as a major compromise by Yugoslav officials. But a Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman insisted that the UN presence discussed was an "observer force".

23th April 1999

COOK HAILS IMPACT OF LATEST NATO RAIDS

The latest Nato air strikes have made a "real impact" on the Yugoslav military Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has said. He said Nato aircraft had destroyed six tanks 23 military vehicles a column of troops & an artillery battery within Kosovo in the last 24 hours. This would weaken the "campaign of repression within Kosovo" he added. Mr Cook also defended the bombing of the TV station in Belgrade saying it promoted the regime's "evil doctrine".