LETTER N° 40

From 01 to 07 of October

01 Cyprus		National holiday : Independence Day Under British rule the movement among the Greek Cypriot population for union (enosis) with Greece was a constant source of tension. In 1955 a Greek Cypriot organization (EOKA), led by Col. George Grivas, launched a campaign of widespread terrorism. Tension and terror mounted, especially after British authorities deported (1956) Makarios III, the spokesman for the Greek Cypriot nationalists. The conflict was aggravated by Turkish support of Turkish Cypriot demands for partition of the island. Negotiations (1955) among Britain, Greece, and Turkey on the status of Cyprus broke down completely. Finally in 1959, a settlement was reached, providing for Cypriot independence in 1960 and for the terms of the constitution. Treaties precluded both enosis and partition. Makarios was elected president in 1959 and reelected in 1968 and 1973.
01 Nigeria		National holiday : Independence Day (1 October 1960, from UK) With Nigerian independence scheduled for 1960, elections were held in 1959. No party won a majority, and the NPC combined with the NCNC to form a government. Nigeria attained independence on Oct. 1, 1960, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of the NPC as prime minister and Azikiwe of the NCNC as governor-general; when Nigeria became a republic in 1963, Azikiwe was made president.
01 Tuvalu		National holiday : Independence Day (1 October 1978, from UK) The Britain colony became self-governing in 1971, and in 1974 the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status as Tuvalu. They became fully independent in 1978 and in 1979 signed a treaty of friendship with the United States, which recognized Tuvalu's possession of four small islands formerly claimed by the United States.
01 Albania		Local elections - first round. Of the 409 seats in town councils nationwide, the Socialists won 110, the Democrats 33 and other parties three, according to Socialist Party's spokesman Ruci. The rest will be contested on Oct. 15 for the second round of local elections.The governing Socialists claimed their candidates won 27 of the 65 mayoral races, while the main opposition Democratic Party won only nine.
01 Brazil		Municipal elections. Results : the left-wing Workers' Party (PT) had cause for celebration after Brazil's municipal elections. It increased its tally of mayors from 113 to 174; but it will also have another chance in run-off polls on October 29th in 16 of 31 larger cities where no mayoral candidate took 50% or more of the vote. Still, despite such advances made by the left-wing opposition in state capitals, government parties still dominate Brazil town halls. The PMDB, PFL and PPB won 4,182 of the 5,559 municipalities in Brazil.
01 Venezuela		Regional and local council elections. Results : not available.
01 Dominica		Prime Minister (3 Feb 2000 -1 Oct 2000) Rosie Douglas dies.   Pierre Charles becomes acting prime minister.
01 San Marino		Gian Franco Terenzi (Christian Democrat) and Enzo Colombini (Progressive Democrat) are installed as captains-regent.
02 Ukraine		Anatolii Zlenko becomes foreign minister.
03 Taiwan		Premier Tang Fei resigns.
03 Germany		National holiday : German Unity Day (Day of Unity) (3 October 1990) On Oct. 3, 1990, the two German states were formally unified, and it was officially declared that the united Germany would be a full member of NATO.
04 Lesotho		National holiday : Independence Day 4 October 1966, from UK) In 1960 the British granted Basutoland a new constitution that paved the way to internal self-government. On Oct. 4, 1966, Basutoland became independent as Lesotho.
04 Taiwan		Former premier (1984-89) Yü Kuo-hwa dies.
06 Taiwan		New premier, Chang Chun-Hsiung. Some elements of the new governement : The new vice premier will be Lai In-jaw, a member of the Council of Grand Justices since 1999 and a former vice finance minister and chief of the Taiwan Provincial Government's Department of Finance. Minister of National Defense Wu Shih-wen will stay on. However, Minister of Finance Shea Jia-dong, Government Information Office (GIO) Director-General Chung Chin, and Executive Yuan Secretary-General Wea Chi-lin are leaving their posts.
06 Argentina		Vice-President Carlos Alvarez of Argentina resigned after sharp disagreements with the president over a corruption scandal.
07 Luxemburg		Abdication of His Royal Highness Grand-Duc Jean of Luxemburg in favor of his eldest Grand-Duc Henri.
07 Yugoslavia		Vojislav Kostunica, from the opposition party, invested as president.