ITAR-TASS overnight news cycle for Tue, Feb 16 - 3.

.RF Communications Minister meets ITU chief in Spain.

BARCELONA, February 16 (Itar-Tass) - Igor Shchyogolev, Russian
Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications, ended his working visit to
Spain with a meeting with Dr. Hamadou Toure, Secretary-General of the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Monday.

Shchyogolev led a Russian delegation to the ministerial summit held
here within the scope of the World Congress of Mobile Communications.
The development of international cooperation in this sector was the
theme of the dialogue with the leadership of the ITU, which brings
together 191 countries. The conversation dealt with interaction in
refining all types of communications, and their effective operation. The
interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the broad representation at the
congress in Spain of government organizations, operators of
communications, developers and producers of mobile communications devices.
Shchyogolev visited the Exhibition of Global Mobile Communications
System. The exhibition was timed to coincide with the Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona. The Minister exchanged views with the executives of
Russian and multinational companies on new information technologies
represented at the show.

.Kazakh FM, Armenia leaders to discuss Karabakh issue.

YEREVAN, February 16 (Itar-Tass) - Ways to settle the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh will be the focus of attention during a visit here by
Kanat Saudabayev, Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister. The visit
begins on Tuesday.
Saudabayev is to meet with Armenian President Serge Sargsyan,
Parliament Speaker Ovik Abramyan, and hold talks with Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan.
When speaking at the OSCE-EU ministerial meeting in Brussels,
Saudabayev said, "We attach paramount role in a solution to the Karabakh
problem to the efforts of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the
Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group of the OSCE".
"A further delay in the adoption of basic principles for a settlement
of the conflict may have a negative effect on the negotiating process and
finally undermine trust between the conflicting sides," the Kazakhstani
Minister believes. "In view of this, Kazakhstan is ready to help fix the
remaining outstanding issues concerning the basic principles and directly
participate in the efforts".
Saudabayev is convinced that the Karabakh problem can be settled only
through the joint efforts of all the sides concerned." "Pursuing common
goals, the EU and the OSCE, we are confident, can achieve certain
successes in a settlement of the conflict through close interaction and
coordination of joint efforts," the OSCE Chairman-in-Office said.

.DPRK celebrates 68th birthday of Kim Jong Il Tuesday.

PYONGYANG, February 16 (Itar-Tass) - The 68th birthday of Kim Jong Il
is celebrated in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on
Tuesday.
On the occasion of this date, which is referred to by Korean media as
"the greatest national holiday", a rather brisk trade in fruit,
confectioneries, toys, and souvenirs is in progress in the streets of
Pyongyang.
Ceremonial functions, festive meetings and sports events are held
everywhere. Figure skaters from Russia are taking part in international
competitions for the trophy of sacred Mount Paektusang. The competitions
are timed to coincide with the date. Performing together with them are
also sportsmen from Hungary, Belarus, Australia, Ukraine, Britain,
Switzerland, France, and a number of other countries.
This year the staff of almost 90 various institutions and agencies of
the DPRK take part in the current festival of bright red flowers named
Kimjongiria in honour of the country's leader.
Korean interpreter guide Hang Ving Byo, 22, has told Itar-Tass that
about 1,200 were sent in by the servicemen of the Korean Armed Forces. The
interpreter, who graduated from the foreign languages institute and speaks
Russian fluently, said that "Soldiers and officers of the DPRK not only
are in the vanguard of the builders of Socialism and defenders of the
Fatherland, but also more actively than others engage in growing flowers
that are named after the great military leader". All in all, she said, on
view at the pavilion that first opened in 2002 are now 24,000 flowers sent
here by compatriots who reside in China and Japan, and by diplomatic
missions, including the Russian one.
On the eve of the holiday, the workers and engineers of the Vinalon
producing complex named after February 8 in the city of Hamhung gladdened
the heart of the "great leader" with labour achievements. Vinalon is a
synthetic fibre, produced from polyvinyl alcohol using anthracite and
limestone as raw materials.
In February, Kim Jong Il twice visited the complex in inspection tours
and praised the workers of the enterprise who succeeded "within a short
period of time to bring into being new production facilities on the basis
of the latest scientific research". "This will make it possible to achieve
a breakthrough in the country's manufacture of clothes," he said. Kim Jong
Il also called on the Koreans to turn this year of the 65th jubilee of the
Workers' Party of Korea into a year of great transformations opening up
the road to the creation of a "great prosperous state".
-0-pop


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