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Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-03-06Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Frigoglass extends supply contract with Coca-Cola Hellenic BottlingFrigoglass on Friday announced the extension of a supply contract with Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling until Dec. 31, 2013. The supply contract between the two companies expired on Dec. 31, 2008.[02] Aegean promises to freeze domestic faresAegean Airlines, which on Wednesday submitted a bid for the purchase of Olympic Airways, on Friday announced that it will freeze ticket fares for domestic flights until 2010 if negotiations with the Greek government over OA's acquisition lead to a deal.In an announcement, Aegean Airlines reiterated that its primary motivation in submitting a proposal for the state-run carrier is to create a "national 'champion" that will preserve the name Olympic and that will merge both companies' strong points. Referring to the ground services unit, for which Aegean has not submitted a bid, the announcement notes that "when such a necessity occurs, Aegean can, in a few days and in cooperation with Goldair, with which it has already begun negotiations, submit a proposal that will guarantee a reliable solution." [03] Karatzaferis agrees to consensusPopular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) founder and president George Karatzaferis on Friday reiterated his party's "yes" to a consensus amongst political parties <font size="3" face="Times New Roman">vis-à-vis<font size="3" face="Times New Roman Greek"> the ongoing global economic crisis, as requested by the prime minister in Parliament. In a press conference, Karatzaferis stated that "this is the biggest economic crisis experienced globally". Justifying his positive stance toward the PM's request, he stressed that his party gave its response "using reason", pointing out that "the main issue is not what a political party will gain, but the rescue of the country". He also accused other opposition party leaders "of falling short of the foresight political leaders ought to display in periods of crisis". Karatzaferis, a one-time ND deputy, reiterated his proposal for a caretaker government modelled after the 1989-1990 government, and stressed that "there will be no bloodless way-out," referring to the economic crisis. Finally, he <font size="3" face="Times New Roman">again expressed his belief <font size="3" face="Times New Roman Greek">that <font size="3" face="Times New Roman">PM Costas <font size="3" face="Times New Roman Greek">Karamanlis will not call early elections and stressed that all political parties <font size="3" face="Times New Roman">must <font size="3" face="Times New Roman Greek">make their position clear on the election of the new president of the republic<font size="3" face="Times New Roman">, slated for 2010<font size="3" face="Times New Roman Greek">.[04] Net use by Greek women rises in '08Internet use among Greek women rose sharply in 2008, according to a survey posted on Friday by the Observatory for the Greek Information Society to mark International Women's Day on March 8, although the figures still lag behind the country's male population.Specifically, Internet use among Greek men and women in 2008 now stands at 46 percent and 32 percent, respectively. The rate for both genders has nearly doubled over the last four years and there was a sharp rise of 12 percent for men and 10 percent for women in the year 2008. The survey also found a large difference in Internet use between women in large cities and women in smaller urban or rural areas. In the large urban centres of Athens and Thessaloniki, for example, Internet use among women was 46 percent and 41 percent, respectively, while in smaller urban centres it stood at 27 percent and in rural areas at 23 percent. The gender gap reduces sharply in younger age groups and is tending to become smaller. Among 16-25 year olds, the difference in Internet use between men and women dropped from 10 percent in 2005 to just 2 percent in 2008. The observed convergence in this age group holds good not just in large cities but also in smaller urban and rural areas. In older age groups, by contrast, the gender differences remain high and are tending to rise, especially for women aged 36-55 who have considerably lower Internet use than men. Of the women that use the Internet, 58 percent tend to use it on a daily or almost daily basis, recording an increase of some 12 percentage points in frequency of use in 2005-2008. Home and work continue to be the main places for accessing the Internet for both men and women, while educational establishments continue to be access points where women have higher percentages than men. Greek women still lag behind those of other European Union countries in the use of new technologies, with 45 percent of Greek women using computers compared with the EU27 average of 63 percent, and just 32 percent using the Internet per quarter compared with 59 percent in the EU27. This is changing rapidly and tending to converge with rates in the EU, however, with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for Internet Use by women in 2005-2008 estimated at 29.4 percent, which is the highest among EU countries, where the EU27 CAGR is 11.7 percent. ANA-MPA file photo. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |