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Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-08-31Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Myanmar illegals located inside truck in border regionSeventy illegal immigrants, most from Myanmar (Burma), were detected in truck that had just entered Greece on Monday and was traveling in the extreme northeast district of Didymoticho, Evros prefecture.The driver, a Moldavian national, was arrested at the scene. The illegals were crammed inside the truck's trailer and were reportedly headed for the country's interior. The incident is noteworthy due to the detection of illegal immigrants from Myanmar -- between India and Thailand -- indicating that an overland illegal migration flow towards Europe is emerging farther east than previously recorded. [02] Hellenic Petroleum to pay 0.15 euros pre-dividendHellenic Petroleum on Monday announced a board decision to pay a 0.15-euro per share pre-dividend to its shareholders. In a statement, the company said the net dividend payment, after a 10-percent withholding tax, will total 0.135-euro per share.Record date was set Oct. 21, 2009. Hellenic Petroleum said its shares will be traded ex-dividend on the Athens Stock Exchange from Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. [03] Mountain biking in Prespes lake districtA three-day mountain bike race in cooler September will be hosted in one of Greece's most verdant and pristine regions, the mostly unblemished Prespes lake district where the borders of Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) and Greece converge. Sponsored by the Eco-tourism Societies of Mount Grammos and Vitsi, the brown bear conservation NGO "Arctouros", the Prespes Cultural Triangle society in tandem with the northern Greece cycling federation, the "3-etapes" race will pass through the district's eponymous sites, including the village of Nestorio, Mt. Grammos, the Nymfeo site, Amynteo, and the Prespes border lakes. One of goals cited by the organisers is to turn the event -- open to full-time athletes and amateur cyclists -- into an international mountain bike race in 2010. The race begins on Sept. 18 from the village of Nestorio with individual time trials. (ANA-MPA / PAVLOS MAKRIDIS)[04] MP Manolis resignsRuling New Democracy (ND) deputy Yiannis Manolis on Monday officially announced his resignation from Parliament as an MP from Argolida prefecture, in the northwest Peloponnese.Manolis, a former high-profile labour unionist long affiliated with the New Democracy party, had repeatedly stated over the past few months that he would resign from Parliament at the conclusion of the legislature's third summer session. In a letter of resignation to the Parliament president, the outspoken Manolis noted that his action aims to aid the prime minister "in not succumbing to all those recommending an electoral suicide." Manolis did not mince his words in criticising those, who he charged, promote early election scenarios, saying this belies opportunism to assume ND's leadership or "others, who desire for themselves a significant institutional bi-partisan role ... even if this necessitates a heavy defeat and a dramatic shrinking (of the party's support)." Moreover, he called on Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to proceed with a wholesale overhaul of the party. His seat in Parliament will be assumed by the runner-up on ND's ticket for the specific district, namely, Dimitris Kranias. [05] Stocks end 2.91% downGreek stocks ended sharply lower at the Athens Stock Exchange on Monday, hit by a wave of profit taking. The composite index of the market ended at 2,466.41 points, off 2.91 pct, with turnover an improved 330.4 million euros, of which 121.6 million euros were block trades.Most sectors moved downwards, with the Banks (4.40 pct), Telecommunications (3.86 pct) and Media (3.65 pct) suffering the heaviest percentage losses of the day, while Health (4.09 pct), Insurance (1.25 pct) and Food/Beverage (0.44 pct) scored gains. The FTSE 20 index ended 3.65 pct down, the FTSE 40 index fell 1.06 pct and the FTSE 80 index dropped 2.15 pct. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 171 to 45 with another 37 issues unchanged. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |