Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-11-29

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Road opens for Greek repayment extension

[02] PM at EU-Africa Summit in Libya

[03] ND: Extension of repayment period positive if not accompanied by new measures

[04] ANA-MPA joins anti-smoking campaign, launches new web page

[05] Media strike on Tuesday

[06] Palestine Youth Orchestra show

[07] Education reform dialogue

[08] Big rise at ASE opening

[01] Road opens for Greek repayment extension

Sunday's decisions will be enshrined in Eurogroup and Council decisions to be formally adopted on December 6-7.

A statement issued after the meeting stated that the ministers "unanimously agreed today to grant financial assistance in response to the Irish authorities' request of November 22, 2010" which will be provided "on the basis of a program which has been negotiated with the Irish authorities by the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in liaison with the European Central Bank (ECB)".

The statement also said that "the Eurogroup will rapidly examine the necessity of aligning the maturities of the financing for Greece to that of Ireland".

Further, European leaders, at snap meeting, decided the creation of a Permanent Eurozone Crisis Mechanism to be put in effect in the second half of 2013, which will replace the existing temporary mechanisms that expire in 2013.

The necessity of alignment of the Greek and Irish loan maturities was stressed at a press conference afterwards by Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs Olli Rehn.

"The ministers decided that we should look into the alignment of loan maturities of financing for Greece and that of Ireland. It should now kill off any remaining doubt of the capacity of Greece to repay its debt," Rehn told the press conference.

"All together the EU-IMF programme for Ireland a future European stabilization mechanism with clear rules and the forthcoming prolongation of maturities for Greek loans, constitute decisive elements which will help to dispel any doubt about Europe's will and ability to safeguard the financial stability in Europe," he said.

"As regards interest rates and the pricing policy, we shall apply the IMF equivalent pricing practices in line with the Greek loan package. The precise interest rate will be decided next week and as I said, that will be in line with the IMF standard practices," Rehn added.

According to Greek diplomatic sources, this in practice means that the loan amortization period for Greece will be 11 years, against the current five years under the Memorandum.

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[02] PM at EU-Africa Summit in Libya

The two-day summit will focus on investments, economic growth and the creation of jobs.

Papandreou will address the summit both days, focusing on the theme Energy and Climate Change in his speech on Monday and on the theme Migration, Mobility and Creation of Jobs in his presentation on Tuesday.

The premier will be accompanied by foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas and deputy foreign minister Spyros Kouvelis.

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[03] ND: Extension of repayment period positive if not accompanied by new measures

ND spokesman Panos Panagiotopoulos, speaking on a private radio station, added that ND is in favor of reforms and structural changes, noting that it was ND leader Antonis Samaras himself who had urged the government to "move in the right direction".

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[04] ANA-MPA joins anti-smoking campaign, launches new web page

Greece holds top place in the consumption of tobacco products in the EU, while a law prohibiting smoking in closed, public places is in effect since September 1.

The ANA-MPA's specialised web page http://web.ana-mpa.gr/nosmoking contains information on the current legislation, facts on the harmful consequences of smoking, ways of kicking the nicotine habit and on specialised centers.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), smoking is the major health problem in the world today.

One person dies every 10 seconds from smoking-related diseases throughout the world, while more than 600,000 people die as a result of passive smoking, according to WHO figures.

(Photo: ANA-MPA/O. Panagiotou)

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[05] Media strike on Tuesday

The Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency (ANA-MPA) will be taking part in the strike, and as such there will be no news services during that time.

News transmission will resume normally after 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

Striking journalists in Athens will hold a demonstration outside the Athens Journalists' Union (ESIEA) at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

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[06] Palestine Youth Orchestra show

The orchestra is noteworthy for featuring musicians aged between 12 to 26 years old, and hailing from the Palestinians territories and the Diaspora.

A diverse programme included musical scores of classical stalwarts, such pieces by Haydn to a medley taken from George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess", along with three traditional Arab songs performed by vocalists Oday Al-Khattab, Rawan Elleyan and Osama Diab. The performance also included orchestral pieces by Arab composers Ahmad Al-Khatib (Mystifying Transparencies), John Bisharat (Elegy in a Country Churchyard) and Issa Boulos (The Street Your House is On & The Street Your House is on, on a Different Day). The last was commissioned specially by the PYO and premiered for its 2010 concerts at the Jordan Festival and on Sunday at the Megaron. (ANA-MPA)

The event was sponsored by the Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and CCC President Said Khouri.

The evening was kicked off by the Palestinian envoy in Athens Samir Abou Ghazaleh, who addressed an auditorium in which included several Greek political leaders, as well as several noted local artists and celebrities. The Palestinian Authority and its president Mahmoud Abbas were represented by Dr. Nabil Shaath.

The Palestine Youth Orchestra is the 'flagship' of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. It was created in 2004 and today consists of 55 young Palestinian musicians who come from the Palestinian territory and former Palestinian areas and from the Palestinian diaspora, living in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt but also Europe and America.

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(ANA-MPA photo / Ê. MAVRONA)

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[07] Education reform dialogue

Sitting on the Committee are one representative each from the ruling PASOK party, main opposition New Democracy (ND), the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) party, the Democratic Left party and the Ecologists-Greens, as well as the chairperson of parliament's Standing Committee on Educational Affairs.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA parliamentary alliance) have stated they will not take part in the proceedings.

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[08] Big rise at ASE opening

Individual sector indices were moving mostly upward, with the biggest gains in Banks, up 3.87 percent and Financial Services, up 4.26 percent.

The biggest losses were in Mass Media, down 2.28 percent; and Insurance, down 1.71 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 2.84 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 1.49 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 1.92 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 58 were up, 11 were down, and 10 were unchanged.

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