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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-06-13Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] General strike on WednesdayThe country may grind to a virtual standstill on Wednesday, when national unions have called a 24-hour general strike against the latest round of austerity measures and higher taxes.The June 15 strike has been called by the country's two largest trade union federations, the General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE) representing the private-sector workforce and the civil servants' union federation ADEDY. It is expected to affect both the private and public sectors, including flights, health services and public transport. Hospitals, health centres and the ambulance service will be operating on skeleton staff as doctors and nurses go on strike, while a strike by air-traffic controllers will disrupt flights. Ferries and ships will remain anchored in ports as a result of the 24-hour strike decided by the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) for all categories of ships, and all trains will be at a standstill, including the trains serving the Athens airport. Decisions are expected on Tuesday concerning the form of strike action to be adopted by staff on other forms of public transport. As of the following Monday, June 20, the Public Power Corporation (PPC) staff union GENOP is scheduled to begin a series of rolling 48-hour strikes protesting against the further privatisation of the power utility. The strike is expected to have an impact on power supply throughout the country and may lead to scheduled rotating power cuts. © ANA-MPA SA. Intellectual rights and copyright belong to the ANA-MPA S.A. Reproduction of ANA-MPA content by visitors of this website is strictly forbidden. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form [02] Report: Greece ranks top for drownings in EUGreece has the highest number of drownings in Europe and ranks second in the world relative to its population, with roughly 400 deaths by drowning per year, experts told ANA-MPA reporters carrying out a special report. They particularly emphasised the high risk to young children, warning parents that child drownings tended to be "silent" as children did not understand what was happening to them."It only takes a few seconds for a child's life to be lost in the water," noted the head of the Greek Life Guard Academy Nikos Giovanidis, noting that by the time children realised that they were drowning, it was often too late. He underlined that in most cases, simple but fundamental precautions had not been taken, such as keeping children under constant supervision and ensuring that they had not eaten before going swimming. Giovanidis also highlighted the risks to older children, especially boys aged between 10 and 15 years old, who were prone to act impulsively and recklessly in the sea or around pools, leading to accidents that resulted in drownings. Surveys carried out by the Life Guard Academy have also shown that many Greek children and adults do not know how to swim. Doctor Antonia Moutafi of the Centre for Research and Prevention of Accidents to Children and Young People (KEPPA) said that 386 drownings were reported in Greece in 2009, of which 259 concerned boys and 127 girls. She said the ages most at risk from drowning were very young children between the ages of one and five years old and senior citizens aged 65 and over, who tended to drown as a result of health problems such as heart attacks. "Whereas in most European Union countries there was a reduction in drownings, in Greece there has been a slight increase since 2006 from 1.71 per 100,000 population to 2.52 per 100,000 population. The average in the EU is 1.21 per 100,000 population," she said. Even though drowning was the second cause of death after road accidents every summer, there was a lack of people willing or able to fill life guard positions, she added, despite the fact that it was a well-paid seasonal job. © ANA-MPA SA. Intellectual rights and copyright belong to the ANA-MPA S.A. Reproduction of ANA-MPA content by visitors of this website is strictly forbidden. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form [03] Petsalnikos rushed to hospitalParliament President Philippos Petsalnikos is suffering from pneumonia and low blood oxygen levels, according to a medical bulletin released by the chief of the Kastoria Hospital Medical Service on Monday.Petsalnikos was rushed to the hospital on Sunday afternoon and later flown to a larger Athens hospital on Monday morning but there had been no announcement concerning his state of health. The hospital's press release said that Petsalnikos was admitted to the hospital with a high fever at 3:50 p.m. but his clinical condition did not improve and it was judged necessary to transfer him to a hospital in Athens. The transfer was carried out by the ambulance service EKAB and the Parliament president was taken to Athens in a military transport plane and then admitted to Sotiria Hospital in the capital. © ANA-MPA SA. Intellectual rights and copyright belong to the ANA-MPA S.A. Reproduction of ANA-MPA content by visitors of this website is strictly forbidden. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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