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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-12-03Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] First snow falls in northern GreeceAMNA -- The mountains of northern Greece received the first snow to fall in the country this winter on Monday, with vehicles needing snow chains to negotiate mountain roads in Western Macedonia around Ioannina, Kastoria, Florina and Grevena."Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; Snow has also started to cover the ski resorts in the north of the country, which are expected to get their first customers this coming weekend. "Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; AMNA [02] Christmas 'Dreamland' opens in Drama"Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; AMNA -- Christmas 'Oniroupolis' (Dreamland) of Drama, northeastern Greece, will open on Tuesday 4 December and will run through Jan. 5, 2013."Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; More than 200 different events and activities, among them concerts, theatrical productions, creative workshops and puppet theatre, will be hosted in the Dreamland. "Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; This is the ninth consecutive year that Drama is hosting the annual Dreamland, which is considered one of the largest Christmas fests held in Greece. mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; AMNA [03] Roughly one third of Greeks at risk of poverty, Eurostat report findsBRUSSELS (AMNA - M. Aroni) Greece was among the six European Union countries with the largest percentage of their population at risk of poverty in 2011, sharing fourth place with Hungary at 31 percent. The figures were given in a Eurostat report on poverty and social exclusion rates in 2011 that was released on Monday, according to which 24.2 percent of the population of the EU or 120 million people were considered at risk of poverty."Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; The highest rates for those at risk for poverty were in Bulgaria (49 percent), Romania and Latvia (40 percent) and Lithuania (33 percent). The highest risk of income poverty rates, even after social transfers, were in Bulgaria, Romania and Spain, which all had rates of 22 percent, and then Greece with 21 percent. "Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; According to Eurostat, persons considered at risk of poverty are those living in households with an available income less than 60 percent the national average (after social transfers). "Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; The rate of those at risk of poverty in Greece was 28.1 percent in 2008, 27.7 percent in 2010 and finally 31 percent or 3.4 million people in 2011. "Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; The percentage of Greeks considered severely materially deprived in 2011 came to 15.2 percent, compared to an EU average of 8.8 percent, roughly midway in a range of values from 44 percent in Bulgaria to just 1 percent in Luxembourg. Those considered materially deprived are those that are unable to meet the cost of four of the following: rent or mortgage payments, heating their home, unexpected expenses, meals of meat or fish every second day, one week's holiday, a car, a washing machine, a colour television or a telephone. "Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; In the third category of poverty, living in a very low work intensity household, 11.8 percent of Greeks fell in this category in 2011 compared with 10 percent of the EU.AMNA [04] Thessaloniki, one of the world's 20 best places to visitAMNA -- The northern port city of Thessaloniki is among the 20 "must-see" places in the world for 2013, according to National Geographic, confirming its international reputation."Thessaloniki's sparkling harbor is almost empty - a good thing. It remains one of the last urban seafronts in southern Europe not hemmed in by a giant marina. Instead, wooden caiques still ply the quiet bay while footpaths trace the meandering waterfront of Greece's second largest city, some 320 miles north - and a world away - from chaotic Athens," National Geographic noted. It referred to the century-old street markets of the metropolis, characterising them as the city's trademarks "tucked between relics of Byzantine and Ottoman antiquity, art galleries, bohemian nightclubs, and culinary hot spots, all part of a grassroots vision turned reality by Thessaloniki's large (about 50 percent of the population) do-it-yourself youth culture". "We are driven by our optimism and positive energy for a new way of living that embraces our heritage," says Vicky Papadimitriou, a university graduate who helped Thessaloniki gain official status as the 2014 European Youth Capital. AMNA Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |