The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-02-12

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Consensus for "Clean Up" in Church

By Vivian Papastefanou

Archbishop Christodoulos declared that he is determined to proceed with the clean up of the Church in order to settle the crisis that has erupted. Mr Christodoulos continued his contacts with Metropolitan Bishops today, in an effort to achieve consensus, concord and unity during the upcoming emergency Hierarchy convention towards the end of February. Todays meeting took place in a climate of unity, a fact that was also demonstrated in the statements made by the Metropolitan Bishops of Thessaloniki, Anthimos, and Piraeus, Kallinikos, who also noted that the Church will proceed towards a total clean up act united. Mr Kallinikos also pointed out that the Archbishop is being supported and does not need the advice of the Metropolitan Bishops. The Secretary of New Democracys Central Committee, Vangelis Meimarakis, also referred to the developments in the area of the Church, while he went on to launch an attack against PASOK for its views regarding the separation of the State and the Church.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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[02] 18 Killed and 25 Injured Multi-Fatality Attack in Baghdad

By Vivian Papastefanou

Eighteen people were killed and another 16 were injured this morning by an explosion of a car bomb near local government offices in Musayyib, 70km south of Baghdad. All the victims were transferred to a local hospital and according to the hospitals director, three of the dead and another three of the wounded were police officers. Earlier in Basra, masked gunmen assassinated a senior judge in the town centre. The armed men opened fire against Judge Taha al-Amiri at 8:30am, while his driver was also injured from the attack. It should be noted that the victim was a former chief judge at Basras highest criminal court, under Saddam Hussein.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[03] On Valentine's Day Young American Planned Mass Suicide

By Vivian Papastefanou

The arrest of a 26-year-old man, who was planning a mass suicide pact on 14 February and had already enlisted 32 people, has caused havoc in Oregon. Gerald Krien was using the Internet to lure people in order to carry out his macabre plan on Valentines Day. The authorities were alerted by a Canadian woman, who was planning to commit suicide herself, after reading on the chat room that a mother was also planning kill herself and her two children. Krien met users who wanted to put an end to their lives through the chat room. Police said that the participants apparently planned to log into the chat room on Valentines Day and commit suicide while in touch over the Internet. The young man was arrested last Wednesday in Klamath Falls, Oregon, where he was living with his father, and was charged with trying to solicit aggravated murder, while he is due to appear in court next week. The police have already located some of the participants, while they have ruled out the possibility that Krien was involved in a cult.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[04] Head of CNN News Resigns

By Vivian Papastefanou

The head of the CNN News Division, Eason Jordan, handed in his resignation late on Friday night. The reason for this were the statements he made in Davos on 27 January 2004, whereby he said that American soldiers were responsible for the death of journalists in Iraq. Although he then tried to deny the statements with a letter in the networks website, he admitted that what he said during the World Economic Forum was not very clear. Many of those present in the Forum claimed that Jordan told the audience that American soldiers were deliberately targeting journalists, an accusation that he is not denying. However, he actually explained that he meant to say that some journalist were killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and were hit by bombs. In his letter, Jordan pointed out that he had never meant to say that American soldiers deliberately targeted the journalist and he apologized to those who thought he had said something like that.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[05] Olympiacos Has Problem with Kafes

By Stathis Petropoulos

Olympiacos will decide at the last minute whether Pantelis Kafes will play tomorrow against Xanthi, since, although he joined the team at the hotel where they are staying, he did not train as he had a high fever. This may not have been such a problem, but combined with Akis Stoltidis absence, due to a penalty he is serving, there is a gap in Olympiacos midfield. The only emergency solutions available for the team are either including Taralidis in the lineup, or moving Kostoulas to the position of midfield striker.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[06] With Ibo and Diamantidis

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Although the differences in the performances between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos are evident this year, the match in the Olympic Hall is expected to be tough, since, as always, it will steal the limelight. With the Turk guard rejoining the Greek Basketball Championship, the only problem now for Panathinaikos is Diamantidis, which actually may be solved by tomorrow.

Positive Messages

The capped Greek playmaker did not participate in this mornings training session, but was able to train in the afternoon and demonstrated that the problems he was having with his injury are nearly over. Diamantidis will train tomorrow as well, and if all goes well, he will play in Sundays derby.

However, most eyes will focus on Ibrahim Kutluay, who will rejoin Panathinaikos after a year and a half, and especially in such a crucial game. Ibo recognizes the difficulties of the game, as well as the passion and tension that will be present, as he has played in similar derbies in the past.

Another player who will be training tomorrow will be Zeliko Obradovic, who is returning from Serbia, where he attended his fathers funeral.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[07] AEK: Ivic is Out

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Bad news in todays training session for Fernando Santos, as Vladan Ivic was injured and had to leave the pitch, while the medical tests showed that he suffered a rupture. So, the midfielder will not be able to play in the match against Panionios in Nea Smyrni, while it remains unknown how long he will be out for. The problem though is that, combined with Alessandro Soares absence, Santos is called upon to find solutions in the offence.

Moras & Bourbos Talk about AEK

Furthermore, AEKs players Moras and Bourbos talked about their renewed team, its progress so far and their future plans.

Both the striker and the defender basically agreed with Santos statements yesterday, saying that their main aim is to build a good team and perform well in all the games, but did not comment on the questions regarding winning the Championship.

"We can only talk about the titles if we continue playing as well as we have been. We deal with each match separately and our aim remains the same. We will only be able to talk about what we can achieve in the last or second last round. No one would have believed it, but our hard work and the abilities of the people of AEK brought us where we are now. We cannot always perform as well as we did in the Cup match against Panathinaikos, but we train hard and we put up a fight in every match," said Moras.

With regard to the game against Panionios, he stressed that it is a tough match, but they will fight with all their might for the best possible result.

On the other hand, Bourbos pointed out, "We learnt a lot from the match against Kalamaria. We will play seriously and we have the capabilities to win against Panionios. We are in a much better mental state after the game with Panathinaikos, but that is over and we are looking ahead. All the guys work hard in training, but the transfers have also helped. It is good to have choices in order to fill the gaps."

Speaking about whether AEK will win the Championship this year, he stressed that they will mainly focus on improving the team, but if they do actually win, it would be great. Finally, he described AEK as a homogenous group this year, saying, "The best moot for AEK is one for all and all for one."

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[08] Accompanying Letter by Molyviatis "Humanitarian Cheque" to Annan

Sources: NET 105.8 - ANA

On Saturday, Greeces permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, will present to Secretary-General Kofi Annan a cheque to the sum of 10,000,000 euros. The amount is the humanitarian aid pledged by Greece for the victims of SE Asia and will be accompanied by a letter from Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis. The Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief department will then be responsible for distributing the money through the specialised UN agencies and the relevant programmes for rebuilding of the affected areas, based on the reports that have been drawn up by the UN. Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, in a message to the Greek people and the Greek government, congratulated them for their generous contribution to the societies affected by the disaster, underlining the significant role that Greece can play in matters regarding international humanitarian aid.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[09] Problems with Personnel and Infrastructure Kaklamanis Surprise Visit to Corinth Hospital

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Health Minister Nikitas Kaklmanis, who made a surprise visit to Corinth Hospital on Friday morning, described the conditions in the hospital similar to those encountered in Third World countries. During his visit, Mr Kaklamanis detected serious problems, including lack of medical personnel and major problems with infrastructure, which, as he pointed out, do not befit an institution of such high medical standards. The wife of the PM, Natasha Karamanlis, who is serving her stint as a country doctor in Nemea, was also among the employees that presented their problems to the Minister. Mr Kaklamanis promised that he would proceed with the immediate hiring of seasonal personnel in order to fill the vacant spots, while he also said that the hospital is doing excellent work in the area of medicine.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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