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

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

CONTENTS

[01] Measures to Clean Up the Church

By Annita Paschalinou

Archbishop Christodoulos is making efforts to settle the crisis that has erupted in the Greek Church and is thus continuing the cycle of contacts with Metropolitan Bishops. According to information, he will announce significant measures at the end of the month that will help the better operation of the Church and safeguard it from phenomena like the ones that have come to light during the past days. These measures include modernization and transparency in ecclesiastical justice and financial matters. At the same time, a VPRC opinion poll conducted for Kiriakatiki Eleftherotipia newspaper recorded losses for the institution of the Church and the face of the Archbishop.

Marathon of Contacts

Archbishop Christodoulos continues the marathon of contacts with Hierarchs. Earlier today he met with his spiritual father, the Metropolitan Bishop of Piraeus Kallinikos, and the Metropolitan Bishop of Thessaloniki Anthimos. In statements, the two Metropolitan Bishops offered their support to Mr Christodoulos, underlining the importance of unity and consensus.

In fact, Mr Kallinikos stressed that the Archbishop has consensus and does not need the advise of Metropolitan Bishops. The Synodical Hierarchs will assemble anew presided by the Archbishop, while the Hierarchy will extraordinarily meet at the end of the month.

VCRP Poll Recorded Losses

At the same time, revelations for corruption networks in the Church have shocked the public opinion and it seems they are also affecting the institution of the Church and the popularity of Archbishop Christodoulos.

According to a VPRC opinion poll conducted for the Kiriakatiki Eleftherotipia newspaper, 53 percent considered that corruption in Church has increased over the last years, while 38 percent supported that things were always as such.

What is more, 68 percent accused the Archbishop of being responsible for the ecclesiastical crisis, while only 18 percent felt that he is not to blame for what's been going on.

What is more, there is no case of removing the Primus of the Greek Church, as 62 percent feel there is no need to change the leadership, while only 21 percent asked for the election of a new Archbishop.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[02] European Lifesaver for Tehran

By Annita Paschalinou

France, Germany and Great Britain make great efforts to prevent the issue of Iran from being discussed at the UN Security Council. The European troika pressures Tehran to drop the nuclear programme in return for economic incentives. For the time being, messages for the course of talks are positive and Iranian officials state that now that Europeans are more serious in their talks than before, a final agreement is possible.

Tehran Requests Seriousness

"If France, Germany and Great Britain proceed talks with the same seriousness perhaps we could reach an agreement in the next three months," said Hussein Mousavian, head of Iranian negotiators. In fact, as a gesture of good will, Iran has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, a key part of producing nuclear fuel, for as long as the talks go on and if it feels progress is been made.

Security Council, One-Way Street

Earlier however, Hassan Rohani, Secretary General of the Supreme National Security Council, said that if the talks with the EU trio failed, the issue would be transferred to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions. There, as he stressed, things will be tough for Iran, as the chance of those countries exercising the veto rights on US plans is very low. His remarks contrasted with those of other Iranian officials who have said Tehran, which has cultivated ties with permanent members Russia and China, need not fear referral to the council. Russia is helping build Iran's nuclear power plants and shares technology on the Islamic Republic's satellite programme, while China's booming economy takes 14 percent of its oil imports from Iran, OPEC's second biggest producer. Rohani said that unlike the war in Iraq, these countries, as well as Germany and France, would not back Iran against Washington's wishes in the Security Council, as they have restored their relations with the USA.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[03] Turkish-Cypriots Rewarded for "Yes" US Investments on Occupied Territory

By Annita Paschalinou

US businessmen have expressed their interest for the business activity of the Occupied territory in Cyprus. According to the State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher, a US business delegation will travel to the Occupied territory within the following days accompanied by a US diplomat to Ancara in order to look into the possibilities of business activity in the area. The visit, stressed Richard Boucher, is in accordance with Washington, who wishes the economic isolation of the Turkish-Cypriots to be lifted.

"Reward" Programme

The interest of US businessmen for activity in northern Cyprus is part of a more general US plan to reward Turkish-Cypriots for saying "yes" to the referendum regarding the Annan plan.

According to this plan, the USA will offer the Occupied territory a financial aid of 30.5 million dollars. In statements from Nicosia yesterday, the US ambassador stressed the USA's wish to support Turkish enterprises in Cyprus so they may escape economic limitation and held them reconcile with the Greek-Cypriots.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[04] Chinook Scenarios Refuted

By Vivian Papastefanou

New scenarios are under investigation in an effort to find out the reasons for the Chinook fall on September 11, 2004, which cost the lives of 17 people, including the Patriarch of Alexandria Peter. These scenarios were brought to light by the Kosmos tou Ependiti newspaper, which stated in the front page that the helicopter fall was due to another passenger plane that flew in the same area at the same time, while the article also included the correspondence of the experts committee and the Civil Aviation Authority. The Hellenic Army General Staff underlined in an announcement that the "accident examination committee is obliged to look into even the most extreme and improbable cases."

"There Was no Collision"

In this context, the examination committee addressed the Civil Aviation Authority to find out if any passenger plane had flew in the area of the accident. In an announcement, the CAA stated that at the time of the crash the Chinook helicopter was flying at 3,000 feet while at 38,000 feet, that is almost 13 km, a Cyprus Airways A300 airplane was performing the route Zurich-Nicosia.

After a relevant HAGS request, the CAA asked Cyprus Airways to inform in writing if during the technical check of the particular aircraft there was any problem of detachment or lack of any of its parts. Providing an answer, Cyprus Airways clarified that the particular craft lacked no part after three technical checks performed by the company. The Ministry of Transport issued an announcement on the matter confirming the information provided by the Hellenic Army General Staff.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[05] In Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos and Irakleio Sweep Operation Against Crime

By Annita Paschalinou

The Hellenic Police organized a grand and very well coordinated operation to fight crime in four major Greek cities. The operation, codenamed "Polis," was launched in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos and Irakleion (Crete). In a raid last night at a strip show in Petralona, Greek policemen confirmed that apart from the usual services provided in such clubs, there was also live sex on stage.

Twelve Arrests

The police arrested the manager for procuration, four foreign women, two foreign men and five Greeks, while they are also looking for the representative of the company which owns the club that operated without a license.

As it was revealed, the manager of the club hired foreign women taking advantage of the poor financial state and convinced them into stripping and having live sex on stage to the customers' satisfaction.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[06] Green Revival

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Quick, to the point and with a lot of brains and passion, Panathinaikos achieved a great victory against Apollon Kalamaria with 5-1 and reduced their difference to Olympiacos. The home team scored almost half a dozen goals and thanked their fans in this way. Giannis Gkoumas opened the dance of goals at the 18', while Gkekas and Konstantinou scored twice at the 30', 54' and 45', 50' respectively. Clayton scored the single goal for the guests at the extra time.

First Half Was Enough

The first half began offensively and rather well for Panathinaikos. Besides, the offensive trio of the Totis Fylakouris' lineup showed that the team would after victory from the very beginning. After occupying the centre, the Champions made their first attempt with Charalabidis at the 10', but the ball went slightly wide.

Kalamaria answered back only three minutes later, but Clayton performed a lifeless kick and Galinovic easily blocked the ball.

From then onwards, the home team took complete control of the match and at the 17' Konstantinidis came this close to scoring but failed. One minute later, his attempt would be compensated with Goumas who opened the score in favour of the green team.

It appears that Goumas' header gave wings to Panathinaikos, who were playing very fast and opened paths rather easily. 2-0 was not long to come and at the 30' Gekas scored his first goal as a Panathinaikos player and his eleventh in the Championship (he was previously playing with Kallithea). However, this was not all from Gekas, who passed the ball to Konstantinou at the end of the first half and the latter increased the score to 3-0.

Unstoppable

The second half commenced in the same manner the first ended. Panathinaikos scored again. At the 50' Konstantinou received the ball from Munch and scored his second goal for the day. Shortly before the end of celebrations, Gekas gave the Champions yet another opportunity to cheer. With a finely performed header the Green striker achived 5-0 and his second goal for the day.

From then onwards, the home team calmed down and Kalamaria was given two-three chances to score, but Galinovic was there to ruin their plans. Panathinaikos started creating opportunities again and in fact at the 69' Gekas scored his third goal, but to everybody's disappointment the referee cancelled it because of a non-existent offside.

Finally, Kalamaria scored the single goal of the match with Clayton at the extra time, thus formulating the final 5-1.

Referee: Kaminaris

Yellow Cards: Konstantinidis, Vintra, Clayton, Parmaxidis

PANATHINAIKOS: Galinovic, Henriksen, Munch (52' Wooter), Goumas, Gonzalez, Konstantinou (63' Olisadebe), Basinas, Vintra, Konstantinidis, Charalabidis, Gekas

KALAMARIA: Zafeiropoulos, Papadopoulos, Clayton, Iliadis, Parmaxidis (46' Hadji), Petkakis, Orfanos, Wella Junior, Bargas (24' Spyropoulos), Papadopoulos, Kousas

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[07] First Loss in Karaiskakis

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

The many absences cost Olympiacos the loss of their first two points playing behing closed doors on home grounds. In the match against Xanthi, the Piraeus team failed to find the offensive solutions they were looking for and with a moderate performance ceded Xanthi a blank draw. Giannis Mantzouranis' team continued the very good performances and remain in the place that leads to European stadiums.

Absences Affected Olympiacos

Without injured or penalized Anatolakis, Stoltidis, Pantos, Venetidis, Kaffes, with Djordjevic tired from the matches with the Serbia-Montenegro national team and with Mavrogenidis barely returning to proper training this week, Olympiacos played versus Xanthi with an emergency lineup.

Despite that, Dusan Bajevic's players entered the pitch with passion and went after a quick goal, but failed to substantially threaten Xanthi's properly line up defense. The sole opportunities for the home team were Rivaldo's fouls at the 24' and 50', which however failed to find their way to Pizanovski's nets.

As for Xanthi, they had to show more for themselves and really surprised Olympiacos' defense at times, but the bottom line is that they didn't score either.

In the rerun, Olympiacos were equally passionate, but still failed to score. At the 55' Georgatos passed to Rivaldo, who passed to Okkas, but the Cypriot's kick made Pizanovski to wonderfully block the ball. Okkas was unfortunate at the 76' as well, when his impressive strong kick went slightly wide.

Well, this was the last time Olympiacos threatened Xanthi, who were this close at the 90' to leave Karaiskakis with the three points of victory, when Garpozis was all alone opposite Nikopolidis but clumsily sent the ball wide.

The blank draw is therefore a fair result, although we do not know if Olympiacos would play better if they didn't lack important players.

Referee: Kakos (Corfu)

Yellow Cards: Antzas, Luciano, Papadimitriou, Maghradze, Kostoulas, Torosidis

OLYMPIACOS: Nikopolidis, Mavrogenidis, Georgatos, Schurrer, Vallas, Kostoulas (88' Taralidis), Djordjevic, Georgiadis (59' Castillo), Giovanni (70' Maric), Rivaldo, Okkas

XANTHI: Pizanovski, Sikov, Zapropoulos, Papadimitriou, Maghradze, Torosidis, Luciano (78' Klemper), Antzas (70' Garpozis), Prittas, Baykara (89' Vozabal), Labriakos

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[08] Passion and Power in Thessaloniki

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

Aris lost their chance today to move even further from the demotion zone after tying with Ergotelis on home grounds in Thessaloniki. Despite playing with persistence and passion to claim victory, they were not fortunate enough to reach it and had to suffice with 1-1 against the Cretan team which acquired one more precious point in their effort to remain in A Ethniki. The guests took the lead at the 41' with Patrick Ogunsoto, while Giannis Lazanas tied the match for Aris at the 52'.

Ergotelis Took the Pressure

In search of three points; this could very well be the title of the play that took place in "Kleanthis Vikelidis" stadium between Aris and Ergotelis. Both teams were after victory and wanted it badly, since its three points would definitely constitute a relief and help them escape the last places of the points table. However

Strategically speaking, Aris chose offense and fast goals, while Ergotelis took the path of patience and sudden attacks when their opponents were not backing their rear.

Justified in the first half, the Cretans took advantage of Voskaridis' speed and Lambrakis' magical passes and caused two breaches in the Thessalonikan defence, which resulted in one goal and one wannabe goal, which stopped at Lymperopoulos horizontal bar.

Voskaridis and Lambrakis had the leading roles in both attempts, however Ogunsoto stole some of their magic and literally the show as he was the one to score for Ergotelis at the 41'.

But let's take things from the start.

Aris entered the pitch in order to claim victory and imposed their own pace after the first ten minutes, thus blocking the Cretans.

Aris applied pressure but Ergotelis were the ones to come very close to scoring when at the 23' Lambrakis passed to Voskaridis and the latter in his turn kicked the ball on Lymperopoulos' post.

Five minutes later, Aris tied the posts with Lazanas (top player of his team today), who moved smoothly in the area but his kick shook the horizontal bar.

And right when everything seemed that Aris would score first, Ergotelis reversed the northerns' plans.

Three minutes before half time, Ogunsoto received the ball from Voskaridis and taking advantage of the empty post, as Lymperopoulos was not in place, he opened the score for the guests (0-1).

Aris did not back down and came really close to the draw at the 45', but Sanjurjo's kick was blocked by Ximerakis.

However, what the Argentinean failed to do at the end of the first half, was recompensed by Lazanas at the 52' after Inogi's fine pass.

The match continued at the same pace. Massive offence by Aris, massive defense by Ergotelis.

The final blow of the whistle found the two teams at a 1-1 draw, a result which is fair considering the performance of both.

Referee: Efthimiadis (Drama)

Yellow cards: Gogolos, Koltsidas, Filekovic, Argirakis

ARIS: Lymperopoulos, Kallimanis, Naidos, Gogolos (64' Koltsidas), Murawski, Passalis, Sanjurjo, Nebegleras, Inogue (80' Equeme), Kuemaha, Lazanas

ERGOTELIS: Ximerakis, Filekovic, Argirakis, Oikonomakis, Parvue, Soutzis, Lamprakis (67' Fallemi), Ando, Voskaridis, Ogunsoto, Schlihting.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[09] Neethling Out of this World

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

The year 2005 is definitely his best year and he keeps proving it by repeatedly smashing the world record in every swimming meeting he attends. 28-year-old South African Ryk Neethling smashed the 100m freestyle world record in a 25m pool for the third time this year with a time of 51.52, thus breaking the 52-second barrier for the first time ever. The record took place during a World Cup meeting in New York, while he had also broken another record on 25 January 2005 in the Moscow World Cup, as well as a week earlier in Berlin. His compatriot Roland Schoeman was the one who started this record-breaking medley, when he swam with a time of 52.51 in Stockholm earlier this year, smashing German Thomas Ruppraths previous record of 52.58 from 25 January 2003 in Berlin.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[10] German Defence Minister Agrees Ramsfeld Asks for Changes in NATO

By Annita Paschalinou

Donald Rumsfeld called on all Europeans to surpass the differences that arose due to the war in Iraq and work together for stamping out international terrorism. Speaking at a conference on security and defence issues in Munich, the US Defence Secretary stressed that this fight requires the collaboration of not just one, but of many countries, in order to locate and dissolve the centres that fund international terrorist groups. Referring to the role of NATO, he noted that at times it delays in making decisions, a fact that in some cases makes it necessary for actions to take place without the consent of all its members.

Germany Agrees

The German Defence Minister, Peter Struck, agreed with his American counterpart. He said that NATO is not the meeting point, where member-states discuss and coordinate their strategies anymore, while he proposed the formation of a specialized committee that will study the matter and propose solutions.

He also added that the conclusions of the report that will be drawn up by the committee would have to be presented to the governments of all NATO member-states in the beginning of 2006.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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