The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-02-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] World Shield for the Environment Kyoto Protocol Implemented

By Vagelis Theodorou

Today is a historic day for the environment. Eight years have passed since the initial agreement and after Russias affirmation, and the much-discussed Kyoto Protocol, which asks for the decrease of six gasses responsible for global warming, has been implemented. "I call on the world community to show courage, to remain committed to the Protocol and to go forth with quick steps. We do not have any time to lose," stated UN General Secretary Kofi Annan. A majority of the developed countries singed the Protocol but its effectiveness is undermined from the absence of the U.S., which is responsible for 1/3 of the pollution.

Measures Against Climate Change

The Protocol, which is supported by 141 countries and is legally binding, foresees that until 2012, the worlds emission of six greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide being the main, will be decreased by 5.2% in relation to the levels of 1990. The second phase of the Protocol begins in 2013 and targets a decrease by 30%.

Gas emissions, which are responsible for the greenhouse effect, trap heat in the earths atmosphere. Carbon monoxide is the main gas, which results from the burning of fossil fuels such as petrol and wood. Other gasses that constitute to the change in climate are methane, hydroflurocarbon, perflurocarbon and sulfur hexafluoride.

A country can achieve the goals ordained by the Protocol either by decreasing its emissions or by using some of the so called "flexible rules" that the treaty foresees. A country can "sell" the further decrease to another country that is facing difficulty achieving its goal, to fund programs for the decrease of gas emissions in the developed countries and to materialize the Protocols aim together with other countries.

The non-observance of the aims of the treaty can have consequences on the countries that have signed it, since the treaty foresees strict penalties.

Reserved Optimism by Ecologists

The environmentalists describe the implementation of the Protocol as a hopeful development, however they state the need for extra measures since eight years have passed from the draw up of the treaty.

According to Dr Wallace Broecker, who is a specialist in the area of climate changes in the Columbia University in New York, the Kyoto treaty is only a small step towards the right direction. "This is a prolusion step. It shows that the problem has been made known. From the other side it gives the wrong impression. If we really want to stop the planets overwarming then we need to stop the emission of carbon monoxide. More brave steps are needed," stated the American environmentalist.

Ecological organizations state that since 1997 data has changed. Among them Greenpeace, which expressed its satisfaction for the implementation of the Protocol but also had its objections. In order for the danger of climate change to be fully prevented, gas emission has to be decreased by 50-70% by all the countries until the middle of the century.

The reactions of other ecological organizations and WWF and Friends of the Earth state the need for more extreme measures to be taken in order to counter the greenhouse effects and the further decrease of gas emission.

Skepticism Over the Result

Apart from the optimism and the hopes born by the implementation of the treaty, the U.S.s denial to sign it whilst everyone sees it with reservations. The Protocol has not been signed by Australia while the developed countries such as China and India do not fall in the plans framework.

The U.S. President George Bush withdrew the country from the treaty saying that its implementation will damage the American economy while the Australian government supported similar reasons.

According to evaluations the absence of the U.S. and Australia will be an obstacle in the achievement of the Protocols aim since earths temperature will be decreased by 0.1 degrees by 2012.

Many of the European countries are very far from their aim. Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland are one of the most polluted countries when at the same time Russia is producing 38.5% less pollution than it deserves.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

Related Links:

Greenpeace

WWF

Friends of Earth

The Kyoto Protocol

[02] Justice Bill Passed Parliament Says "Yes" to Justice Bill

By Betty Savourdou

Sources: ANA- NET RADIO 105.8

On Tuesday night the bill for the countering of corruption in the Justice system was passed. KKE was opposed to the bill and did not vote for it, while it noted that it will support some of its reforms. "The 12 measures that the bill foresees, state the fixed will of the government for a complete clean up to exist," stated the Minister of Justice Anastasios Papaligouras. In the meantime, the two Prosecutors that will observe the interrogation for the extra judicial circle are expected to be appointed today by the Head of the Court of Appeals. The Prosecutor of Amfissa, who is accused of warning drug dealers in order to avoid arrestment, will also go under the Supreme Court microscope. First Instance Court Judge Panagiota Tsevi, who ruled in favour of cases concerning Iakovos Giosakis is expected to state her defence today.

Austere Reformations

The draft of the new bill austerely modifies the penal code, in reference to perjury and bribery crimes by judges, extends the process of draw of First Instance judges in insurance issues, states that the substitution of the judge is only allowed for health reasons or of insurmountable need and in the above case only with a previously appointed alternate judge, while for the judges who have been committed in a preliminary investigation for crimes that could call for dismissal, they will be put temporarily in suspension.

Also assistant investigators and the institution of an interrogator overseer for the observance of the smooth functioning of the judiciary work will be appointed, without the overseer interfering with the essence of the interrogations while after an eight-month time limit from the discussion of a political case the judge must return the case, and if not it will be taken from him.

It is noteworthy to say that the bill that foresees the demand for restraining orders in the case of an acceptance of a demand for a temporary decision is appointed for discussion within 15 days without postponement.

"Justice Will Not Be Commercialized"

Minister of Justice Anastasis Papaligouras, in his speech, stated that the government with "its immediate reaction demonstrates that it is not willing to allow or put up with the administration of Justice being commercialized and for the institution to not settle in the citizens mind as a process of illicit transactions."

The bill "states the fixed will for a clean up to take place in the Greek Justice from the factors that downgrade it, to guard the authority and the character of many honest Greek judges that constitute the majority of the body, to reinstate the citizens trust to the damaged institutions of the Justice and to enforce the law," stated Mr Papaligouras.

It is noteworthy to say that the Minister explaining and answering to the oppositions concerns, stated that general matters that concern the smooth functioning of Justice, of its self-governing and for matters such as transfers and promotions will be processed by a committee that will be formed with the General Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and with participation by high-rank justices and representatives of the Justice unions.

Opposition States its Concerns

From the oppositions side, PASOK and SYN voted for the bill whilst expressing their concerns over its possible effect.

PASOK MP Sokratis Kosmidis stated "there are no parties that conceal corruption, but shady figures among them and among us," and "the counter of corruption can be enforced by all parties thus we are voting for the bill." He blamed the government for the delay of an advancement of positive reformations in the Justice department.

KKE MP Liana Kaneli claimed that the bill firstly will not counter corruption which is an everyday phenomenon and secondly will affect the independence of Justice.

In closing SYN MP Fotis Kouvelis observed an unlawful influence in Justice and the Church areas, politics, and the Mass Media and stated the need for the problems in the above institutions to be solved.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

Related News:

Appeal Judge Appointed for Justices

[03] "Speedy and Full Clean-Up" Academy Honors President of Republic

By Betty Savourdou

Sources: ANA- NET RADIO 105.8

The President of the Republic Konstantinos Stefanopoulos, during his speech in an Academy of Athens event, which awarded him as an honorary member spoke of an imperative, speedy and full clean-up. Mr Stefanopoulos intervening in the developments in the Church and the relative issues that have surfaced expressed his sorrow and sadness and underlined "all the unpleasant issues being revealed are caused by the attitude of people and not of the institutions." "The specific issue," added the President of the Republic "touches upon state institutions and appoints an imperative and speedy full clean-up."

"Penalties to the Unscrupulous"

The President of the Republic underlined the need of "the development of a system of effective penalties" but also for a "social disapproval of the violators which will express the irreversible and fair repulsion from society."

He also stated that the speedy and full clean-up is appointed imperative since the figures that are involved "hold the position of jurisdiction, teachers of faith and of Christian attitude and its judgment which they have caused touch upon state institutions."

Mr Stephanopoulos stated that he accepted the honor given to him and the role of President of the Republic and underlined that the "office makes the person holding it to accept every honor given to him as it is not addressed to his figure but the Democratic regime of the country, which he represents and which is worthy of recognition and honor for its 30 year function."

Mr Stephanopoulos in his speech made mention to other forms of "state disadvantages" with education that suffers in all its levels, bureaucracy and the bad image of public administration.

"Spoke to the Hearts of Common People"

The President of the Academy of Athens Emanouil Roukounas awarded the President of the Republic and stated " you have reinforced our countrys position, have shown care for the expatriate Hellenism while we do not forget the way in which you expressed Greeces positions in all the matters in a contradicting and poor in values modern world."

"In your ten year term in office you have spoken to the hearts of common people," underlined Mr Roukounas.

In the Academy of Athens event among others Giorgos Aloskoufis, Dimitris Reppas, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Fofi Genimata, Dora Bakogianni, Giorgos Rallis, Kostantinos Stefanis and Christos Polizogopoulos attended.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[04] Outside the PASOK Youth Offices Assault Against Chrisochoidis and Loverdos

By Annita Paschalinou

Sources: NET 105.8

PASOKs Secretary Michalis Chrisochoidis and MP Anrdreas Loverdos were the target of approximately fifty youths, who approached them threateningly, outside the offices of the PASOK Youths Organization, on 13 Solomou Street. The young men were gathered outside a nightclub, where a concert was about to take place. As soon as they saw Mr Chrisochoidis and Mr Loverdos, they started moving towards them, but did not assault them physically. Mr Chrisochoidis continued walking calmly towards PASOKs offices in Charilaou Trikoupi Street. The young men then broke the windscreen of Andreas Loverdos car, which was parked at the spot. Fortunately, the incident did not escalate.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[05] USA Recalled their Ambassador US Applies Pressure on Syria

By Betty Savourdou

Sources: ANA

Following the assassination of the former Lebanese PM, Rafik Hariri, on Monday, the USA recalled their Ambassador in Syria for urgent consultations. Furthermore, they demanded the withdrawal of Damascus forces from Lebanon, as they have created "a destabilized situation" in the area. The US Secretary of State said, "The Syrian government is unfortunately on a path right now where relations are not improving, but are worsening." However, Condoleezza Rice held an ambiguous stance with regard to the possibility of imposing sanctions against Syria. On answering to a relevant question, she stated that they have implemented all the necessary measures and concluded by saying, "We will continue to consider other options." In the meantime, the Syrian Ambassador in France, Shiba Nasser, denies that Damascus had any involvement in the assassination and stated that her country is not afraid of an international investigation.

Syria not Involved

As per the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, Ambassador Margaret Scobey expressed to the Syrian authorities the USs "deep concern as well as [] profound outrage over this heinous act (of terrorism)," without, however, directly condemning President Bashar al-Assads regime for the attack.

Boucher did not disclose the exact date of the diplomats return from Damascus, but stressed that this recall did not constitute her permanent removal from the Embassy or the worsening of the bilateral diplomatic relations.

On the other hand, the Syrian Ambassador in Washington, Imad Mustafa, tried to play down the impact of his American counterparts recall, stressing that he has also been summoned by his government nine times in the last year.

Imad Mustafa stated that he did not know whether Damascus will be proceeding with something similar, but he said that he sees no reason for his recall, since Syria was not involved in the attack that killed Hariri.

Meanwhile, Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, who went to Hariris home to convey his condolences, said, "This crime targeted the Lebanese dream, Lebanese security and Lebanese peace."

The UN Security Council asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to urgently look into the killing, a measure the United States hopes will lead to further action by the world body.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

Related News:

Next Day Uncertain in Lebanon

[06] Malesani Said Yes

By Stathis Petropoulos

Nothing will change from now on, since Alberto Malesani arrived in Greece today and during his meeting with Giannis Vardinogiannis, agreed on everything in order to assume his coaching duties for Panathinaikos. The Italian coach will sign a 1.5-year contract and will make his debut with the squad in the match against Egaleo on Sunday. Tomorrow, he will go to the stadium in Alexandra Avenue, in order to watch the team play against Seville, for the third round of the UEFA Cup. It is estimated that he will earn 1,000,000 euros (400,000 for the rest of this season and 600,000 for the next), while the official announcement by the FC is expected soon.

Who is Malesani?

Malesani was born on 5 June 1984 in Verona, while his career as a footballer focused solely at the amateur level. He stopped playing at the age of 24, at which time he started working for a large multinational company. He started working as a coach in the mid 80s, while in 1987 he got a job at the training facilities of Chievo, which was at the time the least known team in his country. After a decade, he took up a season with Fiorentina (1997-98), before moving to Parma, where he met with success. Malesani won the Italian Championship and the UEFA Cup in 1999, while the same year he also won the Italian Super Cup. But that is where his success story came to an end. After being fired from the team in January 2001, Malesani had a brief stint with Modena and later Verona, while he has been out of work for at least a year. His name was played around a few days ago, for Brescia, which fired De Biaggi, but also last October for Fiorentina, following Emiliano Mondonicos departure.

It is worth noting that throughout his career he succeeded some great coaches, including Claudio Ranieri in 1997 in Fiorentina and Carlo Angelotti a year later in Parma, while he has never taken on a team in mid-season, as is the case with Panathinaikos. This was the second time he was approached by the Greek team. The first time was three years ago, when he actually visited the Peania facilities on 22 March 2001, just one day after the teams home loss by 4-1 against Olympiacos for the Greek Cup. Furthermore, he had also been considered by AEK, around the end of the 1997-98 season, ie before taking on Parma. He has worked with some great footballers, including Batistutta, Edmundo, Toldo, Ruis Costa, when working for Fiorentina, as well as Buffon, Cannavaro, Dino Baggio, Crespo, Abel Balbo, Chiesa and Fiore with Parma.

Malesani's Almanac

Summer 1993: After four years at the training facilities of Chievo and another two as assistant coach, he is promoted to the position of head coach and leads the team from the Seria C to B, and stayed for another three years.

10 June 1997: His collaboration with Fiorentina is announced. As a coach, he leads the team to fifth place in Serie A.

16 May 1998: He leaves Fiornatina to work for Parma.

5 May 1999: He wins the Italian Cup against Fiorentina. The first match ended in a 1-1 draw, while in the second match, Parma won by 2-2.

11 May 1999: He wins the UEFA Cup with Parma, after an amazing 3-0 victory over Mareseilles in Moscow.

21 August 1999: He wins the Italian Super Cup with a 2-1 victory over Milan.

10 November 2000: He escapes death in a tragic road accident, when the Toyota he was driving veered off the Verona-Modena highway and was destroyed.

8 January 2001: He gets fired from Parma, after three consecutive losses and one draw in the last four games of the Campionato.

4 July 2001: He is hired by Verona, where he stayed for two years, despite the fact that the team got relegated to Serie B after the first year (May 2002).

11 June 2003: His collaboration with Modena is announced.

22 March 2004: He gets fired from Modena.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[07] Passion and Soul

By Stathis Petropoulos

During his first interview before the UEFA Cup game, Panathinaikos Totis Fylakouris seems to have totally adjusted to his duties, while he set a target for tomorrows match against Sevilla, predicting a positive result. "If we play with passion, personality and soul, the positive result will come in tomorrows game against Sevilla," he said, also hinting how he will line up the team, at least as far as their mental state is concerned. Panathinaikos interim coach said that his team would have achieved a positive result if they manage to keep Sevilla goalless. "We are not stressed at all. We have a tough job ahead, but we respect Sevilla and are not afraid of it, and I believe that we will defeat it in tomorrows game. Especially if we play as well as we played on Saturday, we will have the final say as far the victory and qualification go. We have good players and good men, but in order for us to mesh, these two parametres have to merge," declared Mr Fylakouris.

"We Have to Take What We want"

"We are playing against a very good team, which is on a winning streak from its excellent progress in the Spanish Championship, since it is in third place. It is a team that can hit you from every direction in a matter of five minutes. It is quicker and better. You cant talk about inadequacies. The smallest error may cost us dearly. We have to be extremely careful. Panathinaikos will wear its European uniform and with the support of the crowd and the management, it will enter the pitch and take what it wants. Panathinaikos does not know about techniques after so many years in Europe. It just takes what it wants. We have to demonstrate passion and soul, so that we can achieve the positive result we want; so we can qualify next week."

With regard to his secret, he stressed, "We shouldnt receive any goals. That is what I told the players. We have to keep the score at nil in the defence and from then onwards, Panathinaikos knows how to score away wins." Furthermore, in answering to a relevant question, the coach said, "I have no problem myself. I am just an interim coach. I dont care if they tell me that as of Thursday I am back in Peania. It doesnt matter to me whether I train younger or older players. I told the players not to stress over the impending coaching problem and not to bother with the whole affair; just to focus on the game."

Charalambidis and Roupakis will not play tomorrow due to penalties, while Papadopoulos and Sanmartean are injured. The 19 players that will be included in the lineup are: Galinovic, Kotsolis, Andric, Goumas, Gonzales, Henrikssen, Maric, Morris, Munch, Skacel, Wooter, Vyntra, Gekas, Konstantinidis, Konstantinou, Kotsios, Basinas and Olisadebe.

Caparros Appeared Reserved

During the press conference, the coach of Sevilla, Joaquin Caparros, appeared quite reserved in view of tomorrows match against Panathinaikos. He did not want to reveal much regarding his team or the way it will play, while he avoided making any predictions. He also noted that the weapons of the Greek squad are experience and team spirit. "Panathinaikos is a team with a history and great experience in similar events. It has team spirit and is well organized during play."

With regard to whether he will be changing anything in the way his team plays, he said, "Irrespective of tomorrows result, there is always the rematch. It is possible that Panathinaikos may lead us to make some changes, but essentially, Sevilla does not alter the way it plays."

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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