The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-03-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Olympiacos Conquers Top Teams Cup

By Stathis Petropoulos

The Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, relived past, great and glorious days just as it did in 1996. Olympiacos in front of 15,000 of its fans conquered the Top Teams Cup, the second European title in its history. The "reds" crushed Dutch Ortec Nesselande by 3-0, with Marcos Milinkovic and the rest of Claudio Cuellos players in excellent form. Literally, Cuellos team was unstoppable and did not leave space for the Dutch to breathe, who only seemed helpless to react at any given time during the match. The team of Olympiacos with effective blocks and Milinkovics decisiveness, either by his serves or his actions in the terrain, defeated its opponent and conquered the Top Teams Cup easily, something which reflects the final score of 3-0.

Domineering from the Start

The first set may have not begun that well for the team of Piraeus, since Nesselande managed to take the lead with 11-6, but following Cuellos players focused and overturned the score, forcing the Dutch to succumb to their superiority. At the end of the set, the result was 25-23, and Nesselande receiving a yellow card. It is noteworthy to say that the Dutch did not manage to unfold their objective "gift" of serving and made many mistakes, losing the lead they had acquired. On the other hand, Olympiacos made things harder for its team, since it entered the game "coolly," but following presented a good performance in blocking and with 25-23 took the first step towards the title.

A Stroll Towards the Cup!

As difficult as the first set was for the "reds," the second proved to be much easier. The Dutch, clearly disorganized, continued to make mistakes in their serves which resulted in giving the opportunity to Christofidelis and his gang, to acquire an easy win in the second set. The final score of 25-18 indicated the easiness of Olympiacos win, while the Dutch sensing a defeat, played a good game in the third set, which was the last and even harder to acquire a win. The "reds" stopped their quick pace and the opponent took advantage of that, but in the third match ball, a strike by Marcos Milinkovic sealed the second European title of the clubs history in the same place where they had conquered the first, at the European Cup, in 1996.

Olympiacos (Claudio Cuello): Kournetas, Christofidelis, Milinkovic, Tsakiropoulos, Salmon, Hadjiantoniou, Dimitrakopoulos (libero), Drakovic, Dirceu.

Ortec Nesselande (Peter Blange): v.d. Wel, Klok, v.d. Loo, van Gendt, Christina, Verschuren, v.d. Hoek (libero), van Putten, Olieman, Joosten, Hooi.

Milinkovic: Most Valuable Player

Marcos Milinkovic, acquiring 22 votes, became the most valuable player of the final four, a player with his critical points lead the Piraeus team in the conquering of the title. In todays game he was terrific both in offense and defense and showed his class, while from the point on that the Argentinean went full force in the second set, the Dutch team was incapable of stopping Olympiacos. In the voting session, Andonis Tsakiropoulos received four votes, Kostas Christofidelis three, Vasilis Kournetas two and Riley Salmon one. Vasilis Kournetas acquired the title of Best Setter, Kostas Christofidelis Best Outside Hitter, and Joost v.d. Hoek Best Libero.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[02] Karolos Papoulias Was Inaugurated Today With the Consent of all the Greeks

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: NET - NET 105.8

After two consecutive terms in office, today, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Kostis Stefanopoulos, passed on the reins to Karolos Papoulias, the sixth President of the Hellenic Republic. Mr Stefanopoulos welcomed the new President on the steps of the Presidential Mansion and, following the playing of the National Anthem, the two Presidents proceeded to the presidential office, where they both delivered brief addresses. The two men used warm words to greet one another, while the outgoing President gave his wishes to Mr Papoulias, whom he also thanked for his support over the years. The new President said that he was very touched by Mr Stefanopoulos speech and hoped that he would prove to be a worthy successor. President of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos sent a congratulatory letter to Mr Papoulias and Mr Stefanopoulos. Alexandria Patriarch Theodoros II also sent his wishes to the President.

Change of Guard in the Presidency

Mr Papoulias arrived at the Presidential Mansion a little after 12:30pm. The inauguration ceremony had taken place earlier in the Greek Parliament, which was followed by a short ceremony in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, where Mr Papoulias laid a wreath.

The festive plenary session of the Parliament for the inauguration of the new President of the Hellenic Republic commenced a little after 11am, while Mr Papoulias arrived shortly afterwards and was welcomed by the Greek PM Kostas Karamanlis and the Speaker of the Parliament Anna Benaki-Psarouda. They then headed towards the plenary session hall, for the commencement of the inauguration ceremony, while the SYN MPs departed from the hall, in silent protest against the Archbishop, who was present.

The Inauguration Protocol was signed shortly after, while Mr Papoulias personally greeted the Cabinet and the leaders of the Opposition parties.

Following the inauguration ceremony, the new President of the Hellenic Republic, along with the PM and the Speaker of the Parliament, departed for Mrs Benakis office, where they remained until all the ministers, MPs and members of diplomatic delegations took their places in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.

Mr Papoulias then laid a wreath at the Monument and started making his way towards the Presidential Mansion, accompanied by 24 motorcyclists of the Zeta Force. A little before arriving at the Mansion, the new President exited his car and walked down Iriodou Attikou Street, where he greeted people from Epirus, who were waiting for him wearing their traditional costumes.

Mr Stefanopoulos greeted Mr Papoulias on the steps of the Presidential Mansion, while men of the presidential guard paid homage. The two Presidents then stood at the entrance, while the band played the National Anthem. They then headed for the Presidents office, where both Mr Stefanopoulos and Mr Papoulias delivered short addresses.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

Related News:

Presidential Change

Related Links:

Hellenic Republic Presidency

Greek Parliament

[03] Soldiers Retreat from Lebanon

By Despina Hristopoulou

Sources: NET RADIO 105.8

The retreat of Syrian troops from Lebanon has started. Around 1,000 Syrian soldiers returned early this morning in Damascus, while earlier people who had gathered in the Syria-Lebanon borders welcomed the Syrian troops, waving flags and shouting slogans in support of Bashar al-Assad and strew flowers with rice, according to the tradition. The retreat, which will be completed in two stages, will begin with the gathering of all Syrian forces in the Bekaa Valley, until the end of March, while the full details of the timeline will be presented to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In the meantime Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad met with UN official Terje Roed-Larsen today.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

Related News:

Syria: "Withdrawal Before Lebanese Elections"

[04] Taxes to the Beat of the Drums

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: Reuters

The efforts by the authorities of India to convince tax evaders to pay up were not being crowned with success. So, they decided to urge defaulters with non-stop music outside their homes. Well, dont go thinking that they started serenading them. On the contrary, they enlisted the help of drummers, whom they hired to beat their drums outside offenders houses until they repaid their debts. The authorities of a city south of the country, where residents kept ignoring the repeat overdue notices, decided to adopt this original tax-paying scheme.

Last week, the authorities sent 20 groups of drummers to play non-stop outside various homes. The noise made all the neighbors exit their homes, and then the drummers explained that the offenders had to pay any overdue debts in order to get rid of the annoying band.

And in case you are wondering the total amount of debt owed, which prompted such drastic measures, well, it came to $1.15 mil.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[05] The Great Escape has Commenced

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: NET

A great number of excursionists have already started departing from the major urban centers for the Ash Monday long weekend. Although the weather was changeable up until today and low temperatures were recorded in many areas of Greece, the meteorologists forecasts are quite optimistic, since they predict sunny weather for the three-day holiday. The Traffic Police is on alert in an effort to facilitate the safe transportation of holiday-goers, while it has doubled its roadblocks and spot checks. The main holiday destination for most excursionists is Patras, the capital of the Greek carnival. A little after 1pm the residents of the Municipalities of Grammatiko, Marathon and Varnavas, who were protesting against the creation of a refuse dump in Grammatiko, ended their protest rally at Afidnai Toll Gates.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

The KTEL bus depot on Kifisos Avenue is packed with people bound for the Patras Carnival. The company has scheduled approximately 190 coach routes to the city.

The Port of Piraeus was also packed, since many holiday-goers opted for the islands for the long weekend.

The trains are filled to capacity and those who booked their tickets in advance are probably feeling very lucky.

The planes have been departing from all Greek airports as per normal, while there are still seats available on many flights.

Traffic Restrictions

It is worth noting that on Friday and Saturday, trucks over 1.5 tonnes are banned from traveling in the city centers and on outbound highways (from 15:00 to 21:00), while on Monday on inbound highways (15:00 to 23:00).

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

Related Links:

KTEL

[06] France Supports EU Constitution

By Despina Hristopoulou

Sources: ANA

A recent gallop poll in France indicates that half of the French people will vote for the Constitution, if the voting took place today. A 56% of the French seem to agree with the EU Constitution as opposed to a 44% who disagree with its implementation. In comparison to the previous poll, a decrease of 2% is noted in the people agreeing to the Constitution. The decrease is among the right wing supporters of the EU Constitution by 3%, while from the left wing supporters by 5%. The main arguments of the supporters are the "reinforcement of EU prestige in the world" (31%), "the improvement of EU bases" (21%) and the "improvement of economy and employment in Europe" (19%) while the opposers state that there is a danger for Europe "to become freer and social protection to be ignored" (30%), "no restriction in employment and unemployment" (28%) and the danger of "Turkeys possible accession in the EU" (25%).

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[07] Iraklis Receives a Tie

By Stathis Petropoulos

In a round of matches, where Panathinaikos could become the first team in the A Division, after tomorrows derby of Olympiacos vs. AEK, Alberto Malezanis players lost the chance to take advantage of the above fact and received a tie against Iraklis in Alexandras Avenue Stadium. The first 45 minutes were slow in pace since the teams did not manage to enforce their game. Panathinaikos kept a diffused superiority, however Iraklis was well set up and threatening in some counterattacks. In the 3 Konstantinou tried to find Gekas, but the ball was too strong, while in the 8 Gekas caught a header sending the ball out. Three minutes later, Konstantinou tried to surprise Abaris who blocked the Cypriots kick, while in the 22 the experienced offender shot but sent the ball out. In the 20 Lagos shot the ball but Galinovic did not hesitate and in the 35 Katsambis kicked Sapanis centre shot into a corner. The last good phase in the first half occurred in the 41 when Vooter kicked a centre shot, Gekas passed the ball to Konstantinou but the Cypriots shot did not find a target.

Iraklis Kept Up

In the second half, Iraklis entered the stadium decided to take advantage of Panathinaikos inaction and in the 49 it nearly opened the score, but Galinovic reacted impressively and kicked the ball into a corner. Panathinaikos answer was immediate, since in the 53 Basinas kicked a strong shot but the ball found Poursanidis and hit the goalpost. Seeing Iraklis players keeping the pace, Alberto Malezani decided to put Gonzalez and Sanmartean in an attempt to enforce Panathinaikos offense. The Italian coachs move had a result, but of no substance, since the "greens" pressured Iraklis, created some good opportunities but all were timely stopped. The best of these opportunities came in the 78 when Gekas kicked the ball with force but Abaris blocked the attempt. In the 86 Panathinaikos lost its last good chance to score and to receive a win, since Abaris blocked the diagonal kick by Konstantinidis.

Referee: Efthimiadis (Drama) Yellow cards: Konstantinidis, Vintra, Lagos

Panathinaikos: Galinovic, Vintra, Morris, Kotsios, Konstantinidis, Sapanis (57 Sanmartean), Vooter, Basinas, Maric (57 Gonzalez), Gekas (80 Olisadebe), Konstantinou.

Iraklis: Abaris, Papazacharias, Katsabis, Poursanidis, Snaucner, Keita, Lagos (89 K. Kapetanos), Ioannou, Drougas, Fortuzi (78 Papanastasiou), Seghiri.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[08] Total Recall

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

Apollona Kalamarias, even if losing by 0-3 found the strength to overturn the game against Panionios and to tie 3-3, leaving the stadium with a valuable tie point. Thus it kept its hopes up in staying at A Division, while Panionios kept its hope up for Europe. The game was quite good, the goals scored were many and the fans were very excited, while both of the teams were impressive. The first half belonged to Panathinaikos while the second to Kalamaria.

Defense Had the Last Word

The visitors entered the game strongly and in the 11 Nalitzis faced Karatziovalis but passed the ball out. Three minutes later he opened the score. Kiassos performed a left foul shot but Karavatziolis did not manage to hold the ball and Meszaros from up close scored 1-0.

With Kalamarias defense presenting large gaps, and with slow returns, Panionios took advantage of its speed and scored two goals in the last five minutes of the first half. In the 41 Goundoulakis started a counterattack, passed onto Nalitzis who scored 2-0, following (44) Fitanidis tripped Breska the referee indicated the penalty and for one more time Nalitzis scored 3-0.

During this time Panionios lost many other opportunities, as opposed to Kalamaria who seemed threatening only once. It was in the 20 when Pappas went ahead but passed the ball out and lost a valuable opportunity to tie the score and give another turn to the game.

In the second half, Panionios seemed bubbly and paid for this mistake, especially in the last quarter of the game. In the 76 Spiropoulos, who had just entered the field, took advantage of Haxjis centre shot and scored 3-1. The goal gave some hope to the visitors, who three minutes later scored once more with Haxji. He kicked the ball onto Drobny and following a second attempt sent the ball to the nets.

At that time the home team believed that they could achieve the overturn, chased the third goal passionately and scored in the 86 with Parmaxidis. In the last minutes of the game both teams fought for the win but did not manage to change the score of 3-3.

Referee: Terovitsas (Aitoloakarnania) Yellow cards: N.Ch. Papadopoulos, Orfanos, Tsiolis, Tziolis.

APOLLON KALAMARIA: Karatziovalis, Parmaxidis, Fitanidis, N.A. Papadopoulos, Nikolopoulos, Haxhi, Iliadis, N.Ch. Papadopoulos, Gonsalves (74 Spiropoulos), Pappas (87 Kousas), Orfanos (46 Muzuai).

PANIONIOS: Drobny, Galanopoulos, Tziolis, Exouzidis, Makos (62 Smiljanic), Tsiolis, Meszaros, Kiassos (82 Domoraud), Goundoulakis, Breska (58 Maniatis), Nalitzis.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[09] Transported Large Money Amounts to Greece Vavilis Involved in Illicit Albanian Bank

By Despina Hristopoulou

Sources: NET RADIO 105.8

The revelations over the action of fugitive Apostolos Vavilis have no end. Yesterday, the Albanian President of the governments Committee for the transparency of illicit banks during 1995-7, Faroudin Arapi in statements made in a local television channel, mentioned Vavilis, while he presented the reasons for which the depositors will receive only 11% of their deposit. As he said, one of the main reasons is DEFA HOLDING, the largest illicit bank in Albania, which had trafficked a large amount of money in Hungary and Greece, and indicated Apostolos Vavilis as the man who transported the money to our country. Faroudin Arapi stated that Vavilis purchased real estate, specifically the ferryboat "AOULIONA," on the account of Greek interests. The boat cost 600,000 dollars and charged the illicit bank 4.2 million dollars. Also, on the account of the banks President, Vehbi Alimouchai a hotel was bought for 2 million dollars while he is a stockholder with 1.2 million dollars in an airline company and the owner of a luxurious villa in Athens high-class areas.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

Related News:

New Evidence Over Vavilis Case

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