The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-05-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Plant emergency!

By Vagelis Theodorou

Are your beloved flowers perhaps not at their best, despite the fact that Spring has arrived? If you think that only fertiliser or a botanist can help you, then you are deceived! A private company in Chile has inaugurated a new service, providing an ambulance for sick plants! The firm SOS Express has four fully equipped first aid vehicles, which promise to rush out as soon as they are called to take the ill plants in for examinations! Using the service which is initially available only in Santiago, is simple. The interested party simply picks up the phone, calls the emergency line and a green ambulance, along with a specialist botanist, arrives as quickly as possible undertaking to take the leafy patient away for treatment. Company manager Andres Castro said: "There are ambulances that save peoples lives but ours save plants."

Translated by Millie Williams

[02] Starting from Beirut Polls Open in Lebanon

By Vagelis Theodorou

About 400,000 residents of Beirut are going to the polls today in order to vote in the first general elections in the Lebanon after the conclusion of the Syrian military presence in the country. The polls opened at 7 on Sunday morning. According to political analysts, the party led by the son of murdered former prime minister Rafik al Hariri is expected to win most of the 19 seats in the new Parliament decided by Beirut. In fact, nine candidates on Saad al Hariris ballot paper have essentially already been elected, as their opponents withdrew from the electoral battle. The voting will continue on the next three Sundays in the rest of the country, in order to elect the 128 members of the new Parliament.

Translated by Millie Williams

[03] Two men killed on fenced minefield Tragic End for Immigrants

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: ANA, NET

A fateful end came for the attempt of two men from Georgia, aged 55 and 29, wo cross illegally from Turkey into Greece late on Saturday evening. It was about 11pm when the two refugees entered the fenced minefield near Kastanies in Evros. The explosion alerted local residents, while army officers and people from the Land Mine Clearing Division rushed to the scene to collect the bodies and take them to Didymoteicho Hospital. As the military said, owing to the darkness, the two illegal immigrants probably entered the fenced in area of the minefield along the borders between Greece and Turkey and this resulted in them losing their lives. The minefield is marked out with fluorescent signs written in Greek and English and has a double fence.

Translated by Millie Williams

[04] Electrocution in a playground Fateful Game for Young Boy

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: ANA, NET

A tragic end came for a 13-year-old boys game in a playground on the beach in Aspropyrgos on Saturday evening, as he was electrocuted, opposite Bokos seafood taverna. Whilst the young boy was playing with other children in the playground, he caught hold of an electric lighting cable, placed there to light the external part of the taverna, which had tables and chairs outside. The child was electrocuted and taken to Elefsina Thriasio Hospital where he was declared dead. Aspropyrgos police station is conducting a preliminary investigation into the incident, while specialist electricians have been called in to examine the conditions of the accident and if it should emerge that certain persons are responsible, they will be taken to the Public Prosecutor.

Translated by Millie Williams

[05] Claiming responsibility for a fire in a Moscow the By the Hand of Basayev

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: ANA, Reuters

Two days after claiming responsibility for the powercut from 24 to 26 May, plunging Moscow into darkness, Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev announced that his militants burnt down a theatre in the Russian capital. In a letter published on a Chechen rebel website, Basayev took responsibility for the fire which broke out at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre in central Moscow, opposite the upper house of Russias parliament, last Thursday, and he warns of further attacks throughout Russia. So far, the Kremlin has not confirmed any of Basayevs claims.

Translated by Millie Williams

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