The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-07-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Camping Sites and Houses Evacuated Hell Blazes in Preveza

By Vagelis Theodorou

A big fire broke out at 14:00 at a forested area in Monolithi, Preveza, near ancient Nikopolis. The fire, which blazed its way through grasslands, fields and forested areas, even reached two camping sites in the area, which were immediately evacuated, putting the lives of campers in danger. The fire has stretched at a length exceeding 5.5km and continues to burn due to the strong winds. According to estimations, houses will be threatened if the fire is not placed quickly under control. In fact, at the village of Kanali, many houses were evacuated for precautionary reasons and inhabitants gathered at the beach. Fire Fighting forces from Epirus and Etoloakarnania have rushed on site, but their task is very difficult because of gales blowing in the area, while three Kanader aircrafts and a helicopter stopped throwing water a while ago. At the same time, fire has also broken out in Sklavouna, Samothrace, while late on Friday night there was another fire at a pine forest in Achaea, near the villages of Chiona, Mitopoli and Komi.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[02] For the July 21 Attempts Arrests in London and Rome

By Tina Valaoura

The four men suspected for the failed July 21 terrorist attacks in London are in the hands of British and Italian authorities. Two of the three wanted men were arrested on Friday noon after coordinated operations in various parts of western London. There were raids in Notting Hill and northern Kensington, where three men were apprehended, two of which are believed to be implicated in last week's incidents. A police operation was held at Liverpool Street underground station, where two women were caught. A few hours later, the Italian Internal Affairs Ministry announced the arrest of Somali-born Osman Hussein, who according to Italian authorities is a British citizen, and of his brother. Scotland Yard was laconic in its announcements, but confirmed the successful outcome of its operations on British soil and its cooperation with Italian authorities.

Reports on Five More Suspects

Italian Minister of Internal Affairs Giuseppe Pisanu announced the arrest of a fifth suspect on Italian soil, stressing that the antiterrorist agency continues its operations in Italy.

In the meantime, all suspects in the UK have been taken to a police station in central London for questioning. According to unconfirmed information, one of the three men is wanted for the bomb attempt on bus No26 in Hackney, Muktar Said Ibrahim aged 27 from Eritrea, while the second man is suspected for attempting to bomb a Tube train between Stockwell and Oval tube stations. Two more women were apprehended at Liverpool Street underground station, which closed for an hour to check certain suspicious packages.

According to police sources, the Scotland Yard which is already questioning 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar, who was arrested on Wednesday in Birmingham for the bomb attempt neat Warren Street, is searching for a fifth suspect having concluded that the bombers were more than four. The fifth man is thought to have carried the bomb found near Notting Hill Gate. The police have information that one of the wanted men may have fled to Amsterdam. However, one of them is under custody in Italy.

Coordinated Operations

The chronicle of today's operations monopolized the interest of international news agencies around the world. Even though the Police had forbidden the broadcast of news from the operation areas, still they allowed the broadcast of images from the Notting Hill raid.

From early noon, an entire block had been sealed off and residents had been asked to remain in their homes for security reasons, while policemen had surrounded a particular apartment asking a man they called Mohammed to take his clothes off and surrender.

According to eye-witnesses, men of antiterrorist agencies with automatic machine guns and gas masks entered the apartment block, from where shots and a controlled explosion were heard. They also spoke of arresting one or three men, who were taken to a police car with their faces covered. However, Scotland Yard has refused allegations of using guns during the arrest operation.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

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[03] Cities Are Vacated Excursionists on the Go

By Vagelis Theodorou

August excursionists are leaving the cities anyway they can and fine weather is by their side, despite strong meltemi winds. The new excursion wave started on Friday afternoon and is expected to culminate over the weekend, while the Traffic Police are on alert to facilitate and protect excursionists. Traffic is increased along both currents of national highways, but there are no particular problems. At the same time, the ports of Piraeus and Rafina are literally sinking by hordes of people, while the complement of passengers on ships has reached 100%. 37 ship routes are scheduled for Friday, 36 for Saturday and 28 for Sunday, all from the port of Piraeus. At the same time, 160,000 passengers will use the El. Venizelos airport for the transportation with complement reaching 80%. 600 flights have been scheduled for Friday, from and to Athens, while 537 have been scheduled for Saturday and 507 for Sunday. Bus and train stations are also packed with people, while 21,000 passengers left on Friday with 420 scheduled routes and 17,000 will travel on Saturday with 350 routes. However, there was tension on Friday in Piraeus by frustrated passengers who were to travel with Romilda and Rodanthi for the Cyclades and the Dodecanese, but both ships had sustained mechanical damages and remained docked.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[04] Lose Weight with Fat

By Vagelis Theodorou

The summertime is definitely here and a slimmer figure would harm noone. If you have already tried everything but in vain and your belly is still there embarrassing you, Jan Kvasnievsky from Poland has his own unique answer to your problem. And what does the guru of diet suggests? A food analogy of three grams of fat for every gram of protein and half a gram of carbohydrates. Practically, this means that you have to start your day with two or three fried eggs with bacon and bread with lots of butter. For lunch you can have pancakes covered with white cheese (full fat) and an omelet with a dozen of eggs, cooked with butter or even better lard. Naturally, dinner is equally light, including a big fat steak cooked in lots of butter. In this way, 68-year-old Kvasnievsky promises you will lose weight and drop your artery pressure and cholesterol levels.

And if the Atkins diet has been severely criticized for suggesting the consumption of large quantities of protein, the Kvasnievsky diet is described by doctors as the most ideal and fastest way to your grave! If you are really anxious to lose weight, the best thing you can do is consult your doctor and avoid experimentation with proteins, carbohydrates and fat.

Translated by Sofia Soulioti

[05] Emotional Plea to her Husband to Surrender "Please Surrender"

By Athina Saloustrou

The wife of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic asked her husband to surrender to the UN war crimes tribunal. In the plea, which was televised last night by Serb TV, Ljiljana Karadzic begged her husband to give himself up for the sake of his family. In the beginning of the month, NATO forces arrested Karadzics son and detained him for ten days. Karadzic and his military chief during the Bosnia civil war, Ratko Mladic, were indicted in 1995 by the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague. The two men are accused of genocide during the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, when 8,000 Muslims were slaughtered. Ljiljana Karadzic, who has been supporting her husband over the last 10 years he is wanted, declared on camera, "Our family is under constant pressure from all sides. Our life and our existence is jeopardized. In hope that you are alive and that you can make decisions by yourself, Im begging you to make this decision. From my own state of helplessness Im now doing the only thing I can: Im begging you. Between loyalty to you and to the children and grandchildren, I had to choose and I have chosen. It is very painful for me to ask you and yet I do. I beg you with all my heart and soul to surrender. It will be a sacrifice for us, for the sake of your family."

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[06] PAO Will Face Wisla Greens Satisfied over the Draw

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Panathinaikos will play against Wisla Krakow for the third qualifying round of Champions League. The draw, however, was very stressful for the Greens, as theirs was the last name to come out of the box, while they came close to playing against Real Betis, which was eventually drawn to play against Monaco. Panathinaikos first game will take place on 10 August in Poland, while the rematch will be held in Athens on 23 August.

Stressed Right till the End

The draw was more like a horror game for Panathinaikos. The only names left in the draw box were those of Betis and Wisla. Everyone was awaiting the results anxiously, but eventually luck was by their side, as they were drawn against Wisla Krakow, while Real Betis will battle it out with Monaco.

Panathinaikos will play against the Polish Champions on 10 August in Poland, while the rematch will take place in the Athens Olympic Stadium on 23 August. Wisla is not a very tough opponent for the Greens, who have their eyes set on qualifying for the groups of the top European event.

Relief

Just minutes after hearing the name of their opponent, Giannis Goumas seemed relieved, as well as prepared to qualify. "It is a good draw, although there are not easy opponents. The good thing is that we avoided the really big teams and now qualifying to the next round depends solely on us. It is better for us that the first match is an away one, although we do not know much about Wisla," declared Panathinaikos captain.

Then he went on to talk about the team this year. "I dont want to say much, but I think we will do well. The new players have adopted the teams philosophy and I believe we can achieve great things this year."

Furthermore, Goumas described Panathinaikos move to the Athens Olympic Stadium as positive. "It is a big pitch and surely the fans will create a great atmosphere. It is better to play these types of games there.

The squad was informed about the draw results in Italy, where they are preparing for the season. Furthermore, coach Alberto Malezani remembered that he has played against Wisla when he was coaching Parma. "It is a good draw. Wisla is a good team, but there are better ones. I have played against it when I was in Parma and we qualified. This is a good omen," declared the Italian coach.

Panathinaikos' Opponent

Panathinaikos opponent is Polands top team. Wisla Krakow won its third consecutive title last year (and the fourth one in the last five years), with an 11-point lead from the team that finished second. It is very strong financially, while its only downfall is the fact that many of its top players have left. The most important absence is probably its great scorer Maciej Zurawski, who signed with Celtic.

Former Polish National Team coach Jerzy Engel is guiding the team. The 52-year-old coach was Emanuel Olisadebes mentor, since he was the one who stood by Panathinaikos player and convinced him to get a Polish citizenship. Engel is a stickler for discipline and one of Polands top coaches.

The greatest asset of the Polish squad is its defence and the fact that the main body of the team has remained unchanged for some years. Furthermore, the fact that former player Zdzis&#322;aw Kapka has taken over the management of the team is also a big plus.

The team recently acquired Brazilian midfielder Paulista, as well as Konrad Golos from Polonia Warsaw. Furthermore, Kalu Uche is on loan to the team from Bordeaux, while former Olympiacos player Marcin Ku&#378;ba is also on the roster. Finally, last years top scorer (25 goals) for the team, Tomasz Frankowski, will be Panathinaikos main opponent in the offence.

Exciting Matches

Todays draw produced some very exciting encounters. The toughest matches of the third qualifying round are the ones between Everton and Villarreal, and Real Betis and Monaco.

Also of great interest is the match between Basel and Bremen, as well as the one between Shakhtar and Inter. The other English club, Manchester United, will find out its opponent next week, after the match between Debrecen and Hajduk. Finally, European Champion Liverpool, which will most likely qualify against Kaunas, will play either against Tirana or CSKA Sofia.

The results of the third qualifying round for Champions League are as follows:

Basel - Bremen (Germany)

Artmedia (Slovakis) / Celtic (Scotland) - Partizan (Serbia) / Sheriff (Moldova)

Shakhtar (Ukraine) Internazionale (Italy)

Shelbourne (Ireland) / Steaua (Romania) - Rosenborg (Norway)

Man. United (England) - Debrecen (Hungary) / Hajduk (Croatia)

Malmo (Sweden) / M. Haifa (Israel) - Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) / Thun (Switzerland)

Everton (England) - Villarreal (Spain)

Kaunas (Lithuania) / Liverpool (England) - Tirana (Albania) / CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)

Sporting (Portugal) - Udinese (Italy)

Valerenga (Norway) / Haka (Finland) - Club Brugge (Belgium)

Dudelange (Luxemburg) / Rapid (Austria) - Rabotnicki (FYROM) / Lokomotiv (Russia)

Anderlecht (Belgium) / Neftchi (Azerbaijan) - Slavia (Czech Republic)

Anorthosis (Cyprus) / Trabzonspor (Turkey) - Rangers (Scotland)

Dynamo Tbilisi (Georgia) / Brondby (Denmark) - Ajax (Netherlands)

Betis (Spain) - Monaco (France)

Wisla (Poland) - Panathinaikos (Greece)

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[07] Soya Against Fertility

By Thanasis Karlos

According to Lynne Fraser of Kings College, London, a chemical compound found in soya destroys the sperm during the fertility process, thus preventing conception. At the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Copenhagen, the British researcher said, "Women should avoid the consumption of soya-related products when they are trying to get pregnant. Genistein found in soya prevents the sperm from penetrating the egg by destroying its aecrosomes."

Considerable Implications for Vegetarians

Professor Fraser proved three years ago that genistein coupled with outer chemicals contained in beer, paint and pesticides affect mouse sperm. However, she was rather surprised to discover that human sperm is also sensitive to the compound in question.

"I expected human sperm to react to the experiments, but I did not expect it to be more sensitive. Even in small doses, it can be proved detrimental," she added.She also mentioned that the acrosomes take action as soon as the sperm touches the eggs membrane.

These findings may have considerable implications for vegetarians since they substitute meat and dairy products for soya.

Translated by Areti Christou

[08] 10 Years of Success Concert on Cyprus

By Anna Kourti

The Famous Greek singer Despoina Vandis will hold a concert at Tsirion Stadium in Limassol, Cyprus, to celebrate her ten-year successful career. The Greek star is expected to sing all her hits, while Kalomoira and Giorgos Christou will accompany her. The famous singer said that she feels great each time she visits Cyprus and she added, "I have a special affection for this island. What I promise my Cypriot friends is that we are going to throw a 3-hour party they have never experienced."

Translated by Areti Christou

[09] Heavy Rainfalls in India

By Anna Kourti

Death toll rose to 900 from heavy monsoon rains south of India, as per new estimations. Bombays police chief stated that 370 people were killed, while 513 more bodies were found in the surrounding area in Maharashtra state. It is noteworthy that the monsoon rains have caused a record death toll in the counties history.

Translated by Areti Christou

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