The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-10-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] Death Toll Rose to 40,000 "Help Us"

By Athina Saloustrou

The news and the pictures transmitted by the news agencies from the tragedy scene, where the powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked towns and villages in Pakistan, are extremely discouraging. Earlier, the UNICEF and a Pakistani official reported that the death toll in Pakistan rose to 40,000, while the injured are many more. Speaking on NET radio station 105.8, the Greek ambassador to Pakistan stated that reaching the inaccessible areas in Kashmir to aid the injured is almost impossible. The Pakistani Authority urged the international community to send vehicles, medicine and food supplies and spoke of the worst catastrophe the country has encountered. Pakistani Major General Shaukat Sultan said, "a whole generation perished," since many schools went down following the strong quake. "Most of the victims are students. A whole generation perished in the quake-battered areas," he added. "The rescue workers keep recovering the bodies of children, however, there is no one there to identify them, since their parents have been killed," he concluded. In the meantime, the rescue of the six-year-old student got the rescue workers hopes up. The United Jehad Council (UJC), the main separatist organisation in the India-controlled Kashmir, announced on Monday that it is to end its military operations. UJC head Syed Salahuddin ordered the termination of the military operations in the earthquake-ravaged areas and urged the rebels to assist the quake victims. The EU, the USA, Japan and China have already dispatched rescue crews and financial aid to the area. In Greece, a C-130 jet is on alert to transfer aid to the quake victims.

Schools Collapsed

The residents of the town of Balakot said that nearly 400 children have been trapped under the school ruins. They kept saying that they were listening to the voices of the children. "We hope to recover them soon," stated on of the volunteers.

However, until Monday morning, no rescue team, except the local ones, had reached Balakot, whose residents are trying to unearth their families on their own.

In Balakot, two religious schools were completely destroyed with nearly 1,000 children trapped in the rubble.

The rescue workers are battling against time in their desperate efforts to recover survivors from the district of Mansera, where two schools went down killing 400 students. Desperate parents are trying to unearth 850 children trapped in the rubble.

India-Controlled Kashmir is Inaccessible

Indian troops are searching in isolated India-controlled Kashmir villages that are believed buried under mudslides sparked by the earthquake. However, the relief operations are obstructed by sporadic militant attacks. The death toll in India amounts to 750, but the local authorities have no evidence as to the situation in the provinces of Baramulla and Kupwara, which border Pakistan.

"There are over half a dozen villages in Tangdhar area which are inaccessible as there is no road connectivity," Javed Makdhoomi, Kashmirs Inspector-General of Police, after visiting some of the affected areas.

"The victims are steadily on the increase," he said and added that more than 2,300 people were injured, while about 4,000 houses were reported damaged

Indian troops who participate in the rescue operations, involved in a gunbattle with militants on Saturday. As per the police, eight militants were killed

Translated by Areti Christou

[02] An SMS Can Turn it On

By Vicky Keleri

How many times have wished you could have your houses electrical appliances got down to work by just talking to them? Well, guess what! It has started becoming true! British scientists developed a state-of-the-art kettle that it takes a text message to turn on. The only thing you have to do is to send a "turn on" message to the kettle, which is called "ReadyWhenUR." The gadgets high IQ is due to a fitted sensor that recognizes your mobile number. Therefore, you have the ability to activate the kettle while returning from work, or from the sofa of your living room! If you are too eager to test the high-tech gadget, the kettle is to enter the market as of January.

Translated by Areti Christou

[03] Head of Grand Coalition Government Chancellor Merkel

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

The new and last round of negotiations held on Monday morning between the Social Democrats (SPD) and Christian Democrats (CDU) ended the political thriller that had puzzled German over the last three weeks. The two main rivals reached an accord on forming a grand coalition headed by Angela Merkel. Although the accord was officially announced on Monday, the two sides had already come to an agreement on Sunday evening. At the same time, scenarios on which party is to take up which Ministry abound. As per flash information, SPD is to assume key government posts, including the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Employment and Justice. Christian Socialist Union (CSU) sources claim that Bavarian Governor and CSU leader Edmund Stoiber is to be appointed to the Economy Ministry, which will be separated from the Employment Ministry, following the request made by German economic circles. It is noted that in 2002 the Ministries of Economy and Employment had been unified into a single one.

Translated by Areti Christou

Related News:

Awaiting the New Chancellor

[04] Fears of Virus Mutation Greek Authorities on Alert

By Jenny Charalampidou

Sources: ANA, ERA

The Romanian authorities have launched a national campaign for the peoples vaccination, while more than 1,000 poultries have been destroyed in the areas around Danubes delta, Europes largest wetland and meeting point of migratory birds. Six villages in the wider area have been put in quarantine lest the flu should spread, despite the fact that zero cases have been recorded there. Greek Deputy Health Minister Athanassios Giannopoulos assured that no bird flu cases have been reported in Greece and noted that all necessary steps have been taken to protect the country. President of the Attica Pharmaceutical Association Mr Lourantos stated that it would take some months before a vaccine enters the market. "All services are on alert. There is no reason to worry," underlined the director the Athens Prefectures Veterinary Department Mrs Kapetanopoulou.

The Romanian scientists, however, noted that according to flash evidence, the chances of a deadly virus outbreak are slim. The laboratory tests to determine whether the cases that have been reported so far are deadly will be assisted by a British expert team that is to arrive in Romania within Monday.

The Turkish Agricultural Ministry had 16,000 poultry destroyed, while stray dogs in the province of Balikesir near Ismir are also destroyed. Turkish official put down the outbreak of the avian flu to migratory birds from Russia.

Translated by Areti Christou

Related News:

British Contribution to Flu

Alarm Sounded in Romania & USA

Cases of Bird Flu in Romania

[05] New Deputy Economy Minister Sworn in Bezas Assumes Office

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Before the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias, new Deputy Economy Minister Antonis Bezas, Adam Regouzas replacement, was sworn in at 10:30am. Immediately after the ceremony, Mr Bezas made his way to Maxximos Mansion where he is to have his first cooperation with the Prime Minister. Mr Bezas, MP for Thesprotia, was named Deputy Ministry of Economy and Finance by decision of the Greek Prime Minister. The announcement was made shortly after an emergency meeting between Mr Kostas Karamanlis and his close associates at Maximos Mansion on Saturday. As per information, Mr Bezas, who was elected deputy secretary of NDs Parliamentary Group in 2004, was among the people proposed by Economy Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis.

Translated by Areti Christou

[06] Greek PM's Contacts

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

The course of Greeces economy topped the meeting held between Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and Economy Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis at Maximos Mansion. Exiting the meeting, Mr Alogoskoufis stated that the issue of merging and abolishing nearly 100 Public Sectors organisations is part of the governments policy on cost cutting and it will be examined as of 2006 with the participation of the relevant Ministries. Earlier, the Prime Minister met with Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos, as well as with ND MEPs head Giannis Varvitsiotis, with whom he discussed issues regarding the European Parliament.

Translated by Areti Christou

[07] PASOK Political Council Meets On Economy and Elections

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

The course of the economy as well as the choice of the mayors and prefects to be nominated by PASOK for the 2006 municipal elections will top the meeting of the partys Political Council scheduled for 13:30pm on Monday. Except these two issues, a suggestion on the changes regarding the partys organisation is to be discussed, as well. The last time the Political Council met, shortly before the commencement of PASOKs National Council proceedings, the aforementioned suggestion had sparked dispute among the National Councils members forcing Secretary General Maliliza Xenogiannakopoulou to withdraw it.

Translated by Areti Christou

[08] Airliner Was Grounded Drastic Measures on Helios

By Dimitris Kalantzis

The Cypriot government decided to ground a Helios Boeing 737-800 following the problems it presented forcing it to make two emergency landings over the last three days. The decision was taken in a meeting held between the Cypriot Transport Minister, Harris Thrassou, with the relevant bodies. The Cypriot Civil Aviation Authority Director, the Larnaca Airport Director and representatives of the LegaL Service also attended the meeting. The airliner in question had to make two emergency landings due to technical failures one on Friday and another on Sunday.

Translated by Areti Christou

[09] Resellers of Liquid Fuel in Thessaloniki Protesting against the Bill

By Athina Saloustrou

The resellers of liquid fuel are staging a rally in Thessaloniki and have lined up their fuel trucks along Megalou Alexandrou Avenue, demanding that the Development Ministrys Bill be withdrawn. The fuel truck owners, members of the association Thessaloniki Resellers of Liquid Fuel "Agios Demetrios", have parked their trucks on the right-hand side of the road, close to Hotel Macedonia Palace, without blocking the traffic, however, some problems have been recorded. As declared by their president, Simos Tsiniaris, up until recently, the members of the association were buying fuel from the refineries and reselling them directly to individuals. However, as per the Development Ministry Bill, from now on, reselling permits will only be issued to those owning facilities capable of storing over 200,000 litres of liquid fuel.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[10] Flight Sergeant Was Killed in Car Crash Tragedy in Camp

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: NET 105.8

A flight sergeant was killed and another sustained an arm injury in a car crash that occurred in the early hours of Monday. The accident took place when a crane was employed to tow a military vehicle, which had broken down outside the patriot missiles camp in the area of Katsimidi on Mount Parnitha. The brakes of the crane went loose resulting in its being overturned on the two soldiers. A probe into the causes of the accident is underway.

Translated by Areti Christou

[11] Exit Polls Show Run-Off

By Vicky Keleri

Voters in Poland will have to proceed to the ballots once again in order to elect their countrys President, as per the exit polls from the first round of elections on Sunday. Specifically, the leader of liberal party PO, Donald Tusk, won most of the votes and the candidate of the conservative party, Lech Kaczynski finished second. However, Tusk does not gather the absolute majority, so a run-off between the two leaders will have to take place. According to two exit polls, Tusk, a free-market enthusiast, gathered 38% of the votes, as opposed to 32-33% for Kaczynski.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

Related News:

Voting for President

[12] Egaleo Ties against OFI

Tonight, Egaleo and OFI shared points, in the match that officially concluded the fifth round of the Greek A Division football championship. The game had originally been scheduled for last Sunday, but was postponed so that the pitch could be prepared. Only one opportunity for a goal was recorded ion the first half by Egaleo, but it was cleared away to a corner by Sifakis. Egaleo picked up the pace in the second half, but was unable to score a goal. It should be noted that Egaelo FC did not allow any reporters of ERA-SPORT or Supersport FM to enter the grounds.

Referee: Tsachilidis (Piraeus) Yellow Cards: Gonzales, Machlas, Saganas, Fotakis, Omo, Christou, Roubakis, Dejanov, Triantafyllou, Psomas Red Card: Omo (yellow-red)

EGALEO: Sidibe, Papoutsis, Omo, Psomas, Christou, Tsatsos (52 Chloros), Fotakis, Maric, Manousakis, Cesarec (80 Zapropoulos), Saganas (72 Chonos)

OFI: Sifakis, Tomach, Gonzales, Pitsos (81 Adrianino), Roubakis, Sfakianakis (70 Dentsas), Kounenakis, Davidson, Dejanov, Nwafor (75 Triantafyllou), Machlas.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[13] Xeno Roucho Two-Time Winner

By Despina Hristopoulou

The 2005 Thessaloniki Song Festival is now a sweet memory, with the unforgettable melodies of beloved Greek composer Stavros Kougioumtzis still fresh in the minds of those who attended the show at PAOKs Indoor Hall on Sunday night. But it is not the end, since the Festival will renew its date with audiences next year. The 9 October will remain etched in our minds as one of the greatest celebrations of Greek music. Some of the most renowned artists of the Greek music scene came to Thessaloniki and did their best to revive the Festival, which is very dear to the Greeks. The winner, who was decided by the audience through televoting and SMS, was the song "Xeno Roucho" (Unfamiliar Clothes), which had also the winner of the new artists final on 6 October. Composer Dimitris Livanos, lyricist Christos Stavrakoudis and singer Stavroula Arvanitopoulou received the award from the renowned artists, who embraced them with their love. The atmosphere in the packed Hall was electric. Hundreds of people started arriving from early on to watch this great music event from up close. The two hosts of the night, Ieroklis Michailidis and Dimitris Starovas, left their seal on the Festival, since their humour and unique style made this night very special.

Summit Meeting!

The second final of the Festival bore the seal of many Greek artists, who accepted ERT and TIFs invitations and contributed a song each, which they created especially for the contest.

Those who were lucky enough to see the show live, listened to singers Loudovikos ton Anogeion; Dimitra Galani and Stamatis Kraounakis, who performed a song by the latter along with Kostas Leivadas; Nikos Ziogalas, Stelios Dionysiou, who performed a song by Christos Nikolopoulos and Manos Eleftheriou; Tania Tsanaklidou, who performed a song by Stefanos Korkolis and Nikos Moraitis; Manolis Famellos; Lavrentis Machairitsas, who performed a song by himself and Isaac Sousis; Iordanis Pavlou, who performed a song by Michalis Avataggelos and Giannis Spanos; Maria Spyropoulou, who performed a song by Stamos Semsis and Michalis Bourboulis; Giannis Vardis, who performed a song by Antonis Vardis and Vassilis Giannopoulos; Philippos Pliatsikas; and finally, Stavroula Arvanitopoulou, who performed a song by Dimitris Livanos and Christos Stavrakoudis, and with which she had won the new artists contest on 6 October.

Dimitris Starovas and Ieroklis Michailidis gave their own beat to this years Festival. The two hosts kept telling jokes and generally picking on each another, as well as on the artists.

Melodies Forever Etched in our Hearts

The audience was especially moved when the special dedicated to the great Greek composer Stavros Kougioumtzis started. Dionysis Savvopoulos, who had organised the special along with Lina Nikolakopoulou, made a foreword, while the songs of the late composer were sang by Pantelis Theocharidis, Melina Kana, Andreas Karakotas, Kostas Makedonas, Michalis Papazisis, Manolis Chatzimanolis and Maria Kougioumtzi, daughter of the famous composer.

In the meantime, the videowall was showing pictures of places in Thessaloniki that Stavros Kougioumtzis used to frequent, as well as extracts from shows he appeared on. In addition, Greek composer Giorgos Chatzinasios played some of the late composers greatest hits on the piano and was fervently applauded by the audience.

Speaking about the composer, Dionysis Savvopoulos said that he gave us 1,000 melodies and one lesson, how to be dignified!

Giorgos Zachariou was in charge of the instrumentation for the special, while the Municipality of Kalamaria band, local scouts and Froso Korrous dancers also participated in it. Furthermore, Froso Korrou was in charge of the choreography performed by the dancers when the show was interrupted for ad breaks, while at the same time, Micro performed a remix of old songs

However, the main star of the Festival was the audience, as they did not stop singing along to their favourite songs by Stavros Kougioumtzis and literally rocked PAOKs Indoor Hall to its foundations with their applause.

The Tower of Pylaia

The stage was very impressive and was designed by Ilias Ledakis. The tower was actually set up on 6 October, for the first final, and it truly stole the limelight. In addition, director Menelaos Karamagiolis, who was responsible for the spectacular show, admittedly did a great job. Finally, Phil Hills was responsible for the lighting.

Audiences also watched the show through ERTSat and ERTOnline, and TV director Giorgos Sioulas managed to bring everyone a step closer to Thessaloniki.

The new Thessaloniki Song Festival in now history. Its success was expected, mainly because a great number of people gave their heart and soul to it and the town embraced it.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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