The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-12-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Of G. Palaiokrassas from PPC President Written Resignation to Maximos

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: NET

Giannis Palaiokrassass resignation, from the position of PPC President, was submitted today in writing, after the upheaval caused by his accusations on the involvement of high-ranking Government officials in the company. Meanwhile, PPC CEO Dimitris Maniatakis has temporarily taken up the Presidential duties. For the time being, the details of the document have not been made known, while the relevant Ministers of Economy and Development Giorgos Alogoskoufis and Dimitris Sioufas are collaborating in order to appoint a new President. On Thursday, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis during a phone conversation with Mr Palaiokrassas asked him to present any evidence he has to the Prosecutor, or else he ought to submit his resignation. Earlier, during a meeting, Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas gave him a deadline to present his accusations to Justice or resign. On his part, Mr Palaiokrassas reassured Mr Sioufas that his accusations do not concern Government officials and his statements were about irregularities he detected when he was appointed in the PPC administration.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

Related News:

Palaiokrassas' Resignation

[02] Blair's Tour Ahead of Summit In Quest of Consensus Within EU

By Vagelis Theodorou

British Premier Tony Blair is to launch a diplomatic crusade ahead of the Summit scheduled for December 15-16 in Brussels on the 2007-2013 budget. Mr Blair is meeting on Thursday in Estonia with the leaders of four central European countries. His aim is to persuade them accept the British proposal that provides for a 10% cut in the development aid to the ten new Member-States. Given the objections to the reforms on the Common Agricultural Policy expressed by many countries, the British Premier will vie to persuade the new countries to accept the cuts in the structural funds. However, the ten new Member-States have already voiced their reservations, Germany favours the proposal, while Spain and Italy stated they wish for a balanced solution.

"Rough Trip"

Britain seems ready to accept a cut in rebates, which amount to six billion euros. Besides, Londons refusal to freeze the rebates without reforming the Common Agricultural Policy caused the negotiations on the EU budget at last Junes Summit to break off.

On Thursday, Mr Blair is to hold talks with the Prime Ministers of Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, to whom he is to present his proposal on cuts. The Hungarian Economy Minister told BBC that his country will veto the proposal in question, a move that is bound to torpedo the likelihood of achieving an accord at the Summit.

Before departing for Budapest, Mr Blair spoke of a rough trip and admitted that he is most likely to encounter attacks, adding that such attacks are an integral part of politics.

At the same time, German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his opinion that the proposals of the UK Presidency are the basis for consensus, while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi his Spaniard counterpart, who met in Rome, called on the UK Presidency to achieve a "balanced solution" by December 5.

The concerns of the ten new Member-States were reflected by the statements made by President of the European Commission Jos&#233; Manuel Barroso, who requested Mr Blair not reverse the legend of Robin Hood by taking the money from the poor and giving it to the rich.

The British proposal on cuts in the structural funds is to widely be discussed at the meeting among the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers on December 7 and then at the Summit in Brussels to be held in two weeks time.

Translated by Areti Christou

Read the story on other sources:

ÂÂC: Blair in crunch EU budget talks

Le Monde: Tony Blair en tournee chez les nouveaux entrants de l'UE pour discuter du budget europeen

CNN: Blair in EU budget row

Related Links:

UK's EU Presidency

[03] Perpetrator was Killed Robbery with One Casualty

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: NET

An attempted robbery took place on Friday morning at a branch of the Agricultural Bank of Greece, on Acharnon 320 Street, near the train station in Kato Patissia. Upon entering the bank, the perpetrator fired a shot in the air, scaring the employees and grabbed 8,300 euros. Exiting the bank, the guard followed the robber and asked him to surrender. However, shots were exchanged, which resulted in the robbers serious injury. He was taken in an ambulance to the 7th IKA Treatment Centre, where he passed away. As it was made known, the perpetrator was 45-year-old expatriate from Kazakhstan Konstantinos Selemidis, who as per sources had a blank criminal record.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[04] 17N Trial Begins

By Anna Kourti

Sources: NET

The trial of N17 members, appealing their prison sentences, will begin today at a special wing in the womens prison of Korydallos. Savvas Xiross lawyer, on behalf of his client, asked for a suspension or the stoppage of the trial. The lifer did not attend the audience, as opposed to the other 16 accused, and with a letter of attorney asked to participate in the procedure, after he is hospitalised due to the health problems he is facing. The 17 accused, 13 of which are imprisoned, will stand trial at the Five-Member Courts of Felony Appeals. The President of the Court will be Appellate Judge Dionysios Vertelis and permanent Court Prosecutor, Appellate Judge Efterpi Goutzamani.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

Related News:

17N On Trial Once Again

[05] In a Homeless Shelter Fire in Germany with 10 Victims

By Mary Lou Tzempelikou

Sources: ANA, NET

At least ten persons lost their lives in Germany, by a fire that broke out at dawn on Friday, in a homeless shelter, at the town of Halberstadt. Six people were rescued from the flames, five of which have been hospitalised. As per the police, the cause of the fire remains unknown.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[06] In Honduras Counting Wounds

By Anna Kourti

34 persons lost their lives and more than 30,000 were left homeless by a tropical storm that afflicted Honduras. The storm caused vast damage to banana plantations, which supply the biggest banana trade companies, such as Chiquita. As per the United Nations, five crews of experts have arrived in the country and in collaboration with the local authorities will investigate the extent of the damage. Moreover, the World Food Program has distributed aid to thousands of families and is planning to give out 1,750 tonnes of food in the coming three months.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[07] PAO's Winning Streak Crushed

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Panathinaikos impressive winning streak (14-0 victories) crushed in Malaga, Spain. Zelimir Obradovics players suffered an 82-79 defeat by Unicaja Malaga and met their first defeat in the Euroleague on match day four for Group C. Panathinaikos performed really badly in the first three ten-minute periods. During the last period, they managed to cover the 17-point difference, but failed to go all the way and claim the victory. The score per period: 20-21, 52-36, 67-56, 82-79.

Translated by Areti Christou

[08] Away Defeat for AEK

By Ilias Papaioannou

AEK of Athens failed once more to chalk up a victory away from Galatsi, since they suffered an 81-72 defeat at snow-capped Ljubljana by Olimpija on match day five of Euroleagues Group A. Lefteris Kakioussis squad succumbed to the pressure applied by the Slovenians and could not avoid making mistakes. Finally, after a nail-biting game, the home side managed to crush AEKs resistance, for AEKs players failed to keep a calm head.

Translated by Areti Christou

[09] PAOK's European Dream Shattered

By Vasilis Kalpinos

PAOK of Thessaloniki suffered their third defeat in three games for Group G. PAOK was defeated 1-0 by Rapid of Bucharest and missed their chance to qualify to the next round. On the other hand, the Romanian team secured its advance to the next round. The only goal of the encounter was scored by Maldarasanu in the extra time of the first half-time.

Translated by Areti Christou

[10] A Study by Austrian Scientists Coffee Improves Memory

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: New Scientist

Another beneficial property of coffee was surfaced by researchers at the Medical University at Innsbruck, Austria. As per their study, a cap of coffee may improve short-term memory and accelerate the reaction times. The researchers relied on magnetic resonance imaging, and despite the results yielded, they cannot yet determine the duration of caffeines impact and its long-term influences. The experiment, whose results were presented at the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America, was conducted with the participation of 15 volunteers and the researchers made use of a magnetic resonance imaging variation reflecting the living tissues in action to come to the conclusion that coffee acts on the brains prefrontal cortex.

Study on Long-Term Effect

The volunteers were asked to abstain form coffee and cigarettes for 24 hours and to fast for four to six hours. After the 24-hour period, some of the volunteers were allowed to have a cup of strong coffee containing 100 milligrams of caffeine, while the rest were given a caffeine-free placebo coffee.

Twenty minutes later and while filling in memory tests, the volunteers undergone a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. During the scan, the volunteers were shown a fast sequence of capital letters and then a single capital letter flashing on the screen. The question they had to answer, by pressing a yes or no button, was whether the letter flashing on the screen was the same as the one that appeared second-to-last in the previous sequence.

"Everyone showed activation of the working memory part of the brain," explained head of the research team Dr Florian Koppelst&#228;tter, adding that those who had consumed caffeine depicted a much greater activation in parts of the brain that relate to executive memory, attention, planning and monitoring.

"This type of memory is used when, for example, you look up a telephone number in a directory and then mentally store it before dialling, he argued.

What caffeine does is to halt the activity of adenosine receptors found in the brain, nerves and blood vessels. As per the head of the research team, this might be the mechanism involved.

Translated by Areti Christou

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