The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 06-01-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Problems Continue Bitter Cold Hampers Central Europe

By Vicky Keleri

Sources: NET-ANA

Although bitter cold that severely hampered Greece in the past few days is gradually subsiding, the residents of central Europe are still facing major problems. The adverse weather conditions have turned lethal in Poland. In the city of Chorzow, south of Poland, the roof of a congress hall hosting as many as 500 people watching a performance, collapsed. Police announced that at least 60 people have sustained injuries and transferred to hospital. Some 100 people have been trapped under the rubble, while death toll is feared to rise. In the meantime, in the past 24 hours, eight people froze to death, raising the death toll to 199. Seventy six of them died over the last nine days when temperatures plunged to -30 degrees Celsius. Excessive consumption of alcohol was reported to have contributed to 90% of the deaths. Although police are trying to remove the homeless and the drunk from the streets, the number of the victims is expected to rise in the days to come, since meteorologists forecast that temperatures will fall below -15 degrees Celsius especially during nighttime. As per figures released by the police authorities, bitter cold was blamed for the death of 190 people last year.

In south France, hundreds of drivers were blocked on Marseilles A7 highway, due to the inclement weather conditions.

Furthermore, the heavy snowfall blocked some 5,000 trucks on Lyons road axis, thus seriously disrupting the traffic flow.

The bad weather also hit Blagnac Airport, Toulouse, where all the flights were cancelled resulting in hundreds of travellers being tremendously hassled.

A blanket of snow has covered Italy, where temperatures remain quite low and traffic on Milan and Genoas icy roads is rather harsh. The cities airports have returned to full operation, however, delays are inevitable.

In Austria, the snow weighed down the roof of the town hall in a town, without injuring anyone. However, three skiers in the area of Foralberg were not that lucky, since they were struck dead by an avalanche.

Spain has also frozen over. The icy roads have been blamed for the deaths of several drivers. In the eastern country, five women were killed and another 30 people sustained injuries when the bus they were aboard turned over.

Snow has been falling non-stop in eastern Turkey, where more than 1,000 villages remain snowbound, without power, while people are running a great risk due to avalanches.

Translated by Areti Christou

[02] Baghdatis Ready for the Top

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Markos Baghdatis time to make history has come. The Cypriot tennis player, 20, is getting ready to make his lifelong dream come true and conquer the Australian Open trophy, one of the 4 major tennis grand slam. World number one Swiss Roger Federer is his rival. Speaking on NET, Baghdatis exclaimed, "Im living in a dream," and underlined that he is ready even for the "big bang", namely get the trophy. He also pointed out that he is trying to calm down in view of Sundays final.

He Won Respect

In the meantime, Baghdatis advance to the final and his amazing performances earned him Federers respect. "Im expecting a good game from him. I have to make sure that Ill perform well and make his win as hard as possible," stressed the world number one Swiss, and added that Paghdatis deserves to be playing in the final. "I believe we were all stunned by his success, for there are a host of pretty talented players, who I thought they would shoot up long before that, but he proved us all wrong. He defeated great players and he deserves to be playing in the final."

It should be noted that Federer is widely held to be an all-time tennis player, not only because he has won six grand slams, but mostly because of what he is expected to achieve in the years to come as he is only 25 years old. So far, he has not lost a single grand slam final he has played.

Translated by Areti Christou

[03] Over his Contacts in Italy K. Papoulias Voiced Satisfaction

Sources: ANA, NET

This morning, President of Republic Karolos Papoulias met with Pope Benedict XVI, thus concluding his visit to Italy. After the payment of tribute by the Swiss guard of the Vatican, he walked up the second floor of the Papal Palace, accompanied by ceremonial officials, and headed towards the Pontiffs office. The Pope welcomed him and their first discussion was held in German. Mr Papoulias greeted the Pontiff and the latter thanked him for honouring him by this visit. Following, they entered the Popes office and held a 15-minute discussion. Shortly after, the Greek delegation entered the office and greeted the Pope, who held a cordial talk with Mrs Papoulia in German. The President of the Greek Republic gave a salver depicting Jesus Christ and his Apostles, while the Pontiff awarded Mr Papoulias the Medal of the Papal State. Mr Papoulias also met with Prime Minister of the Vatican Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Later on, Mr Papoulias departed for Athens, while he appeared completely satisfied over the results of his contacts with the political and State leadership of Italy, as the mutual political will was reconfirmed, in order for bilateral and Greek-Italian relations to be promoted further, in the departments of economy, commerce, culture and education. Actually, as the Greek side noted, special emphasis should be given for the promotion of Greek culture abroad, and as the Greek delegation said descriptively, our culture and language constitutes the heavy industry of our country. This fact is reconfirmed by the success noted by an exhibition of Cycladic civilisation, which was inaugurated by the President of the Republic in Rome, as well as the agreement achieved for the expansion of Greek language teaching in Italian schools. As it was made known, Minister of Education Marietta Giannakou, who accompanied the President of the Republic in his visit to the Vatican, will sent a letter to Minister of State and PM Mr Sodano in order to advance the issue of forming a committee, which will arrange the issue of the legal regime of Catholics residing in Greece.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[04] ND's Central Committee Convenes Tomorrow Cabinet Reshuffle Approaching

By Vicky Keleri

Sources: NET

The review of the Constitution and the partys strategy in view of the municipal elections are expected to top the meeting of the ruling partys Central Committee scheduled for tomorrow under PM Kostas Karamanlis chairmanship. At the same time, everything points to the direction of a cabinet reshuffle. Kostas Karamanlis consecutive meetings with his Ministers, President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias return from his official visit to Italy and the statements by leading government officials are indicative of the climate.

Translated by Areti Christou

[05] Dimitrakis Behind Bars

By Vicky Keleri

Sources: NET

Escorted by police officers and under tight security, remanded-in-custody robber Giannis Dimitrakis was released from Geniko Kratiko Hospital and taken to prison. In his testimony to the 7th Regular Examiner Manolis Foukarakis, the 28-year-old accepted the robbery charges, yet he denied attempted homicide against the bank guard and the lottery-ticket seller. When repeatedly questioned about his accomplices, the motives of the robbery, the money found in a safe-deposit box under his name and from where he got the weapons he had in his bag, Giannis Dimitrakis declined to answer. In the meantime, investigations into locating the whereabouts of Simeon Seisidis and the rest of the gang members are still in progress.

Translated by Areti Christou

[06] Due to Thick Fog Ship Collision in Peru

Thick fog was the cause of the three ships collision at port Callao, in Peru. The Peruvian flagged container ship Twin Star crashed with Cypriot vessel Queen Star resulting in the former breaking in two and sinking. A third Maltese flagged ship crashed into the sinking Twin Star due to the low visibility. All 22 crewmembers of Twin Star were rescued, while two sailors were taken to hospital suffering from light injuries. No passengers of the Cypriot ship were harmed. Twin Star broke in two, however, its cargo was not considered dangerous of causing an environmental disaster.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[07] Maroussi's Comeback to Wins

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Maroussi claimed an important 85-65 away victory against Panionios on match day 13 of the Basketball championship. At the same time, it was a real psychological boost following two consecutive defeats from Panathinaikos and Aris. This was the ninth win for Panagiotis Yannakis squad that secured them in the first four places on the scoreboard. Yannakis players performed better and never let Panionios threatened them. The score per period: 22-14, 43-33, 69-49, 85-65.

Translated by Areti Christou

[08] Iraklis Scored Great Win

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Iraklis claimed an important 89-80 victory against Aris on match day 13 of the Basketball championship. Todays victory was a real breather for Iraklis, which ranks at the last places on the scoreboard. On the other hand, this defeat did not allow Aris to climb on second place. Aris players started off pretty well and finished the first half with a 6-point lead (41-35). In the second half, however, Juri Jdovcs players managed to make a comeback and maintained their lead up until the final whistle. Kouvelos of Iraklis was his teams top scorer with 23 points, while Castle scored 31 points for Aris. The score per period: 11-18, 35-41, 58-55, 89-80.

Translated by Areti Christou

[09] Breather for Kallithea

By Stathis Petropoulos

Petkovics two goals led Kallithea to a 2-1 victory over Larissa on match day 17 of the Greek Division 1 football championship, and for the first time they run away from the bottom of the scoreboard. The guest team were left with ten players as early as in the 23, since Foerster was shown the way out. The encounter enjoyed a pretty brisk start, since the home side had their first great chance to open the score in the 19, but Sylla failed to win Larissas goalie. Four minutes later, though, Petkovic gave the lead to Kallithea. Larissa did not give up fighting and Vela Junior score the equalising goal in the 36, although they had been left with ten players since the 23. The encounter took a wild turn, and in the 38 Petkovic scored a great goal and gave Kallithea the lead anew. Larissa did their best, yet their efforts bore no fruits.

Referee: Fotiadis (Thessaloniki) Yellow Cards: Radovanovic, Mijatovic, Cloember Vela Junior, Gikas Red Cards: Foerster

KALLITHEA: Bartzokas, Karatzas, Venetis, Koulakiotis, Tsiolis, Petkovic (93 Passas), Behi, Mijatovic, Sylla (76 Cloember), Koutsospiros, Radovanovic (59 Georgiev). LARISSA: Kotsolis, Galitsios, Dabizas, Foerster, Katsiaros, Serban, Digozis, Vela Junior, Aloneftis (46 Gikas), Spasic (67 Bahramis), Kalatzis (67 Papakostas).

Translated by Areti Christou

[10] Easy Afternoon for Egaleo

By Stathis Petropoulos

Upon his return to Egaleo, Giorgos Hatzaras work has begun bearing fruit, since his squad coasted a 0-3 away win over Akratitos. The home side started off better, yet their superiority lasted until the 27 when Agritis of Egaleo managed to open the score and give his team the lead. Nikolopoulos doubled the score for Egaleo in the 38 and in the rerun it was Skopelitis who scored the third goal, which was his first after returning to the team.

Referee: Polatian (Pella) Yellow Cards: Popov, Skopelitis, Tsatsos

AKRATITOS: Kostakis, Apostolakis (46` Aravidis), Badas, Dieng, Pagonis, Gustavo, Macquet, Marinescu, Skoufalis (60` Londo), Defransesco, Sales (80` Patsiavouras). EGALEO: Gennamo, Popov, Psomas, Zapropoulos (82` Liapakis), Jancetic, Tsatsos, Skopelitis, Omo (85` Labropoulos), Cesarec, Nikolopoulos (73` Stefanidis), Agritis.

Translated by Areti Christou

[11] Great Win for PAOK

By Vasilis Kalpinos

In their bid to run away from the last places on the scoreboard, PAOK achieved a great 58-83 victory against GS in Larissa. This was just PAOKs third away victory in seven encounters. On the other hand, the second home defeat for Larissas squad has made their effort to avoid relegation even harsher. The game was a derby from the very beginning, since both teams vied for the victory. The end of the first half found PAOK enjoying a three-point lead (46-43). In the second half, PAOK maintained their slight lead. During the fourth period, GS managed to bring the difference down to a two-point shot (82-81), but PAOK succeeded in keeping the lead until the final whistle. The score per period: 23-19, 43-46, 66-70, 83-85.

Translated by Areti Christou

[12] Winter Champion

By Vasilis Kalpinos

Performing really well, particularly during the second half, Panathinaikos claimed an 83-68 away victory against Makedonikos on match day 13 of the Basketball championship. This was the fifth away win for Panathinaikos and the 12th in 13 games, conquering, at the same time, the unofficial winter champion title. The first half ended with Panathinaikos enjoying a rather poor two-point lead (36-34). However, it took an offensive burst during the third period to give Panathinaikos a 25-point lead (68-43). In the fourth period, having secured the victory, Panathinaikos slowed down. The score per period: 18-18, 34-36, 43-68, 68-83.

Translated by Areti Christou

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