The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 09-08-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] Italy in Lottery Fever

Last Updated on Saturday, 22 August 2009 18:42

Italy's record lottery jackpot has soared to â¬146.9 millions, with players from Italy and beyond hoping to have picked the winning combination to emerge from tonight's draw.

Having surpassed the previous European record of £107m, set in Spain in May, the SuperEnalotto jackpot is the world's second largest one, following the â¬157.7 millions given by Mega Millions in the USA in March 2007.

No one has correctly guessed the winning combination since January, while he chances of guessing the correct six numbers needed to win the jackpot are 622m-1.

Source: ANA, BBC

Older news items: News item: 26044

[02] 8 Arctic Sea Pirates before Russian Court

The prosecutor claimed the ship was carrying timber to Algeria, dismissing accusations it had been carrying weapons.

The ship was tracked in the Atlantic Ocean by the Russia Navy, after Moscow said it had suffered an act of piracy and boarded it off the Cape Verde islands on Monday, freeing the 15 Russian crewmen.

A lawyer for the defendants, Konstantin Baranovsky, said the suspects were "peaceful ecologists."

"We were saving ourselves, we were drowning," said Igor Borisov, 45, after he was arrested. "We didn't hijack the ship." The defendants face a maximum of 15 years in prison if found guilty of piracy and kidnap.

Defendant Dmitry Bartenev, 41, an unemployed Russian citizen living in Estonia, was dragged handcuffed through the court room and arrested. His head bowed in a cage, he said solving the maritime mystery was not in Russia's jurisdiction.

"A Russian court does not have the right to hear this case. The alleged illegal act happened in Swedish waters on a ship with a Maltese flag."

He declined to say what was on the ship.

Friday's arrests mean the detention of the suspects has been extended by up to two months. The eight men include one Estonian national, one Latvian, two Russians and four, including Borisov, who are registered with no citizenship.

Baranovsky said the hearing and the arrests were unlawful and a "crude violation" of the European Charter of Human Rights.

Russia said the Arctic Sea was hijacked on July 24 off the coast of Sweden by eight armed men, who forced the crew to sail for Africa with its positioning systems switched off.

News item: 26042

[03] Wildfires Ravage Portugal

Wildfires have been raging Portugal since Friday evening. Hundreds of people fled to safety, while more than 246 firefighters are battling to contain the fire.

Firefighters and police backed by water-dropping aircraft battled several wildfires in Portugal as strong winds hampered their task, reigniting some blazes that had been under control, the civil protection agency said.

More than 240,000 square metres of forest land have been reduced to ashes in Portugal since the beginning of the year.

News item: 26037

[04] Changes in ISAP Services

News item: 26036

[05] EU Demands Male/Female Equal Pension Age

Some 140.000 women working in the civil sector, security and armed forces are considering to retire as they may be called to work for an additional 5-17 years if the European Commission rejects Greece's request to gradually equalize male/female pension age in 10 years time. According to reports the European Commission is expected to demand immediate implementation of Community regulation, the Finance Ministry, however, stresses that it has not received any letter with such request.

If Greece is obliged to implement community regulation immediately, it means that mothers of children under 18yo as well as mothers with three and more children would not further be entitled to retire before they turn 60yo. The government wanted to support these specific groups and will continue doing so according to reports.

Opposition parties attribute responsibilities to the government for its handlings to present.

PASOK spokesman G. Papakonstantinou blamed the government for amateurism and underlined that PASOK would exhaust all limits regarding negotiations with the EU.

The government merely asked for extension for the implementation of EU regulation without any action plan resulting not only in reversal of programming of thousands of families but also putting at risk the social character of our country's civil servants insuranceâ, stressed PASOK spokesman competent on Unemployment and Social Protection issues Evi Hristofilopoulou,

Working mothers should not agree with any of ND and PASOK arguments regarding male/female equal pension age imposed by the EU, stresses the GCP .

SYN called on the government not to implement the EU regulation because it has no legal, moral and political base.

âThe government new the result in advance. Its handlings were childish and now the life of hundreds of thousand of families would changeâ said LAOS.

Equalization of male/female retirement age will be a main protest issue during ADEDY mobilizations in view of International Thessaloniki Fair.

News item: 26025

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