NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR VICTOR KLIMA TO VISIT THESSALONIKI

Austria's chancellor Viktor Klima is to arrive in Thessaloniki on Friday evening, embarking on a three-day stay in Greece.

Mr. Klima will be greeted at the airport Macedonia by the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos and will be hosted in a dinner given in his honor by the Prime Minster Kostas Simitis.

On Saturday, Mr. Klima, whose country is currently holding the European Union's rotating presidency is to visit Mt. Athos accompanied by Mr. Simitis.

Saturday evening, the two leaders will attend a dinner in Thessaloniki, accompanied by the Misters of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopulos, Minster of Culture Evangelos Venizelos, the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos and the alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

On Sunday morning, Mgrs. Simitis and Klima will give a press conference. In turn, the Austrian chancellor will visit the city's archaeological museum and will depart for Austria.

[02] NINE-MONTH MANDATORY DRAFT AS OF SEPTEMBER AT BORDER REGIONS

Following a modification submitted by the Defense Ministry, those serving at the country's border stations will be assigned to these posts for a mandatory nine-month term. Minster of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos stated that the soldiers will be given brief leaves every two months and will also enjoy a discount on bus tickets so they can travel home.

[03] MINISTRY OF JUSTICE ISSUES RESTRICTIVE ORDER AGAINST THE PRESS

Minister of Justice Evangelos Yianopoulos has caused an uproar in the field of journalism after he said yesterday that the Penal Code shall include an order calling for the immediate arrest and incarceration of those journalists who relay offensive and slanderous messages. The president of the Athens Journalists Association accused the Minister of proceeding to restrict the freedom of the press. Mr. Yiannopoulos' order also met the ire of the main opposition party New Democracy and the Communist Party of Greece.

[04] GREEK DEPUTY FM COMMENTS ON TURKISH REJECTION OF FLIGHT MORATORIUM

Greece's Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis said yesterday that Turkey's rejection of the US-delivered proposal for a military flight moratorium over Cyprus is a disappointing action. Mr. Kranidiotis also referred to the occupation of the island's northern part by Turkish forces, as well as to the on-going violation of human rights and added that Turkey has yet to fulfil its obligations which stem from the customs association with the European Union.

[05] ATHENS CONDEMNS DEADLY N. IRELAND BOMBING

Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday expressed his sorrow over the bomb attack in Northern Ireland to his British and Irish counterparts, Robin Cook and David Andrews, respectively. Mr. Pangalos expressed a hope that the deadly and "illogical attack" will not slow down the ongoing peace process.

[06] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS TO VISIT THESSALONIKI ON FRIDAY

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis ill chair the ruling PASOK party's Executive Bureau session tomorrow, while on Friday he will travel to Thessaloniki in order to receive Austrian Chancellor Victor Klima whom he will accompany to Mt. Athos on Saturday.

During his stay in Thessaloniki, Mr. Simitis will meet with party deputies and local party leaders.

[07] THESSALONIKI TEACHER SWIMS ENGLISH CHANNEL, FIRST ONE AFTER THE WAR

A Thessaloniki man has become the first person in post- war Greece to swim across the English Channel. Thirty-six-year-old swim teacher Georgios Mathas embarked on his journey August 16 near the city of Dover on the English coast and reached the French coast about 15 hours later. The first Greek to swim across the English Channel was Iasonas Zirganos in 1939, while out of more than 5,000 attempts only 520 have been successful since Briton Matthew Webb first crossed the Channel in 1875. Mr. Mathas, who teaches swimming to mentally handicapped children, said "it took hard training, strong will and a prayer that lasted for 15 hours".

[08] 17th PANEUROPEAN TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP UNDERWAY IN BUDAPEST

The 17th Paneuropean Track-and- field Championship opened in Budapest, Hungary, with good results for Greek athletes. Haralambos Papadias led the favourites into the second round of 100-meter qualifying with 10.27 seconds. Angelos Pavlakakis and Alexis Genovelis also made it to the sprint quarter- finals held Tuesday evening. In the women's javelin, Mirella Tzelili advanced to the finals with a throw of 65.14 meters, which was also a personal record. In the women's 100 meter race Katerina Thanou qualified for the semi-finals by finishing first with 11.04 seconds. In the men's shot put Christos Polychroniou qualified for the finals with a 77.59 throw.

[09] UNHCR OFFICIAL TRAVELS TO KOSSOVO TO ASSESS DAMAGES

A top official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has gone to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to assess the situation of displacement and level of destruction in the province of Kosovo. The United Nations refugee agency announced yesterday that UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner, Soren Jessen-Petersen will spend five days in Belgrade, Prishtina and Podgorica (Montenegro). He plans to visit affected areas throughout Kosovo, especially around Pec, where intense fighting took place in the past week, UNHCR said. During the visit, Mr. Jessen-Petersen will meet Yugoslav officials and urge them to restore stability and security so that UNHCR could better assist those who have fled their homes. The UNHCR team in Pristina continued to track down an estimated 20,000 people displaced in Pec, the refugee agency said. On Monday, UNHCR field team delivered a small quantity of food packs to some 6,000 to 7,000 displaced people along a river at Broliq village in the Pec municipality, the agency added.

[10] UNICEF'S MOBILE MEDICAL TEAM OBSTRUCTED IN KOSSOVO

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced yesterday that a mobile team transporting medical supplies to mountain areas in southwest Kosovo has been obstructed by police in the conflict- torn province.

UNICEF Spokesman, Patrick McCormick said that the team was stopped thirteen times by police over a distance of 250 kilometres.

"The same team was detained by the police after distributing medicines to the paediatric wing of the hospital in Djakovica," Mr. McCormick said.

According to Mr. McCormick, the aid workers were accused of distributing medicine to terrorists. They were allowed to leave the town after an hour and went back to Pristina, he said. Mr. McCormick said that aid workers in Kosovo have to use a round about route to deliver the supplies in the war-stricken province of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

[11] CYPRUS COMMENTS ON ANKARA'S REJECTION OF NO-FLIGHTS PROPOSAL

Ankara's rejection of a US call for a moratorium of Greek and Turkish military flights over Cyprus has prompted the Cypriot government to comment that this is a display of who is responsible for the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey's Minister of State for Cyprus, Sukru Sina Gurel, rejected the proposal;, delivered by US envoy Thomas Miller, for a military flights moratorium in return for a halt to the deployment of Russian missiles in Cyprus later this year and said Ankara will continue to take all necessary measures on Cyprus. "This is a statement which the international community should take into serious consideration in order to understand exactly who is responsible for the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean and who opposes peace," Cypriot government spokesperson Christos Stylianides said. Mr. Stylianides added that the government is willing to discuss "postponing or even cancelling the deployment of the missiles if important steps are made towards the demilitarisation of Cyprus or if intercommunal talks resume with prospects for progress".

[12] ATHENS IS NOT IN FAVOR OF MILITARY INTERVENTION AT KOSSOVO

Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis reiterated yesterday that the Greek government is not advocating military intervention at the strife-torn region of Kosovo. Speaking to Athens-based foreign correspondents, Mr. Kranidiotis added that all options must be examined before such a decision is taken, and further expressed a hope that "there is still room for diplomacy to bear fruit".

[13] FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER NELLY DIES AT THE AGE OF 99

One of Greece's best known and pioneering photographers, Elli Souyioultzoglou-Seraidari, commonly known as "Nelly", died yesterday at her home in the Athens suburb of Nea Smyrni. She was 99 years old. Born in Aidini, Asia Minor in 1899, Nelly survived the destruction of the predominately ethnic Greek town by Turkish forces in 1919 before moving to Smyrna and then to Dresden, Germany, where she studied music, art and photography. She first arrived in mainland Greece in 1924. During her illustrious career, Nelly worked with various themes, photographing events in Greece, Germany and the United States. In 1929 Nelly made waves in Athens' conservative establishment by photographing Mona Paeva, - then the prima ballerina of the Opera Comique, nude on the Acropolis. At the time, several critics decried the act as a "desecration". In 1939 she travelled to the United States, where she decorated the Greek pavilion at the New York International Expo with giant posters. With the outbreak of World War II, what was supposed to have been a 30-day visit turned into a 27-year stay. In 1985, Nelly donated her photo archives and cameras to the Benaki Museum in Athens, while in 1987 she was presented with an honorary diploma and medal by the Hellenic Centre of Photography and the government. Eight years later, she was awarded the Order of the Phoenix by the president of the republic. In 1996, the Athens Academy presented her with its Arts and Letters Award. Nelly will be buried tomorrow afternoon at public expense following a decision by the culture ministry. On behalf of the government, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos described her as a "mythical figure with a prominent position in the cultural panorama of our century.

[14] GREECE'S UNEMPLOYED RECEIVE LOWEST AMOUNT OF BENEFITS IN THE EU

A report recently released by the European Commission illustrates what was believed for long: Greece's unemployed received the lowest amount in benefits when compared to their counterparts from other European Union member-states. When the Swedish and Danish governments allocate 36% and 35%, respectively, of their National Gross Product (GNP) for welfare expenses, the governments in Greece and Portugal grant about 21% of the GNP to welfare-related expenses. Ireland is at the bottom of the rank, with 20% of the GNP being earmarked for the people's welfare.

The amount of benefits received by unemployed Greeks is the lowest in the EU, amounting to 25% of their salary, while at the same time their Danish counterparts are granted 80% of their paycheck in the form of unemployment benefits.

[15] NADIR ESCAPE PILOT SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN PRISON

The British courts have imposed a two-year jail sentence on the pilot who assisted the Turkish-Cypriot indicted businessman Asil Nadir escape Britain in a sensational flight to the occupied north of Cyprus in 1993.

The 57-year old Peter Diamond Diamond had remained on the island's occupied part for the past five years until he was arrested last January in Wales. "At best you were naive," Judge Michael Hyam told Diamond, who is a qualified pilot. "At worst, you showed a cynical disregard to the effect your actions might have on the administration of justice."

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