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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-08-10
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 10, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] HEATWAVE IN GREECE, TEMPERATURES SOAR TO 42 DEGREES
CELSIUS
[02] TOMORROW'S SOLAR ECLIPSE TO BE WATCHED BY MILLIONS
[03] US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON TO VISIT GREECE ON NOVEMBER
21
[04] GREECE'S DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT UNITED STATES NEXT
MONTH
[05] YOUNG GREEKS FROM ABROAD RACE IN THESSALONIKI
[06] HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI BOMBINGS REMEMBERED IN THESSALONIKI
[07] GREEK PENTAGON HAS NOT RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS FOR
CHINOOK
[08] PARATROOPER KILLED DURING NAVAL EXERCISE, ANOTHER
INJURED
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] CHANGE OF PM IN RUSSIA TAKES A TOLL ON ECONOMY
[10] PUTIN SAYS: YELTSIN WILL DECIDE ON POWER MINISTERS
[11] NEW ANTI-MILOSEVIC MOVEMENT EMERGES IN SERBIA
[12] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN FYROM ON OCTOBER 31
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] HEATWAVE IN GREECE, TEMPERATURES SOAR TO 42 DEGREES
CELSIUS
Temperatures are expected to soar to 40-42 degrees
Celsius in Greece today, having reached the 39C mark
yesterday.
According to the National Weather Service, the
temperatures will continue to rise today. Although no cases
of heatstroke have been reported, the interior ministry
officials are advising city dwellers to stay indoors,
preferably in air-conditioned areas and drink plenty of
fluids.
[02] TOMORROW'S SOLAR ECLIPSE TO BE WATCHED BY MILLIONS
The Health and Welfare Ministry has issued a press
release warning of dangers related to viewing tomorrow's
solar eclipse.
Even a short exposure to the sun's rays during the
eclipse could cause permanent damage to the eyes. Only
special equipment should be used by observers.
The solar eclipse will be partially visible in Greece
between 12:40 p.m. and 5:35 p.m., while it will reach it s
peak at 2:10 p.m. local time.
[03] US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON TO VISIT GREECE ON NOVEMBER
21
United States President Bill Clinton is to conduct an
official visit to Greece on November 21-24, according to an
Athens daily "To Vima".
A delegation of 15 US secret service agents is already
in Athens where they are conducting security checks of the
premises to be visited by the President. They will take part
in a meeting to be held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
with alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis.
President Clinton will be received by the Greek
Premier Costas Simitis, although the agenda of the items to
be discussed remains open.
Prior to his visit to Greece, President Clinton will be
in Istanbul in order to attend the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe meeting.
[04] GREECE'S DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT UNITED STATES NEXT
MONTH
Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos is to
conduct a visit to the United States on September 22, at the
invitation of his American counterpart William Cohen.
Earlier, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will be at Toronto where
he will attend the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting.
[05] YOUNG GREEKS FROM ABROAD RACE IN THESSALONIKI
One hundred and twenty young Greeks from abroad,
between the ages of 8-12, took part in a track meet held in
Thessaloniki yesterday evening, in an event jointly
organized by the Ministries of Macedonia-Thrace, Foreign
Affairs and Culture as well as the General Secretariat of
Greeks Abroad, the general Secretariat of Athletics and the
Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE).
The Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Yiannis Magriotis
declared the opening of the race and stated that the race
constituted a preclude to the "Helleniad", a bi-annual
athletic event held in Thessaloniki .
[06] HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI BOMBINGS REMEMBERED IN THESSALONIKI
The Thessaloniki-based "Committee for International
Detente and Peace" (EDYETH) held a peace rally and nuclear
weapons protest yesterday in light of the 54th anniversary
of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
The rally began near the city's White Tower and ended
at the US consulate.
Protesters demanded the removal of NATO forces from the
Balkans and also called for the destruction of what they
claimed were nuclear weapons stored at the Araxos airbase in
the northwest Peloponnese.
[07] GREEK PENTAGON HAS NOT RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS FOR
CHINOOK
Although the United States Army announced today that
it has grounded its 466 CH-47 ``Chinook'' troop helicopters
made by Boeing, after a crack was found in an engine gear of
a British CH-47, the Greek government has not received any
advice to halt flights with the said helicopters in its
fleet.
American army officials said the halt for safety checks
was ordered late Friday and that Boeing would help inspect
transmission gear assemblies, including those in more than
300 CH-47s bought by the militaries of other countries. The
grounding affects only CH-47D and derivative models that
have entered service since 1982.
The Greek Army has nine Chinook helicopters, none of
which has presented a problem, and expects to soon receive
seven more.
[08] PARATROOPER KILLED DURING NAVAL EXERCISE, ANOTHER
INJURED
A Greek military paratrooper was killed today and
another was injured when their parachutes became entangled
during the course of a naval exercise in the Attica region
of Megara this morning.
The victims, an officer and a non-commissioned officer,
jumped off the helicopter but their parachutes became
entangled in the air. One of the two managed to open his
spare parachute and thus saved his life. He is presently
hospitalized at the Athens military hospital.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] CHANGE OF PM IN RUSSIA TAKES A TOLL ON ECONOMY
Marking the fourth time within 18 months that Russian
President Boris Yeltsin fires the country's premier, Sergei
Stepashin was ousted from the post yesterday, to be replaced
by Security Chief Vladimir Putin as acting chairman of the
government of the Russian Federation.
The move has brought on political instability in the
country, with repercussions felt foremostly in the sector of
economy where the ruble depreciated by 3% against the dollar
and shares having taken a nose dive in the market.
President Yeltsin has stressed that he does not plan to
proceed to an extensive cabinet reshuffle and added that
the Ministry of Economy will not change.
[10] PUTIN SAYS: YELTSIN WILL DECIDE ON POWER MINISTERS
Decision on whether key power ministers stay on in the
new government is up to the president, acting Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin told reporters after his meeting with
President Boris Yelsin today.
"A significant part of power structures are locked onto
the president, and the decision of these issues depends
primarily on him," Putin said, according to Itar-Tass.
Moreover, according to another Russian news agency
Interfax, Mr. Putin stated that he would keep Defense
Minister Igor Sergeyev and Interior Minister
Vladimir Rushailo in his new cabinet.
[11] NEW ANTI-MILOSEVIC MOVEMENT EMERGES IN SERBIA
A new civic movement opposed to the regime of Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic demonstrated in the western
Serbian town of Loznica yesterday evening,the French news
agency AFP reported.
It was the latest in a number of protest groups which
have sprung up in
various towns across Serbia, in contrast to the orthodox
political parties.
Bogoljub Arsenijevic, founder of a similar movement in
Valjevo, where
anti-regime protests have been held since July 12, addressed
some 300 people
who gathered in response to a call he made Friday.
"The Civic Resistance is not a party, but you in
Loznica, Valjevo and
elsewhere will liberate Serbia, not those who have dealt
with Milosevic for ten years," Arsenijevic said.
The Loznica group announced that it would be staging
daily protests until Milosevic quit.
[12] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN FYROM ON OCTOBER 31
Presidential elections are to be held in FYROM on
October 31, with the pre-election campaign period
beginning on the first of that month. According to the
Speaker of the House Savo Klimovski, if the President is not
elected during the first round of voting, another round will
be held on November 14.
Current President Kiro Gligorov will not run for the
post, while it is expected that the Democratic alternative
solution will propose its leader Vasil Tupurkovski for the
post.
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