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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-09-12Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.Last Update: 23:27 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANS[C] EUROPENEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] OLYMPIC AIRWAYS PLANE MAKES SUCCESSFUL EMERGENCY LANDINGWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) An Olympic Airways pane landed safely at Athens' Helleniko Airport with its 58 passengers and crew today, after having experienced problems with its landing wheel mechanism.The plane was on a routine Athens to Preveza flight when the craft's wheels refused to lock into place for landing. The pilot reported the problem as he came in to land at Preveza. Air traffic control ordered the plane to return to Athens where it landed safely. Airport authorities said the problem was a common one and dealing with it a routine affair. A.F. [02] 4.2 TREMOR SCARES ATHENS, BUT IT WAS NO CAUSE FOR CONCERNWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) An aftershock measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale shook Athens this morning, as it was registered by the city's Geodynamic Institute.According to seismologists, the tremor was a logical extension of the devastating 5.9-magnitude quake. The quake was recorded at 9.17 a.m. and had the same epicenter as Tuesday's quake. A.F. [03] MINISTER UNVEILS FLEXIBLE MEASURES FOR ATTICA'S STUDENTSWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) The Ministry of Education has unveiled a package of flexible -and favorable- measures for those high school students in Attica who have failed the junior year, by announcing that they are not obliged to attend tomorrow's examinations.Instead, these students, who were to be re-tested on the failed classes, will be given a passing grade as long as they have accumulate a 10 grade point average on the classes they were tested in prior to the earthquake. A.F. [04] MPA COLLECTS FUNDS ON ITS INTERNET SITE FOR QUAKE VICTIMSWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 12/09/1999 (MPA) In its effort to collect funds for Athens' earthquake victims, the Macedonian Press Agency has created a home page on its Internet server solely for this purpose, which can be found at www.mpa.grThe MPA, wishing to contribute to the offered assistance, established the home page in order to facilitate those who wish to provide economic aid by using their credit cards. A bank account has been set up at Egnatia Bank and the collected sum will be sent to the appropriate state authorities who in turn will distribute the funds as needed. Those wishing to donate money can contact MPA's site on the Internet and then transfer to the relevant homepage. A.F. [05] NEW DEMOCRACY LEADER PROPOSES EARTHQUAKE MEASURESWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 12/09/1999 (MPA) The leader of the country's main opposition party, New Democracy's Costas Karamanlis, presented his party's proposals on measures which should be taken to relieve earthquake sufferers and address the damage caused.Stating that this is not the proper time for criticism, Mr. Karamanlis stressed that all should contribute towards healing the massive wounds left by the disaster and recognize the heroic efforts of the EMAK rescue team and the fire brigade, adding that a generous policy of increasing their remuneration is necessary. All school buildings should be examined immediately, he said, and ND groups will also be making their own examinations, while there should be exemplary punishment for those guilty of faulty workmanship which led to the tragedy. Mr. Karamanlis said coordinated and close cooperation is necessary between the state, local administration, the Church, the Red Cross and volunteers to relieve earthquake sufferers and restore social cohesion as soon as possible. He stated that a portion of funds for the proposed measures can be obtained from the European Union. The measures proposed are that every stricken family should receive an immediate payment of 500,000 drachmas which will increase by 100,000 drachmas for every under-aged child. The support program for the repair or building of a house should be given a 50 per cent state subsidy and a 50 per cent interest free loan of a 15-year duration. Financial support of two million drachmas should be provided for household appliances and equipment destroyed. Nursery school services should be provided free of charge and special support programs should be obtained for handicapped and elderly people. Free medical and pharmaceutical treatment should be provided for earthquake sufferers living in camps or tents. Lastly, the families of the dead or injured should receive a pension due to death or disablement as a result of labor accidents. He further said an essential number of tents should be obtained, adding that according to information by mayors about 5,000 tents have been provided which are less than a third of the number urgently needed. Mr. Karamanlis proposed that low interest loans should be provided for businesses to help them meet salary requirements, the settlement of debts owed to the state, insurance organizations and banks, with a one- or two- year grace period and coverage of a third of the necessary cost of repairing or reconstructing building and mechanical installations. A.F. [06] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER VISITS THESSALONIKI'S TRADE FAIRWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 12/09/1999 (MPA) The President of the main opposition party New Democracy's Kostas Karamanlis visited the facilities of Thessaloniki's International Trade Fair this morning where he was briefed by the organization's administration on the sizes of this year's event.Mr. Karamanlis has postponed a series of events he was to attend in Thessaloniki within the framework of the 64th ITF, in view of the earthquake. A.F. [07] INSPECTIONS CONTINUE, HUNDREDS OF HOMES TO BE DEMOLISHEDWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) About 50,000 homes will have been inspected by tonight in the earthquake-stricken region of Attica, according to the Minister of Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis, who added that about 12-13% of the homes inspected so far will have to be demolished.Of 37,155 inspections to date, 50 percent (18,401) of homes have been deemed suitable for habitation and 39 percent (14,628) are in need of repair. Mr. Laliotis said he hoped those left homeless by the quake would be able to move out of their tents and into more permanent accommodations in about six to eight weeks and called on mayors in the areas to find space to create settlements. A.F. [08] PREMIERS AROUND THE WORLD SEND MESSAGES OF SOLIDARITYWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) Greece's Prime Minister Costas Simitis continued to receive messages of solidarity and condolences from premiers from countries around the world, among them his counterparts from Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic. Telegrams were also received from the mayors of several Turkish cities.The Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis yesterday received messages of condolences from the legislative bodies of Cyprus, Germany, Japan, Austria, Bulgaria and by the presidium of the Council of Europe. The World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) President Andrew Athens informed Mr. Kaklamanis that the Council set up a bank account for the collection of funds in aid to the earthquake victims. A.F. [09] RESCUE TEAMS CONTINUE SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS, BUT HOPES FADEWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) Greece's earthquake rescue squad (EMAK) continued to dig into the ruins in search of any remaining survivors from Tuesday's earthquake, slthough hopes of finding anyone alive are waning.More than 800 EMAK men and women along with 185 of their counterparts from Turkey, France, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Cyprus and Israel have rescued 85 people, while they pulled out 73 dead of the rubble. A.F. [10] DEATH TOLL FROM ATHENS EARTHQUAKE RISES TO 114 PERSONSWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Athens, 12/09/1999 (MPA) The death toll from the earthquake that rattled Athens on Tuesday has risen to 114 persons, as rescue workers continue to pull more bodies from the rubble of collapsed buildings, while another 20 persons remain missing.Authorities in the municipalities of Ano Liosia and Menidi, two of the areas most devastated by the quake, have began to disburse emergency money to the homeless, while engineers from the Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Ministry continue the building inspections. A.F. [B] BALKANS[11] UCK VOWS TO DISARM BY THURSDAY, THREE DAYS BEFORE DEADLINEWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Prishtina, 12/09/1999 (MPA) The leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or UCK) Hasim Ceku stated today that the organizations will have completely disarmed by Thursday, three days before the expiration of NATO's deadline.Mr. Ceku expressed the hoe that the international community will recognize this move on behalf of the KLA and will agree to its transformation into a national guard, in spite of Russia's objections. A.F. [12] LEFTIST GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ISTANBUL BOMBINGSWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Istanbul, 12/09/1999 (MPA) An ultra-leftist underground group has claimed responsibility for the bombing of two Turkish ministry offices in Istanbul in which 23 people were injured on Friday, as Turkish newspapers reported today.In a letter faxed to several newspapers, the Popular Revolutionary Front and Party (DHKP-C) said it had bombed the buildings to protest the reform of the social security system recently adopted by parliament and to demand an end to talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Another bomb had been located earlier in the offices of Turkey's Labor Minster although the police were able to throw the explosive mechanism out the window into an alley were it exploded. A.F. [C] EUROPE[13] KREMLIN THREATENS CORRIERE DELLA SERA WITH LEGAL ACTIONWeb Posted: 18:39 GMT+2Moscow, 12/09/1999 (MPA) Corriere della Sera, the Italian paper that has run a series of exclusives on an alleged financial scandal implicating senior Russian figures, today printed a letter from the Kremlin threatening legal action.Alexander Voloshin, the head of Russian President Boris Yeltsin's team, warned the Italian daily of the consequences of printing "fabrications." Denouncing what he called an unprecedented campaign of defamatory accusations, he said the government was ready to use the full force of international law to defend the president's honor. The accusations against Yeltsin were purely political, he added. An unofficial translation of the letter was delivered to the paper by the Russian ambassador to Rome. US and British investigators are looking into whether up to 15 billion dollars funneled through US bank accounts may have been laundered by Russia's political and business elite. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Swiss investigators have linked President Yeltsin and other high-ranking Russian officials to 10-15 million dollars in kickbacks paid by a Swiss firm. A.F. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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