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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-12-29
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, December 29, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[01] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER CONGRATULATED THE NEW SERB PRIME
MINISTER
[02] THE GREEK UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILL VISIT PRISTINA
[03] GAINS IN THE LAST ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE SESSION OF THE YEAR
[04] THE FINDINGS ON THE CAUSES OF THE "FALCON" AIR ACCIDENT
BECAME PUBLIC
[05] THE LEADING ITALIAN MAFIA MAN WAS SENTENCED TO 19 MONTHS IN
PRISON
[06] THE MPA IS LISTED AMONG THE BEST GREEK SITES ON THE INTERNET
[07] THE DRAFT BILL ON THE PROFESSIONAL ARMY IN GREECE IS READY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER CONGRATULATED THE NEW SERB PRIME
MINISTER
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou sent a
congratulatory message to new Serb prime minister Zoran Jinjic on
the occasion of the assumption of office.
In his message, Mr. Papandreou congratulated Mr. Jinjic for
his election victory and underlined that it consolidates democracy
in the country, while it confirms the will of the Serb people to
move ahead with the changes necessary to safeguard their course
toward the European family. Mr. Papandreou also stressed that the
country will have the undivided and friendly support of Greece and
the Greek government.
[02] THE GREEK UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILL VISIT PRISTINA
Greek undersecretary of defense Dimitris Apostolakis will be
in Pristina on January 3 to visit the Greek troops deployed in
Kosovo within the framework of the peace-keeping forces.
Within the framework of his visit to Pristina, Mr.
Apostolakis will meet with the KFOR commander and the deputy
civilian administrator in Kosovo.
[03] GAINS IN THE LAST ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE SESSION OF THE YEAR
Small gains of 0.34% were recorded today the last Athens
Stock Exchange session of the year creating good expectations for
2001.
The general index was at 3.388,86 points, while the volume of
transactions was small at 112.35 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 160 recorded gains, 184 had
losses, while the value of 21 remained unchanged.
[04] THE FINDINGS ON THE CAUSES OF THE "FALCON" AIR ACCIDENT
BECAME PUBLIC
The findings on the causes of the air accident involving the
Greek prime minister's "Falcon" aircraft in which deputy foreign
minister Yiannos Kranidiotis and other 7 people were killed in
September 1999 became public today.
According to the findings that have already been sent to the
prosecutor's office, the accident is attributed to human error due
to the insufficient knowledge and training of the two pilots.
Also, there are responsibilities that belong to the Olympic
Airways Civil Agency and specifically, to the department of
technical maintenance because the automatic pilot alarm light
failure was not noticed.
Also, it is mentioned in the findings that there are
inadequacies in supervising on behalf of Olympic Airways as the
shortcomings mentioned were not spotted in time to avoid the
tragic accident.
[05] THE LEADING ITALIAN MAFIA MAN WAS SENTENCED TO 19 MONTHS IN
PRISON
Leading Italian Mafia man, 52yearold Franscesco Prutedino,
who was tried in absentia in a Thessaloniki court today, received
a 19month prison term and a 500.000drachmas fine accused of having
a forged passport in his possession.
The Italian was wanted by the Interpol and was arrested in
Thessaloniki on December 22 accused of illegal cigarette and
weapons trade, murder, extortion and other offenses. He is held in
the Diavata Prison outside Thessaloniki and did not appear in
court for unknown reasons.
As it was made known, he will be held in a Greek prison until
his extradition to Italy.
[06] THE MPA IS LISTED AMONG THE BEST GREEK SITES ON THE INTERNET
The Greek magazine "Computer For Everybody" writes in its
January 2001 issue, which is at the newsstands today, that
Macedonian Press Agency, MPA, has one of the best sites on the
Internet.
The magazine mentions that it is a serious site dedicated to
news reporting and grades MPA as excellent concerning its speed,
navigation and structure, while his completeness and directness
were graded as very good.
The comparative test with the best news sites includes MPA,
in.gr, eone.gr, iboom.gr, thea.gr and pan.gr, as well as the
sports sites sportnet, sportline and sportnews and the economic
sites reporter.gr and naftemporiki.
Specifically, the magazine writes that the MPA site
predisposes the user in a positive way from the first moment. It
also mentions that the MPA site is dedicated to news reporting
reminding an on-line magazine. It is stressed that the visitor is
impressed by the fact that the site is available to two more
languages in addition to Greek namely, English and Russian.
Among the historical issues presented in the MPA site are
"The role of Albania in the Greek Civil War", "Travelogue in Mount
Athos" and the "Macedonian Struggle and the role of Tito" giving
to MPA an education identity as well.
[07] THE DRAFT BILL ON THE PROFESSIONAL ARMY IN GREECE IS READY
The draft bill, that was prepared by the Greek ministry of
defense on the creation of a professional army in Greece, is ready
and it will be presented in parliament in January, while the
intention of defense minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos is to put it in
effect in the spring, according to the Athens newspaper "Ethnos".
It is estimated that about 15.000 men and women, 18-26 years
old, will be called to offer their services to the Greek armed
forces and the appointment of professional soldiers will cut the
length of their service by two months next year.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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