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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-04-27
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, April 27, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[Á] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] STATE BOWS TO PRESSURE, SHELVES LABOR REFORMS
[02] MIRACLE BABY JOINS MOM AFTER TWO-WEEK FIGHT
[03] "BOTTOMS UP" FOR 6% OF GREEKS BEHIND THE WHEEL
[04] UNEMPLOYMENT DIPS BELOW 11%, A FIRST IN 3 YEARS
[05] MOMENTOUS MEMORANDUM SIGNED FOR ATHENS 2004
[06] AUSTRALIA, HOME TO ABOUT HALF A MILLION GREEKS
[07] PM TO CABINET: DON'T BE AFRAID OF POLITICAL COST
[08] SEMINAR OF BALKAN ENGLISH TEACHERS IN N. GREECE
[09] THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE GREEK ECONOMY IS SATISFACTORY
[10] PAPANDREOU: THE INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN THE POLITICAL
PRISONERS BRINGS RESULTS
[11] GAINS WERE RECORDED IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[12] OUTDOOR LESSONS IN THESSALONIKI'S ARISTOTELOUS SQUARE
[13] EVANGELOS MEIMARAKIS IS THE NEW DEMOCRACY CENTRAL COMMITTEE
SECRETARY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] NEW METHOD IN BRAIN SURGERY BY A GREEK-AUSTRALIAN
NEUROSURGEON
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] STATE BOWS TO PRESSURE, SHELVES LABOR REFORMS
In an unexpected eleventh-hour move, the government announced
its decision to shelve its contentious proposals on pension reform
late Wednesday night, albeit failing to avert yesterday's massive
strike that took place as scheduled.
The reforms, unveiled on April 19, sparked an immediate
backlash from opposition parties and trade unions which vowed to
oppose any attempt to raise the retirement age, as suggested by
the government.
Urgently appealing to the trade unions for dialogue, Labor
Minister Tasos Yiannitsis clarified on Wednesday that the planned
reforms are not withdrawn, they are merely being set aside for the
time being. The Minister also stated that the dialogue process
shall have to bear fruit by the end of the year.
However, in spite of the state's repeated and insistent pleas
for dialogue, the country's main labor umbrella groups - the
General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE), representing the
private and the broader public sector, and ADEDY, the civil
servants' union – are adamant in their refusal to enter
negotiations.
Yesterday's protest, the largest in over 20 years according
to GSEE, brought the country to a standstill. All public utilities
were closed, along with state and private schools, banks, tax
offices, ministries and municipal offices, while there was no
public transport all day, including trains. Olympic Airways
carried out only one flight per destination, while all boats were
moored in port from 6 a.m. on Thursday to 6 a.m. on Friday.
Hospitals functioned with a skeleton crew, while a news
blackout covered the country as the media sector participated in
the strike en masse.
Even clerics, who are technically civil servants, stayed away
from their church duties.
Unimpressed by the state's move to shelve the reforms, GSEE
has declared another mass strike for May 17.
[02] MIRACLE BABY JOINS MOM AFTER TWO-WEEK FIGHT
A baby born without vital signs after being delivered by
cesarean section from its dead mother two weeks ago, has
succumbed to its injuries at the intensive care unit of
Thessaloniki's Ippokrateion hospital.
The child was delivered one hour after his mother, seven months
pregnant, died in a car crash that occurred during Easter week in
northern Greece. Doctors at a local clinic said the baby was
"clinically dead" and without a pulse when it was delivered by C-
section, before being revived and placed on a respirator.
According to the treating physicians, the premature-born
child suffered a loss of intestinal blood supply caused by
ischemia.
[03] "BOTTOMS UP" FOR 6% OF GREEKS BEHIND THE WHEEL
Six percent of Greek motorists tested for alcohol consumption
were found to be driving under the influence, thus ranking the
country second within the European continent according to a
relevant study conducted on behalf of the European Commission.
Slovenes lead the list with 6.6% of the tested drivers having
found to be over the legal alcohol limit, while the British rank
third with 3.5 percent.
On the other end of the scale, the Fins and Norwegians no
longer drink like their Viking ancestors, with a mere .19 and .17
percent, respectively, of those tested being over the legal
alcohol limit.
[04] UNEMPLOYMENT DIPS BELOW 11%, A FIRST IN 3 YEARS
The state unemployment rate dipped below the eleven percent
mark during the third quarter of 2000, a first during the past
three years according to the National Statistics Service.
Specifically, the country's unemployment rate amounted to
10.9 percent of the registered labor force, or 485,900 persons.
In a year-to-year review, a 7.8 percent decrease was noted in
the rate of the long-term unemployed.
The plight of joblessness is hardest felt in western
Macedonia (13.5%), central Greece and Eubia (12.7%), while the
lowest unemployment rate was noted in the Ionian Sea islands
(4.8%) and Crete (5.5%0.
[05] MOMENTOUS MEMORANDUM SIGNED FOR ATHENS 2004
A 140-billion-drachma Operational Plan for the Athens 2004
Olympic Games has been officially signed between Interior Minister
Vasso Papandreou and the Athens Organizing committee Yianna
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.
The memorandum provides for functional and aesthetic
improvements to areas where Olympic events will take place -
including 40 billion-worth of extra municipal personnel - a public
information campaign and the setting up of volunteer teams.
[06] AUSTRALIA, HOME TO ABOUT HALF A MILLION GREEKS
Australia is home to almost half a million Greeks, if one
includes the Greek-Cypriot community, expatriate Greek academic
Professor Anastasios Tamis stated during a presentation of his new
book on the history of Australia's Greeks in Canberra.
According to professor Tamis, who noted that 50.8 of the
Greek-Australian community lives in Melbourne, this figure is
derived from data released by the Australian statistics service.
The professor also noted that there are 1,500 Greek-
Australian organizations throughout the country with no umbrella
or coordinating body to represent them. He also acknowledged the
active interest shown in the expatriate community by the Greek
government.
[07] PM TO CABINET: DON'T BE AFRAID OF POLITICAL COST
The government will not accept evasiveness, delays or
postponement of the necessary changes in the social security
sector and is not afraid of the political cost, Prime Minister
Costas Simitis told the Cabinet today, in a session held on the
aftermath of the furor caused by the planned reforms.
The Premier stated that while the government could have
waited until 2005 (one year after the next elections) to table the
sweeping reforms, any such delay would have only caused greater
havoc for workers and pensioners.
Stressing that the problems in the social security system as
it is are real, Mr. Simitis said the workers' concerns are
"understood" by the government. However, he emphasized, the state
will tackle the system's reform "without prejudice" underling that
the government is prepared to adopt every solution that will
provide genuine security for the working people.
[08] SEMINAR OF BALKAN ENGLISH TEACHERS IN N. GREECE
The "Balkan Symposium of English Language Teachers" gets
underway in the city of Alexandroupolis, Northern Greece today,
featuring the participation of delegates from Greece, Bulgaria,
Turkey and Yugoslavia.
The seminar, to be held until Sunday, April 29, is organized
by the Pan-Thracian Association of English Language Teachers of
Public Education, in cooperation with the Balkan Association of
Instruction and Training and the municipality of Alexandroupolis.
An international book fair will be held on the sidelines of
the seminar.
[09] THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE GREEK ECONOMY IS SATISFACTORY
Greece occupies the 30th place on the list drawn up by the
International Institute for Management Development having as a
criterion the competitiveness of the economy. Greece has left
behind other European Union member-states namely, Italy (32nd) and
Portugal (34th).
Fourteen places below Greece is Turkey. The list is
republished on the electronic page of the Wall Street Journal and
was formed based on the views of senior business executives on the
competitiveness of the economies around the world.
The United States are on the top of the list of the most
competitive economies followed by Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg,
Holland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Switzerland.
[10] PAPANDREOU: THE INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN THE POLITICAL
PRISONERS BRINGS RESULTS
The Greek government moves and acts within the framework of
the principles and preconditions of the European Union, stated
foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou responding to a question by
Communist Party parliament deputy Liana Kaneli on the moves made
by the Greek government on the issue of the political prisoners in
Turkey.
Mr. Papandreou stated that the Greek government reaction in
placed within the efforts of the European Union which through its
partnership relation with Turkey forces the neighboring country to
respect the freedom of expression and association, stop the
torture of prisoners, abolish the death penalty and proceed with
its democratization.
[11] GAINS WERE RECORDED IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The
general index rose to + 0.51% at 3.264,55 points, while the volume
of transactions was 186.5 million Euro or 63.5 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 99 recorded gains and 219 had
losses, while the value of 60 stocks remained stable.
[12] OUTDOOR LESSONS IN THESSALONIKI'S ARISTOTELOUS SQUARE
An outdoor lesson with the participation of students from a
number of schools will be held in Thessaloniki's Aristotelous
Square this afternoon under the supervision of Michel Boiron,
pedagogic adviser for the French television station TV5.
The students will be able to view on a giant screen parts of
television shows and video clips that will be used as education
material for the learning of the French language or as a
methodology for the learning of a foreign language with the use of
the television image.
The event is placed within the framework of the European
Language Year 2001 and is a unique Greek proposal that was
approved by the European Committee to take place in the first half
of the year.
The goal is to make the participants realize the excitement
and pleasure a student can get while learning a foreign language.
[13] EVANGELOS MEIMARAKIS IS THE NEW DEMOCRACY CENTRAL COMMITTEE
SECRETARY
Parliament deputy Evangelos Meimarakis was elected Central
Committee secretary of the right-wing main opposition party of New
Democracy.
According to the official results, Meimarakis got 320 votes
and Petros Tatoulis 129, while there were 27 blank and spoiled
ballot papers.
Mr. Meimarakis stated that there are no winners or losers
because everybody will cooperate to bring New Democracy to power.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] NEW METHOD IN BRAIN SURGERY BY A GREEK-AUSTRALIAN
NEUROSURGEON
Neurosurgeon Dr. Kon Fatouros at the Royal Hospital in Perth,
Australia uses a new method in dangerous brain operations.
According to the Greek-Australian newspaper "Neos Kosmos", it
is an internal operation method that allows the brain to be left
intact, adding that it is very effective in cases of blood vessel
and central nervous system abnormalities.
For the record, scientists from all over the world visit the
Royal Hospital in Perth to learn from the Greek-Australian
scientist the new method used in the brain blood vessels
operations.
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