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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2002-05-08Macedonian 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.MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY Thessaloniki, May 8, 2002 SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] NATIONAL NEWS[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS[A] NATIONAL NEWSMr. Papantoniou will meet, among others, his British counterpart, Mr. Geoff Hoon, with whom he will discuss the Euroarmy issue and the accession of Cyprus to the European Union. He will also lay down a wreath at the memorial for Brigadier Steven Saunders, murdered by "November 17". The Bulgarian Prime Minister is expected tomorrow at 3pm at "Macedonia" airport, and at 6pm he will meet with the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, Giorgos Paschalidis. Among other issues they will also discuss bilateral cooperation, in continuance to discus sions they had a short time ago in Sofia, and in the framework of the decisions made during Prime Minister Simitis' visit to Bulgaria. On Friday and Saturday, Simeon will be taken on a tour of Mt. Athos and his main interest lies in the Holy Zografos Convent, where there are some Bulgarian monks staying. On Sunday, the Bulgarian Prime Minister will return to Bulgaria. Mr. Simitis will meet with the President of Yugoslavia Voislav Kostunica and Serb leadership. During his visit to the neighboring country the Minister of Economy and Finance will meet with his Turkish counterpart, Cemal Dervish, as well as with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. At the same time he will have meetings with the board of directors and mem ber-businesses of the Turkish Industrialists' Association, in order to discuss prospects of Greek-Turkish alliances in the business world. Mr. Christodoulakis' visit to Turkey aims at further strengthening bilateral relations. It should be noted that Greece and Turkey recently signed two memoranda of cooperation, in the key sectors of natural gas and electricity. According to the statement of 33-year-old Evaggelos Lazaridis to the authorities, he realized the note was counterfeit after the driver had left the gas station. It should be noted that this is the first counterfeit 100 euro bank note to be found in Thessaloniki, while 3 counterfeit 20 euro notes were found in the same city last week. Mr. Protopapas stated that no PASOK member will raise a succession issue, adding that this discussion is being made every now and then by the so-called political analysts. Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis will give a formal dinner in his honor at the Governor's Mansion. He is scheduled to have meetings in Washington with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives , senior officials of the US Congress and members of the Greek-American community. In New York, he will meet with the local Parliament Speaker and representatives of the Greek community. Mr. Papandreou stressed that Mr. Anan's visit to Cyprus is a historical opportunity for the promotion of the solution of the Cyprus problem and expressed the hope that this opportunity will be exploited by all the involved parties and mainly, the Turkish Cypriot and the Turkish sides. It is a trip of a special importance because Cyprus has been visited only a few times by the UN heads and this trip reflects the importance the solution of the Cyprus problem has for the international community and the UN in particular. Among the issues Mr. Papandreou discussed with the Prime Minister were the developments in the Middle East, the situation in the Balkans, the issue of the Euro-army as well as, issues concerning the Greek EU presidency. He clarified that there was no pro posal made on behalf of the Greek side neither a demand was made to Greece to receive the 13 Palestinians, who are held inside the church of the Nativity. He stressed that Greece has already stated its intention to assist in the effort to send those Pales tinians to a third country. Mr. Papandreou reiterated Greece's interest in the solution of the Middle East problem and the easing of the tension in the church of the Nativity underlining the special role of the Greek Patriarchate in the developments. Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority namely, 322 recorded gains, and 25 had losses, while the value of 26 stocks remained unchanged. [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWSThese are the worrying results of the "eurobarometer" survey, published yesterday, concerning Europeans' relationship to cultural activities. The relationship Greek people have with books is not good. 54.3% of Greeks has not read a single book in the las t 12 months. It is the third lowest percentage among Europe's "15", after the Portuguese (67.3%) and the Belgians (58.3%). Greeks' relationship with newspapers is equally bad. Only one in five (20.3%) reads newspapers daily, a percentage that puts our country in last place, followed by the Portuguese who have 25.1%. It is also indicative that 30.5% of Greeks never reads news papers. Also, only one in two Greeks listens to music every day (50.2%). Greece is in the position before last, which is held by Spain (48.3%). 98.3% listens to music on the radio or on television. Of that percentage, 62.5% likes popular music (the highest perce ntage), 24.6% listens to rock, and only 13.5% (the lowest percentage) listens to classical music. 63.9% of Greeks has not set foot in a cinema within the last 12 months, and 80.9% has not gone to the theater. With these percentages, Greece is in the penultimate position in the EU. Greece also has the lowest percentage of concertgoers. 81.2% of Greeks has not been to a concert in 12 months. Greece also has the fewest opera lovers (3.9%) Also 91.3% of Greeks has not visited a library in the last 12 months. In a country such as Greece, 73.9% (the highest percentage) of its residents has not visited a historical monument in 12 months, but even as tourists in other countries, 94.3% of Greek s avoid visiting historical monuments. Also, 86.4% have not visited a single museum. Greeks even avoid athletic events. The proof is that 79.1% (highest percentage) of those asked, stated that it has not gone to an athletic event in over 12 months. Hooliganism has greatly contributed to a great degree. But what do Greeks do when they are not working? 99.3% (the highest percentage after Sweden) stated that it watches television. 91% watches the news, 47.5% watches series, and 38.8% watches it for sport. There is no Greek household without a television. Only Greece and Spain have a 100% in the EU conce rning television. Greece also holds the highest percentage of households with two television sets (41.8%) and only 46.8% (lowest percentage) listens to the radio. As far as using a PC on a daily basis, Greece is in last position of the "15" with a 9.9%. The delegation will meet with the Secretary General of the Spanish Communist Party F. Frutos on May 8 and the Secretary General of the Portuguese Communist Party C. Carvallias on May 9. They will discuss developments on the basic fronts of the workers' s truggle, solidarity issues with the Palestinian people and developments within the European Union. According to the Australian newspaper Neos Kosmos, the motion picture production has been taken over by the Hollywood based H. B. Inc. Productions company, headed by the Greek-Australian movie director Eustratios Magias, who has also written the script. Mr. Magias stressed that it is very important that the film in question be made by Greeks to secure a great historical accuracy in the presentation of the life and achievements of Alexander the Great. Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |