 |
Compact version |
|
 |
        |
|
 |
||
|
Friday, 15 November 2024
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
|
Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-06-23Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYThessaloniki, June 23, 1998TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] TRAIN, PLANE TRAVELERS BEWARE, STRIKES AHEADAthens, June 23 (MPA)Travelers who have opted for trains or airplanes in order to arrive at their destination are in for great delays.Employees at the state-owned Railway Organization (OSE) are to embark on mobilizations with work stoppages today and a 24-hour strike tomorrow, forcing the railway to cut back on a great number of routes. As for Olympic Airways, the national air carrier is suffering from a shortage in stewards and pilots which means delays, flight merges and cancellations. [02] FYROM FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES TODAY ON OFFICIAL VISITAthens, June 23 (MPA)FYROM?s foreign minister Blagoje Hatzinski begins an official two-day visit to Greece today and is expected to raise the issue of the name of his country in his meetings with Greek government officials, while other topics to be discussed include the Kossovo crisis and the bilateral ties between Athens and Skopje. According to FYROM?s state-owned radio station, Mr. Hatzinksi?s visit to Athens is taking place at a time when the two countries? relations have developed in many sectors, such as defense and culture.[03] HOLBROOKE TO ARRIVE IN BELGRADE TODAYAthens, June 23 (MPA)Newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke is to arrive in Belgrade today for talks with Serb president Slobodan Milosevic.The American diplomat is expected to insist that the Serb security forces be withdrawn from Kossovo. Ambassador Holbrooke will also visit Skopje and Pristina and will also meet with Kossovar Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova and his colleagues. [04] US AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS ARRIVES IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROWThessaloniki, June 23 (MPA)United States Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns is to arrive in Thessaloniki tomorrow evening where he will present an address at the city?s Greek-American four-year college ?Anatolia?.Ambassador Burns will salute this year?s graduates during their commencement ceremony. [05] GREEK AND CYPRIOT MINISTERS OF TRANSPORTATION MEET IN ATHENSAthens, June 23 (MPA)Transport Minister Tassos Mantelis received his Cypriot counterpart Leontios Ierodiakonou in Athens yesterday, where the two agreed to promote cooperation between their countries?? national air carriers, Olympic Airways and Cyprus Airways. In addition, the charter companies of the two countries? national air carriers, namely OA's Macedonian Airways and Euro- Cyprus charter company, are to also established channels of cooperation. Moreover, Mr. Mantelis stated that Cypriot businessman S. Hatjioannou's British-based Easyjet will be granted a license for flights between London and Athens. Easyjet will feature a 9,800-drachma single fare and 19,600-drachma return fare offer for 10 days as of July 10.[06] PRESIDENT OF GREECE ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CYPRUS THIS WEEKAthens, June 23 (MPA)The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos is to embark on an unprecedented visit to Cyprus this Thursday. Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides stated that Mr. Stephanopoulos' visit takes place at a very critical period for Cyprus, during which "we need the greater possible support and Greece is our most loyal supporter. " President Stephanopoulos is scheduled to arrive on June 25 for a four day official visit, the first visit of a Greek head of state since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, in 1960. During his stay, Stephanopoulos will be received by President Clerides, the President of the House of Representatives Spyros Kyprianou and the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos. He will also have meetings with party leaders and address a special session at the House of Representatives. The Greek President will be escorted by Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, Foreign Under-Secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis, Finance Under- Secretary Alexandros Baltas and other officials.[07] CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT TO PRESS ON WITH EFFORTS TO LOCATE MISSING PERSONSNicosia, June 232 (MPA)The Cypriot government is determined to press on with its efforts to find the remains of four Cypriots of American citizenship and hand them to their relatives, the President of Cyprus Glafcos Clerides stated yesterday, speaking after a memorial service for Andreas Kasapis, the fifth Cypriot-American citizen who had been missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island. "We will continue our efforts to ascertain the fate of all persons missing," Mr. Clerides stated and added that Jean- Pierre Ritter, UN representative to the tripartite Investigatory Committee on Missing Persons will arrive at the island in early July. The Investigatory Committee also includes Takis Christopoulos, who represents the Greek Cypriot side and Rustem Tatar, from the Turkish Cypriot side. A report, released earlier this year, concludes that the other four Americans, of Greek descent, "in all likelihood did not survive the events in Cyprus in the summer of 1974." Mr. Kasapis? remains were buried yesterday in his home-town of Detroit, US.[08] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH TO VISIT MOUNT ATHOS IN OCTOBERThessaloniki, June 23 (MPA)Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos is to conduct a two-day visit to the Mt. Athos monastic community in October, for celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Xenophon Monastery. During his visit, the Patriarch will meet at Karyes with the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, who will also attend the celebrations.[09] 20% OF GREEKS LIVE BELOW POVERTY LEVELSVolos, June 23 (MPA)One out of every five Greeks lives below poverty levels, while 500,000 persons in the country are unemployed, a plight expected to worsen in the near future.According to a study conducted by the Labor Institute of the General Confederation of Greek laborers, which was presented recently in the city of Volos, the country?s high unemployment levels and the widely-spanning poverty are not uncommon within the European Union. There are 20 million jobless persons who live in the EU?s 15 member-states, while 50 million persons subsist in relative poverty and are socially isolated. Sixty percent of the EU?s unemployed are below the age of 25, just starting out their careers. The UN's most current poverty figures place 1.3 billion people worldwide below the poverty line, which means they live on a mere $1 a day (303 drachmas). [10] EARTHQUAKE OF 3.5 RICHTER SHAKES CHALKIDIKIThessaloniki, June 23 (MPA)The earthquake that shook the Chalkidiki peninsula during the early morning hours, measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale, is a routine phenomenon according to experts from Thessaloniki?s Aristotelian University.According to the University?s geophysicists, the slight earthquake occurred at the region of Ierissos and was recorded by the lab?s seismological telemetric network at 2.29 am, 85 kilometers southeast of Thessaloniki. University seismologist Manolis Skordiles told the Macedonian Press Agency that this morning earthquake is not related to the recent quakes that occurred in the peninsula?s south part and stressed that the wider region of Ierissos is marked by frequent slight tremors, a usual phenomenon for the area. In September of 1932, a quake measuring 7 on the Richter scale brought catastrophe to the region of Ierissos, claiming dozens of lives. The scale is logarithmic, which means that a quake of 5-Richter is ten times the power of a 4-Richter quake. [11] BELARUS: EIGHT AMBASSADORS RECALLED FROM MINSKMinsk, June 23 (MPA)The ambassadors of Greece, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Japan and the United States have departed from the capital of Belarus Minsk, in protest to the behavior of the local authorities who somewhat forcibly evicted the diplomats from their residences.The government of Belarus demanded that the diplomats be relocated from their suburban homes to another region in order to conduct construction works. Government officials did so with a variety of means, including cutting off the electricity, cutting off plumbing services, cutting off the telephone service and denying vehicular access - not letting cars go through. Both the United States and the governments of the EU?s member- states have called on Belarus to recall its diplomats from their capitals until a mutually-accepted solution is reached. 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: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
All Rights Reserved.