Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-08-23

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] GREECE NEGOTIATING PURCHASE OF GERMAN LEOPARD 2

[02] CAT FALLS FROM HOSPITAL CEILING DURING SURGERY

[03] GREECE POSITIVE ABOUT MEETING WITH IOC TOMORROW

[04] ARSONISTS TARGET EGYPTIAN EMBASSYS CAR

[05] CONDOLENCES AT THESSALONIKIS RUSSIAN CONSULATE

[06] STATE TO DECIDE WHICH OFFICIALS WILL BE IN SYDNEY

[07] CATERING VAN RAMS PLANE AT MACEDONIA AIRPORT

[08] PREMIER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

[09] GREECE, ALBANIA FULLY COOPERATE IN FIGHTING CRIME

[10] ASE NEW PRESIDENT SETS OUT NEW TRADING MEASURES

[11] CYPRIOT FM ARRIVES IN ATHENS NEXT WEEK FOR TALKS

[01] GREECE NEGOTIATING PURCHASE OF GERMAN LEOPARD 2

Greece has reportedly embarked on negotiations for the purchase of an undisclosed number of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, which Berlin has refused to sell to Ankara, citing Turkey's dismal human rights record.

The German Finance Ministry has confirmed that a confidential briefing report outlining Berlin's intention to provide Greece with credits towards the purchase of the new tanks has been tabled with a relevant Bundestag committee.

Greece is apparently in the final stages of selecting a new main battle tank (MBT) for its armed forces, a deal that could be worth more than $1.8 billion, and with Germany's Leopard 2A5 as one of the main contenders. Other candidates for the Greek order include the US-made M1-A2 Abrams, Britain's Challenger 2E and France's Leclerc, while previous reports have put the number of tanks to be purchased at around 250, along with 24 recovery vehicles and 12 bridge layers.

A.F.

[02] CAT FALLS FROM HOSPITAL CEILING DURING SURGERY

A frightened kitty literally dropped from the ceiling of an operating room in an Athens hospital today, forcing the stunned doctors and nursing staff to abandon the ongoing surgery midway and begin chasing the distressed animal around the premises.

According to the police report, the unprecedented incident occurred at Athens' Laiko Hospital when the operating room's furred ceiling caved in from the stray animal's weight.

The hospital's president Nikos Papadopoulos expressed his dismay as to how the cat managed to wander inside the ceiling, while he added that the said operating room had been constructed a mere two months ago.

A.F.

[03] GREECE POSITIVE ABOUT MEETING WITH IOC TOMORROW

Greek Press undersecretary Telemachus Chytiris, expressed the confidence shown by Greek Prime Minister and members of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee for the 2004 Olympics, for tomorrow's meeting, due to be held in Athens with the International Olympics Committee delegation.

As Mr Chytiris said, the preparations made by Greece for tomorrow's meeting were reviewed and the government, together with the Athens 2004 committee, are ready to answer questions relating to the work that has been done in preparation for the event, so far this year.

Four Greek government representatives are expected to attend the Sydney Olympics: Culture minister Theodore Pangalos, Sport undersecretary George Florides, Foreign minister George Papandreou and Foreign undersecretary Angeliki Laiou.

[04] ARSONISTS TARGET EGYPTIAN EMBASSYS CAR

Arsonists set fire to a parked vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Embassy in Athens last night, causing extensive material damages.

Following the incident, which occurred at 1.30 a.m., an unknown caller claimed responsibility on behalf of the "Anarchist Group for Subversion".

A.F.

[05] CONDOLENCES AT THESSALONIKIS RUSSIAN CONSULATE

A book of condolences has been opened at Russia's General Consulate in Thessaloniki, over the loss of the crew aboard the Kursk nuclear submarine.

The consulate will remain open to the public until 4 p.m.

A.F.

[06] STATE TO DECIDE WHICH OFFICIALS WILL BE IN SYDNEY

Prime Minister Costas Simitis has assigned the Cabinet's secretary Socrates Kosmides with the handling of the matter as to which and how many government officials will travel to Sydney for the Olympic Games.

According to government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas, who was responding to a question prompted by reports that there is heightened interest among state officials for traveling to Sydney, the state's position is crystal-clear and the Premier has stressed that the Greek delegation shall be composed in accordance with the real needs and suitability of each ministry.

A.F.

[07] CATERING VAN RAMS PLANE AT MACEDONIA AIRPORT

A small van belonging to a catering firm accidentally rammed a Crossair MD-8 passenger jet on the tarmac of Thessaloniki's Macedonia airport yesterday.

The plane's 160 passengers had not yet started to board, and nobody was hurt. The MD-8 was grounded for repairs, while its passengers left for Zurich on another aircraft.

A.F.

[08] PREMIER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

Prime Minister Costas Simitis sent a telegram to Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday expressing his government's condolences over the loss of Russia's Kursk nuclear submarine and its crew.

With feelings of grief at the tragedy of the submarine Kursk I wish to express to you and to the families of the crew members my sincere personal condolences and those of the Greek government, Mr. Simitis wrote.

A.F.

[09] GREECE, ALBANIA FULLY COOPERATE IN FIGHTING CRIME

Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoides was received by his Albanian counterpart Spartak Boci in Tirana yesterday with whom he discussed bilateral cooperation on fighting crime.

Greece is interested in sending aircraft to spray pesticides over Albania's extensive cannabis plantations, which result in large quantities of hashish being smuggled over the mountainous border regularly.

Messrs. Chrysochoides and Boci discussed a series of issues related to security, border controls, illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

In addition to Mr. Boci, the Greek Public Order Minister also met with Albanian Premier Ilir Meta.

Mr. Meta stressed that relations between the two countries set an example for the Balkan region, while he also added that cooperation between the two countries' public order ministries is exemplary.

Mr. Chrysochoides said that the Albanian authorites need to dutifully press on with their efforts to fully restore a climate of security and stability in Albania and added that the Greek-Albanian agreement pertaining to seasonal employment will be fully implement next year.

A.F.

[10] ASE NEW PRESIDENT SETS OUT NEW TRADING MEASURES

The newly-appointed president of the Athens Stock Exchange, Panayiotis Alexakis, appeared before Parliament yesterday where outlined the new measures for upgrading stock trading.

These measures include the introduction of a book-building procedure with fair prices in all new listings, a provision whereby the managers of the issues support the price of a stock at public subscription levels for a six-month period, and publication at regular intervals of the changes in the size of the interest of basic shareholders.

Another change to be implemented is ending the system of listing on the ASE according to priority; instead, specific criteria about a firm's prospects will be used in determining who will join the ASE.

Mr. Alexakis, whose appointment was confirmed by Parliament yesterday, was appointed to the post solely through the votes of PASOK deputies, as main opposition New Democracy opposed his placement, while minor opposition party of the Coalition of the Left and Progress cited conflict of interest as Mr. Alexakis also serves on the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE).

A.F.

[11] CYPRIOT FM ARRIVES IN ATHENS NEXT WEEK FOR TALKS

The Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus, George Papandreou and Ioannis Kasoulides respectively, will meet in Athens next week in order to coordinate efforts so that the UN-led talks for a settlement in Cyprus will go into the substance of the problem.

During the meeting, to be confirmed for August 30, the two ministers will also discuss issues relating to Turkey's European Union accession partnership, expected to be decided in November, as well as relations between Greece and Turkey.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, Mr. Kasoulides stated that the meeting in Athens aims at coordinating our actions on various levels in order to achieve our main aim which is for the Cyprus talks to become substantive.

A.F.

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article