Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-01-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE TURNOVER IN GREECE FROM ALL FORMS OF LEGAL GAMBLING WAS 1.28

[02] THE GREEK LANGUAGE IS THE THIRD MOST POPULAR IN AUSTRALIA

[03] CHILDREN ARE ABUSED BY THEIR PARENTS OR OTHER RELATIVES

[04] THE VALUE OF A PHONE CARD CAN BE UP TO 200.000 DRACHMAS

[05] HEART DISEASE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALMOST 70% OF THE DEATHS AMONG THE

[06] PAPARIGA CALLED ON THE BALKAN COMMUNIST AND SOCIALIST POLITICAL PARTIES

[07] MINOAN CIVILIZATION EXHIBITION IN KARLSRUHE

[01] THE TURNOVER IN GREECE FROM ALL FORMS OF LEGAL GAMBLING WAS 1.28 TRILLION DRACHMAS IN 2000

The turnover from all forms of legal gambling in Greece was 1.28 trillion drachmas in 2000, which corresponds to 512.000 drachmas a year or 42.667 drachmas on a monthly basis for every four-member Greek family.

It is indicative that the increase in the turnover from all forms of gambling in Greece was 38.3% in 2000 placing the country in one of the top places worldwide. The biggest share in the gambling market belongs to the casinos which had a turnover of 523, 3 billion drachmas in the last year.

[02] THE GREEK LANGUAGE IS THE THIRD MOST POPULAR IN AUSTRALIA

The Greek language even though it has been losing ground in the past few years continues to be the third most popular language in Australia, according to figures provided by the country's National Statistics Agency. After the English language the most popular is the Italian (spoken by 2.3% of the population) followed by the Greek language spoken by 1.6% of the population namely, about 320.000 people.

Based on the same figures, about 67.000 Greeks went to Australia to live and work in the four year period of 1965-1969 making up 9.3% of the immigrants received by the country. However, in the period 1975-1979 only 10.500 Greeks chose to leave their country and go to Australia in search for a better life.

[03] CHILDREN ARE ABUSED BY THEIR PARENTS OR OTHER RELATIVES

A 15% of the children, mainly boys, suffer serious physical abuse by their parents or other relatives, according to data provided by the Children's Hospitals of Agia Sophia and Penteli in Athens.

Each year, over 220 children need hospitalization that lasts several days as a result of severe physical abuse and most of them are being returned to those who have abused them after they are released from hospital. Only a small percentage of those cases end up in court and in an even smaller percentage parents lose the custody of their children.

However, it is pointed out that the percentage of the abused children and the true dimensions of the problem are much bigger than reported.

The most usual forms of abuse are beatings, cigarette burns, forced alcohol consumption, iron or hot water burns and head injuries. Pediatricians point out that the parents who abuse their children were possibly abused children themselves, while usually they are unemployed, young and have psychological problems.

[04] THE VALUE OF A PHONE CARD CAN BE UP TO 200.000 DRACHMAS

The value of a used phone card can be up to 200.000 drachmas if it is among the those which have been issued in limited numbers. The most prized phone cards are those with the picture of Patmos or Meteora that were issued in 2.000 copies and collectors are ready to pay for them up to 200.000 drachmas. The price of the used phone cards bought by collectors can start from 200 drachmas, while the value of the unused phone cards can be much higher.

Collectors can find thousands of phone cards in the 6th International Exhibition of Phone Cards "Card Collect" that will be held in Thessaloniki until tomorrow. In the exhibition participate tens of collectors' items distributors from Greece, Cyprus and abroad (Belgium, Poland, Germany).

The first phone card depicting the Star of Vergina was published in Greece in 1992 in 30.000 copies and since then the Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE, has issued other 1.100 phone cards. The phone cards collection became a hobby in Greece in 1994 and today the OTE collectors' office has a total of 14.000 members.

[05] HEART DISEASE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALMOST 70% OF THE DEATHS AMONG THE ELDERLY

Heart disease and mainly, the ischemic coronary disease is responsible for 70% of the deaths among the elderly. Specifically, the coronary disease that appears more often in older people is responsible for about 70% of the deaths of individuals over the age of 65 with coronary failure. The above were stated by pathology professor and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki medicine department president Achilleas Tourkantonis during a round table discussion within the framework of the 5th Conference of the Geriatrics and Gerontology Society in northern Greece that was held in Thessaloniki.

The hypertension heart disease with clear electro-cardiographic findings of heart failure appears in individuals over the age of 65 (16%). Heart attacks over the age of 75 are more common in women compared to men and according to Mr. Tourkantonis this is due to the fact that they have no estrogen protection after menopause

In the conference was also stressed that the Alzheimer disease cases are on the rise worldwide and it is the most widespread disease among the elderly population. Aristotle University assistant professor of neurology Giorgos Mentenopoulos stated that there are medicines slowing down the development of the disease which is a very important fact as there are positive effects on the quality of life of the patients.

[06] PAPARIGA CALLED ON THE BALKAN COMMUNIST AND SOCIALIST POLITICAL PARTIES TO JOIN AGAINST NATO

Greek Communist Party general secretary Ms. Aleka Papariga, speaking in the council for the international cooperation of the Serb Socialist Party, called on the Balkan Communist and Socialist political parties to join against NATO with the goal to force the alliance out of the Balkan Peninsula. She also maintained among others that a struggle is necessary to avoid the further dismemberment of Yugoslavia and the rest countries in the region.

Ms. Papariga, who is on a visit to Belgrade, also stated that the United States and the European Union are interested in forming their own political environment and break up Yugoslavia to use it in the games they play with other governments.

[07] MINOAN CIVILIZATION EXHIBITION IN KARLSRUHE

An exhibition titled Minoa's Labyrinth and dedicated to the Minoan Civilization in ancient Crete opened today at the National Museum of Karlsruhe, Germany and will last until April 29. Within the framework of the exhibition, held under the auspices of Greek president Kostis Stephanopoulos and the prime minister of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, will be presented about 400 Minoan civilization archaeological findings coming from collections in Greece, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Massachussets and Jerusalem.

The German magazine Der Spiegel mentions that according to archaeologists, the labyrinth where the Minotaur lived exists in reality and it is the Knossos Palace, the center of Minoan Civilization.

The labyrinth was brought to light by British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1900 and the visitors of the exhibition, that covers a space of 1.500 square meters, will have the opportunity to admire a model of part of the ancient palace created with the assistance of the National Museum of the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Federation of Cretan Associations president, Yiannis Epitropakis has stated to MPA that the specific exhibition is the first Greek cultural event held in Europe after the country joined the Economic and Monetary Union.

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