Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-05-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE MEDITERRANEAN FORUM'S 8TH MINISTERIAL SUMMIT

[02] ELEVEN GREEK COMPANIES AMONG THE 500 STRONGEST IN EUROPE

[03] TWO GREEK STUDENTS IN NASA

[04] THE VOTERS CALL ON THE PRIME MINISTER TO ACT

[05] KARAMANLIS IS IN FYROM

[06] A GREEK DELEGATION IS CLOSE TO THE HUNGER STRIKERS IN TURKEY

[07] THE FIRST HUMAN BABY-CLONE WILL BE A REALITY IN TWO YEARS

[01] THE MEDITERRANEAN FORUM'S 8TH MINISTERIAL SUMMIT

The proceedings of the Mediterranean Forum's 8th informal ministerial summit meeting held with the participation of five south EU states and 6 Mediterranean countries were completed in Tangiers, Morocco. Greece was represented by undersecretary of foreign affairs Grigoris Niotis, who took over the forum's presidency on behalf of Greece for the next 12 months.

The summit proceedings were held in a constructive atmosphere with the presentation of national interventions in specific initiatives.

In the informal summit meeting took part the foreign ministers of Portugal, Spain, France and the foreign affairs undersecretaries of Italy and Greece. The south Mediterranean region was represented by the foreign ministers of Malta, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, while Turkey was represented by its deputy undersecretary of foreign affairs.

[02] ELEVEN GREEK COMPANIES AMONG THE 500 STRONGEST IN EUROPE

Eleven Greek companies are included in the Financial Times list with the 500 strongest companies in Europe but most of them have lost ground compared to last year's list.

Three companies that were included in the list last year were left outside namely, the Lambrakis Journalist Organization, VIOCHALKO and INTERAMERICAN.

In the 478th place from the 330th last year is INTRACOM, while the mobile phone company PANAFON is in the 371st place from the 234th last year.

The bank EFG EUROBANK-ERGASIAS made its debut on the list in the 260th place, while COCA COLA-3E is in the 345th place and the mobile phone company COSMOTE is 441st. The rest companies are the National Bank of Greece (in 191st place compared to 157th last year), the Greek Telecommunications Organizations, OTE (in 228th place compared to 138th last year), the Commercial Bank (in 342nd place compared to 258th last year), the Bank of Piraeus (in 448th place compared to the 444th last year), and Hellenic Petroleum (in 462nd place compared to 372nd last year).

[03] TWO GREEK STUDENTS IN NASA

Two Greek secondary school students will be NASA's guests after winning the first place in the 6th Greek Student 2001 Astronomy Competition.

They are Manolis Papastergis from the southeastern Aegean island of Rhodes and Danae Polichroni from Athens, who will travel to the United States in August and visit the NASA facilities for 10 days.

In the competition that was organized by the Volos based Astronomy and Space Society Competition Central Committee participated 607 students from across Greece.

[04] THE VOTERS CALL ON THE PRIME MINISTER TO ACT

"Mr. prime minister, do something", this is essentially the outcome of an opinion poll conducted by the polling company Kappa Research and published by the Athens newspaper "Imerisia". Specifically, 3 in 4 voters called on Mr. Simitis to act.

In the same opinion poll, 29% of those questioned want a government reshuffle, 27.4% believe that early elections must be held, 14.5% want an extraordinary party congress to discuss among others the party leadership issue and 24.4% don't support any of those options, while at the same time they don't offer another proposal.

[05] KARAMANLIS IS IN FYROM

Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis visited Skopje, FYROM today within the framework of the initiative in western Balkans which was undertaken after a unanimous decision in the European Popular Party summit meeting.

New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis met with FYROM prime minister Ljupco Geogievski and Albanian Democratic Party president Arben Tzaferi.

Mr. Karamanlis stated that he visits Skopje for the second time in a very small period of time, adding that the developments in FYROM are alarming. He also expressed the wish that the national unity government with the participation of all political forces and the Albanian political parties will meet its goals.

Mr. Karamanlis stated that violence is condemned, the existing borders must be respected, while human and minority rights must also be respected, adding that there is a need for a more active role on behalf of the European Union and the international community.

Mr. Karamanlis also stated that the multi-national force in Kosovo must become more effective in the protection of the Kosovo-FYROM borders and the disarmament of the armed forces that cross the Kosovo-FYROM borders.

[06] A GREEK DELEGATION IS CLOSE TO THE HUNGER STRIKERS IN TURKEY

A 6-member Greek delegation is in Turkey expressing its support to the hunger strikers in the Turkish jails.

According to the Human Rights Union in Turkey, 1.660 people are on a hunger strike and 33 have already lost their memory suffering from the Consacof Syndrome, while 60 more are brain dead. One hundred and fifty people have been taken to hospitals and the dead are 22 (18 political prisoners and 4 relatives).

The political prisoners in the Turkish jails are 12.000 and according to the Human Rights Union, the violations of basic human rights are numerous. For example, a man has been jailed in Turkey since 1980 and for 21 years there has been no trial in court.

The Medical Association in Istanbul has stated to Nikos Gatzis and Panagiotis Lafazanis, the two Greek parliament deputies in the 6-member Greek delegation, that the decetrose serum, a serum including a type of sugar that is used to keep the hunger strikers alive, intentionally does not include vitamin B1 in order to cause loss of memory and brain damage to the patients.

Istanbul's Architects Association briefed the Greek delegation on the so-called "while cells" in the Turkish jails. They are isolated rooms of 8 square meters without ventilation and electricity, while the prisoners are not allowed to go outside. Already, 2.000 political prisoners have been transferred to the "white cells" and they haven't seen the sun for two or three months.

[07] THE FIRST HUMAN BABY-CLONE WILL BE A REALITY IN TWO YEARS

Kentacky Andrology Institute director Dr. Panagiotis Zavos, who is of Greek origin, expressed the belief that the first human baby-clone will be a reality in the next two years.

Dr. Zavos stated that he is determined to open a new chapter in the book of scientific achievements in spite of the storm of reactions caused in the United States.

In an interview published on the Athens newspaper "Ethnos", Dr. Zavos stressed that he has already begun the research toward this end and soon he will create a human embryo, stressing that the key to success is the responsible and serious work.

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