Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-10-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] CREDIBILITY DEFICIT

[02] THE PROSECUTOR PROPOSED 972 YEARS FOR EACH ELA DEFENDANT

[03] THE OLDEST SARCOPHAGUS IN GREECE

[04] GAINS IN THE ASE

[05] EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 5.2 ON THE RICHTER SCALE IN SE AEGEAN

[06] AN ESTIMATED 4,500 WOMEN ARE DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER IN GREECE

[07] KARAMANLIS TO VISIT MOSCOW IN DECEMBER

[08] TENSION ON THE ECONOMY

[01] CREDIBILITY DEFICIT

People around the world trust only slightly the politicians given the fact that a GFK Research international research records a credibility crisis faced by the political world.

In Greece, only 1 in 10 citizens say that they trust politicians while the overwhelming majority appears to be distrustful on the way the 300 Parliament deputies exercise their duties.

The Greek politicians occupy the 4th worst position among the 19 European countries and the United States.

The Greek people do not trust lawyers who occupy the last place compared to their colleagues from other countries, while the Greek journalists appear to be regarded as more reliable by the Greek people, compared to Britain where only 14% of the public opinion believes in what they write or say.

Based on the research, it appears that people trust more the teachers, doctors, army officers and priests.

[02] THE PROSECUTOR PROPOSED 972 YEARS FOR EACH ELA DEFENDANT

Prosecutor Eleftherios Patsis proposed the prison sentences to be imposed on Christos Tsigaridas, Kostas Agapiou, Angeletos Kanas and Irini Athanasakis who were found guilty in the terrorist group ELA case.

The prosecutor, who stated that he judged them with leniency, proposed a total of 972 years for each of the accused and about 28,000 euros in fines, while he did not propose a life sentence for any of the defendants. However, they are not expected to stay in prison for more than 25 years each.

[03] THE OLDEST SARCOPHAGUS IN GREECE

Guy Sanders of the American School Classical Studies Department discovered in ancient Corinth, southern Greece, the oldest and heaviest sarcophagus ever found in Greece.

The sarcophagus (1.88x1.23x0.85) weighs 2.3 tons and is dated back to 900 BC. It is made of stone and its discovery proves that ancient Corinthians could carry huge stones and most importantly they had the infrastructure to do that 200 years earlier than it was believed until now.

Inside the sarcophagus were found objects offered to the gods, usually placed in ancient tombs, while its top weighs 1.2 tons.

[04] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +1.28% at 2406.75 points, while the volume of transactions was at 172,8 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 183 had gains and 95 had losses, while the value of 125 stocks remained unchanged.

[05] EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 5.2 ON THE RICHTER SCALE IN SE AEGEAN

An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale rocked the sea region between the southeastern Aegean islands of Astipalea and Kos in the early morning hours today.

In spite of the fact that the earthquake was a strong one was not felt by the people in Astipalea and Kos because its epicenter was not close to the surface estimated at 100 kilometers under sea.

According to Thessaloniki's Aristotle University seismologists the earthquake's epicenter was at the so-called Aegean volcanic arc that starts from the island of Nisyros and through Astipalea ends up in Methana in the Peloponesse southern Greece.

[06] AN ESTIMATED 4,500 WOMEN ARE DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER IN GREECE

Each year an estimated 4,500 women in Greece are diagnosed with breast cancer, while about 1,500 die from the disease on an annual basis.

Greek Cancer Society Chairman Nikolaos Dontas announced the figures mentioned above in a press conference. He stated that the number of breast cancer cases is expected to increase in the following years if the female population is not informed about the disease and does not realize the importance of prevention.

Only 5% of the Greek women visit their doctor regularly when in the rest European countries early diagnosis reaches 60%.

[07] KARAMANLIS TO VISIT MOSCOW IN DECEMBER

The Greek government attributes great significance to the formal visit of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to Moscow to take place in December, according to acting government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros during the regular press briefing.

The visit will be an important point in the history of bilateral relations and will mark the excellent climate between the two countries, stated Mr. Antonaros.

The acting government spokesman stated that the exact date of the visit will be announced shortly.

[08] TENSION ON THE ECONOMY

The way defense spending is recorded has developed into a major controversy between the government and the opposition after the Eurostat General Director statements, who characterized as correct the way in which defense spending was calculated by the previous governments.

Minister of Finance Giorgos Alogoskoufis stated that the EU Statistics Agency has fully confirmed the figures included in the fiscal inspection. The Parliament deputies of the opposition party of PASOK have called on the government to admit that it has acted in an irresponsible manner on the specific issue.

Meanwhile, it has been denied that the Prime Minister in a dinner with governing party of New Democracy Parliament deputies yesterday made comments concerning corruption and guilds.

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