Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 03-07-14

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Olympic victors propose returning flame to Ancient Olympia

[02] Ministers begin nationwide ''meet the public'' campaign

[03] Greece backs innovation as lever for EU growth

[04] Greece clears the way for EU architects to gain equal status

[05] Cyprus approves pact with Greece on betting games

[06] Journalism conference focuses on doping in sports

[07] Traveling Olympics exhibition opens on Crete

[08] Conjoined twins born in Greece doing well, doctors say

[09] Archbishop Christodoulos leads funeral for senior cleric

[10] Firebombs damage bank, no injuries

[11] No claim of responsibility for failed bomb attack in Athens

[12] Fire at Lambrakis-owned paper warehouse, no injuries

[13] Northern police report busting drugs operation

[14] Chrisostomides: Denktash repeats his well-known maneuvers

[15] Britain: Confidence Building Measures cannot be a substitute for settlement

[01] Olympic victors propose returning flame to Ancient Olympia

Greek Olympic medalists on Sunday proposed that the international event's symbolic flame should be extinguished in Ancient Olympia, beginning in 2004.

''Ancient Olympia is the starting point and end point of the Olympic Games. Our proposal is that the holy flame should return to its place of birth immediately after the end of the games,'' said Panayotis Fassoulas, the president of the Association of Greek Olympic Victors.

''The flame would then be extinguished in the place where it is to be relit for the next event,'' said Fassoulas, a parliamentary deputy and former basketball player.

''We are here to contribute to vindication of the values of the land of the Olympic Games, and to show the world that the games are an integral and powerful part of a chain of values that can hold the world in unity,'' he said.

The Greek medalists were addressing a seminar in Ancient Olympia on values represented by the games.

[02] Ministers begin nationwide ''meet the public'' campaign

Ministers are to tour the country in July and August in a plan conceived by the prime minister to establish closer contact between the government and the public.

The visits will include trips to smaller towns and villages as well as prefectural capitals so that ministers may meet a wide range of people, beyond local authorities.

The aim of the contacts will be to help ministers better resolve problems faced by the public in their daily lives.

[03] Greece backs innovation as lever for EU growth

Greece backs innovation as a tool for growth in the European Union, Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of EU development ministers in the Italian capital, Tsohatzopoulos noted that innovation was a fundamental tool in improving the quality of products and services and boosting productivity.

[04] Greece clears the way for EU architects to gain equal status

The government has sent a presidential decree to the Council of State for endorsement that harmonizes Greek law with the European Union on granting equal status for architects from other EU countries.

When implemented, the decree will allow recognition by national authorities of architects' qualifications obtained in other EU countries.

It will also introduce measures to allow EU architects to exercise their profession in Greece with no restrictions.

[05] Cyprus approves pact with Greece on betting games

The Cypriot House of Representatives has approved an agreement between the island republic and Greece on ground rules for the operation of games of chance in Cyprus by a Greek-owned firm.

Athens-quoted Football Pools Organization (OPAP), supplier of a series of betting games to Cyprus, will set up a subsidiary in the island within six months, an executive of OPAP, Stavros Tziortzis, told a news conference.

Of operational proceeds, 9.0-10.0 percent will be taken by the subsidiary, OPAP Cyprus SA, for operational spending; 10.0 percent by Greece's OPAP; and the remainder by the Cypriot state, Tziortzis said.

[06] Journalism conference focuses on doping in sports

The problem of tackling doping in sports dominated the final day of a national journalism conference on the Athens 2004 Olympics that was held on the northern island of Samothrace.

Speakers outlined the problem of doping and detailed stringent new measures to detect illicit substances in athletes.

More than 500 journalists took part in the four-day meeting.

[07] Traveling Olympics exhibition opens on Crete

An exhibition of artworks on the Olympic spirit has opened in Hania, Crete before making its way around Greece to culminate in Athens for the 2004 games.

The group exhibition of modern art inspired by the ancient Olympic concept of noble rivalry was inaugurated on Friday by Athens mayor Dora Bakoyianni and her father Constantine Mitsotakis, a former prime minister and honorary president of the New Democracy party.

Included are paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs and videos.

The exhibition remains in Hania until August 31 when it moves to the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

[08] Conjoined twins born in Greece doing well, doctors say

Twin girls born conjoined at the forehead last month are doing well, doctors in the northern port city of Thessaloniki said.

Doctors at the city's Ippokration hospital told the Angelioforos newspaper that the health of the two babies born on June 12 by caesarean section had given no cause for concern.

The babies' parents had learnt half way through the mother's term that they were conjoined but decided to complete the pregnancy, sources said.

According to doctors, the girls are being closely monitored to decide when they will be taken abroad for an opinion on separation.

[09] Archbishop Christodoulos leads funeral for senior cleric

Archbishop Christodoulos on Saturday led a funeral service in Thessaloniki for Panteleimon II, the northern city's senior cleric since 1974.

Metropolitan bishop Panteleimon has lain in state in the Agios Dimitrios Cathedral since Thursday.

He died on Wednesday of a heart attack at the age of 78 while visiting the Mount Athos monastic community.

Among public figures to send commiserations were Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Macedonia and Thrace Minister Haris Kastanidis, and the leader of the main opposition New Democracy party, Costas Karamanlis

[10] Firebombs damage bank, no injuries

Firebombs were thrown into a bank near Athens in the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured, police said.

Witnesses saw four people wearing crash helmets break the glass frontage of a branch of Athens-quoted EFG Eurobank Ergasias in Petrou Ralli Avenue, and then hurl firebombs inside the premises. The four left in an automobile.

The bank's hall and automated teller machine were damaged by fire from the explosive devices, police said.

[11] No claim of responsibility for failed bomb attack in Athens

No group has claimed responsibility for planting a bomb near central Athens that police detonated in a controlled explosion, authorities said on Saturday.

An anonymous caller told the Alter TV channel at 2215 hours on Friday that a bomb was due to explode in ten minutes on the second floor of a building in Mihalokopoulou Street.

Police sealed off the area and found a metal box outside offices of insurer Alico at 2300 hours that contained a small quantity of dynamite, a detonator and a wristwatch to act as a timing device.

The floor of the building where the bomb was discovered contains offices, including Alico, and one residential apartment whose occupants were evacuated.

Anti-terrorist police are investigating the incident.

[12] Fire at Lambrakis-owned paper warehouse, no injuries

A fire broke out at a paper warehouse northwest of Athens owned by the Athens-quoted Lambrakis Press Organization, police said on Sunday.

Firefighters had kept the blaze, which broke out on Saturday evening, under partial control, police said.

The warehouse located in Inofyta, Viotia is owned by Iris SA, a Lambrakis subsidiary, and Pegasus, a publishing house.

Police are investigating arson as a possible cause of the fire, sources said.

[13] Northern police report busting drugs operation

Police in the northern port city of Thessaloniki said on Saturday that they had broken up a drugs smuggling and distribution operation.

Arrested were four Albanian and Greek nationals for possession of cocaine and heroin; and a fifth, the father of one of the detained and a repeat offender for entering Greece illegally after deportation, for carrying a forged residence permit.

The five, identified only by their initials, were due to be taken to a public prosecutor later in the day to hear charges.

[14] Chrisostomides: Denktash repeats his well-known maneuvers

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrisostomides has said Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash repeats his well-known maneuvers, with a view to disorient the international community from the essence of the Cyprus problem.

Speaking in London during a reception hosted by the Cyprus National Federation of Great Britain, Chrisostomides expressed hope the Turkish stance will change and allow the resumption of Cyprus talks on the basis of the Annan plan.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest UN effort to reach a comprehensive settlement collapsed at The Hague in March this year, when Denktash refused to put Annan's plan to a referendum.

According to the Turkish news agency 'Anadolu', in a letter, which Denktash sent on Friday to the UN Chief, he says the Turkish Cypriots ''are ready to give the closed part of Varosha to Greek Cypriots under the control of UN in return for the opening of Nicosia International Airport for the common use by both communities.''

[15] Britain: Confidence Building Measures cannot be a substitute for settlement

British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane said Confidence Building Measures cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive Cyprus settlement on the basis of the UN plan.

Replying to questions at the House of Commons, MacShane said the opening of the Nicosia Airport ''is an issue for the two sides to discuss within the context of the measures introduced in response to the partial lifting of the restrictions on freedom of movement.''

He also noted that Britain welcomes all efforts to improve relations between the two communities ''which have demonstrated that Greek and Turkish Cypriots can live together peacefully''.

''However, confidence building measures cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive settlement on the basis of the UN plan'', he added.

According to the Turkish news agency 'Anadolu', in a letter, which Denktash sent on Friday to the UN Chief, he says the Turkish Cypriots "are ready to give the closed part of Varosha to Greek Cypriots under the control of UN in return for the opening of Nicosia International Airport for the common use by both communities."

Invited to say in what respects the Annan plan for a Cyprus settlement is incompatible with the acquis communautaire, Mac-Shane said ''the European Commission has stated repeatedly that there is no incompatibility of the UN proposals with the acquis communautaire''.

Macshane added that Commission officials worked in close co-ordination with the UN team over the drafting of the UN plan.

He said that the EU has affirmed on a number of occasions, most recently at Thessaloniki European Council, that it will accommodate-date the terms of a settlement, in line with the principles on which EU is founded.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article