Antenna: News in English (AM), 97-04-01

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: [email protected]

News in English, 01/04/97

TITLES

• Ethnic Greeks in Albania ask for protection from armed marauders.
• A Greek cardio-surgeon in the US urges women to look after their hearts.
• And, sorting out some ancient family matters.

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They were among 150 Albanian refugees whose boat collided with an Italian warship.

Albanian president Sali Berisha declared a day of mourning Monday.

Some 3 thousand people marched in protest through the streets of Avlona in southern Albania, where most of the victims came from.

Orthodox archbishop of Albania Anastasios expressed the deep pain of the church at the deaths. He said whoever shows contempt for the unprotected, shows contempt for Christ on the Cross.

Italy denies its corvette intentionally rammed the 20-metre-long refugee craft near Brindisi, but the Albanian government has lodged an official protest with Rome.

And the protestors in Avlona shouted anti-Italian slogans. At the protest- ending rally, many speakers also turned their wrath on Berisha, calling once again for him to resign.

There were voices of protest in Italy, too. Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi met with survivors of the accident, criticising an Italian government decision to blockade Albanian harbours. He said the naval tragedy, currently under investigation by the Italian authorities, was partly the responsibility of the Italian navy.

GREECE/ALBANIA

Rebel leaders in southern Albania say they will welcome NO Italian troops until those responsible for the sea tragedy are brought to justice.

Greece is one of seven countries that has agreed to take part in that international force.

Greek defence minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos says a battalion of 6 to 7 hundred men is ready to go, though he adds it is ALSO possible that the Greek force will be made up of volunteers.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas says the Greek troops' job COULD be to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid and to keep roads, ports and channels of communication open.

Italy is managing the international force, and will decide on troop deployment.

Albania has asked Greece and Italy to help it restructure its armed forces, which virtually dissolved in the face of the spreading rebellion.

Three high-ranking Greek officers are already in Tirane for meetings with the Albanian authorities.

ALBANIA

Armed gangs commit crimes with impunity in southern Albania. Over the weekend, the first ethnic-Greek was killed by armed marauders.

As we hear in this report, the murder of 39-year- old Eleni Kokka, mother of four, has heightened fears that the Greek minority may become the target of a pogrom.

The activities of uncontrolled armed gangs that have sprung up with the rebellion in southern Albania, are the concern of the Albanian authorities and the international community.

They're also a source of concern to the Greek minority in southern Albania, now mourning its first victim.

39-year-old Eleni Kokka was shot in the head after two armed men stopped the car she and her family were riding in.

Eleni, her husband Theophanes, and three of their relatives were going home to the village of Vromero, near Delvino after visiting Patra, Greece.

"They stopped our car, and called us dirty Greeks", Theophanes Kokkas tells Antenna's Vassilis Hitos, adding: "They asked, 'we throw you out, and you come back?'".

Making the five Greek-Albanians get out of their car, the two gunmen unleashed tragedy.

"One of them fired three shots at my feet", says Theophanes Kokkas, "then the other put the gun to Eleni's head and shot her".

The armed men then made off with car, later found abandoned a short distance away from the site of the shooting.

The family now mourns another victim of the chaos that rules in southern Albania..

Theophanes's brother rushed to the village from Rhodes, where he works, as soon as he heard about Eleni's death.

One elderly man laments, "She was like a sister to us, we're exasperated by what's going on in our country".

He, and other ethnic Greeks fear that Greeks may become the victims of a full-scale anti-Greek campaign.

Many Greeks in southern Albania want international peacekeepers, including Greek troops, to be stationed in Greek-speaking areas, so they will be safe.

One elderly woman tells Hitos, "We go to sleep at night not knowing if we'll wake up in the morning. They put their guns to our heads and tell us to hand over our money. We want help".

INSURANCE

After the meeting, minister to the prime minister Giorgos Paschalides said the government intends to start a social dialogue on a number of issues - from bonuses, to overtime, to pension age - in early April.

The government has come under fire from many social groups for its belt- tightening economic policies. And one trade union is holding one-day strike over the government's plan to change the insurance funds.

Despite workers' fears that Pasok is going to cut into pensions and other benefits, Paschalides says Pasok's plan to discuss its intentions with the people who will be affected is no public relations stunt.

As part of its good housekeeping, Pasok is also going to crack down on tax- evasion, which is to become a criminal offence.

MEDICAL

Antenna correspondent Alexandra Spiridaki talked to Doctor Maria Aroni, one of the world's leading heart surgeons, in New York.

While Antenna's camera watches, Dorctor Maria Aroni takes Atnenna's Alexandra Spriridaki through her operation.

"This is the aorta", she explains, "where a tube will be inserted, and here is the place where we put the stitches".

The sutures won't leave much of scar on the patient's chest, because Doctor Aroni is using a new method. Here, the incision is made below the breast; shortly after the operation, the scar won't be visible.

Doctor Aroni is concerned about heart disease in women. And why not? heart disease is the number one killer of older women around the world.

In the United States, more emphasis is placed on warning women about breast cancer. But while some 200 thousand women die annually in the US of cancer, 500 thousand die of heart disease.

One of just 30 female cardio-surgeons in the US, Aroni says prevention is the key to protecting women's hearts. "Surveys show that when a woman complains of chest pain", she explains, "doctors tend to put it down to stress, ulcers...anything but her heart. But women over the age of 55 should have an ultra-sound and a stress test once a year".

Dr. Aroni says one problem is that women are used to being the carers in most families, and often worry about everyone else's health, but not their own.

OLYMPICS

The Greek capital survived the first round of the competition, moving on to the final round of five cities.

Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki briefed the prime minister on the committee's plans now.

Angelopoulou-Daskalaki says the second phase of the bid runs until the IOC makes its final choice for the 2004 games next September. She adds that the Greek government has been very supportive of the Greek committee's efforts.

After the meeting, sports minister Andreas Fouras said the prime minister assured the committee it will have the government's ongoing support.

BASKETBALL

In pro-basketball, Olympiakos beat Peristeri in the Greek cup quarter- final. The final score there 78-58. Olympiakos's semifinal opponent will be AEK.

ATRIDES

What they're trying to establish is the genetic roots of the Atrides - the rulers of ancient Mycenae, who appeared in the Peloponese around 1600 BC.

The British newspaper the "Observer" reports on the research carried out by scientists at Manchester University.

Working with skulls found at Mycenae, the scientists have made models of the faces of three leaders of the Atrides family.

In reconstructing the three faces, Doctor Richard Neeve used the same technique used by archeologist Manolis Andronikos to prove that the skeleton found at the Royal Tomb of Vergina was that of Philip the Second, the father of Alexander the Great.

Scientists also intend to compare the DNA from the bones of the skeletal remains found in the ancient tombs, to see if there are any familial likenesses. Archeologists currently believe that there were to branches to the Atrides family, which fought for power.

Two biochemists at Manchester University will also try to find out whether there is any relation between the Atrides and the Cretans, and if Mycenae was wiped out by an epidemic or, as archeologists believe, by an earthquake.

Mycenae was the first city-state in Europe and the capital of the legendary empire of Agamemnon.

© ANT1 Radio 1997

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