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Tuesday, 26 November 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-12-27Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] ABNA eyes enlargement, ANA to take over presidency in 2007Significant changes and improvements for the efficient operation of the Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA) were decided by the association's three-member ad hoc committee during a meeting in Sofia.The committee, comprising ABNA president for 2006 Hilmi Bengi, general director of the Turkish news agency Anadolu, ABNA secretary general Spyros Kouzinopoulos, general director of the Macedonian Press Agency (MPA), and Maxim Minchev, general director of the Bulgarian news agency BTA, was set up by the ABNA General Assembly that took place in Banja Luka (Bosnia-Herzegovina) in October. Also taking part in the meeting was MPA legal consultant Aris Halikias. On the mandate of the General Assembly, the committee has drafted a deep-rooted reform of the ABNA charter and the association's adaptation to the modern-day needs, also enabling its expansion with the future membership of other news agencies from the SE Europe region. The committee further decided that the ABNA general secretariat's permanent headquarters should remain in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, where the HQ has been tentatively based since the association's establishment in 1995, and that Athens-based Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency (ANA-MPA, the new news agency formed following the recent merger of the Athens-based ANA and Thessaloniki-based MPA) general director George Tambakopoulos would undertake the rotating annual ABNA presidency for the year 2007. The Association of the Balkan News Agencies (ABNA) was established in 1995, aiming both at the development of full-scale cooperation between the region's news agencies, and aspiring to contribute to the prevailing of an atmosphere of peace, friendship, security and cooperation in our region, which was once considered the "powder keg of Europe". The founding conference of the Association was held un Thessaloniki on June 26, 1995, on Macedonian Press Agency's initiative, while the 1st General Assembly was held in Antalya, Turkey, on December 15-16, 1995, the day after the signing of the Dayton Agreement in Paris which ended the bloody civil war in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Regular Members of the Association of the Balkan News Agencies are the following news agencies: the Athens News Agency (Athens, Greece), ANADOLU (Ankara, Turkey), ��� (Tirana, Albania), ��� (Sofia, Bulgaria), Macedonian Press Agency (Thessaloniki, Greece), ��� (Skopje, FYROM), ROMPRESS (Bucharest, Romania), SRNA (Banja Luka, Serbia-Montenegro), and TANJUG (Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro), while the following agencies are observers: STA (Ljubliana, Slovenia), MOLDPRESS (Chisinau, Moldova), and FENA (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina). Pictured at left is ANA-MPA general director George Tambakopoulos, who will take over the rotating ABNA presidency in 2007 from 2006 president Hilmi Bengi, general director of the Turkish news agency ANADOLU. (ANA/Paris Papaioannou) [02] Smaller Christmas exodus, high death tollThe mass exodus from Athens for the Christmas holiday this year marked a 6 percent decline over the same holiday exodus in 2004, according to figures released Monday by the Traffic Police.A total of 260,000 cars existed Athens on the two National Highway routes of Athens-Lamia and Athens-Corinth between Friday morning and Sunday, which was 16,000 cars fewer than over the corresponding period last year. However, this year's exodus was considered one of the worst with respect to traffic accidents, as 28 people lost their lives in 27 deadly road accidents throughout the country between Friday morning and Monday morning. One third of those accidents, namely 9, occurred in Attica prefecture, in which nine people were killed, and two of which occurred in hit-and-run accidents. Throughout the past week, traffic police conducted hundreds of checks on drivers, including breathalyser tests, in an effort to prevent road accidents. More specifically, between December 19 and Christmas Day, 194 Attica traffic police crews conducted 7,073 breathalyser tests, in which 108 drivers were found to have been above the legally allowed rate, while 12 were taken into custody. At dawn Monday alone, traffic police conducted 1,959 breathalyser tests, in which 29 dribers were found over the allowed rate and four were taken into custody. [03] Christmas in Kavala with traditional braziersThe traders and professionals in Kavala, northern Greece, celebrated Christmas this year with the maintenance of an old custom, while they are also preraring to celebrate in a similar way on New Year's Eve.The city's trade centre on Christmas Eve reminded one of a great grill. On most of the pedestrian walks and pavements, the traders set up open-air grills, the so-called braziers, and offered to the passersby meat and local red wine. By maintaining this tradition, the traders thanked in this way their city's customers. The tradional braziers will be set up again on New Year's Eve, this time at a greater scale, because like every year, from early noon there will be ample wine, orchestras, and open-air grills to welcome the new year well before midnight. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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