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Tuesday, 26 November 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-08-29Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PASOK criticism over economy, tax policyMain opposition PASOK party spokesman George Papaconstantinou on Friday charged that the government has placed society against it amid an economic crisis, "instead of supporting income and economic activity, it is imposing taxes".He also reiterated PASOK's call for the government to withdraw the economic measures it has announced. Papaconstantinou added that "this situation did not come as a surprise, but it is the result of the actions by the New Democracy party from the very first month of its governance in 2004." In another development, PASOK secretary Yiannis Ragoussis said "the citizens who voted for New Democracy are absolutely justified in being disappointed and in feeling betrayed. Greeks want to live in a fair society and not in a present-day Greece of arbitrariness and of a tax pogrom, in present-day Greece where the large real estate tax is being replaced by a tax that will be paid by all the Greeks for their property." [02] Athens pans latest FYROM quipA foreign ministry spokesman on Friday again touched on the most recent provocation emanating from the neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), namely, this week's unanimous resolution by the latter's parliament to mandate state backing to so-called "Aegeans", what irredentist circles in the one-time Yugoslav republic call the slavophones who fled Greece during the height of the Greek civil war (1946-49).Spokesman George Koumoutsakos underlined, during a regular press conference, that this development "epitomises the unproductive infatuation (by FYROM's current leadership) with a completely warped and extremely distortive rendering of the past." "At the same time, it is apparent that there is an inability to meet the challenges and needs of building a better future in this region. This, in fact, is apparent from the obstructive and undermining tactics that have been employed throughout the recent period by the leadership in the neighbouring country," Koumoutsakos said. In a related development, Greece's negotiator in the still resolved "name issue", Amb. Adamantios Vassilakis, on Thursday briefed the ambassadors of several countries on the latest developments in the dispute. Envoys from EU and NATO member-states, as well as the ambassadors from China and Russia were briefed by Vassilakis. [03] KKE on AfghanistanThe Communist Party of Greece (KKE) briefed defence minister Evangelos Meimarakis on Friday of its deep concern over the situation in Afghanistan, and reiterated the party's firm demand for withdrawal of all Greek military forces active outside the country.KKE deputy and political bureau member Spyros Halvatzis, in a meeting with Meimarakis, said that his party was particularly worried as the peoples were paying the price of the escalation of the endo-imperialistic differences and antagonisms, He said that the minister shared the KKE's concerns, and had assured him that all the necessary measures were being taken for the health and physical well-being of all Greek soldiers. Halvatzis further said that the defence minister had ruled out the prospect of sending additional forces to Afghanistan. Caption:ANA-MPA file photo of Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary General Aleka Papariga. [04] Alavanos meets GSEBERadical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) Parliamentary group leader Alekos Alavanos met on Friday with the directorate of the GSEBE confederation, saying afterwards that a "struggle against the (recently unveiled) tax bill is necessary."Alavanos appealed to SME owners, and even to those belonging to the New Democracy party, as he said, "who faced with innocence and credulity its so-called policy statements and call on them to take the great step and be present in the wave that is being created for a new policy in our country." Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of SYRIZA Parliamentary group leader Alekos Alavanos. [05] Scientist on new observatoryDistinguished University of Chicago astrophysicist and NASA scientific associate Thanasis Economou, a native of Grevena in northwest Greece, on Friday spoke to an audience in his hometown, where he praised the upcoming construction of a new state-of-the-art observatory on nearby Mt. Orliaka.The Grevena prefecture is contributing funds for the projects. "Our purpose is for children in our region and from all of Greece to access the telescope via the internet; to select the object they want, to make the suitable observations, to process the data on their personal computer, and the next day, for there to be a debate in class with their teacher. It is something original, which has not been done anywhere else. "Furthermore, it will be used by amateur astronomers around the world as well as professional astronomers from the universities of our country and abroad. Its positioning on Orliaka is one of the best in Europe, given that it has the least light pollution and the clearest sky," Economou said. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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