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Tuesday, 26 November 2024 | ||
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-06-14Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Former Siemens Hellas exec's bail set at 800,000 eurosFormer Siemens Hellas executive Dionyssis Dendrinos was released on an 800,000-euro bail after appearing before a special judicial magistrate on Sunday.Dendrinos testified for more than five hours in relation to charges of complicity in fraud against the Greek state with a contract for the procurement and installation of the C41 security system. The massive contract, won by the California-based SAIC company, with Siemens as a subcontractor, was never delivered and never applied during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Dendrinos provided a written statement to the magistrate claiming that Siemens Hellas delivered its portion of the project on time. He also states that he is unaware of "slush funds" employed by Siemens and underlines that he has no relation to the charges attributed to him. The bail money must be paid by June 26, while Dendrinos is banned from leaving the country, while he is obliged to appear at a police precinct three times a month. [02] 126 illegal migrants detainedBoats of the Harbour Corps and of the European cooperation service set up to handle illegal immigration, known as Frontex, have detected and detained 126 illegal immigrants in the sea region between the island of Lesvos and the Turkish coast over the last 48 hours.In one case, 32 people were detected off the northern coast of Lesvos, 28 men and four women, who lacked necessary travel documents. In the sea region off Molyvos, in northwestern Lesvos, two plastic boats equipped with oars were found carrying 60 people: 45 men, seven women and eight children. An engine-powered boat was also detected in the same region carrying another 34 illegal immigrants: 24 men, four women and six children. All the illegal immigrants were taken to the reception centre for illegal immigrants in Pagani, after undergoing medical checkups at the Mytilene Hospital. [03] SYN con'f on poor resultsCoalition of the Left (Synaspismos) President Alexis Tsipras summed up the party's two-day central political committee meeting on Sunday by stressing that he is open to discussions on the way that the party functions, but without a change in policy, following a lacklustre showing by the party's Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) in last Sunday's European Parliament election.He also opined that SYRIZA, which picked up 4.7 percent of the vote in the specific election, will continue to exist "because society needs it". The main characteristic of the two-day session was the clash between the party's two dominant trends, the "renewal wing" and the "leftist current". Proponents of the former demand a change in policy, while the latter's proponents replied that a change in policy is carried out in congresses. The Synaspismos leader said left may have been defeated but it will not collapse. [04] New Acropolis Museum websiteJust a few days before its official inauguration, the New Acropolis Museum will open its electronic "gates" to the public on Monday at the website www.theacropolismuseum.gr.The website introduces the Museum to online visitors, enabling them to tour the display areas, and to read up on its history and operation. The site is a virtual electronic map that takes the visitor on a tour of Greece's unique cultural heritage, unfolding the route from antiquity to the present that encompasses not only the exhibits and Greece's history, but also modern-day Hellenic culture. The site will also apply an e-ticketing system, for the first time by a Greek museum, enabling future visitors anywhere in the world to book entry to the New Acropolis Museum at a specific date and time. This innovative application will enable the Museum to manage visiting hours while at the same time decongesting possible waiting lines at the entrance. The Museum's electronic gate will open on Monday, June 15, at 11 p.m. (local time), while the Museum itself will be inaugurated on Saturday, June 20, by Greek President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias. Entry to the Museum on its first three days of operation (Sunday, June 21 to Tuesday, June 23) will be available only to holders of e-tickets, while tickets will begin to be sold at the Museum beginning on Wednesday, June 24. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |