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Tuesday, 26 November 2024 | ||
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-03-12Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] ND on withdrawal of amendmentMain opposition New Democracy press spokesman Panos Panagiotopoulos said on Friday that, under pressure placed by ND leader Antonis Samaras in parliament, interior minister Yiannis Ragoussis withdrew a recent amendment that would have given the prime minister the ability to personally assign the drafting of studies and designate the remuneration for such studies."Mr. Ragoussis is now forced to follow the amendment procedure, having the obligation of presenting to parliament the required Report by the General Accounting Office that stipulates that cost that will be incurred on the state -- in times of harsh austerity for the Greek people - from the prime minister's free reign to assign to physical and legal entities all types of special studies or missions, at a remuneration to be set at the exclusive desire of the prime minister," Panagiotopoulos said. He noted that ND, after succeeding in canceling the 'urgent' procedure under which PASOK initially attempted pass "this disgraceful regulation" and afterwards forcing the interior minister to take back the amendment, now awaits Ragoussis in parliament in the coming days to place him before the gravity of his responsibility over the entire venture, "which is an affront to lawful order in our country and irreparably shames the prime minister himself". [02] Exhibition of Athens-based Bulgarian artistsAn exhibition of works by Bulgarian artists who live and work in Athens will be organised at the Flisvos cultural centre in the southern coastal district of Faliro this month. The exhibition, running from Saturday to Thursday, March 18, is being held under the auspices of the Greek UNESCO society for arts, literature and science.Participating artists include Svetlin Vasilev, Martin Krustev, Margarita Radeva and Voula Kereklidou, who studied and lived in Bulgaria for 20 years. The Flisvos centre is located at 33 Poseidonos St. [03] General strike staged ThursdayA nationwide labor strike was staged in Greece on Thursday, which included the media, public transportation and civil aviation employees, with demonstrations and rallies held in Athens, Thessaloniki and many other cities throughout the country.The protests in Athens and Thessaloniki were marred by violence by outsiders who infiltrated the rallies and ensuing marches. In Athens, nine individuals are due to appear before a public prosecutor on Friday for disturbances in several of the branch demonstrations throughout the city, which resulted in the injury of 13 police officers and vandalism of six shops, four hotels, three banks and two cars. According to an Attica General Police Directorate (GADA) announcement, groups of individuals threw stones, molotov cocktails and other projectiles against police in various points in the city center. [04] Petalotis' one-day visit to NYNew York (ANA-MPA) -- Deputy minister to the prime minister and government spokesman George Petalotis, on a one-day visit to New York on Thursday where he arrived from Washington where he had accompanied prime minister George Papandreou on his official visit, said that "here, we smiled, as the culmination of a very big effort, and at the same time the beginning of a new effort".While in New York, Petalotis visited the Greek press and communications office and also met with Greece's permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Anastassios Mitsialis. Accompanied by Greece's Consul General in New York Agi Balta and the head of the Greek press office Polyxeni Mastroperou, Petalotis further visited Greek American media installations and exchanged views on a series of issues concerning Hellenism, while he also held talks with the leaders and officials of Greek American organisations. On the national issues, Petalotis said that the government is unwavering on these matters, adding that it will not allow them to backtrack, nor will it create conditions in which the country will have to give 'exchanges' on the national issues because of inability to stand on its own two feet financially. [05] Culture minister in ITBBerlin (ANA-MPA/P. Stangos) -- Culture and Tourism minister Pavlos Geroulanos noted an improvement on the climate in Germany with respect to Greece, in statements during a visit to the Greek pavilion at the ITB international tourism exhibition on Thursday, on a brief stopover in Berlin on his way back from Washington, where he had accompanied prime minister George Papandreou.Geroulanos, who had visited German two weeks earlier for the inauguration of a major exhibition on Byzantium, said Thursday that "the climate, since my previous visit, is much more positive", and attributed negative articles in the German press as "coming from a bad conjuncture, which is due chiefly to economic reasons". "What concerns the German tourists is whether they will find in Greece the warmth they anticipate from the Greeks," he said, adding that "we assure them that of course we are expecting them and hope they will have a very good experience in Greece". [06] 4.6R in S.PeloponneseA light earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale was recorded in the early hours of Friday.According to the Athens National Observatory's Geodynamic Institute and Thessaloniki Aristotle University's (AUTH) Geophysics Laboratory, the earthquake was recorded at 3:53 a.m. at a distance of 180 kilometers south of Athens, with its epicentre in the sea area southeast of Cape Maleas in the southern Peloponnese. [07] ASE opening: DeclineEquity prices were declining at the opening of trade on Friday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with the basic share price index down 0.19 percent, standing at 2,120.20 points at 11:15 a.m., and turnover at 18.574 million euros.Individual sector indices were moving mostly downward, with the biggest gains in Insurance, up 2.40 percent; and Raw Materials, up 0.73 percent. The biggest losses were in Commerce, down 1.27 percent; and Chemicals, down 1.19 percent. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.25 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 0.27 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 0.18 percent. Of the stocks moved, 36 were up, 23 were down, and 26 were unchanged. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |