Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-09-11

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] New Pella Archaeological Museum inaugurated

[02] ND criticises government

[03] Protests planned at TIF

[04] Car sales plunge

[05] Truckers' strike on Tuesday

[01] New Pella Archaeological Museum inaugurated

Geroulanos also said that the ministry has incorporated the 1.6 million euros project under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF).

The original structure was built in 1960 to house the excavated finds in the nearby archaeological site, and operated as an archaeological museum since 1973.

The new state-of-the-art museum covers an area of 6,000 square meters and is situated in the north-eastern section of the archaeological site.

The museum contains prehistoric finds and exhibits describing the layout of the ancient city, finds from the agora, the sanctuaries, and the cemetery, and also six mosaic floors from the archaeological site.

The exhibits include hydrias, mosaic floors, statues and statuettes, heads of statues, figurines, vases, and hoards of silver coins of the Macedonian and Hellenistic periods, all from excavations in the wider area of Pella.

Among the most important exhibits are six mosaics from houses (depicting Dionysus riding a panther, a lion-hunt, a griffin attacking a deer, a pair of centaurs, and vegetal ornaments), an interior wall of a house decorated with coloured plaster in the first Pompeian style (2nd century BC), a marble portrait head of Alexander the Great and a marble statuette of Alexander as Pan of the Hellenistic period, a small bronze statue of Poseidon attributed to the sculptor Lysippos, also of the Hellenistic period, hoards of silver coins of the Macedonian kings (5th century BC) and of the Hellenistic period, a red-figure hydria decorated with a representation of Poseidon�s duel with Athena, dated to the late fifth or early fourth century BC, and a headless statue of a youth on horseback.

There are also several information panels consisting of topographical and architectural plans and drawings and photographs of the excavations, as well as copies and casts of figurines and vases.

Photo by ANA-MPA/N. Arvanitidis)

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[02] ND criticises government

Alternate shadow finance minister Notis Mitarakis, commenting on earlier statements by finance minister George Papaconstantinou at the inauguration of the 75th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), said that not only had the government failed from the very beginning to take the necessary fiscal measures, but it also did everything to defame the country abroad.

"And today, the government is once again not doing the right thing, in other words it is not taking the necessary measures for the recovery and growth of the economy," Mitarakis said.

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[03] Protests planned at TIF

The country's two main umbrella federations GSEE (General Confederation of Workers of Greece) and ADEDY (civil servants' supreme administrative council), together with the Thessaloniki Labor Center and the Union of Civil Servants' Organisations of Thessaloniki will be holding a joint demonstration, while a second demonstration is being organised simultaneously by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) affiliated PAME labor organisation and PASEBE (Panhellenic Anti-Monopoly Rally of Merchants and Craftsmen), the PASY farmers' organisation and the OGE Federation of Women of Greece.

The two demonstrations, due to begin at 6:00 p.m., will later march to the Vellidio Conference Center where the prime minister will deliver his traditional economic policy address later in the evening.

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[04] Car sales plunge

New car sales totaled 7,167 vehicles in August, down from 20,652 in August 2009. In the eight-month period from January to August, car sales totaled 117,237, down from 200,000 in 2009, a decline of 41.14 pct.

The federation of car importers and dealers (SEAA) again underlined that lower car sales were directly hitting state revenues.

SEAA urged the government to take initiatives, following the successful examples of other European states, to boost demand for new cars in the domestic market.

More than 30,000 enterprises operate in the car sector with around 90,000 employees around the country.

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[05] Truckers' strike on Tuesday

The truckers ended on August 1 a lengthy strike that had during July starved the country of fuel and dealt a severe blow to tourist enterprises, after a compromise reached with the government, which the strikers say it has failed to honor.

Protesting truck owners held a demonstration in Thessaloniki during the inauguration of the 75th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).

A group of individuals broke off from the main body of the rally and attacked Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEA) president Constantine Michalos, punching him and hitting him, before being dispersed by police, outside the Macedonia Pallas Hotel where Michalos was to attend a General Assembly of the Central Union of Chambers of Greece.

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