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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 99-11-02
From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>
CONTENTS
[01] SEA TRAGEDY WITH AT LEAST 12 PEOPLE DEAD
[02] PRIME MINISTER MEETS AMERICAN AMBASSADOR
[03] FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS CANADA
[04] LAST DETAILS OF 2000 STATE BUDGET DISCUSSED
[05] PRESIDENT OF MOLDAVIA VISITS GREECE
[06] EURO-DEPUTY PAULINE GREEN'S VIEWS ON EU ENLARGEMENT
[07] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VISITS ALBANIA
[08] CULTURE MINISTER ATTENDS UNESCO MEETING IN PARIS
[09] UN SECRETARY GENERAL APPOINTS NEW CYPRUS REPRESENTATIVE
[10] JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION INTO PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS
[11] 4.5 RICHTER EARTH TREMOR IN IOANNINA
[01] SEA TRAGEDY WITH AT LEAST 12 PEOPLE DEAD
At least 12 people - possibly Kurdish illegal immigrants - were found
dead this morning on the ship "Super Fast 3" which caught fire last
night. There are fears the death toll will rise. The ship was heading
from Patras to Italy. Four other passengers were slightly injured, but
all 306 of them boarded lifeboats and were safely ferried to other
ships which rushed to the scene, while the 106 crew members remained on
board and put out the fire. The bodies were found after the fire was
extinguished. It is believed the victims are Kurdish illegal immigrants
because no traveling papers were found on them and they were hiding in
the car deck where the fire broke out.
[02] PRIME MINISTER MEETS AMERICAN AMBASSADOR
Prime minister Kostas Simitis is to meet American ambassador in Athens
Nicholas Burns today in view of president Bill Clinton's forthcoming
official visit to Greece. Later today, Mr Simitis is to chair an
informal meeting of the inner cabinet to discuss current political
issues.
[03] FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS CANADA
Foreign minister George Papandreou-who is paying an official four day
visit to Canada at the invitation of his Canadian counterpart Lloyd
Axworthy-was warmly welcomed in Toronto by the Greek community. Today,
Mr Papandreou is scheduled to go to Montreal, where he will have
contacts with the Greek community, and then to Ottawa, where he will
meet with Canadian prime minister Jacques Chretien, and on Wednesday
with foreign minister Axworthy.
[04] LAST DETAILS OF 2000 STATE BUDGET DISCUSSED
National economy minister Yannos Papantoniou had a working session with
prime minister Kostas Simitis yesterday and discussed the last details
of the new state budget to be tabled in parliament on Tuesday. Mr
Papantoniou expressed his optimism about the course of the Greek
economy and ruled out the possibility of taking new measures to
de-escalate inflation, while development minister Evangelos Venizelos
also appeared reassuring on the issue.
[05] PRESIDENT OF MOLDAVIA VISITS GREECE
President of Moldavia Petro Luzinsky is paying an official visit to
Athens for contacts with Greek leaders. Greece is backing Moldavia's
accession to the European Union, prime minister Kostas Simitis said
yesterday, following his meeting with the Moldavian president which
focused on political and economic cooperation between the two
countries.
[06] EURO-DEPUTY PAULINE GREEN'S VIEWS ON EU ENLARGEMENT
The European parliament's rapporteur on Cyprus' admission to the EU,
Pauline Green, has said that should Turkey finally be nominated a
candidate country for EU membership at the Helsinki summit, it would
mean no more than what was secured at the Luxembourg summit. Mrs Green
expressed the conviction that entry negotiations with Ankara would not
begin, so long as Turkey continued to occupy part of Cyprus and did not
respect human rights. She reiterated that Cyprus would become a member
of the EU, stressing that she expected this would also be confirmed at
the Helsinki summit. Meanwhile visiting speaker of the Cypriot house of
representatives Spyros Kyprianou and a delegation of the Czech Senate's
European Integration Committee had a meeting in Prague recently and
discussed the progress of Cyprus and the Czech republic towards EU
accession.
[07] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VISITS ALBANIA
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos of Constantinople today begins an
official visit to Albania, where he will meet with Archbishop
Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, and with the Albanian political
leadership. According to an official announcement issued by the
Patriarchate in Fanari, Constantinople, the talks will focus on matters
of common interest, in addition to issues of concern to the Orthodox
Church. The Ecumenical Patriarch will also visit Veratio, Korytsa and
Argyrokastro.
[08] CULTURE MINISTER ATTENDS UNESCO MEETING IN PARIS
Culture minister Elizabeth Papazoi is in Paris to participate in a
round-table discussion this morning, in the framework of a UNESCO
conference on the subject "Civilisation and creativity - a globalized
landscape." This afternoon, she is scheduled to attend a UNESCO award
ceremony of the international Melina Merkouri prize for safeguarding
cultural landscapes, which this year will be awarded to Latvia, Cuba
and the Palestinian authority by UNESCO general director Federico
Mayor.
[09] UN SECRETARY GENERAL APPOINTS NEW CYPRUS REPRESENTATIVE
On Monday, UN secretary general Kofi Anan notified the Security Council
that he plans to appoint his aide on political issues, Alvaro Desoto,
as the new UN special representative for the Cyprus issue.
[10] JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION INTO PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS
At the prompting of justice minister Evangelos Yannopoulos, the Supreme
court prosecutor general has ordered an urgent preliminary
investigation into accusations leveled by New Democracy deputy Dimitris
Kostopoulos that major construction companies are paying a 20%
commission illegally to civil engineers of the environment, planning
and public works ministry in order to secure contracts for public
works. Environment minister Kostas Laliotis also called for a judicial
inquiry.
[11] 4.5 RICHTER EARTH TREMOR IN IOANNINA
An earth tremor measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale occurred in the
region of Ioannina early this morning, with its epicenter 15 km north
of the city of Ioannina. So far, there have been no reports of
casualties or damage.
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