The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 08-04-18

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] With A. Kontos, G. Papandreou and PASEGES

18 Apr 2008 14:18:00

Sources: ���, ��� 105.8

Tobacco growers should shift to other crops, as direct subsidies will be reduced by 50% as of 2010, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Policy Mariann Fischer Boel said Friday in a Press conference. Greek Rural Development Minister Alexandros Kontos, on his part, said that already nine EU agriculture ministers have sent a letter to the EU against the 50% cut in tobacco crops. However, he claimed it would be a harsh battle. Boel also met with PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) President George Papandreou. The Socialist leader briefed the EU Commissioner on the progress of matters pertaining to the agricultural policy, the problems plaguing farmers in Greece, as well as on his partys proposal on rural development in Greece. Mariann Fischer Boel also held talks with the Panhellenic Confederation of Union of Agricultural Co-ops (PASEGES).

Translated by Areti Christou

[02] By Al Qaeda Members in Baghdad

18 Apr 2008 21:56:00

By Andreas Roditis

Sources: ANA

Al Qaeda members have entered Baghdad to carry out attacks using vehicle-borne, improvised-explosive devices or suicide vests, the US army said on Friday. The US army called on citizens to be particularly cautious, noting a stolen ambulance could be uses in an attack. More than 100 people have been killed in bomb attacks in northern Iraq over the last week.

Translated by Areti Christou

[03] Pope Addresses the UN General Assembly

Sources: REUTERS

Countries that act unilaterally on the world stage undermine the authority of the United Nations and weaken the broad consensus needed to confront global problems, Pope Benedict said on Friday. In a major speech to the U.N. General Assembly, the pope also said the international community sometimes had the duty to intervene when a country could not protect its own people from "grave and sustained violations of human rights."

The Pope, who arrived from Washington on the second leg of a six-day U.S. trip, was only the third pontiff in history to address the General Assembly. Speaking in French and English from the Assemblys green marble podium, he gave a wide-ranging address on issues such as globalization, human rights and the environment.

The international community must be "capable of responding to the demands of the human family through binding international rules," said the 81-year-old pope, who spoke after meeting privately with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

He said the notion of multilateral consensus was "in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the worlds problems call for interventions in the form of collective action by the international community."

[04] Crystal Skull not Aztec

Sources: AFP

As Indiana Jones gets set to hit cinema screens with a new death-defying adventure in the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", a Paris museum acknowledged Friday that its own star exhibit crystal skull was not what it was cracked up to be.

One of only a dozen such skulls known to exist worldwide, the Quai Branly museums piece was acquired in 1878 from an Indiana Jones-type explorer, Alphonse Pinart, as an Aztec masterpiece believed to be hundreds of years old, the remnant of an ancient and mysterious civilisation.

But in a statement Friday the museum admitted the skull, rather than dating from the Aztec period, was probably made in the 19th century.

From May 20 the Paris skull goes on view to coincide with the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" -- the fourth instalment in Harrison Fords archaeologists adventures since the 1981 blockbuster "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Legend has it that the Paris skull represents the Aztecs Mictlantecuhtli, who reigned over the land of the deceased, Mictlan. Reuniting all 12 existing skulls plus a supposed-to-exist 13th could prevent the earth from tipping over, according to fable.

In a statement Friday, the Quai Branly said results of an analysis of its skull in 2007-2008 by the countrys C2RMF research and restoration centre "seem to indicate that it was made late in the 19th century."

Over the past decade experts had voiced growing doubts over the Aztec origin of the crystal skulls, one of which is in the British Museum, another at Washingtons Smithsonian Institute.

[05] Oil Price Surge Anew

By Katerina Ioannidou

Sources: ANA/MPA

Oil prices rose Friday evening anew, after a significant fall amid fears of Chinas possible growth slowdown. At 17.10 Greek local time, US light crude was up at $115.10 per barrel, slightly down from Thursdays record $111.54 per barrel. However, oil climbed above $116 per barrel an hour later, due to rumours that major Nigerian oil pipelines had been sabotaged. In London, Brent for May Delivery stood at $112.47 per barrel on Friday, after hitting a record $113.38 per barrel on Thursday.

Translated by Areti Christou

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