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Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 15-11-02Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>Weekend News BulletinMonday, November 2 2015 CONTENTS
[01] President Pavlopoulos inaugurates Venizelos' museumGreek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos hailed on Sunday the vision and work of former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos in a ceremony inaugurating a museum dedicated to the Cretan statesman."Eleftherios Vanizelos envisioned great Greece, not just in size and population, but in prestige and as a model power internationally. [He envisioned] Greece with a multifaceted foreign policy worthy of its emblematic history and destined to play an equally historic role for the future," he told attendants in the suburb of Halepa, in the city of Chania. Venizelos dominated Greek political scene in the beginning of the 20th century and served several times as prime minister. The building housing the museum is Venizelos' former house. [02] PM Tsipras expresses condolences to Putin for Russian plane crashPrime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed the Greek people's deepest condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of hundreds of Russian citizens in Saturday's plane crash in Sinai, Egypt, during a phone conversation on Sunday.During their talk, the two leaders also spoke of the need for an effective and human approach on the refugee issue and the need to resolve the Syrian crisis. [03] European Parliament head Schultz to visit Lesvos with Tsipras next weekEuropean Parliament President Martin Schultz will visit Lesvos with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras next week, to witness first-hand the immense efforts of the Greek coast guard and the volunteers in rescuing and managing refugee flows.Government sources said on Saturday that Athens has led the efforts to activate EU institutions to address the refugee issue as a common European problem and Schultz's visit raises hopes that the European forces which support a humanitarian policy on the issue will be mobilized. "The government's aim is to highlight in its meetings the role of Greece as a frontline country in defense of solidarity and humanism, on behalf of the whole of Europe," the sources said. At the same time, the government is planning a series of meetings with bodies that have an immediate relation to the refugee issue, as the race to better manage and organize the reception and identification centers gets under way. The government will also attempt to effectively mobilize social solidarity, while volunteering activities will be held to inform public opinion. [04] Finance ministry, Greek banks say they're positive about results of recapitalizationGreece's finance ministry and the country's main lenders expressed on Sunday their optimism about the outcome of the third bank recapitalization, following the announcement of the results of European Central Bank's stress tests on Saturday. Banks are now expecting the Act of Cabinet which will determine the details of the relevant procedure.Speaking in parliament on Saturday, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that the recapitalization will be implemented along with a plan to resolve the issue of non-performing loans. "We have two parallel activities. The recapitalization starts today. In the second set of prior actions, we will have the solution on NPLs, so that by the end of the year both procedures will have been completed," he told parliament. On their side, the heads of the country's four largest banks - and one smaller - stressed the importance of successfully completing the recapitalization procedure so that lenders can focus on the man task, which is to fund the real economy through households and businesses. The chief executive of Eurobank, Fokion Karavias, said in a statement the review conducted by the ECB showed the bank has the smaller and completely manageable capital needs in the adverse scenario of the stress tests. Leonidas Fragiadakis, chief executive of the National Bank, said the tests present an opportunity for the Greek banking system to tackle drastically the effects of economic recession of the past few years. Alpha Bank's Dimitrios Matzounis said in a statement after the announcement of its 9-month results the lender is committed in the successful completion of the recapitalization by the end of the year and the achievement of its Restructuring Plan goals. Concerning Piraeus Bank, analysts say that the lender was burdened with the higher capital requirements because it has played an important role in the major restructuring and consolidation of the domestic banking system from the start of the crisis. The management of the smaller Attica Bank said it will take all necessary steps to meet the overall level of capital requirements through private equity. [05] Labour minister proposes merging all main social security fundsLabour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity Minister George Katrougalos proposed merging all main social security funds into one, as one way to reform the sector, according to an interview in Greek financial daily Imerisia on Saturday.The farmers' (OGA) and Seamen's (NAT) pension funds will the only one excluded, remaining as "separate legal entities for the performance of non-pension responsibilities", the minister said. Concerning the determination of social security contributions, given that in some funds they are higher than others, Katrougalos admitted it is a "very complicated issue", noting that the only thing he can say at the moment is that they will be calculated according to the income and will be determined by common criteria for everyone. [06] TV regulator's council must be set up to push forward with licensing, says State ministerThe council of Greece's TV and radio regulator, ESR, must be set up so that the TV licensing procedure can begin quickly, State Minister Nikos Pappas said in an interview with Greek daily Real News on Sunday.According to the paper, Pappas is optimistic the procedure will be completed soon by the Conference of Parliament Presidents considering that, despite criticism from the opposition parties on the media bill passed by parliament, there was "a climate of wider consensus on crucial articles" which constitutes "a good starting point". General News [07] Eleven more refugees, including children, drown off SamosEleven more refugees, including two children and four babies, drowned on Sunday morning, when their plastic boat sank as it was approaching a rocky coast off Samos, in the southeastern Aegean.Authorities said their boat was just six meters away from the coast when the accident happened. The victims were identified as five women, two children and four babies, while another 15 people were rescued by the coast guard. Coast guard officials, divers, and volunteers are still in the area. [08] 7,500 refugees crossed from Greece to FYROM in last 24 hours, says policeAbout 7,500 refugees have crossed from Greece to FYROM near the border town of Idomeni in the last 24 hours, the police's General Directorate of Macedonia told ANA-MPA on Sunday.The flow of people continues unabated while another 2,000 are waiting to cross, police added. [09] Greek ports Lavrio and Rafina remain closed due to bad weatherFerries remain docked in the ports of Rafina and Lavrio on Sunday because of strong winds but services continue from Piraeus, the coast guard announced on Sunday.The ferry service from Rio to Antirrio, linking the Peloponnese with the mainland, also remains closed. [10] Historic Keramikos neighbourhood unites Greek, French artists in joint projectThe lively neighbourhood of Keramikos in downtown Athens will be the center of an artistic experiment planned by two groups, French collective Pixel 13 and Greek group "Among the Ants", along with six selected Greek artists, running from November 26 to December 4."Project Kaos" will involve artists, performers, sound artists and architects who will cooperate to create a series of artistic interventions, art workshops both indoors and outdoors and activities open to the public. The result that will emerge will be a digital-audio-visual installation, which will be displayed on the outside walls of buildings in the area as well as live site-specific artistic actions. "What we're interested in is public space and how it can change through artistic activity and cooperation of the people living in the neighbourhood. Our action was originally purely artistic, but from 2013 we plan actions with a more social character," the coordinator of artistic projects for "Among the Ants", Konstantina Georgiou, told ANA-MPA. The artists selected to work with the groups are Penelope Vlassopoulou, Konstantinos Nomikos, Maria Economou, Ismini Proiou, Marietta Pavlaki and Sofia Preka. [11] Autumn sales start in Athens as shops remain open on SundayShops in Athens are open from 11.00 to 18.00 on Sunday, following a proposal by the city's trade association, while in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, the local association has made the decision optional.The opening coincides with the start of the intermediate autumn sales which will last until November 10, as part of the sector's efforts to boost business. [12] Greek gymnast Lefteris Petrounias wins gold at World championshipsGreek gymnast Lefteris Petrounias won the gold medal in the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow on Saturday. Petrounias executed flawlessly an impressive performance on the rings that earned him 15.800 points and first place.[13] Weather ForecastScattered clouds and light rain for some parts of the country are forecast on Monday. Wind velocity will reach 7 on the Beaufort scale. Cloudy in the northern parts of the country, with temperatures ranging from 08C-21C. Mostly sunny in the western parts with temperatures between 10C-13C. Mostly fair in eastern parts and temperatures between 14C-22C. Cloudy with light rain over the Aegean islands and Crete, 13C-21C. Scattered clouds in Athens, 12C-219C; the same for Thessaloniki, 10C-20C.Athens Headlines at a glance TO ARTHRO: Uncollectable taxes instead of reducing public waste AVGHI: Orphans of the war seek a country TO VIMA: SOS for the islands and the refugees I VRADINI: All the pension cuts and increases in retirement age DEMOKRATIA: Fears of rapid collapse ETHNOS: The changes at the...counter ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: A mammoth tax I EPOHI: Strong opposition against the pilling pressure I KATHIMERINI: "I was watching Greece head to the rocks" O LOGOS: Sad first place in unemployment TO PARON: End to loans for the cronies PROTO THEMA: An infinite camp RIZOSPASTIS: We set as a goal the restructuring the movement and expanding the forces of the Communist Party TO HONI: Asylum to the weak FREE SUNDAY: A refugee winter KONTRA NEWS: Five billion-euro robbery from the 'devil's triangle' REAL NEWS: Berlin raises a wall! 36, TSOCHA ST. ATHENS 115 21 GREECE - TEL: 64.00.560-63 ? FAX: 64.00.581-2 INTERNET ADDRESS: http://www.ana.gr - E-MAIL: anabul@ana.gr - GENERAL DIRECTOR: Michalis Psilos Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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