Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-01
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 01/06/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- FM comments on Sunday Times article
- British Transport Minister in Athens today
- Greek, Italy culture ministers meet
- Hospital doctors to strike this week
- Truck driver caught out for bigamy
- Swedish royals to visit next year
- Thessaloniki registers Afghanistan quake
- Woman killed in car accident
- Budestag delegation to visit Athens
- Expert warns of Kozloduy danger
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
FM comments on Sunday Times article
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos today described as "tendentious" a
report in yesterday's edition of the Sunday Times about a plan to evacuate
British citizens from Cyprus if Russian-made missiles are installed in the
island republic. Citing official sources, the report said the plan provides
for evacuation if Nicosia goes ahead with the installation later this year
of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. Pangalos said the aim of the report was
quite clearly to exert pressure on the Cypriot government not to install
the defensive missiles.
British Transport Minister in Athens today
British Transport Secretary Dr. Gavin Strang arrives in Athens today for a
three-day visit and talks with the Greek Transport and Merchant Marine
ministers. Strang is expected to visit the British pavilion at the biennial
Posidonia international shipping exhibition, which opens its doors today in
Piraeus. The Lord Mayor of London Alderman Richard Nichols and British
ambassador Sir Michael Lllewelyn Smith will jointly inaugurate the biggest-
ever British pavilion at Posidonia. Nichols arrived in Athens on Saturday
on a nine-day official visit.
Greek, Italy culture ministers meet
Greece and Italy's culture ministers today called for Europe to keep up the
impetus in the European movie industry, saying greater cooperation could
challenge the U.S. hold on the world entertainment industry. Speaking at a
news conference in Athens today, Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos
said he and his Italian counterpart Walter Veltroni, who is also a deputy
prime minister of the Italian government, agreed on a series of cultural
events to further bolster already strong cultural ties between the two
countries. Greece and Italy must aim at "salvaging the enormous cultural
heritage of the two countries," Veltroni said. "Everybody must realise that
Europe is not only a currency, but a continent with a strong cultural
presence able to create an industry to rival that of America's."
Hospital doctors to strike this week
All hospitals and medical centres in the Attica Basin will be operating on
skeleton staff Wednesday and Thursday as Athens and Pireaus hospital
doctors mount a 48-hour strike for financial demands. EINAP, the union
representing the Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors, will meet with health
minister Costas Geitonas on Wednesday to state their positions, before an
extraordinary general assembly to take place the following day.
Truck driver caught out for bigamy
It might have been all right in ancient Greece to have more than one wife,
particularly if you were rich and powerful - Phillip II of Macedonia had
seven - but the practice is now punishable by law, as I.K. found out to his
cost today. The 45-year-old truck driver was sentenced by a Thessaloniki
court to 30 months' imprisonment for being in wedlock with two different
women for the past five years.
Swedish royals to visit next year
The Swedish royal couple will pay an official visit to Greece in April next
year, the first ever visit of a head of state between the two countries,
Greece's outgoing ambassador in Stockholm disclosed today. Ambassador
Emmanuel Kalpadakis told the ANA that preparations were already underway
for the visit. Kalpadakis, who is retiring after 35 years of service, will
be replaced by Nikolaos Ladopoulos, who will also be accredited for
Lithuania and Latvia.
Thessaloniki registers Afghanistan quake
Afghanistan's deadly earthquake was recorded "clearly" by the Thessaloniki
University's geophysics lab as registering 6.9 on the Richter scale, a
university seismologist said today. Vassilis Karakostas, head of the
laboratory, told the ANA that Afghanistan "belongs to the Eurasian seismic
zone, which starts from Gibraltar, runs through Greece, India and
Afghanistan, and ends in Indochina".
Woman killed in car accident
A young woman died early today when the car in which she was travelling,
driven by main opposition New Democracy deputy Costas Karaminas, hit three
parked cars and crashed into an electricity pylon. Karaminas and a friend
who was also in the car, Artemis Panousos, 32, a businessman and chairman
of the municipal council of Karlovasi on Samos, were not seriously injured
because they were wearing seat belts and their air-bags were activated on
impact. The girl, aged between 20 and 25, who is believed to be a foreigner,
was sitting in the back seat of the car and thrown through the windscreen
when the car hit the pylon.
Budestag delegation to visit Athens
A delegation from the Bundestag's legal committee will begin an official
visit to Greece on June 5, led by the committee's president Horst Eylmann.
The delegation is scheduled to meet with Parliament President Apostolos
Kaklamanis, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, Justice Minister Evangelos
Venizelos, Public Order Minister George Romeos and members of the Greek
Parliament. The focus of talks will be legal and European policy issues.
Expert warns of Kozloduy danger
Professor Costas Papastephanou, who lectures in nuclear physics at
Thessaloniki University, said today that four of the six reactors at the
Kozloduy nuclear power plant in neighbouring Bulgaria should already have
been closed down because of their obsolete technology. Commenting however
on reports of a recent minor nuclear accident at Kozloduy, Papastephanou
said "it can't have been very serious", adding that "if something did
happen, it must have been dealt with promptly".
WEATHER
Fine weather is forecast in most parts of Greece today except in the
central and northern regions which will be overcast and may see rain later
in the day. Athens will be mostly sunny with cloud likely in the afternoon
and temperatures as high as 30C. Possible rain in Thessaloniki in the
afternoon with maximum temperatures 28C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 302.917
British pound 493.044 Japanese yen(100) 217.387
French franc 50.612 German mark 169.706
Italian lira (100) 17.218 Irish Punt 427.552
Belgian franc 8.227 Finnish mark 55.826
Dutch guilder 150.576 Danish kr. 44.561
Austrian sch. 24.125 Spanish peseta 1.998
Swedish kr. 38.551 Norwegian kr. 39.878
Swiss franc 203.851 Port. Escudo 1.657
Aus. dollar 188.703 Can. dollar 208.320
Cyprus pound 576.352
(M.P.)
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