Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-08
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 08/06/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Greece sets out stance on EU expansion
- Greece renews calls for return of Parthenon Marbles
- Pangalos visits Ecumenical Patriarchate
- 37 youths arrested in rave party
- Two foreign seamen die on yacht
- Long weekend mass exodus road toll
- Imported used car prices to drop: newspaper
- Legal battle over Ionian Bank strike
- Body of foreign woman found in Glyfada identified
- US national rescued off Lefkada
- Kastoria lake suicide
- Consumer price inflation holds steady at 5.3 pct
- Acropolis Rally update
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Greece sets out stance on EU expansion
Greece today stressed that it believed any new expansion of the European
Union had to be achieved through a "unified" approach, according to an ANA
dispatch from Luxembourg, where the foreign ministers of EU countries met.
Speaking to his counterparts, Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou
said no agreement could be formalised without there being some form of
final agreement. Papandreou set out the Greek objections to proposed budget
reforms, saying that participation in the European Union could not be
limited to "accounting". He said that Greece believed that before
any decision on expansion could be made there had to be some evaluation
of the political and total cost of expansion.
Greece renews calls for return of Parthenon Marbles
Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, citing press reports of "irreparable
damage" to the Parthenon marbles while in posession of the British Museum,
has renewed Greece's demand for the return of the marbles to Athens. The
reports in the "Mail on Sunday" and later in other London dailies quoted
British historian William St. Clair as saying that the Parthenon friezes
suffered "significant and irrevocable" damage some 60 years ago when
British museum staff tried to restore the friezes to what was mistakenly
thought to be their original colour. "Unfortunately what is being revealed
to the wider public on the way the Parthenon Marbles are being handled by
the British Museum was known to the experts and have been stressed
repeatedly by Greek scientists," Venizelos said in a statement. The reports,
he said, "demolish once and for all the baseless and provocative British
argument that the Parthenon Marbles are protected and displayed better in
London than in their natural environment in Athens".
Pangalos visits Ecumenical Patriarchate
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos today paid a courtesy call on
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos at the Patriarchate's seat in the Phanar,
according to an ANA dispatch from Istanbul. Vartholomeos, according to the
dispatch, underlined the respect and honour the Patriarchate has for Greece
and its Church. Pangalos in turn stressed the deep feelings of the Greek
people for the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Vartholomeos said he would soon be
visiting Athens, in return for the visit to the Phanar of new Archbishop of
Athens and All Greece Christodoulos.
37 youths arrested in rave party
Police last night arrested 37 young people of both sexes, most of them
minors, for taking part in a weekend rave drug party at the foot of Mt.
Dirfys, near Halkis on the island of Evia. The youths, detained on drug
charges, were among 200 others, including pupils, students and soldiers,
who joined the open-air party. Police, who raided the area, said that most
of them were under the influence or in possession of drugs such as cocaine,
LSD, heroin, hashish and "ecstasy" pills. They will appear before a public
prosecutor today.
Two foreign seamen die on yacht
Two Ukrainian seamen died yesterday while conducting maintenance work on
their yacht, anchored at the port of Igoumenitsa, the merchant marine
ministry said. The two men - Anatoly Chykhry, 57, and Leonid Mataidora, 32 -
were members of a 35-strong Ukrainian crew working on the Ukrainian-flagged
Zakharyan, which had docked at Igoumenitsa on June 1 for maintenance work.
Igoumenitsa port authorities are conducting an investigation into the
incident.
Long weekend mass exodus road toll
Athenians and other Greek urban dwellers are taking advantage of the
Pentacostal long weekend to visit the countryside and beaches. Authorities
report that up to 250 thousand vehicles have left Athens since Friday, not
without the obligatory carnage that follows such much exodus: 17 people
have lost their lives and 234 injured in 188 car accidents since Friday,
throughout the country. Traffic police announced measures for the safe
return of holiday makers, including extra patrols and assignment of
additional highway lanes to Athens in-bound traffic.
Imported used car prices to drop: newspaper
The price of imported used vehicles is expected to drop from January 1999,
according to a "Vima" newspaper report which cites legislation under
preparation, to go before a government economic committee next week. The
new measures are also expected to result in a price hike of used vehicles
sold in Greece as well as a moderate rise for new cars and motorcycles.
Legal battle over Ionian Bank strike
The suit of the Ionian Bank management against the General Confederation of
Greek Workers (GSEE) for coverage offered to the bank's striking employees,
is expected to go before the Athens First Instance Court on Tuesday. Ionian
management are pushing for a court order to end the strike, called in
opposition to government privatisation plans.
Body of foreign woman found in Glyfada identified
The body of a woman found near the Glyfada Golf Club on May 30, was
identified as that of 35-year-old Irish national Maire Cronin. Cronin,
originaly from Dublin, came to Greece on May 22 and visited the island of
Spetses until the 29th, when she returned to the port of Piraeus by
hydrofoil. She was due to fly on the following day to London, where she
lived and worked in a health insurance firm. Her body was found on the
perimeter of the Golf Club covered with branches. According to forensic
reports, she died of head wounds inflicted by an axe or a buther's knife.
Police investigations continue.
US national rescued off Lefkada
An American national, who had fallen off a Patras-Brindisi passenger ferry,
was plucked from the sea off the southern coast of the Ionian island of
Lefkada by a passing fishing boat. Dorian Briselston, 21, told authorities
he had fallen from a ferry and had been in the water for about three hours
before being rescued by the fishing boat. He was taken to a Lefkada
hospital for medical check, while local port authorities are conducting a
preliminary investigation.
Kastoria lake suicide
A young construction worker apparently took his own life yesterday, jumping
off a boat into the water of Kastoria lake, in nothern Greece. The body of
Antonis Zeketis, 28, was recovered today from the lake by local fishermen.
Consumer price inflation holds steady at 5.3 pct
Consumer price inflation in May held steady at 5.3 percent year-on-year
from April, the Greek National Statistics Service (GNSS) said yesterday.
Inflation is expected to resume its downward trend in June after absorbing
the impact of a 13.8 percent devaluation when the drachma joined the
European Union's exchange rate mechanism on March 14.
Acropolis Rally update
Subaru driver Colin McRae seized the lead in the Acropolis Rally on
Monday's opening stage after overnight leader Richard Burns suffered from
being first out on the gravel roads. Burns had led fellow Briton McRae by
2.4 seconds after the first day on Sunday, but this advantage had
disappeared by the end of the opening stage between Bauxities and Karoutes
when he was 15.7 seconds behind McRae.
Weather
Fine weather is expected throughout the country for most of Monday. Central
and northern in-land areas can expect some cloud and scattered showers with
the possibility of local thunderstorms later in the day. Northwesterly
moderate winds will prevail. Athens will be fine in the morning, some cloud
in the afternoon with a temperature range of 19-33 degrees centigrade.
Similar forecast for Thessaloniki with a chance of a shower later in the
day, temps 17-32.
Foreign exchange
Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 297.650
British pound 487.965 Japanese yen(100) 213.826
French franc 50.207 German mark 168.342
Italian lira (100) 17.097 Irish Punt 425.171
Belgian franc 8.161 Finnish mark 55.383
Dutch guilder 149.351 Danish kr. 44.200
Austrian sch. 23.933 Spanish peseta 1.981
Swedish kr. 38.349 Norwegian kr. 40.063
Swiss franc 202.308 Port. Escudo 1.645
Aus. dollar 179.175 Can. dollar 204.531
Cyprus pound 572.067
(M.P.)
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