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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-10
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 10/06/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Spata airport on schedule for 2001
- Teachers stand-off with ministry
- Ionian Bank strike ruled illegal
- Government says it will go ahead with sale
- Red tape only hitch in Olympics planning
- Children's rights group set up
- FPA to commemorate George Polk
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Spata airport on schedule for 2001
Greece will open its new international airport for Athens on March 1, 2001,
Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis said. The Eleftherios Venizelos
airport at Spata, east of Athens, will replace the existing facility at
Hellenikon on the south coast. The project's budget is 658 billion
drachmas. "The timescale (for construction) is being strictly adhered to,"
Laliotis told reporters during a tour of the worksite by Prime Minister
Costas Simitis. According to data from Athens International Airport (DAA),
the project's superviser, more than 88 percent of earthworks have been
completed, and construction of the main terminal, air traffic control
centre and control tower is underway.
Teachers stand-off with ministry
Tension between teachers and the education ministry continued to heighten,
just two days before 46,500 unemployed teachers sit an exam that will
determine whether and when they will be appointed to state school jobs.
Teachers' representatives, speaking at a news conference today, warned of
"a general rising up" around the country if the ministry persisted in
holding the examinations. "Committees have established outside the
examination centres to support occupations of the centres, we will protest
and march because we believe that the competition is against our interests,
" Yiannis Halioris, the president of the supply teachers union said.
Teachers last month decided to hold a 48-hour strike on June 11-12, when
the Supreme Council for the Selection of Personnel holds the competition
for the appointment of teachers.
Ionian Bank strike ruled illegal
An Athens court today ruled as illegal a month-long strike by Ionian Bank
employees against government plans to sell a majority stake in the bank
rather than merge it with state-owned parent company Commercial Bank. The
ruling, the third successively, applies to a walkout from June 6-10 under
the umbrella of the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE).
Ionian Bank employees have been on a rolling strike since May 11 to protest
the planned sale of a 51 percent majority package in the bank through a
bidding process on the Athens Stock Exchange, and the bank's management
took striking workers to court for the third time yesterday.
Government says it will go ahead with sale
The government's position on the sale of Ionian is unchanged since the only
new element is the court ruling on the strike, government spokesman
Dimitris Reppas said later. Reppas condemned "a section of the workers" who
were deploying "diversionary tactics" to hinder the normal operation of the
bank and complicate the sale process. "These attitudes - working to the
detriment of the bank's workers, clients and shareholders - will not
prevail," Reppas said. He said that the full operation of the bank was "a
matter of days" and the sale process will be completed on the basis of the
time frame already announced.
Red tape only hitch in Olympics planning
The organisers of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games today said that the only
hitch in progress so far has been dealing with legendary red tape in the
Greek state. "Our cooperation with government and opposition parties is at
a very good level and we have had no problems, despite reports to the
contrary. We have a problem, however, with the 'faceless state'," Stratis
Stratigis, the president of the Athens 2004 Organising Committee, which
operates as a societe anonyme, said. "They asked us for tax returns and
social security coupons for a company that has just been established," he
added.
Children's rights group set up
The establishment of Children's Forum 21, an Athens-based international non-
governmental organisation "to promote effective change in the situation of
children all over the world", was announced today. Inspired by the United
Nations' convention of the rights of the child, CF21 was founded "to
support the fundamental rights of the children of the world, with the
active participation of young people and adults", Executive Council
chairperson Isidora Papafragou told a press conference at the FPA.
FPA to commemorate George Polk
The Foreign Press Association of Greece (FPA) today announced it would
unveil a commemorative plaque marking the 50th anniversary of the murder of
veteran CBS correspondent George W. Polk during a special ceremony at the
FPA premises on Friday at 6:45 p.m. Guest speakers on the work of Polk will
include Euro-MP and journalist Yannis Roubatis, journalist/author Elias
Vlanton, and Professor Edmund Keeley, an author and academic and one of
America's first Fulbrighters in Greece. The commemorative ceremony will be
attended by Polk's widow, Mrs. Rhea Polk.
WEATHER
Partly cloudy weather is forecast throughout Greece today with scattered
showers or storms on the mainland in the afternoon. Winds variable, light
to moderate. Athens will be sunny with scattered clouds and temperatures
between 19-32C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 19-31C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Tuesday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 298.185
British pound 487.647 Japanese yen(100) 212.804
French franc 50.082 German mark 167.941
Italian lira (100) 17.050 Irish Punt 423.386
Belgian franc 8.141 Finnish mark 55.304
Dutch guilder 148.988 Danish kr. 44.104
Austrian sch. 23.925 Spanish peseta 1.979
Swedish kr. 38.083 Norwegian kr. 39.995
Swiss franc 202.269 Port. Escudo 1.640
Aus. dollar 177.960 Can. dollar 204.610
Cyprus pound 571.392
(M.P.)
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