Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-04-28

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] President troubled at poll findings on far-right voters

[02] Pepsico ordered to pay damages for toxins in Seven-Up

[03] Gov't sees energy investments of Dr 7.0 bln by 2010

[04] AEK Athens wins Greek soccer cup

[05] President leads commemoration for Missolonghi

[06] Senior ruling party official calls for policy counter-attack

[07] Orthodox Easter services in Istanbul to be shown on Greek TV

[08] Australian newspaper chief calls for return of Parthenon Marbles

[09] Conference on return of Parthenon Marbles held in US

[10] Deputy transport minister to run for Thessaloniki mayor

[11] Search launched for Russian seamen missing in northern waters

[12] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Monday

[13] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[01] President troubled at poll findings on far-right voters

President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos on Sunday expressed concern at the outcome of an opinion poll that showed seven percent of Greeks ready to vote for a far-right political party, and 12 percent likely to do so.

''It's unthinkable that there are Greeks who remain unmoved by the freedom we are enjoying today,'' Stephanopoulos told reporters.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a commemoration ceremony for the fall of Missolonghi during Greece's War of Independence in the early nineteenth century.

Stephanopoulos said that the sacrifice made by the ''Free Besieged'' in the western Greek town remained a paradigm of the urge to freedom and love of country.

The ceremony was attended by government ministers and opposition leaders.

[02] Pepsico ordered to pay damages for toxins in Seven-Up

The Supreme Court has ordered Pepsico Ivi, a domestic operation of the soft drinks multinational, to pay 20 million drachmas in damages to an unidentified consumer who ingested toxins contained in the firm's Seven-Up brand.

The young woman who drank the beverage in 1990 that was found to contain caustic soda and caustic potash suffered health problems that led to a loss of income from work and expenses for nursing staff, along with psychological trauma.

According to medical reports, the woman is still suffering from olefactory problems.

Under the court ruling realeased on Sunday, Pepsico Ivi, which had denied liability, failed to conduct proper controls on the contents of the bottled drink it produced.

The consumer suffered burns in the mouth and pharynx, stomach cramps and breathing difficulties due to the chemicals contained in the drink. Following use of a hospital stomach pump, she was placed on a long-term course of treatment.

[03] Gov't sees energy investments of Dr 7.0 bln by 2010

Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said on Sunday that about 7.0 billion drachmas would be invested in energy by 2010.

The projects around the country included construction of privately owned, gas-fired electricity plants, renewal of power transmission networks, and investments in alternative energy sources.

Tsohatzopoulos was speaking after an informal meeting of European Union energy ministers in Spain.

[04] AEK Athens wins Greek soccer cup

AEK Athens on Saturday night downed Olympiakos Piraeus 2-1, winning the Greek soccer cup for the 12th time.

The victory came a week after Olympiakos beat AEK 4-3 in a key match for the championship.

AEK last won the cup in 2000.

[05] President leads commemoration for Missolonghi

President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos on Sunday led a commemoration ceremony for the heroic fall of Missolonghi during Greece's War of Independence in the early nineteenth century.

Stephanopoulos said that the sacrifice of the ''Free Besieged'' in the western Greek town remained a paradigm of the urge to freedom and love of country.

The ceremony was attended by government ministers and opposition leaders.

[06] Senior ruling party official calls for policy counter-attack

The secretary of the ruling PASOK party, Costas Laliotis, has called for a policy counter-offensive ahead of local elections in the autumn.

''We need a counter-offensive now, through policies that must convince and inspire,'' Laliotis told the Ethnos on Sunday newspaper in an interview.

''Officials of the party must finally and irrevocably put an end to a vicious circle of introversion, complaining and defeatism,'' he said.

Laliotis added that undue importance should not be attached to the findings of opinion polls; and that the local elections would not bring any major political changes.

[07] Orthodox Easter services in Istanbul to be shown on Greek TV

ISTANBUL (ANA/Alkis Kourkoulas) - Greek Television (ET) is to show Orthodox Easter services from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul throughout the coming week.

The broadcasts for Orthodox Easter, which falls on May 5, are sponsored by the culture ministry.

[08] Australian newspaper chief calls for return of Parthenon Marbles

MELBOURNE (ANA) - The chief editor of the Melbourne-based Sunday Herald Sun called on Britain to return the Parthenon Marbles to Athens and pledged that his newspaper would continue to campaign for their repatriation.

''The arguments used by the British, who refuse to return the sculptures, no longer hold good. I hope that by (the Olympics) in 2004 they will be in Athens,'' Alan Howe told reporters on Sunday.

He was speaking at a ceremony arranged by the Council for Overseas Greeks (Oceania) with ethnic Greek businesses to welcome the newspaper's contribution to the campaign for return of the Marbles.

In the past, the Sunday Herald Sun has said that museums around the world were afraid of the idea of the sculptures returning to the Parthenon in case a precedent was set for other works of art to be sent back to their country of origin.

Although study on a case-by-case basis was required, there was no longer any doubt that Lord Elgin had looted the treasures from Greece, and that justice should be done, a recent lead article in the paper said.

The Sunday Herald Sun has also covered a petition campaign by ethnic Greeks in Australia for the sculptures' return that was handed to British Prime Minister Tony Blair on a recent visit to Australia.

The newspaper, which has a circulation of 550,000, has also published petition forms for readers to sign and send back.

[09] Conference on return of Parthenon Marbles held in US

WASHINGTON (ANA) - The University of Missouri's Greek Studies Department in St. Louis held a three-day international conference that ended on Sunday on the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

Taking part in the conference were archaeologists, academics and experts in the subject from Greece, the U.S., Britain and Canada.

Greece has repeatedly requested the return of the Marbles to Greece from the British Museum in London, where they are housed.

A goal of the meeting was to try to forge worldwide consensus among archaeologists on the need for return of the sculptures.

The organisers called on academics and the public to visit the conference's website at www.parthenonconference.com for information on campaigns that aim to persuade Britain to give the sculptures back to their homeland.

The conference, which was open to the public, received funding from the University of Missouri's Greek Studies Department and Greece's culture ministry.

Among the speakers was a culture ministry archaeologist, Elena Korka, who spoke on the repercussions of the Marbles' transfer to London.

[10] Deputy transport minister to run for Thessaloniki mayor

Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Spyros Vouyias is to run for Thessaloniki mayor in the autumn after securing support for the move from the ruling PASOK party.

''This does not mean that PASOK has nominated Spyros Vouyias. It does mean that he has accomplishments behind him, a vision and a plan for metropolitan Thessaloniki, and he has served in local government,'' Costas Laliotis, the head of PASOK's central committee, told reporters in the northern port city on Sunday.

Vouyias was a candidate for the post in 1998, backed by the Coalition of the Left and Progress, environmentalists and non-aligned groups.

[11] Search launched for Russian seamen missing in northern waters

A search and rescue mission is underway for two Russian seamen who went missing in waters off Halkidiki, northern Greece, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The captain of a Russian-flagged freighter, the Giprostroitel Alexantrov, called Thessaloniki Harbour Corps for assistance after the two crew members were reported missing aboad ship.

The vessel had set sail from Thessaloniki, bound for Russia.

[12] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Monday

The day will be sunny in all parts of the country, possibly turning to isolated storms over high ground in the north. Winds westerly, light. In the north, temperatures will range from 9C to 23C; on the rest of the mainland from 11C to 25C; and in the islands from 14C to 22C. Mostly sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 12C and 24C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 10C to 22C.

[13] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro until Monday

U.S. dollar 0.904

Pound sterling 0.622

Danish kroner 7.493

Swedish kroner 9.304

Japanese yen 116.1

Swiss franc 1.476

Norwegian kroner 7.635

Cyprus pound 0.581

Canadian dollar 1.414

Australian dollar 1.663

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