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Sunday, 22 December 2024 | ||
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-04-24Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Ex-PM Karamanlis voices support for SamarasAMNA / Former prime minister Costas Karamanlis broke a lengthy and 'audible' political silence on Tuesday to speak in support of his successor at the helm of the New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, stressing the need to strengthen the ND as a condition for political and governmental stability."The greater the support for New Democracy and Samaras, the more foundation there is to hope that we can emerge from the crisis without an even greater cost," he said in statement issued on Tuesday. "The primary requirement at the upcoming elections is political and governmental stability. Crucial decisions must be taken, structural changes proceed rapidly and, above all, there is an urgency for a comprehensive policy for growth that will bring the country out of the dead-end vortex of recession. The country must be capable of being government with a clear-cut political aim and a four-year time limit. www.amna.gr Otherwise, the unprecedented adventure that the country is experiencing can deteriorate on all levels; economically, socially and even nationally. A necessary requirement for political and governmental stability is to strengthen New Democracy," Karamanlis' statement said. amna [02] Ethnic Greek leader decries demolitions in HimareAMNA / The president of the "Omonia" political organisation in neighbouring Albania, Vassilis Bolanos, on Tuesday denounced what he called the "unacceptable and selective" demolition of buildings belonging to ethnic Greeks in the Himare region.He also referred to the "use of unprovoked force against the Greeks of the minority in Himare by state services and armed paramilitary groups." www.amna.gr Bolanos told AMNA from that Albanian state services "arrived in the region on April 19 for the demolition of unauthorised buildings, but made selected only building belonging to local residents, proceeding with demolitions without a ruling, only for vindictive reasons." Bolanos held a meeting last Friday with a representative of the OSCE in Albania, who reportedly took note of the problems faced by the ethnic Greek minority in the region. AMNA [03] Psomiadis to be extradited from fYRoMAMNA / Former pro football team owner and nightclub entrepreneur Makis Psomiadis, wanted in Greece on charges of match-fixing, is to be extradited from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) next Monday afternoon. Officers from the Greek National Central Bureau (NCB) of Interpol will be waiting at the Greece-fYRoM border in order to take custody of Psomiadis from the Interpol unit in Skopje.The extradition order was issued by the former Yugoslav country's justice ministry in response to a request made by the Greek justice ministry in mid-November, following the controversial football executive's arrest on Nov. 9 in a cafe in central Skopje and a decision that he be remanded in custody. amna [04] Turkish skipper charged in migrant smugglingAMNA / The Turkish skipper of a sailboat that ran aground last Sunday on a beach on the small Saronic Gulf island of Agistri, as it was carrying 60 illegal migrants of various nationalities, was due to appear before a Piraeus prosecutor on Tuesday.The island lies just off Piraeus. The suspect gave himself up at the local police station and was arrested for illegal migrant smuggling. www.amna.gr Fifty seven of the illegals were taken to holding cells in an Athens detention centre, two are hospitalised and one is being held at the Piraeus Port Authority. [05] More than 200,000 illegal pensions, benefits detectedAMNA / The Labour and Social Solidarity ministry has detected over 200,000 cases of illegal benefits over the past two years, while thousands of cases have been referred to Justice.According to Labour ministry sources, these benefits cost the social insurance system 700 to 750 million euros a year. amna According to the same sources, the solution is the restructuring of the benefits system and will be achieved with the unification of all the benefits in a unified agency. The total expenditures of the social insurance system amount to 3 billion euros a month, 1.5 billion of which are paid for pensions and bonuses and the rest for health benefits and the paying off of debts owed by Funds. amna [06] Major exhibition on Byzantium in US, RomeAMNA / The exhibition entitled "Byzantium: Masterpieces from Greek Collections" will be presented in US museums in the fall of 2013 until the spring of 2014 sponsored by the state-run betting pools organisation, OPAP, it was announced on Tuesday.The 3.2-million-euro sponsorship guarantee will be used only if no other sponsors are found, according to the Central Archaeological Council. A total of 300 unique masterpieces from state-run and private museums, monasteries and recent excavations in Greece, covering all periods of the Byzantine history from 330 AD to 1443 AD, will be on display in Washington's National Gallery and at the J. Paul Getty Museum north of Los Angeles. amna Equally important will be another exhibition entitled "Byzantium: The New Rome" to be held in Rome in Jan.-April 2015 co-organised by the Greek ministry of culture and Scuderie del Quirinale, one of the most important exhibition spaces in the Italian capital. www.amna.gr A total of 116 Greek exhibits, as well as, objects that come from Italian collections and the Vatican museums, will form the core of the exhibition that will be under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Italian presidency. amna Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |