Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-05-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Nine injured, mostly police, at gold mine protest in Halkidiki

[02] Traditional Kifissia flower show back for 59th year in a row

[01] Nine injured, mostly police, at gold mine protest in Halkidiki

Earlier reports had said there were only four police injured, one with heavier but not life-threatening injuries transported to a Thessaloniki hospital. Of the rest, all were treated locally for light injuries.

A spokesperson for the residents told ANA-MPA that clashes broke out when the riot police moved to block residents and then started using tear gas. The residents' protest, Tolis Papageorgiou said, was staged ahead of a meeting they were scheduled to hold on Monday with a chief prosecutori in Thessaloniki to lodge a complaint of what they allege is illegal gold mining by Hellas Gold.

"The shooting of police in Halkidiki is a great provocation against the state of law in our country," Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister Nikolaos Dendias said late on Sunday.

"It is obvious that in a democratic country anyone has the right to protest. But it is also obvious that any claim must be ruled on by judicial or other authorities, and hooded individuals with hunting guns and molotov cocktails cannot impose their own sense of so-called justice." The minister also called on all parties and forces to condemn the incident explicitly, "without footnotes or reading between-the-lines."

(File photo from protest rally in Thessaloniki against Hellas Gold's operation)

[02] Traditional Kifissia flower show back for 59th year in a row

"It is a fact that the sector of floriculture is dynamic and Greek flower producers are able and active," Kifissia Mayor Nikos Chiotakis said, adding that the Agriculture Ministry could help them improve exports, thus contribute to the trade balance and the economy overall.

Tsaftaris responded that "exports of flowers are increasing sharply recently" and said the government was building a large flower auction house in greater Thessaloniki, in the north, that would support exports. Outlook for the sector was very positive, he added.

According to a city of Kifissia press release, over 2,000 flowers cultivated in Greece will be on sale at the 59th Kifissia flower show. It will be open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and entrance is 1.5 euros except for children under 12 and lower-income groups.

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