The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 01-08-16

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

16/8/2001 2:45:00 μμ

[01] Weather forecast

[02] Virging Mary Day celebrations

August, 15 also marks Armed Forces Day in Greece and the 61st anniversary of the sinking of the cruiser "Elli" in Tinos' harbour by an Italian submarine, a tragic prelude to the countrys entry into World War II a few months later.

On his part, Greek President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos celebrated the religious holiday on the eastern Aegean island of Mytilini, satisfying, as he said, a long-held wish to spend the August, 15 religious holiday on the island.

In northern Greece, thousands of worshippers, mostly descendants of expatriate Greeks from the Pontus region of the southeastern Black Sea coast, congregated on the foothills of Mount Vermio at the Panaghia Soumela monastery.

[03] Rolling strikes by street sweepers and return collectors and workers in the oil and chemical industries

Local government workers, which include street-sweepers and rubbish collectors, are demanding a collective agreement for 2001, equal pay for permanent and temporary workers, productivity bonuses, increased lump sum payments on retirement and other demands.

Due to the strike, the public are requested not to take their rubbish down to the street to avoid creating sources of infestation.

Also rolling 48-hour strikes, starting on Saturday, were announced by the Panhellenic Federation of Workers in Oil and Chemical industries, who oppose to the privatisation of the Greek Oil Refeniries.

[04] Taiwan allowed the return of two Greek seamen

The two men were the captain and engineer of the Greek-flagged freighter "Amorgos" that had crashed onto a reef in Taiwan's waters on January 14.

Since then, Taiwanese officials have not allow them to leave in order to pressure shipowners "Hermes Maritime" to pay for the cost of an environmental cleanup for a large oil slick caused by fuel escaping from the ship.

[05] Oil prices up

[06] NATO vanguard in FYROM by the end of the week

NATO ambasadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday approved the sending of the advance contigent of 400 troops as pioneers of a mission which will be the alliance's third in the Balcans.

However, the ambassadors from the alliance's 19 member states took no decision on Wednesday on deploying a full force, whose job will be to collect an estimated 3000 weapons which are supposed to be voluntarily handed over by the guerillas.

Earlier, FYROM Foreign minister had announced that the government had given the necessary formal go-ahead for full NATO deployment while President Boris Trajkovski had outlined an amnesty for guerillas excluding though those who had committed crimes that could be persecuted by the UN war crimes tribunal at the Hague and those who refuse to surrender their weapons.

Despite these developments, the situation remains tense in the region as witnesses in Tetovo reported that UCK guerillas opened fire against government forces.

[07] International pressure for peace in the ME

The US and Russia have agreed to coordinate efforts to end more than 10 months of violence and pave the way to a resumption of talks.

American President George Bush described extreme violence in the ME and assesed that war could be averted if both involved parties showed restraint.

Late last night, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for an emergency session of Arab Foreign Ministers to confront the Israeli acts and intransigence.

[08] Violen t storms sweep France

[09] Teen killer wins a rare stay of execution in Texas

The Texas Court decided it wanted time to study Beazley's lawyers' appeals questioning the legality of executing someone who was not an adult at the time of his crime.

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