The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 06-03-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] A Village in Didimotiho Evacuated Crucial Situation in Evros

By Vivian Papastefanou

Sources: ÍÅÔ-ANA

The situation in the Prefecture of Evros has turned really dramatic, since the levees are falling apart one after the other, while the collapse of a main levee prompted the precautionary evacuation of the village of Pragi near Didimotiho. Initial estimations speak of some 40,000 hectares flooded, while more than 70 houses were evacuated in Lavara. The areas animal breeding industry has sustained major damage. Evros Prefect Nikos Zabounidis stated that the prefecture entrusts its hopes to the rescue teams of both the army and police. The water supply in several sections of the Municipality of Didimotiho, as well as in a great part of the city, has been disrupted. Furthermore, the relevant authorities tested the water unfit, therefore bottled water is being given out for free to the affected villages. Early on Thursday morning, the water level at the Pythio measuring station stood at 6.63m, with the alarm limit being at 5.70m, at Petalo it neared 6.80m, with the alarm limit at 6m, at Kipous it reached 4.90m, while the alarm limit is at 4m, and the water level at the Ardas dam rose to 5m, with the alarm limit at 5.20m. The flood-stricken will be compensated, assured the Ministry of Rural Development. SYN President Alekos Alavanos and member of KKEs Central Committee Orestis Kolozof are to visit the affected areas. In the meantime, Turkey is also facing grave problems, since thousands hectares flooded in the wider area of Andrianoupoli.

Translated by Areti Christou

[02] For the Funding of Small Businesses Sioufas at Maximos Mansion

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis met with Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas at Maximos Mansion on Wednesday morning to discuss energy matters, among other issues. After the meeting, Mr Sioufas declared that he briefed the PM on the upcoming meeting of Balkan energy ministers, scheduled for 31 March in Thessaloniki, at the initiative of the Greek Development Minister, while they also discussed the EU energy policy, in view of the Summit. The Development Minister also mentioned that, in the context of the competitiveness programme, he would soon be announcing the funding of small businesses, to the amount of 504 million euros (238 of which will be national and EU funds). As he noted, the programme pertains to 1,652 businesses. In addition, he discussed anew with the PM the three innovative research centres in Xanthi, Ioannina and Patras, while he stressed that the development law is advancing extremely well since 800 out of the 1,500 programmes submitted have been approved, and 20 million euros in grants have been allocated.

He also pointed out that the Government would invest heavily in research and innovation in the next few years, adding that 12 relevant proposals have already been submitted. Finally, he underlined that the Government mainly aims at steady growth throughout the country and for all the citizens, mentioning that he will continue holding discussions with ministers to make up for lost time, as he met with the Tourism Minister on Wednesday and is scheduled to meet with the Rural Development Minister.

Answering to a question concerning an article that appeared in the newspaper Pontiki, whereby he had met with the Swedish Ambassador and the head of Ericsson last February, therefore hinting to the wiretapping case, Mr Sioufas stressed that the meeting had been announced and it took place on 7 February. "We have more serious matters to discuss, though. You can visit the Ministrys website to find out what happened then," he concluded.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[03] Burial in Pozarevac on Saturday Milosevic's Body on Public Display

By Athina Saloustrou

The remains of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been put on public display at the Revolution Museum, which lies near his familys house, Belgrade. It was Voislav Kostunicas intervention that offered this place, since the Socialists couldnt find a building to lay their leaders coffin for public viewing. The request he be laid in front of the building housing the Federal Parliament was overruled by Belgrades municipal authorities. Similar requests made for the SAVA congress hall and the indoor sport complexes of Pionir and Beogradska Arena were overruled, as well. The Socialist Party and Serbian Radical Party have embarked on a campaign calling on their supporters to massively "see their leader off" to his resting place. Pictures of Milisevic have been posted across Belgrade, while the Socialist Party estimated that more than 400,000 people are to attend the funeral, while they stated that some 400,000 people have already signed to the condolences book. Milosevics body will be transferred Saturday to his hometown, Pozarevic, and will be buried at the yard of his family house, under a linden tree that meant a lot for Milosevic and his widow.

Milosevics son Marko and his widow Mira are due to arrive Thursday in Belgrade. The Serbian Interior Ministry ordered she hand in her passport to authorities at the Belgrade airport and appear before a court on March 23. Mira is accused of abuse of power, because she gave her grandsons nanny a flat that belonged to the state.

Translated by Areti Christou

Read the story on other sources:

BBC: Public to view Milosevic coffin

Independent: High emotions as Milosevic comes home to RIP

Related News:

Milossevic's Remains in Belgrade

Milosevic's Burial in Serbia

[04] Over the New Youth Job Law Students Stage Rallies in France

By Vivian Papastefanou

With the 2/3 of French universities being under their control, students have scheduled new mass rallies for Thursday in several French cities to voice their outright objection to the new youth job law allowing employers to hire and fire without paying out compensations to the young aged under 26. The steering committee of the students has called on all youths to participated Thursday in a "day of action" against the law. Late on Wednesday night, 46 out of the 84 University heads voted in favour of a proposal urging de Villepins administration to launch a new dialogue on the law. French PM Dominique de Villepin underlined that the law in question will curb unemployment among the young, yet, following Wednesdays emergency cabinet meeting he stated he is open to a dialogue. Youth unemployment, now standing at 22.8%, more than twice the national average rate, was widely held as one of the reasons that sparked off the riots in the poor Paris suburbs last year. Police have been on alert fearing that the demonstrations will be marred by violent incidents.

Leftists Strongly Reacted

French President Jacques Chirac expressed Wednesday his backing to PM de Villepin, however, some members of the ruling party are gravely concerned about the consequences the riots would yield just one year ahead of the presidential elections. Opinion polls conducted so far have shown that de Villepins popularity has sustained major losses.

However, in an article appeared on Thursdays Paris Match magazine, the French Prime Minister argued that convincing the citizens about the righteousness of his policy is an imperative. "I will do it to the end, because I believe in this measure," he said.

Left-wingers, on the other hand, called the law unconstitutional and resorted to Justice, requesting the Supreme Court rule the controversial law as such. In their joint announcement, they called on the French to participate in the demonstrations, scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. The French leftists also made it clear that only when the law is repealed will they join the dialogue.

Translated by Areti Christou

Related News:

French Students Toughen Stance

Incidents in Sorbonne

[05] Legislative Work and Constitutional Review Karamanlis-Stavrou Held Talks

By Athina Saloustrou

Greek PM Kostas Karamanlis held talks Thursday morning at Maximos Mansion with the secretary of NDs Parliamentary Group Apostolos Stavrou. Mr Stavrou stated that the legislative work topped the meeting, while they also agreed to set up teams of MPs to dash the countryside to counterattack "the industry of lies and political deception orchestrated by certain circles." The secretary of the ruling partys Parliamentary Group also referred to the Constitutional review, for which working groups are to be set up. Mr Stavrou further added that the countrys Economy is reacting positively to the Governments initiatives, while improved interventions to the benefit of the citizens may be brought about.

Translated by Areti Christou

[06] Authorities Remain on Alert River Evros Subsides

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: ANA - NET

The situation is Evros is improving since the water levels of the rivers Evros, Ardas and Erythropotamos are not rising, although they remain at alarming levels. According to the relevant authorities, some 15,000 hectares of crops flooded and more than 70 houses in Lavara were evacuated, while the Greek Armys outpost 13 is still flooded. The authorities remain on alert as a precaution, with the main priority being the safety of the residents. During a meeting in Orestiada, Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos mentioned that the waters surging in from Bulgaria are aggravating the situation, noting the need to collaborate with the neighbouring country. He also stressed that the necessary anti-flooding measures will be implemented and compensations will be granted as soon as possible. A PASOK panel, headed by Anna Diamantopoulou, visited the affected areas on Wednesday.

On Alert as a Precaution

The authorities are focusing their attention on the southern part of Ecros, since the water level on the northern part has subsided.

In Sofiko, where the Fire Department pulled three farmers to safety, many animals remain trapped in stables, while in Pythio, the locals put up levees to protect themselves.

In Pythio, the water level is at 6.78m (alarm level 5.70m), in Petalo at 6.88m, (alarm level 6.00m), in Kipoi at 4.90m (alarm level 4.00m), and in Adras at 5.40m (alarm level 5.20m).

The situation is just as severe in neighbouring Turkey, since thousands of hectares in Adrianopol are underwater.

During the meeting in Orestiada, the Interior Minister stressed that the people will be fully compensated within the legal guidelines, while the necessary public works will advance. At the same time, he thanked the Prefects MPs, the Fire Department, the Police, the areas Metropolitan Bishop, the volunteers, the rescue crews and the Media for their assistance.

Mr Pavlopoulos also referred to the need to work together with Bulgaria and Turkey. Speaking about Bulgaria, he noted that the Greek authorities were not notified immediately and the country did not exhaust its potentials, while he noted that both himself and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis contacted their Bulgarian counterparts to discuss the matter. Referring to Turkey, he underlined the need to collaborate in order to settle the matter relating to the riverbed.

On his part, Michalis Angelopoulos, regional head for East Macedonia-Thrace, said that the social sensitivity and the States assistance were real.

PASOK spoke of the Governments inability and incompetence to deal with the special programme for solving the problems in Evros, a programme that was prepared in 2003. In addition, it announced that it would ask the PM to submit to Parliament a comprehensive action plan for the area.

The Interior Ministry issued an announcement responding to PASOK. It accused the Opposition of forging the truth and ignoring the problems while it was in office, noting that only 3 million out of the 10 billion euros that were announced for the special programme were made available.

Related News:

Water Level in Evros Subsides

[07] Diplomacy and Precautionary Attacks

By Betty Savourdou

Sources: Reuters - ANA

Avoiding conflicts should be the objective of the international diplomacy in its drive to force Iran to quit its nuclear programme, noted the new White House report on national security issues. "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," read the document, underlining that the USA have been prepared for "provocative attacks." If necessary, we [USA] will resort to using military violence prior to any hostile attack, even if the time and place of the attack is not confirmed, the report also argued, while it did not miss referring to the provocations against the USA national security by Iraq, Middle East, Russian and China.

Translated by Areti Christou

Related News:

Iran Opts for Double Standards

Related Links:

White House

Iranian Presidency

[08] "Breather" for Panathinaikos

By Stathis Petropoulos

Performing great in the last period, Panathinaikos stormed Cibona 88-69 in Athens, in an encounter whose final score is pretty misleading, since the Croats were far more threatening throughout the game. The Greek team had to make one of their greatest reversals to win, since their stress and the obvious fall in performance kept them behind all the way till the last period, when they pulled themselves together, overturned the Croats lead and claimed a dazzling win. This was Panathinaikos first victory in Top 16 and now need only wins and favourable game results to advance to the next round. The score per period: 19-24, 44-42, 59-60, 88-69.

Translated by Areti Christou

[09] FIFA World Cup Trophy in Greece

By Stathis Petropoulos

Greece will be the second last stop of the FIFA World Cup Trophy, which has been on a world tour since January 7. The tour has been organised by FIFA and its official partner Coca-Cola, and the solid-gold trophy is due to arrive in Greece on April 7, ahead of its final stop in Rome. The precious trophy will be on display at the OAKA sports complex and from 10am to 10pm visitors will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to admire it at hand and have their photograph taken with one of the one-of-the-kind football trophy, while special happenings have also been scheduled, as was the case in every other country. During this global tour it has been flown to 22 countries, while it was last taken to Beijing, where some 10,000 fans packed the citys university just to admire it.

Through this global tour, FIFA wishes to present the worlds greatest sporting icon to the football fans across the globe and prove that the most popular sport has the power to unite the whole world and bring people closer.

Translated by Areti Christou

[10] Fears for Ç5Í1 in Hawk in Denmark H5 in Dog

By Vicky Keleri

It has been confirmed that a dog found dead in Azerbaijani capital Baku had been infected with avian flu. The type A flu was detected in the animal, while further tests are being conducted, as announced by the local committee responsible for preventing the spread of the disease. It is the first dog in Europe to die of bird flu. In the meantime, Serbia announced on Wednesday that it located its first suspect H5N1 case in a domestic bird, while it proceeded with precautionary measures, including the culling of poultry and some pets in the area where the case was detected, close to the borders with Bosnia. It should be noted that Serbia had confirmed its first H5N1 case last week, in a swan that was found in the north, close to the Croatian borders.

At the same time, the Danish Government announced the detection of an extremely pathogenic type of the H5 virus in a hawk.

"We can confirm that the first case of avian flu in Demark has been detected," declared Lars Barfoed, Minister for Family and Consumer Affairs.

Samples of the dead hawk, which was found on Sunday on the coast of Svino, south of Copenhagen, will be sent to Weybridge lab in the UK so as to confirm whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[11] Clashes in El Salvador

By Vivian Papastefanou

Violent incidents broke out Thursday outside a central El Salvador hotel between police and leftists, after it was announced that the left-wingers marginally won the mayoral elections. Police officers fired rubber bullets when the supporters of the National Liberation Front candidate, Farabundo Marti, teamed up with those of election winner Violeta Menjivar to make their way to the hotel the central electoral committee was convening. Several demonstrators were injured. The electoral committee announced that Menjivar won the elections by just 59 votes, receiving 64.881 votes as opposed to 64,822 for Rodrigo Samayoa of the right-wing ruling party Arena. Upon the release of the results, Samayoas supporters spoke of fraud.

Translated by Areti Christou

[12] At Least 27 People Drowned Boat Capsizes in SW China

By Vivian Papastefanou

At least 27 passengers on a boat illegally ferrying people across a river drowned, when it capsized in SW China, reported Thursday state-run news agency Xinhua. The rescue workers managed to save some seven people on board the overloaded boat that sank Wednesday while crossing Youxi River in Sichuan provinces Yuechi County. As per the rescuers, the number of people on board the boat at the time of the wreck is still unclear. The passengers were going back home on a boat that was registered to carry at least two passengers at a time. The victims were mostly elderly people and children.

Translated by Areti Christou

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