The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 09-09-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] Pre-election Period Opens Monday

Official pre-election period opens on Monday, September, 7 in view of October, 4 parliamentary elections. Interparty Committee is expected to meet next week to decide on radio-television coverage of political parties and candidates as well as other provisions linked with election procedures. Political party and candidates' posters will be allowed only in specific sites at municipalities.

Publication of surveys is allowed only until 15 days prior to election date. High fines and 6 month imprisonment without suspension will be imposed against violators.

Holiday leave of all civil servants and local administration employees are being recalled on Monday.

Employees involved with elections are obliged to return to their posts without further notice. In parallel, all procedures for personnel hiring, transfer or promotions in the public and local administration sectors freeze during the pre-election period.

Interior and Justice Ministers as well as the government spokesman will be replaced during the pre-election period. Professor Spiros Flogaitis is most likely to replace Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos as in 2007 elections. Also Interior undersecretary, competent on Press issues, Kostas Giulekas resigns.

Source: NET - ÁNA-ĚPA

News item: 26362

[02] Greece First in Robot Assisted Surgery

Robot-assisted endoscopic operations have been adopted in the surgical treatment of various cancers. Using the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical), a surgeon removes all or part of the thyroid gland by making an incision under the patient's right arm, eliminating the need for a neck incision.

The use of robots provides surgeons with three-dimensional view, precision of moves, minimal loss of blood and complications . Robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery to remove the thyroid gland offers good clinical outcomes, but it also spares patients from the large, visible scar that results from traditional open surgery.

News item: 26370

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