The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 10-04-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Secondary School Teachers Suspend Strikes

Secondary school teachers voiced Thursday their intention to suspend their industrial actions during the national level exams for admission to tertiary educations. The national level exams start on 14 May. Dimitris Pepes, head of the secondary school teachers' association, commented: "We do not wish to give anyone the right to play games with the teachers' sensitivity. We do not wish to have no minister weighed down, but we do not want teachers to be weighed down either." They made it clear, though, that if ADEDY, Greece's umbrella union for the public sector, called a strike during the national level exams, they would join in.

In a joint Press conference given Thursday, the senior members of the primary and secondary school teachers' associations, they announced a 48-hour strike on 4 and 5 May. They also gave their opinion to the education bill.

More specifically, both the secondary and primary school teachers expressed their concern over the fewer appointments of new teachers, fearing the new school year would face problems. Commenting on the two-year internship, they dismissed it as a "military service"

ANA

News item: 36064

[02] World Markets Recover - Rise in Greek Stock Market

World markets have started showing signs of recovery amid hopes that the bailout package of Greece will come into play in good time. The Greek stock market has been stabilized, while the spreads spiraling has been eased. It was Berlin's decision for the immediate activation of the support mechanism that triggered the above change. EU officials reiterated that the activation of the bailout package is a matter of days. The European Central Bank chief highlighted yet again the need for immediate actions lest Greece's borrowing crisis should spread to other eurozone nations.

Source: NET, NET 105.8, ANA/MPA

News item: 36050

[03] PM Asks Social Partners Support- Big Gains in ASM

Prime-minister George Papandreou, in his meetings at the Maximos Mansion with representatives of social sectors, appealed for their support and cooperation. GSEE and ADEDY spoke of strict austerity measures while the other social partners underlined the need to support measures to take the country out of the crisis. Terms of Greece's rescue package are expected to be finalized in the next days. Stock markets move in positive territory as investors emerge confident that Greece will receive rescue package, guaranteeing the country's liquidity, in time. Big gains are recorded in the Athens Stock market while spreads on 10-year Greek state bonds are dropping.

Source: ΝΕΤ-ΝΕΤ 105.8-ΑNA/ΜPA

News item: 36047

[04] ERT's Key Priorities

Giorgos Gabritsos, President and Managing Director of the Greek National Broadcaster (ERT), unveiled Thursday ERT's key priorities in the first press conference he gave after taking over. He focused on the broadcaster's financial and administrative rationalization, as well as on the reassessment of the nature of its programmes.

Spending Cuts

Touching on the financial rationalization, the new ERT head underlined it would be achieved through spending cuts at all levels. The rationalization, he added, would aim at financially consolidating the broadcaster, as well as at transferring funds from non-productive spending to technology.

Elaborating more on the matter, he argued that ERT's short-term goals are to fix its finances and earn at least 25 million euros for its 2010 primary operating surplus through wage cuts, modification of investments and cuts in the internal and external productions.

Shifting his attention to the new board's long-term goals, he said he would strive to address the debt of about 110 million euros that has built up in the last two years.

As for the 2009 turnover, which will be submitted to the board, Gabritsos underlined that it included for the first time projections speaking of 2- million euros, lest ERT should find itself before unpredictable situation in the future.

Administrative Rationalization

The new ERT President and Managing Director extensively referred to need for the restructuring of the organization chart by boosting the directorates of human resources, marketing and communication, and technology and cementing the financing services.

He also focused on the development of new means, the inclusion of ERT's digital channels to the broadcaster's key organization chart.

"We are making the best of the possibilities the law offer us in conjunction with our needs and in collaboration with the political leadership"

G. Gabritsos

As far as personnel matters are concerned, Gabritsos maintained that both the ERT personnel and the work they made has been recorded with a view to making the best of the organisation's human resources.

Source: NET, ANA/MPA News item: 36051

[05] Terrorists Admit Involvement in Revolutionary Struggle

"To Pontiki" newspaper carries a letter in which the three people, arrested in connection with the Revolutionary Struggle case, admit their responsibility for their involvement with the organization. The letter is signed by Panagiota(Pola) Roupa, Nikos Maziotis and Konstantinos Gournas, who say , Lambros Fountas killed in a clash with police in Dafni suburb, was a member of the Revolutionary Struggle organization.

"Struggle Continues"

The three people arrested, in their letter, stress they feel proud for their organization and that the struggle will continue. "They will not unravel our case easily. We are not terrorists , the authorities are terrorists".

They describe the Prime-minister and the Minister for Citizens' Protection Mihalis Hrisohoidis as terrorists while the refer to each one of Revolutionary Struggle actions, underlining that they were not terrorist actions against the people, "whose majority have approved them".

In their letter, they make extensive reference to the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund and the present situation of the country, adding that objective circumstances for revolution have matured and what we are waiting for is for subjective circumstances to mature.

In the meantime, judges Dimitris Mokkas and Konstantinos Baltas, in charge of the "Fire Conspiracy Cells" case , have assumed the "Revolutionary Struggle" case.

Source: NET 105.8, ANA-ΜPA

Σχετική είδηση: Βγήκαν τα αποτελέσματα του DNA από τις "γιάφκες" του «Επ. Αγώνα»

News item: 36033

[06] Accelerating Procedures

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, IMF managing director, ECB chief and, Dominique Straus Khan and Jean Claude Trichet respectively agreed to accelerate procedures for activation of rescue mechanism for Greece during their meeting in Berlin, on Wednesday. It is estimated that negotiations between Greek authorities and international organizations will be completed in the next days while the 3-year financial aid package would be over 120bl euros. Developments in economy will dominate talks during the Prime-minister's meetings with representatives of social partners and sectors. In his speech at the "Economist" conference, Mr. Papandreou urged EU leaders to prevent a small fire from engulfing the whole European economy.

Meetings with Social partners

Mr. Papandreou is meeting on Thursday with the presidents of Economic and Social Committee, GSEE, GSEBEE, ADEDY, SEB, Trade Confederation, Union of Tourist Businesses.

In the meantime, a supplementary budge for financial aid to Greece mounting to 60.6 million euros, is to be tabled to the Cypriot Parliament .

Spain Downgraded-Fears for Spreading of Crisis

After Greece and Portugal speculators' attacks turn against Spain with credit rating agency "Standard and Poor's downgrading Spain's credibility.

European stock markets opened with slight gains on Thursday following announcements in Berlin yesterday that Europe would not allow spreading of financial crisis. Big gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Market on Thursday morning in the aftermath of EU and IMF decision for financial aid to Greece.

Bundesbank President and member of ECB board, Axel Weber, in an interview with a German magazine, said a possible bankruptcy of Greece would have incalculable impacts on credit markets and other countries.

"There may be a good reason why German taxpayers are so unhappy about having to lend money to Greece" says New York Times in an article entitled: "German Banks Have Big Investment in Greece".

German taxpayers objection is not just a question of paying for Greece's luxury pensions but the fact that big German banks -bailed out by German taxpayers in the recent financial crisis- hold some 28 billion euros in Greek bonds Barclays bank report estimates, New York Times reports.

In the meantime, a BVA survey for television channel Canal+ released on Thursday indicates that 75% of French people believe that France may face a similar financial crisis with Greece.

Greece is the symptom and not the cause, stressed former Prime-minister Kostas Simitis in his speech on Wednesday at Bundesbank branch in Munich, as guest of the Grek Academy and South-European Studies Society.

World Concern

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the Greek debt crisis in a telephone call on Wednesday and stressed the importance of "timely support" to aid Greece..

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he is worried economic problems in Greece, Portugal and Spain will affect Australia. Mr Rudd says the developments are disturbing. "When it comes to the state of the global economy, we are not out of the woods yet," he said.

Source: NET, NET 105.8 ANA-ΜPA

Related Articles: Speeding procedures for fear of domini effect- Appeal for EU Intervention to Prevent Spreading of Crisis

News item: 36024

[07] Children Stabbed at China's Kindergarten

A knife-wielding man attacked a kindergarten class of 4-year-olds in eastern China on Thursday, slashing 28 children in what an expert said was a copycat rampage of two other episodes at Chinese schools in the past month.

A 47-year-old jobless man, Xu Yuyuan, burst into a classroom at the Zhongxin Kindergarten early Thursday, waving a 20-centimeter knife and stabbing a security guard who tried to stop him, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Five students were in critical condition following the attack in Jiangsu province's Taixing city and two teachers and the security guard were injured, said Zhu Guiming, an official with the Taixing propaganda department.

A series of school attacks in China in recent years have mostly been blamed on people with personal grudges or suffering from mental illness, leading to calls for improved security.

China's inadequate mental health network has left millions of unstable people without the help they need. Many otherwise healthy Chinese also feel frustrated and powerless because they aren't able to adapt to the constant social upheaval and because they believe the changes favor the corrupt. That kind of anger has occasionally erupted in mass violence and in isolated attacks.

Source: The Associated Press

News item: 36023

[08] Fears for Ecological Destruction Grow in US

See Video

US coast guard fears huge ecological destruction after the rig blast in the Gulf of Mexico unless the oil spill is contained. They speak of the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade.

New Leak Located

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday said five times as much oil as previously estimated was leaking from a well beneath the site of the deadly drilling rig explosion. Platform owner BP company has located a third underwater oil leak at 1525m depth off the coast of Louisiana.

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The slick threatens wide-scale coastal damage for four U.S. Gulf Coast states. A shift in winds could push the spill inland to the Louisiana coast by this weekend, according to forecasters. Tar balls and emulsified oil streamers could reach the Mississippi Delta region, threatening coastal wildlife refuges.

Efforts to contain the 16.000lt crude oil daily leak some 70km far from Louisiana coast have proved fruitless so far.

After underwater robots failed to activate a cut off valve on the ocean floor to stop the leak, BP and the Coast Guard on Wednesday set a "controlled burn" to battle a giant oil slick and prevent it from growing.

Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the worst oil rig disaster in almost a decade.

US president, Barrack Obama is kept informed on the situation while US authorities have called BP allocate further funds for the clean up. Assistance by US Defense Ministry is also being discussed.

Source: NET 105.8, ΑNA-ΜPA

Also Read: CNN:Oil spill from rig explosion at 5,000 barrels a day News item: 36021

[09] Samaras Criticizes the Government-Tourism

ND leader Antonis Samaras, in his speech in Rhodes, criticized the government and the Prime-minister economic policy. "Mr. Papandreou received from the previous government a state deficit problem which he turned into borrowing crisis", underlining that we should not let this vicious circle of recession to lead to absolute collapse. "Our target", said Mr. Samaras "is to exit IMF monitoring as soon as possible and minimize impacts of recession". Referring to tourism, subject of the pro-congress ND conference, Mr. Samaras underlined that special importance should be placed on tourist sector as it is the steam engine of Greece's economy.

Priority on Tourism- "No to Panic"

Mr. Samaras expressed his objection to the abolition of Tourism Ministry and stressed that special weight should be placed on the development of quality tourism and presented the keys for a modern policy on tourism.

PASOK continues insisting on its populist practices and chasing ghosts of the past. Mr. Samaras called all Greeks to remain united regardless of the political party they support and the ideological differences.

Referring to Kallikratis plan, he placed importance on three criteria funds, authorities and city planning, underlining that the ND would not agree if even one of the three terms is ignored.

The ND party exercises responsible policy and assures that it would bring hope to the country said Mr. Samaras.

Source: ΝΕΤ, ANA-ΜPA

News item: 36004

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