Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-08-18

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] CHURCH REACTS TO PROPOSAL TO AXE RELIGION EXAMS

[02] POLICE DETECT NO FOUL PLAY IN CAR-TRUNK CORPSE

[03] LABORERS ASSOCIATIONS MEET TO CARVE OUT POSITION

[04] GREEK CHURCH OBJECTS TO U.K.S CLONING PROPOSALS

[05] NEW CHIEF AT VRYONIS CENTER OF HELLENISM STUDIES

[06] GREECE REMEMBERS DEVASTATING QUAKES IN TURKEY

[07] "PRESPES 2000" FESTIVAL OPENS NEXT WEEK

[08] UNITED STATES THE FEATURED COUNTRY AT TIF 2000

[09] PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER TRAVELS TO U.S. NEXT MONTH

[10] PM WILL TRAVEL TO NEW YORK AFTER OPENING OF TIF

[11] ALL EYES TURNED TO LIVES TRAPPED IN RUSSIAN SUB

[01] CHURCH REACTS TO PROPOSAL TO AXE RELIGION EXAMS

A proposal to remove the lesson of religion, along with other courses, from the state-wide academic examinations, has been met with sharp reactions from the Church of Greece, a development expected to worsen the already-thorny relations between the church and the state.

The proposal to exclude the religion course from the national exams at the end of every academic years was submitted to Educaitron Minister Petros Efthymiou by members of the Center of Educational Research (KEE), which argued that the experiential nature of faith does not allow an examination of that knowledge in the course.

As the Education Ministry's secretary general said yesterday that academic curricula and exams are under the ministry's exclusive purview, the minister's decision will be announced by September 10.

The archdiocese expressed concern over such a prospect in a statement yesterday, while Metropolitan Anthimos of Alexandroupolis said that the Education Minister Efthymiou had pledged there would be no changes in the religion curriculum.

A.F.

[02] POLICE DETECT NO FOUL PLAY IN CAR-TRUNK CORPSE

An autopsy performed on the corpse found inside a car's trunk in Athens has not produced indications of foul play, according to police reports.

Authorities believe that sociologist Sotiria Tsili, 53, entered the car's trunk on her own, perhaps with the intent to commit suicide.

Ms. Tsili, an ethnic Greek from Albania, was a divorced mother of three, and lived in the Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi. She had been hospitalized in a mental institution a year ago, following the sudden death of her son in a road accident.

Her bag, which was found in the trunk with her, contained medication and documents attesting to her precarious mental state. Her body was fully clothed but reportedly lacked underwear.

The car owner, Yiannis Nikolaou, discovered the woman's body on Wednesday morning when he drove to his car repair shop in Petralona, having left the vehicle parked close to his house on 20 Paphou Street, Ilioupoli, for the previous two days.

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[03] LABORERS ASSOCIATIONS MEET TO CARVE OUT POSITION

A conference featuring the participation of the General Confederation of Greek Laborers (GSEE), Workers' Centers from torughout Norhtern Greece and the administration of the Thessaloniki Laborers Center (EKTH) is to be held on August 31, in an effort to map out the position to be adopted by the region's unions over the government's economic agenda.

EKTH chairman Panayiotis Avramopoulos said that the state's present policy is in dire need of reform, especially in the sector of unemployment and labor.

Unionists threaten with mobilization in the case the government shuns their demands and proposals.

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[04] GREEK CHURCH OBJECTS TO U.K.S CLONING PROPOSALS

The Church of Greece has condemned the British government's proposal to permit the cloning of human embryo cells for research and healing.

A press release issued by the Holy Synod stated that "The Church categorically opposes experiments conducted on human embryos.

"This implies the destruction, not of embryonic cells but of human embryos... The Church and Christian conscience accept that humans are persons with eternal and immortal prospects from the moment of their conception."

Moreover, the statement added that efforts to improve the lot of man "cannot presuppose the destruction of millions of human beings at an embryonic stage."

A.F.

[05] NEW CHIEF AT VRYONIS CENTER OF HELLENISM STUDIES

A noted academic and author, Christos P. Ioannides, has been elected as president of the board of the Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism.

Mr. Ioannides will be replacing world-wide renowned professor Speros Vryonis who held the post since 1996.

The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism is a nonprofit cultural institution dedicated to studying, understanding, and promoting Hellenism and its role and significance in contemporary culture and society.

Since its inception in 1985, the Vryonis Center has been fully committed to studying and promoting Hellenic culture, not as an antiquarian object, but as a dynamic and continuously evolving cultural experience.

A.F.

[06] GREECE REMEMBERS DEVASTATING QUAKES IN TURKEY

Thessaloniki parliamentarian and former Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Yiannis Magriotis commented on Greek-Turkish relations, one year after the devastating earthquake in Turkey.

Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr. Magriotis stated that the "earthquake diplomacy" bore a positive impact on relations between the two neighbors, albeit he noted that Turkey has since been gradually deviating from its commitments to the European Union and Greece.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Panayotis Beglitis stated that Greece will press on with its policy of improving ties, building on the solidarity that the two nations showed each other in the wake of last year's quakes in Turkey and Greece.

"The people of Greece and Turkey will only benefit from closer cooperation between them. The positive reactions of citizens and agencies in the past year have destroyed myths and artificial tensions.

"With this stand our people have sent a message of friendship, peace and cooperation. Responding to this message, the Greek government will continue with the policy of principles it is following in its relationship with Turkey, with respect for international law and international treaties."

A.F.

[07] "PRESPES 2000" FESTIVAL OPENS NEXT WEEK

The annual Prespes festival, to be held in Florina and on the island of Agios Achileios from August 25 through 28, will feature the attendance of Balkan leaders and several Greek deputies and government officials.

Greece's Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Minister Vasso Papandreou will meet with FYROM's interior and public order minister and Albania's vice president and labor minister on August 26, while National Economy Deputy Minister Yiannis Zapheiropoulos will hold meetings with his FYROM and Albanian counterparts.

Macedonia and Thrace Minister George Paschalidis will officially open the events on the island of Agios Achileios on August 27, while Environment, City Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis on 22 August will inaugurate a pedestrian bridge connecting the Koula checkpoint to the island of Agios Achilleios.

Culture Minister and Deputy Culture Minister Theodoros Pangalos and Giorgos Floridis, respectively, will hold separate meetings with their counterparts from Balkan states on 27 August, while, later in the day, Mr. Pangalos will inaugurate the "Prespa Library" at Agios Germanos.

The "Prespes" festival will feature concerts by Socratis Malamas, Dimitris Mitropanos, Maria Farantouri, Elli Paspalia, Savina Giannatou, the Florina-born tenor Sotos Papoulkas and gipsy Ferush Mustamov, and a Bulgarian poetry night held on 28 August.

Within the framework of the festival, a labor-housing lottery will be held on Friday, August 28, while the European Judo Championship is scheduled to take place on September 8 and 9 at Amynteo.

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[08] UNITED STATES THE FEATURED COUNTRY AT TIF 2000

The United States will be the featured country at this year's Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), which opens on September 2, through a series of art exhibitions, musical events and lectures.

The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band is to perform at Thessaloniki's new Concert Hall, while the Sixth Fleet's band will perform at TIF.

Within the framework of TIF, to be formally inaugurated on September 1 by Prime Minister Costas Simitis, a retrospective exhibition featuring 70 works by Andy Warhol will be showcased at the Macedonian Museum of Modern Art from August 22 to September 19. Also, another exhibition titled Modern Odysseys will feature works by Greek-American artists of the 20th century.

Moreover, Thessaloniki's film festival organization, will co-sponsor a small tribute to American cinema, titled American Movies of the 20th Century: Milestones of a Legendary Vision, where screenings will include On the Waterfront and Apocalypse Now.

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[09] PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER TRAVELS TO U.S. NEXT MONTH

Minister of Public Order Michalis Chrysochoides will travel to the United States in September in order to sign a police cooperation protocol between the two countries.

The Greek government is to submit a counter-terrorism bill to parliament, seeking to grant the police and judiciary wider powers in handling terrorism cases.

The said bill calls for the abolishment of measures construed as protecting terrorism suspects, while it will also allow for house searches.

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[10] PM WILL TRAVEL TO NEW YORK AFTER OPENING OF TIF

Prime Minister Costas Simitis will travel to New York in September, at the invitation of U.S. President Bill Clinton, where he will participate at the Progressive Government leaders meeting.

Mr. Simitis will depart Greece on September 5, following after the inauguration of Thessaloniki's International Fair on September 1. While in New York, the Premier is expected to hold a series of meetings with other state leaders.

The Greek Premier will be accompanied by the same group of

government officials who had escorted him to Berlin, while Foreign Minister George Papandreou is also expected to be present.

A.F.

[11] ALL EYES TURNED TO LIVES TRAPPED IN RUSSIAN SUB

Hopes are dimming for the 116 persons trapped inside the Russian submarine sunked on the bed of the Barents Sea, as reports are not encouraging after the most recent rescue attempt.

A last ditch possibility was reportedly to allow the Kursk nuclear submarine to fill with water to level the pressure and the crew would attempt to float to the surface with life vests; however, none of the sophisticated Russian and American listening devices in the surrounding waters has been reported as detecting sounds of life inside the submarine.

As for what caused the accident in the first place, Russian sources, according to press reports, no longer hint at the possibility of a brush with a US submarine. There have been many such incidents, but none with the catastrophic damage caused to the Kursk.

Another theory is that the Kursk collided with an ice-breaker, as the submarine rose towards the surface.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who only on Wednesday ordered the military to accept any offered foreign help, is now subject to his harshest criticism over having refused aid earlier.

A.F.

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