Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-03-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] BUSH-SIMITIS MEETING IN WASHINGTON IN JUNE

[02] PANAGIOTIS LAMBRIAS DIED TODAY

[03] INSTANT COFFEE INCREASES CHOLESTEROL IN THE BLOOD

[04] CHINESE DELEGATION WILL VISIT THESSALONIKI

[05] EARTHQUAKE IN KARPATHOS IN SOUTHERN AEGEAN

[06] SIMITIS-BUSH TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

[07] ALOIS BRUNNER RECEIVED A LIFE SENTENCE IN ABSENTIA

[08] DOLLIS: GREECE PLAYS A STABILIZING ROLE IN THE BALKANS

[09] WORLD POPULATION MAY RISE TO 10 BILLION BY 2050

[10] GREECE IS BEING THREATENED WITH AN AGING POPULATION

[01] BUSH-SIMITIS MEETING IN WASHINGTON IN JUNE

Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis will be among the first state leaders to visit Washington as he accepted an invitation extended to him by US president George Bush during the telephone communication they had yesterday. According to information, Mr. Simitis will visit the United States in June.

The two men discussed the developments in the wider region. On the Cyprus issue, the US president expressed his support to the efforts made by the UN secretary-general and congratulated the Greek prime minister for his contribution to the peaceful development of the Greek-Turkish relations. President Bush praised Greece's role in the developments in the Balkans and announced new US initiatives in the region.

According to a statement issued by the prime minister's office, Mr. Bush stated that any initiative by the United States in southeastern Europe will be undertaken after consultations with their allies.

Foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou characterized the telephone communication as constructive and essential, expressing the belief that the United States want a close cooperation with Greece.

[02] PANAGIOTIS LAMBRIAS DIED TODAY

Panagiotis Lambrias died in an Athens hospital in the early morning hours today after a long battle with cancer. He was born in 1926. He was married and a father of two. He was a lawyer, a journalist and a close associate of Konstantinos Karamanlis, the founder of the right-wing party of New Democracy.

In 1974, he was elected for the first time to the Greek parliament with New Democracy and in 1984 he became a Euro-deputy, a position he held until recently. In 1989, he was elected a member of New Democracy Central Committee and in 1977-81 he served as Greek Tourist Organization general secretary.

[03] INSTANT COFFEE INCREASES CHOLESTEROL IN THE BLOOD

People, who drink more than two cups of instant coffee a day, are more likely to have their blood cholesterol increased, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers in Maryland.

The researchers stated that instant coffee and the boiling kind contribute to the increase not only of the blood cholesterol but of the triglyceride levels as well which are linked mainly, with meat and animal fat consumption.

[04] CHINESE DELEGATION WILL VISIT THESSALONIKI

A five-member Chinese delegation from the province of Jiangsu will be in Thessaloniki on Monday for a three-day visit at the invitation of the prefecture of Thessaloniki.

On Monday morning, a protocol of cooperation will be signed by representatives of the prefecture of Thessaloniki and the Jiangsu province.

During its visit to Thessaloniki, the Chinese delegation will have meetings with local administration officials.

[05] EARTHQUAKE IN KARPATHOS IN SOUTHERN AEGEAN

A new earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale shook the sea region east of the island of Karpathos this morning.

The tremor was felt in the island of Rhodes as well and according to police authorities, no damages were recorded.

[06] SIMITIS-BUSH TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis had a telephone communication yesterday afternoon with US president George Bush at the initiative of the latter. Mr. Simitis received the telephone call during the meeting he had with "Athens 2004" Organization president Ms. Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalakis in the presence of foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou and culture minister Evangelos Venizelos.

The two leaders exchanged views on the problems in the region of the Balkans and the Mediterranean, while they also discussed the likelihood of holding a meeting. Mr. Papandreou stated that this communication confirms the very good relations between Greece and the United States.

[07] ALOIS BRUNNER RECEIVED A LIFE SENTENCE IN ABSENTIA

Alois Brunner, the Austrian war criminal, who organized the Holocaust of 50.000 Jews in Thessaloniki and 24.000 Jews in Dransy, France during WWII, was tried in absentia in Paris today and received a life sentence.

Today's trial concerned the events in Dransy. There were no defense attorneys present as Brunner is supposedly dead. His fate is unknown as some sources say that he is dead and others maintain that he is hiding somewhere in Syria.

Serz Clarsfelt, president of the association "Sons and daughters of the displaced Jews in France" had filed a suit in 1987 against Brunner on behalf of the Jewish children killed in Hitler's death camps.

In July 31, 1944, when Brunner was commander in Dransy, had ordered the transfer of 345 Jewish children to Nazi ghettoes in Germany, Austria and Poland. Their parents had already been transferred to Nazi concentration camps after a decision made by Brunner. Of those children, 284, were killed and the rest managed to survive, while a few of them are still alive in different countries.

[08] DOLLIS: GREECE PLAYS A STABILIZING ROLE IN THE BALKANS

General secretary for Greeks Abroad, Dimitris Dollis referred to Greece's stabilizing role in the Balkans in an interview with the television network CNN in London.

Mr. Dollis stated that Greece is a factor of vital importance in the effort for stability and prosperity in the Balkan Peninsula. He also stressed that there is a direct link between peace and stability in the Balkans and the prosperity of the peoples in the European continent and the European Union.

Mr. Dollis completed his visit to the British capital today after addressing a British parliament event on the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

[09] WORLD POPULATION MAY RISE TO 10 BILLION BY 2050

Global population could grow to between 7.8 billion and 10.9 billion people by the year 2050, according to the United Nations' "World Population Prospects" report published by the organization's Population Division.

As the report estimates, world population - which stood at a little over six billion by mid-2000 - could be expected to rise to 9.3 billion by 2050; by 2025, the estimates are that population rates will decline in the world's more developed region while remaining positive throughout the developing world.

The report also noted the effects of HIV/AIDS, with sub-Saharan Africa, which has been particularly hard hit, showing a lower estimated life expectancy between 1995 and 2000 (48.6 years) years than the region had 10 years ago (when life expectancy was a whole year higher, at 49.6 years).

A.F.

[10] GREECE IS BEING THREATENED WITH AN AGING POPULATION

Greece is among the countries threatened with an aging population, according to a United Nations report on the development of the world population in the next 50 years that was given to publicity recently.

Specifically, the report mentions that in Greece, Germany, Italy and Japan the ratio of the children to the elderly over the age of 60 will be 1/1.5 by the year 2050.

At the same time, Greece is included among the top 19 countries in which at least 1/10 of the population will be over the age of 80 by the year 2050.

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