Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-08-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] EXCITEMENT IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUMS

[02] THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAMS OF WATER POLO ARE A GAME AWAY FROM AN OLYMPIC

[03] THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAMS OF BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL AND HANDBALL

[04] THREE GREEK ATHLETES CLAIM A PLACE IN THEIR SPORTS' FINAL

[05] GREECE AIMS FOR THE GOLD IN WOMEN'S WATER POLO

[06] WEAK TREMOR IN EVIA, NORTHEAST OF ATHENS

[07] SATISFACTION EXPRESSED BY THE OLYMPIC GAMES SPECTATORS

[08] GAINS IN THE ASE

[09] HISTORIC VISIT BY THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT TO MOUNT ATHOS

[10] MOLIVIATIS-MILLER MEETING

[01] EXCITEMENT IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUMS

Both the Greek sports leadership and the Greek sports fans who flood the stadiums to be able to experience the unique moments of the Olympic Games are more than satisfied with the medals won by the Greek athletes so far.

Greece with 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals ranks 13th on the list with the medal winning countries. The United States top the list with a total of 66 medals followed by China with 50 and Japan with 32.

Yesterday, Athanasia Tsoumeleka won a gold for Greece in women's 20 km Walk, while Pigi Devetsi won a silver medal in the Triple Jump.

Many Greek athletes are very close to winning an Olympic medal given the fact that they have secured their participation in the finals of the sports they compete in.

[02] THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAMS OF WATER POLO ARE A GAME AWAY FROM AN OLYMPIC MEDAL

The Men's Greek National Water Polo team qualified for the semifinal after defeating Italy 6-4 and now waits for the winner of the game between Serbia and Spain to see which of the two teams will be its opponent in the battle for a place in the final.

The Women's Greek National Water Polo team will qualify for the final if it defeats Australia at 6:15 pm this afternoon in the first seminal of the tournament. The United States will play against Italy in the other semifinal.

The members of the two national teams characterize their course in the Olympic tournament as the best moment in the Greek Water Polo history.

[03] THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAMS OF BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL AND HANDBALL QUALIFIED FOR THE QUARTERFINALS

The Men's Greek National Volleyball Team, which was defeated yesterday by Serbia-Montenegro (3-2 sets) in a game that lasted 2.5 hours, will have to face the Russians to qualify for the semifinals.

The Men's Greek National Basketball Team which defeated Puerto Rico yesterday (78-58) will face Argentina in the quarterfinals, while the Women's Basketball Team will have to defeat the United States tomorrow to qualify for the semifinals.

The Men's Greek National Handball Team will face world champion Croatia.

Each of the games mentioned is regarded as very difficult because all opponents are formidable but the Greek teams are optimistic that winning at least one medal is feasible.

[04] THREE GREEK ATHLETES CLAIM A PLACE IN THEIR SPORTS' FINAL

Three Greek athletes claim a place in their sports' final today.

Periklis Iakovakis qualified for the Men's 400 m hurdles semifinal with the 7th best time and will compete at 9:15 pm this evening for a place in the final.

Shortly afterwards, Olga Kaidatsi will compete to qualify for the Women's 200 m final.

Ilias Petridis will compete to secure his participation in Boxing (81 kg). Even if he is defeated he will have the opportunity to compete for the bronze medal.

[05] GREECE AIMS FOR THE GOLD IN WOMEN'S WATER POLO

The Women's Greek National Water Polo team is aiming for the gold on Thursday's final after today's victory in the semifinal over the Australian team (6-2), the golden medallist in Sydney's Olympic Games.

In the second semifinal, Italy defeated the United States (6-5). The Italian team scored the golden goal just 2 seconds before the end of the game.

The Men's Greek National Water Polo team also qualified for the semifinals on Monday after defeating Italy (6-4).

[06] WEAK TREMOR IN EVIA, NORTHEAST OF ATHENS

A weak earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale was recorded at 3:38 pm today and its epicenter was located 230 kilometers south-southeast of Thessaloniki at Psachna, Evia.

Thessaloniki's Aristotle University Seismologist Manolis Skordilis stated to MPA that based on the existing evidence there is no reason for concern. He also stated that at 3:41 pm today another tremor was recorded in the same area measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale.

The tremor was felt in the region of Athens and according to police, no damages were recorded.

Earthquakes measuring between 4 and 4.9 on the Richter scale were recorded in the area back in June 2003. Mr. Skordilis stressed that there are no known epicenters giving major earthquakes in the region and the biggest earthquakes recorded were a little above 5 on the Richter scale.

[07] SATISFACTION EXPRESSED BY THE OLYMPIC GAMES SPECTATORS

The initial results of an opinion poll conducted on behalf of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, to be completed when the games are over, showed that both the Greek and foreign spectators in the Athens Olympic Games have a very positive view of the Olympic Games.

Based on the findings during the first week of the games in a sample of 1,025 people, 97.3% were satisfied with security, 95% with services offered by the personnel and volunteers, 93.8% with the Olympic facilities, 93.8% with the sports events and 81.8% with mass transportation.

Regarding the foreign spectators who responded to the questionnaire, 56.3% stated that they came to Greece just for the games and 37.2% for the games and tourism.

[08] GAINS IN THE ASE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.66% at 2257.88 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 66.9 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 137 had gains and 126 had losses, while the value of 140 stocks remained unchanged.

[09] HISTORIC VISIT BY THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT TO MOUNT ATHOS

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Mount Athos in Chalkidiki, northern Greece on September 4-5 coming form Turkey where he will have talks with his Turkish counterpart and the Prime Minister.

The visit, according to the Athens newspaper Eleftherotipia, was characterized by reliable sources in the Kremlin as strictly private even though it will be the first trip by a Russian head of state to the monastic community of Mount Athos, a Christian monument with strong ties with the Russian Orthodox Christians.

The Russian President had cancelled his visit to Mount Athos in December 2001 during his visit to Athens due to bad weather.

[10] MOLIVIATIS-MILLER MEETING

US President George Bush denied information published on the British newspaper The Guardian according to which, he is likely to visit Athens to watch the Olympic Games and more specifically the football team of Iraq.

Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that there is no such issue when he was asked to comment.

The Greek government prepares for the two-day visit of US Secretary of State Colin Powell to Greece, who will be in Athens during the weekend to watch the Olympic Games closing ceremony.

US ambassador Thomas Miller was scheduled to meet with Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis today to discuss the US Secretary of State program while in Athens. Mr. Powell will meet with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and his counterpart Mr. Moliviatis.

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