[ana-dist] Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 12-12-17

[HR-Net News Distribution Manager]

Monday,  17  December  2012          Issue No: 4249

CONTENTS
[01] PM holds round of meetings with close aides to discuss strategy
[02] Finmin: Eurogroup decision 'only a first step'
[03] SYRIZA deputy attacked at Olympic Stadium, parties react
[04] Independent Greeks condemn SYRIZA MP attack
[05] SYRIZA's Tsipras: 'Each day we are better prepared'
[06] SYRIZA elects coordinating secretariat
[07] Deputy FM in Istanbul for Black Sea meeting
[08] PASOK leader attends meeting of socialist, democrat parties in Rome
[09] Defence minister tours Dodecanese military posts; PM telephones
      Kastellorizo, Ro commanders
[10] European Parliamentarians address Acheloos River conference
[11] EU information event held at Metsovo
[12] Week of strikes in health sector from Monday
[13] President Papoulias sends telegram of condolence to Obama for
      Newtown tragedy
[14] Foreign ministry message for tragedy in Connecticut
[15] Search continues for missing migrants shipwrecked off Lesvos
[16] Silent protest against rising tide of racism held in Athens
[17] Evros border fence complete, contractor announces
[18] Police catch Roma gang behind high-profile robberies
[19] New Hania prison opens for business
[20] Man electrocuted in attempt to steal PPC transformer
[21] Two arrested for selling drugs via Internet ads
[22] Super League results
[23] Rainy on Monday
[24] Athens' Sunday newspapers at a glance
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Politics

[01] PM holds round of meetings with close aides to discuss strategy

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (photo) had a series of meetings with
close aides on Saturday, in order to discuss the government's strategy
after the Eurogroup's decision to disburse financial aid to Greece.

Sources said that the prime minister's top priority is to attract foreign
investments and persuade companies already present in Greece to further
expand their activities, so that there is an influx of foreign capital
that will boost liquidity and reduce unemployment.

Toward this end, Samaras will receive representatives of 16 major
multinationals on Monday morning to discuss ways in which they can
further expand their activities in the country. The meeting will be
attended by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, Development Minister
Kostis Hatzidakis and Deputy Development Minister Notis Mitarakis.

On Tuesday, the premier will have a meeting with the leaders of the two
parties supporting the coalition government, PASOK and Democratic Left,
and on Wednesday he will be keynote speaker at the official opening of
the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's representation at the Acropolis Museum.

[02] Finmin: Eurogroup decision 'only a first step'

The Eurogroup's decision to disburse financial aid to Greece was only the
first step down a road that remains "long and steep," Finance Minister
Yannis Stournaras told a conference on health policy that ended in
Athens on Saturday. He emphasised that the country must now implement a
raft of reforms recently passed by Parliament and announced that a new
"heavy-duty" tax reform is pending in the next few months.

"The [decision] puts an end to ongoing scenarios of a Greek default
and the country's exit from the euro and creates the conditions for
sustainable growth and higher employment. Of course what we achieved
is very important but it is only a first step.....The road remains long
and steep," Stournaras said.

The finance minister stressed that in order to ensure a final exit from
the 'danger zone' of default and euro exit, Greece must now actively
carry out a two-year fiscal adjustment programme calling for spending
cuts of 10.5 billion euro and an extra 3.0 billion euro in revenues,
as well as structural reforms to improve competitiveness.

"By next May we must table the 'heavy-duty' taxation plan that will
tackle the long-term problems of tax administration, tax evasion and
tax fairness and ensure its immediate implementation. The criticism I am
subjected to all this time at the Eurogroup has to do with tax evasion
in our country," Stournaras emphasised.

The finance minister said that the reform would "serve the basic principle
that we all have an obligation to contribute to the country's salvation,
according to our means," while pointing out that one in two of Greece's
self-employed had declared annual incomes less than 5,000 euro in 2011,
indicating that the tax burden was unfairly skewed against wage earners.

Regarding banks, Stournaras noted that the Eurogroup decision would
ensure their recapitalisation and help make them viable on a permanent
basis, improving the banking system's credibility and capital adequacy
and gradually allowing banks to resume handing out loans to businesses.

He also emphasised the government's determination to speed up the rate
of privatisations and attract foreign investments, noting that the main
benefit from the privatisations would not be the revenue they generated
to pay down debt but the effect of the resulting investments on the
real economy.

Finally, the minister stressed that the country had reached its limits
in terms of unemployment, especially among the young, and could not take
any more.

"The percentages must be reversed in the coming period. The central goal
of our policies is to increase employment," he said, adding that work
was more than just a factor of production but about "people's lives,
their hopes and aims".

Stournaras was addressing the 8th Panhellenic Health Conference on
Management, Economics and Health Policy discussing the theme "Economy
and health in crisis: Deadlocks and Excesses" that began in Athens
last Thursday.

[03] SYRIZA deputy attacked at Olympic Stadium, parties react

Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) deputy Dimitris Stratoulis was "attacked
with intent to murder by members of Golden Dawn," according to SYRIZA
on Sunday, which lay the blame with the ultra-right party Chryssi Avgi.

SYRIZA charged that the deputy "received murderous blows to the head
outside the premises of the Olympic Stadium during halftime of a soccer
game by three persons, who as soon as they recognised him declared that
they were members of Golden Dawn and told him 'We shall kill you now'."

The party demanded "the immediate arrest and prosecution of the
perpetrators." Tolerance towards "the fascist organisation of Golden
Dawn is leading mathematically to us mourning lives and abolishes
democracy. The response must be immediate and decisive before it is too
late," it added.

The government condemned the attack and said any kind of attack
constitutes a threat and is unacceptable in a democracy. "Violence
has no place in our political culture," government spokesman Simos
Kedikoglou said.

In an announcement on Sunday, titled "We deny Stratoulis' (allegations),"
Golden Dawn declared that it has nothing to do with the attack.

The announcement stressed that Golden Dawn was holding an open event in
the Nikea section of Piraeus at the time.

"The petty politicians of the left who harbour violence and illegal
countergatherings must stop badmouthing Golden Dawn," the announcement
concluded.

PASOK condemned "unequivocally and categorically the attack of violence
and terrorism of Golden Dawn members against SYRIZA deputy Dimitris
Stratoulis". The party noted that it had undertaken specific initiatives
to fight neo-nazism and social and racist violence by calling on all
the parties of the constitutional "arc" to rally together.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) condemned the "fascist thug attack"
sustained by SYRIZA deputy Dimitris Stratoulis.

"The people and youth must be more decisive in isolating the action and
ideology of the fascist-like," the announcement concluded.

[04] Independent Greeks condemn SYRIZA MP attack

The Independent Greeks party condemned the attack against SYRIZA deputy
Dimitris Stratoulis on Sunday, saying that "the cowardly attack by
fascist elements took place at an absolutely controlled area."

"Football fields are not churches: they are patrolled by hundreds of
policemen, including riot police," parliamentary representative Terence
Quick said. "For this reason, there is no justification for Greek police
not to discover as soon as possible who the perpetrators of this criminal
act are."

[05] SYRIZA's Tsipras: 'Each day we are better prepared'

Main opposition 'Coalition of the Radical Left' (SYRIZA) leader Alexis
Tsipras on Saturday stressed that SYRIZA-EKM was daily preparing itself
to lead a 'people's government', in statements at the first session of
the party's Central Committee.

"Each day that passes we are better prepared and more mature to take
on the responsibility of the governance of the country," the head of
SYRIZA's Parliamentary group said, adding that everything would be
decided by next March.

"Either the people and the country will collapse or the coalition of
collapse will leave," he said, predicting that 2013 would be the year
when SYRIZA-EKM would be elected to power.

He went on to attack Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, saying that the
Eurogroup's decision to release financial aid to Greece was "self-evident"
but delayed by six months and would usher in the year of "the most brutal
austerity". He also suggested that a debt buyback programme had missed
its targets.

"People have realised that Samaras is not the 'Santa Claus' of growth,
as he likes to present himself, but the average Greek family's Herod
that imposes a tax penalty on children," he added.

Immediately after his speech to the Central Committee, Tsipras departed
for an official visit to Brazil and Argentina at the head of a party
delegation. The meeting began with the official formation of the Central
Committee of 317 members and will continue with the election of a
37-member secretariat.

Gov't response

Responding to Tsipras' criticism, goverment spokesman Simos Kedikoglou
said that the main opposition leader had given a "parting performance for
the drachma lobby before departing to spend Christmas in Latin America".

"Turning white into black, he tried to discount the end of the scenarios
of an exit from the euro. We understand his frustration," Kedikoglou said.

[06] SYRIZA elects coordinating secretariat

The main opposition 'Coalition of the Radical Left' (SYRIZA) party
has elected a 37-member coordinating secretariat, including SYRIZA
Parliamentary group leader Alexis Tsipras.

The remaining 36 members of the secretariat were elected during a meeting
of SYRIZA-EKM's new Central Committee on Saturday.

[07] Deputy FM in Istanbul for Black Sea meeting

ISTANBUL (AMNA - A. Kourkoulas)

Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas attended the 27th Ministerial
Session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Pact in Istanbul, where
Turkey wrapped up its presidency of the organisation.

The Greek deputy minister addressed the plenary session and attended
a working luncheon hosted by the organisation's outgoing chairman,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Following this, Kourkoulas
also visited Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

[08] PASOK leader attends meeting of socialist, democrat parties in Rome

ROME (AMNA - A. Andreadis)

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the second-largest party in
Greece's coalition government, on Saturday attended an international
meeting for socialist and democrat parties organised here by Italy's
Democratic Party.

Addressing the meeting, Venizelos stressed that the coordination of
European socialists and democrats was of great importance, in light of
upcoming elections in Italy and Germany.

"It is clearly very important for us European socialists to understand
that we have a political and moral obligation to propose a way out of
the crisis that takes into account fiscal discipline and the financial
dimension but is primarily about the human dimension," he added.

[09] Defence minister tours Dodecanese military posts; PM telephones
Kastellorizo, Ro commanders

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras held talks on the phone late on Saturday
with the commander of the Megisti Defence Command on the island of
Kastellorizo, Lieut. Colonel Vasilios Lagogiannis, and the head of the
military post on the island of Ro, Captain Athanassios Siskos.

The phone call came soon after Defence Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos'
stayed on Kastellorizo overnight on Friday, as part of a tour of military
units and outlying guardposts on the Dodecanese islands.

The prime minister asked the two officers to convey his warmest wishes
to the troops serving under their command in the area.

Panagiotopoulos made it clear that the Greek armed forces, despite
necessary cutbacks in spending, remained fully capable of guaranteeing
the country's national security, sovereignty, independence and integrity
under all circumstances.

During his tour, the defence minister visited Stroggyli and the guardpost
at Ro, as well as attending a memorial service for the 'Lady of Ro'
and laying a wreath on her tombstone.

In a visit to the island of Symi, Panagiotopoulos inspected the guard and
met with the local metropolitan, while he also praised the operational
capability and deterrent force of the troops on the island of Rhodes
during his visit to that island.

Panagiotopoulos was accompanied on his tour by the head of the Hellenic
National Defence General Staff General Mikhail Kostarakos and top
military officers.

[10] European Parliamentarians address Acheloos River conference

The Greek people can begin to expect an improvement in the future,
and Europe is there to provide support and new cohesion programmes to
promote regional development, said European Parliament president Martin
Schulz via teleconference at a one-day seminar in Perdikaki, northwest
Greece on Sunday.

The seminar, "Agricultural and Regional Policy of the European Union"
focused on the development prospects of the Acheloos River basin and was
organised by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group
in the European Parliament, local townships and the Athens offices of
the European Commission and Parliament.

"Europe supports you with the best and most effective use of all available
and new cohesion tools," Schulz said, "with viable regional development
and smart collaborative policies, with which we will face our common
challenges together."

Joseph Daul, chair of the European People's Party group in the Parliament,
also speaking via teleconferencing, said that "Europe has funds for the
development of rural areas and the establishment of small and medium-sized
enterprises and I hope that this entrepreneurial spirit revives in Greece
so that development can too."

Attending the seminar were several representatives of other groups in
the European Parliament, Eurodeputies, minister of Agriculture Athanasios
Tsaftaris, officials from other ministries, regional officials and mayors.

[11] EU information event held at Metsovo

A one-day information forum on the European Union's efforts to deal with
the crisis was organised by the Greek office of the European Parliament
in the northwest town of Metsovo on Saturday.

The event brought together regional media outlets, Greek Eurodeputies,
Deputy Infrastructure Minister Stavros Kalogiannis and regional officials
and was open to the public.

A key issue mentioned in dealing with the crisis is the support of and
expansion of agriculture in the area, with targeted actions and promotion
of large projects like the completion of highways. Minister Kalogiannis
reported on the discussions he held with concessionaires in four road
projects and said nothing had changed in the contracts except the date
of construction.

PASOK Eurodeputy Spyros Danellis said development in Greece was
unequivocally linked to supporting the agricultural sector with scientific
knowledge and noted that the country's problem related to packaging and
trade rather than production. Georgios Papastamkos, European Parliament
vice president, criticised the lack of a national model on farming
economy and called for a turn to regional models instead.

The second part of the forum was devoted to a seminar for regional mass
media outlets, with the European Parliament office presenting ways it
can assist journalists to present timely and correct information on EU
decisions and actions.

[12] Week of strikes in health sector from Monday

The coming week promises to be a difficult one for Greece's health sector,
with various groups of healthcare professionals planning strike action
from Monday, including hospital doctors and pharmacists.

Patients insured by the National Organisation for the Provision
of Healthcare Services (EOPYY) will also have to continue forking
out cash from their own pockets in order to buy medication, since
pharmacists are refusing to extend EOPYY more credit and demand payment
up front. Pharmacists intend to close pharmacies outright on Monday and
Tuesday in order to press demands for a firm payment date for September
prescriptions and a clearcut commitment concerning the payment of
past debts.

As of Monday, EOPYY patients will additionally be forced to shell
out for medical tests carried out at private clinics and laboratories
normally covered by EOPYY, who are also refusing credit until overdue
debts are settled.

Hospital doctors in Athens and Piraeus are planning to strike on Monday
in protest against pay cuts and the inclusion of their social insurance
fund TSAY in EOPYY and they will be joined by hospital cashiers' offices.

On Wednesday, hospitals throughout Greece will operate with a skeleton
staff due to 24-hour strike called by the Athens-Piraeus Hospital Doctors'
Union EINAP and the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Staff
POEDHN, who have decided to join in strike action declared by the civil
servants' union federation ADEDY. Participation in ADEDY's strike has
also been decided by the Panhellenic Medical Association in reaction to
recently announced measures relating to hospital doctors and the public
health system.

Thursday will see hospital interns abstaining from the morning shift
and talks on unemployment among young doctors, while on Friday hospital
doctors will convene to decide on further strike action.

[13] President Papoulias sends telegram of condolence to Obama for
Newtown tragedy

Greek President Karolos Papoulias on Saturday sent a telegram of
condolence to U.S. President Barack Obama, expressing his own and the
Greek people's deep grief at the tragedy in the United States after a
deadly attack by an armed man at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown,
Connecticut.

"We are all shocked at what this inconceivable horror left in its wake,"
Papoulias wrote, expressing his deepest condolences to the families of
the victims and Greece's solidarity and earnest interest "in the dialogue
that you have already decided to begin in your country concerning the
issue of gun ownership".

Papoulias also conveyed his hopes and prayers that this would be the last
time the U.S. would have to mourn victims "of irrational and horrifying
violence."

[14] Foreign ministry message for tragedy in Connecticut

In a message of condolence to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos on Saturday expressed his deep
sorrow at the tragic deaths of 28 youngsters and teachers at the Newtown
elementary school shooting in Connecticut.

Avramopoulos also expressed the Greek people's support for the American
people at this difficult time and his condolences to the families of
the victims of "this heinous crime".

General News

[15] Search continues for missing migrants shipwrecked off Lesvos

Authorities were on Sunday continuing the search for four children, two
women and a man that were still missing after a boat carrying illegal
migrants to the island of Lesvos capsized off the Thermi shoreline on
Friday morning.

The discovery of one more body that washed up on the shore of Petalidi
north of Mytilene on Sunday afternoon raised the confirmed death toll
to 21.

Authorities had previously recovered 20 dead bodies of men between the
ages of 20 and 45 years old, many of which washed up on the shore between
Niselia beach and Kanoni beach in Thermi. No details about the latest
victim of the tragedy that was washed ashore have yet been released.

A 20-year-old man had earlier been found alive in waters east of Thermi,
who first alerted authorities to the shipwreck. The single survivor said
he was from Myanmar and gave details concerning the other passengers on
the boat, which had set sail from the Turkish shore and is believed to
have capsized due to overloading. He is now being treated for hypothermic
shock at Mytilene Hospital but his overall condition is considered good.

According to this sole survivor, there were 28 people on board the vessel,
including a Turkish migrant-trafficker. Authorities have not yet been
ascertained whether the trafficker was among those found dead or whether
he survived the shipwreck and managed to return to his country by some
means. Coast guard officials do not rule out the possibility that he
may have been rescued by an accompanying vessel that abandoned the other
castaways to their fate.

[16] Silent protest against rising tide of racism held in Athens

A silent walk from the Greek Parliament to the foot of the Acropolis,
in protest against a rising surge of racism, anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism
in Greek society and elsewhere in Europe, was held in Athens on Saturday
by Greek and foreign activists from roughly 20 countries.

As people on festively decked-out Syntagma square went about their
Christmas shopping, the marchers gathered outside Parliament shortly after
3:00 p.m. in what they called the 'great European battle for democracy'.

Among them were migrants, intellectuals, artists, members of anti-racist
movements, MPs from the left-wing parties, members of the Central Union
of Municipalities of Greece and hundreds of ordinary citizens.

"Hunger and need have neither nationality nor passports. We know there
are specific political factions that are trying to blame all the country's
problems on migrants. This is unacceptable, false and unfounded," Athens
Mayor George Kaminis stressed as he joined the march.

The marchers reached Dionysiou Areopagitou street beneath the Acropolis
shortly after 5:00 p.m. where the protest concluded.

The protest was proposed by the Paris-based 'European Grassroots
Antiracist Movement' (EGAM) last Monday. It had the support of activists
from 20 countries and was backed by scores of civil rights groups,
anti-racist movements and some high-profile intellectuals, such as
Nobel laureates Dario Fo and Bernard Kouchner, and French Nazi-hunter
Serge Klarsfeld.

With Greece acting as a gateway into Europe for large numbers of migrants
from African and Asian countries, the dramatic influx of foreigners
has helped to whip up anti-migrant sentiment among ordinary Greeks and
catapulted previously marginal far-right groups such as Golden Dawn,
notorious for their attacks on migrants, to the forefront.

[17] Evros border fence complete, contractor announces

Work on a fence across the Greek border with Turkey in Evros, designed to
deter the entry of illegal migrants from Turkey to Greece, was finally
completed on Saturday according to the contractor in charge of the
project. The CEO of the construction firm 'Dagres ATE' Petros Dagres
told AMNA that the project was now finished and all that remained was
for the public order and citizen protection ministry to accept delivery.

The fence spans a distance of 10,365 metres, all along the length of
the land border between the Kastanea guard post and the Evros river,
and is four metres high, so that it cannot be climbed without mechanical
assistance.

Dagres noted that its construction used 6,000 square metres of concrete,
800 tonnes of steel, 20,700 metres of barbed wire fencing, 140,000
metres of razor wire and 210,000 metres of wire. He said that delays
in the completion of the project were due to unfavourable weather
conditions prevailing in the area during winter months and also delays
in finalising the planning for its location, completed on May 3. Also,
he added, work could not start until problems with an optic fibre network
that had preceded its construction were corrected.

Work on the project finally began on May 5 and the final cost came to
3.16 million euro, which was the amount in the initial contract with
no overruns.

[18] Police catch Roma gang behind high-profile robberies

Police on Sunday announced the arrest of a gang suspected of an armed
robbery targeting an associate of well-known Greek singer Yiannis Parios,
in which 40,000 euro in earnings from the singer's concert in Ioannina
were stolen last September.

The gang is suspected of carrying out a series of robberies throughout
Greece, including one targeting two jewellery salesmen, and other
individuals carrying large sums of money.

The suspects were identified as a group of young Roma men from Veria
that lived in expensive houses and with apparent financial ease that
police attribute to income from robberies.

In an operation on December 13 in Veria, with the assistance of local
Veria police, the Northeast Attica Security Police arrested two suspected
members of the gang aged 22 and 28 years old, respectively. On the
following day they caught a third suspect, a 24-year-old Roma man in
Acharnes, and they are now seeking another three Roma youths aged 17,
19 and 21 years old.

According to police, the gang roved the country, driving to various towns
and cities on the lookout for individuals carrying large sums of money
or jewels. When they saw their selected victims get into their cars,
the gang would follow and then attack them when they reached their
destination, forcefully taking either the money or goods or the car
itself if the loot was in the trunk.

In the robbery targeting Parios' associate, they had seen him in the
northwestern Greek city of Ioannina on September 24 and followed him to
Glyfada in Attica. When he arrived at his destination they attacked him,
punching and kicking, and took a briefcase containing the money from
the concert. The car used by the robbers was later found abandoned in
a rural area in Spata.

The second robbery attributed to the same gang is an attack on two
salesmen of precious stones on November 28, who were attacked as they were
returning to Athens after showing samples to a jewellery workshop. The
gang followed them and attacked them when they reached their home in
Vrilissia, taking their car which had the cases of precious stones in
the boot. The car was later found abandoned at a Roma camp in Aspropyrgos.

During raids on the suspects' homes in Veria, police also found and
confiscated a flare gun, a shotgun, jewellery and watches, cell phones,
7,700 euro and a private car.

The three suspects under arrest were led before a public prosecutor, while
an investigation continues to investigate their possible involvement in
similar offences.

[19] New Hania prison opens for business

The new court prisons in Hania are now officially up and running, after
the 160 inmates held in the old facilities spent their first night there
on Saturday.

The transfer of the prisoners to the new correctional facility in Agia
took place on Saturday night under extremely tight security. The new
prison is expected to greatly improve quality of life for inmates,
since the old prison had been termed entirely unsuitable and unable to
meet even the basic requirements of prisoners, who were often forced to
sleep on mattresses in corridors and other communal spaces.

The new prison is considered the most modern in Greece but is unable to
operate all five wings at present due to a lack of staff, so that only
two wings, each with 40 triple cells, are currently in operation.

[20] Man electrocuted in attempt to steal PPC transformer

A 37-year-old man died of electrocution on Sunday while trying to steal
a electricity company power transformer in Kilkis. Police arrested a
29-year-old accomplice of the victim in the act, confiscating various
tools as evidence.

An inquiry is being carried out by the Kilkis police.

[21] Two arrested for selling drugs via Internet ads

West Attica Police on Sunday announced the arrest of two men aged 43
and 35 years old, respectively, for peddling drugs that they advertised
on the Internet. The two men were arrested in the west Athens suburb
of Petroupolis and had quantities of cannabis, magic mushrooms and
other illegal narcotics stashed in two houses in the area. The two men
advertised on the Internet and sent the drugs to 'customers' by courier.

In raids on the two houses, police found and confiscated 830 grammes of
cannabis, 1.1 kilos of magic mushrooms, 780 grammes of an unknown plant
material, various sizes of packaging for the drugs, knives and other
weapons, three laptops and nine hard drives.

The two men were led before an Athens misdemeanours court prosecutor.

Soccer

[22] Super League results

Olympiacos Piraeus beat Panionios Athens 2-1 away in games played for
the Super League over the weekend, while Panathinaikos Athens lost 3-0
away from Veria and AEK Athens drew 1-1 at home with Atromitos Athens.

In other action:

Kerkyra - Panthrakikos Komotini 0-2

OFI Crete - Asteras Tripoli 2-0

Aris Thessaloniki - Xanthi 0-0

Levadiakos Livadia - Platanias Crete 1-0

PAS Yiannina - PAOK Thessaloniki 17/12/2012

Standings after 15 weeks of play:

1. Olympiacos 39

2. PAOK (14 games) 28

3. Asteras 25

4. Atromitos 25

5. Panionios 21

6. PAS Yiannina (14 games) 21

7. Levadiakos 21

8. Panathinaikos 20

9. Panthrakikos 20

10. OFI 17

11. Platanias 16

12. Xanthi 15

13. Veria 15

14. Aris 13

15. Kerkyra 12

16. AEK 12

NOTE: Panathinaikos has had two points deducted.

Weather forecast

[23] Rainy on Monday

Rainy weather and northerly winds are forecast in most parts of the
country on Monday. Winds 3-7 beaufort. Temperatures between -3C and
19C. Rainy in Athens with southerly 3-4 beaufort winds and temperatures
between 8C and 19C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures between 4C
and 10C.

[24] Athens' Sunday newspapers at a glance

Speculation about imminent changes on the political scene after the
disbursement of financial aid to Greece and government plans to fight
tax evasion dominated headlines in Athens newspapers on Sunday.

AVGHI: "Countdown begins for Samaras government".

DIMOKRATIA: "Disbursement of tranche sparks movement on the political
scene - the end of parties."

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Lavrentiadis scandal - how it was set up and who it
'burns'".

EPOCHI: "There is money now...(but only for banks and loansharks)
- Tranche that coalition government dubs 'national salvation' a
communications tool".

ETHNOS: "Time for changes to faces and model of government -
Samaras-Venizelos-Kouvelis anxious not to lose opportunity"

EXPRESS: "Loose defence from EU against debt crisis - with Germany's
intervention, European leaders postpone the crucial changes".

KATHIMERINI: "They are setting up 'committee of wisemen' for action
against tax evasion".

LOGOS: "Support for over-indebted consumers - free court assistance from
EKPOIZO and 'New INKA'".

NIKI: "Favourable measures for final settlement - solution for building
code transgressions".

TO PARON: "American-Russia war for Public Gas Company- HGTSO for energy
control of Europe. Russians offering 1.4 billion euro and pro-American
company just 400 million euro".

PROTO THEMA: "Doctors, farmers and Skopjans in SDOE's clutches. FBI
methods against tax dodgers".

REALNEWS: "Before the survey is complete, the first 'suitors' for the
oil appear".

RIZOSPASTIS:  "Protests against the 'tax-robbery' on Wednesday,
December 19".

TO ARTHRO: "The end of the troupes - Disintegration of Kammenos' party
signals radical developments for populist parties investing in citizens'
despair".

TO VIMA: "New parties on the horizon - 52.4 billion euro agreement
changes political scene".

VRADYNI: "Retirement guide - the major changes for older
insured. Requirements for going into retirement".

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