US embassy on copyright infringment
NEWS IN DETAIL
Northern Greece is celebrating a belated "white Christmas" as a rapid
deterioration in the weather in the early morning hours Thursday resulted
in heavy snowfall in Thessaloniki. There was also light snowfall reported
in central, western and eastern Maced onia and Thrace.
The snowfall was accompanied by a sharp drop in temperatures, which ranged
from 1-7 degrees Celsius, with the lowest temperature (zero C) registered
in Florina.
Snow was expected to fall on Athens' peaks, while tyre chains are necessary
in many parts of the country. Heavy seas have also been reported, with
winds clocked at up to nine on the Beaufort scale.
Turkish smuggler arrested
A Turkish smuggler was arrested early this morning in the area of Agios
Aimilianos off the coast of Symi shortly after he had put ashore 47 Iraqi
illegal immigrants of Kurdish origin.
Akim Oplama, 30, from Fetiye, was stopped and arrested by a coastguard
patrol boat after a sea chase. He was due to appear later today before a
public prosecutor on Rhodes.
Oplama is the third Turkish smuggler within the space of two weeks to be
arrested for transporting illegal immigrants from Turkey to Greece.
Zafer Gultsu was arrested on 14 December for transporting five illegal
immigrants. He was sentenced to six years and eight months' imprisonment
and fined 2,300,000 drachmas.
Yahla Mirze Mehmet was sentenced on 19 December to ten years' imprisonment
and fined 9,500,000 drachmas for smuggling 18 Iraqi illegal immigrants into
Greece.
Defence Minister to visit Greek contingent in Bosnia
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos is scheduled to visit the
Greek contingent of NATO's stabilisation force in Bosnia on Sunday to
extend to them New Year's wishes, sources said yesterday.
He will return to Athens either on the same day or Monday morning, the same
sources added.
Greece-Yugoslavia telecoms link approved
The Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) board of directors has
approved an agreement for financing of the Greece-Yugoslavia telecommunications
link-up "Corfu-Bar-Belgrade".
The OTE board also approved development of a phone-card service by
consumers in 1997.
Home-made bomb explodes outside Citibank branch
A home-made bomb exploded outside the Citibank branch in the central Athens
district of Kypseli early yesterday afternoon.
According to reports, an unknown man later called a private radio station
and claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of a group he
identified as the "Anarchist Cells of Revolutionary Violence."
The device, consisting of a fuse connected by a piece of cloth to a can
filled with gasoline and two small liquid gas cannisters, was planted
beneath the bank's automatic teller machine (ATM), which was destroyed in
the blast.
No injuries were reported, although the explosion caused a small panic in
the area.
A Citibank branch in the Athens district of Halandri was damaged in a bomb
explosion last Thursday, Dec. 19. That blast, which was not claimed by any
individual or group, was caused by three kilograms of dynamite. The same
Citibank branch had been the target of an attack by the elusive "November
17" terrorist group in 1991.
Council of State reassigns Thessaloniki water supply projects
The Council of State has ruled that "urgent reasons of public interest
"necessitate the immediate assignment of projects for Thessaloniki water
supply to the firm Ergomihaniki S.A.
The 5.2 billion drachmas projects concern water supply to Thessaloniki from
the Aliakmon River and completion of a pipeline from the Axios River to the
Sindos pumping station.
With this ruling, the Council of State overturned a decision of the
government's suspensions committee, which had suspended a tendering process
for the project after recourse by the Meton S.A., Thessaloniki S.A. and
Northern Greece S.A. consortium.
Kavala trade delegation concludes visit to Belgrade
A strong presence of foodstuff and beverages industries from the northern
region of Kavala has met with a positive response at the Belgrade
international trade fair.
The Kavala Chamber of Commerce had the opportunity to collect valuable
information on the prospects for trade and economic cooperation with
Yugoslav counterpart organisations.
Chamber president Apostolos Mardyris met with his counterparts of the
chambers of commerce of Yugoslavia, Mihailo Milojevic, and of Serbia, Mr.
Stoilkovic.
One of the issues discussed was the problem concerning delays in the
granting of entry visas. It was agreed that special efforts will be made
for a solution.
Justice Minister to visit Germany
Justice Minister Evangelos Yiannopoulos today begins a four-day visit to
Germany until Dec. 30 at the invitation of the State of Hesse and the Greek
organisation "SPD" Hesse.
During his visit, Mr. Yiannopoulos will address several Greek organisations
and visit a narcotics detoxification centre in Frankfurt.
US embassy on copyright infringement
US copyright holders are suffering "significant" losses in Greece due to
piracy of their works, particularly motion picture producers whose films
are routinely broadcast on Greek television without payment of royalties, a
US embassy announcement claimed o n Tuesday.
The United States Information Service (USIS) press release said measures
taken by Greece in the past to address the problem had been inadequate.
It added, however, that following consultations between Athens and
Washington, the Greek government had developed and presented to Washington
an "action plan" of specific steps to tackle the problem.
"Greece has committed itself, through this action plan, to take necessary
measures to protect the rights of American copyright holders. I applaud
this action. Although the plan could have gone further, it is a step in the
right direction. I now look for ward to full implementation of the action
plan and satisfactory resolution of US copyright concerns by April 30, 1997,
" a US embassy trade official said.
WEATHER
Dropping temperatures and snowfall throughout the country. Sleet and snow
forecast for Macedonia and Thrace, while the rest of the country will have
local showers and sporadic storms. Snowfall also expected in the mountains
surrounding Athens with temperatures ranging from 4-9 C. Sleet in
Thessaloniki turning to snow later on, with temperatures ranging from 1-
2C.
SPORTS
Basketball: Real Madrid beat Olympiakos of Piraeus 64-62 (29-34) in the
final of Madrid's "Christmas Tournament".
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
(Closing rates - buying)
US dlr. 250.47 Pound sterling 420.48
Cyprus pd 532.00 French franc 46.814
Swiss franc 189.97 German mark 161.11
Italian lira (100) 16.41 Yen (100) 219.23
ECU 310.02
(M.P.)
