Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-09-03

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 03/09/1998 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Six Greeks on fateful Swissair plane
• Campaign poster withdrawn
• Increase in industrial production
• Greek-German arrested on drugs charges
• Women's fishing cooperative
• Greece, Italy sign natural gas agreement
• Spending on advertising rises 11.4 pct in Jan-Aug
• Shippers move 2.2 million passengers to islands in June-Aug
• Greek-Polish industrial cooperation
• Measures against cheating taxi-drivers
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

At least six Greek nationals died aboard the fateful Swissair plane that crashed off the coast of Canada early on Thursday, the Swissair representative in Athens said. Nineteen passengers, including an infant, aboard Flight 111 were scheduled to board a connecting flight from Geneva to Athens, she added. The Swissair wide-bodied MD-11, Flight 111 en route from New York to Geneva, crashed into the sea off the southern coast of Nova Scotia at around 3 a.m. Greek time. There appeared to be no survivors among the 229 passengers and crew.

Campaign poster withdrawn

The leader of the fringe Ecology Party and candidate for Athens mayor in elections next month today withdrew a controversial poster depicting him shaking hands with Greece's popular new Archbishop of Greece Christodoulos. Dimosthenis Vergis that he had been close to the Church since he was a child and would respect Christodoulos's wishes. The campaign poster depicts Vergis warmly shaking hands with Christodoulos. The outspoken archbishop, who was recently voted the most popular public figure in the country, filed to have the posters removed saying they intimated his support for Vergis's candidacy and were an affront to his position as the leader of the Greek Church.

Increase in industrial production

Industrial production marked a significant increase during the first half of this year, rising to 4.5 percent compared to the same period in 1997, the National Statistics Service said today. According to figures, industrial production last June rose by 6.4 percent compared to the same month last year. The rise in comparison to the business stagnation of previous years is attributed to the devaluation of the drachma last March which boosted exports, to inflows from Delors package and to the increase in exports to eastern countries, especially those made during the first half of this year.

Greek-German arrested on drugs charges

A Greek-German was arrested by police at Thessaloniki's Macedonia Airport today after he was found to be in possession of 4.5 grams of hashish. Police identified the man as Andreas Yiannakopoulos, 28, a photographer. The drugs were found in his luggage. Yiannakopoulos is expected to be charged with drug importation later today.

Women's fishing cooperative

A pilot program introducing the first ever Greek all-female cooperative in fishing, until now a strictly all-male profession, has been announced in the coastal town of Kavala, northern Greece. The program, according to Ms Domna Voutyra, General Director of the Development Company of Kavala Local Administration, will be launched with the exclusive participation of female candidates aged 23 to 50 years, who will form the EU subsidised cooperative after they complete training in contemporary fishing techinques, business management, fishing cooperative finances and legislation.

Greece, Italy sign natural gas agreement

An agreement for the joint construction of an undersea pipeline to carry natural gas from Italy to Greece was signed here yesterday between Greece's Public Gas Company (DEPA) and ENI of Italy. Earlier, a joint statement by the two countries on cooperation in natural gas projects was signed by Greece's Development Minister Vasso Papandreou and Italy's Industry and Energy Minister Pier Luigi Persanti. In Athens, Prime Minister Costas Simitis described the DEPA-ENI agreement as an especially positive one, both for the country overall and the national economy.

Spending on advertising rises 11.4 pct in Jan-Aug

Spending on advertising in Greece totalled 218.4 billion drachmas in January-August, showing an 11.44 percent increase from the same period last year, Media Services SA said in a report yesterday. The report said that television commercials accounted for 45.76 percent of the total at 99.9 billion drachmas; followed by magazines at 30.98 percent, or 67.7 billion, newspapers at 18.05 percent, or 39.4 billion and radio at 5.21 percent, or 11.4 billi on drachmas.

Shippers move 2.2 million passengers to islands in June-Aug

Coastal shippers moved 2,235,688 passengers in the peak tourist season months of June-August from the ports of Piraeus and Rafina to islands in the Saronic Gulf and Aegean, the merchant marine ministry said yesterday.It said in a statement that passengers travelling from the port of Piraeus totalled 1,260,953 in the same period, against 1,208,441 a year earlier. Passengers travelling from Pireaus to islands in the Saronic Gulf were 566, 386, down from 598,174 last year. Passengers from the port of Rafina totalled 408,349, up from 391,663 in the same period of 1997.

Greek-Polish industrial cooperation

Development Undersecretary A. Diamantopoulou met with Polish National Economy Undersecretary V. Kardner yesterday in Athens, with discussion focusing on Greek-Polish cooperation in the industry sector and support to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The two officials also examined the potential cooperation of Greece's EOMMEX and ELOT organisations with Poland's corresponding state bodies.

Measures against cheating taxi-drivers

Greece's public works ministry is planning to place signs at central intersections giving approximate fares for taxi rides on commonly-used routes, in an effort to protect unsuspecting tourists from being ripped off by unscrupulous taxi-drivers. In a meeting held at the Athens Prefectural Offices yesterday, representatives of local government, taxi-drivers' unions and organisations and other officials decided on a number of measures to offset the bad image a number of taxi-drivers have given the profession among tourists. Six taxi-drivers were found to be overcharging - some through sophisticated rigging of taxi meters - in August alone, in a crackdown by police.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.P.)

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