Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-01-20

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece-Albania-Aid

[02] Defence Minister-A Army Corps-Visit

[03] Greece-Italy-Mafia-Thessaloniki

[04] Albanian national-Greece-Hostage situation

[05] Archbishop-Kosovo-Greek troops

[01] Greece-Albania-Aid

The Greek government will allocate 17.5 billion drachmas toward the reconstruction of Albania as part of the Greek Balkan reconstruction plan, with the majority of the funds to be funneled to healthcare related projects, Macedonia-Thrace Minister George Paschalidis said on Friday, during a meeting with Albanian Healthcare Minister Leonard Solis.

The Albanian minister arrived in Athens on Saturday heading a 30-member delegation of university medical doctors from his country on a visit to Greece.

[02] Defence Minister-A Army Corps-Visit

Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Saturday arrived in the northwestern Greek city of Kozani to visit the installation of the A Army Corps and to inspect government projects in the region.

Wintery weather, however, caused a three-hour delay in his arrival, as dense fog in the region did not allow for the landing of the military cargo plane he used for his travel and his was forced to land in Thessaloniki.

[03] Greece-Italy-Mafia-Thessaloniki

Italian prosecutors arrived in Thessaloniki on Saturday to interrogate an Italian national convicted to 19 months imprisonment by Greek authorities for possessing forged state documents about a month ago.

Francesco Prudentino, 52, alleged member of Italian underworld organisation ?Sacra Corona Unita? is now being investigated on charges of bribing an Italian prosecutor.

Prudentino is allegedly an Italian mob kingpin accused of directing a cigarette smuggling ring across southeastern Europe, stretching from Italy to Bulgaria.

[04] Albanian national-Greece-Hostage situation

An Albanian national was killed on Saturday when a handgrenade he used to hijack a car and its driver exploded, leaving the driver uninjured but in shock.

An unidentified Albanian national hijacked a private automobile taking hostage its driver, Charalampos Syriniotis, 46, in Kastoria with the use of a handgrenade.

[05] Archbishop-Kosovo-Greek troops

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos on Saturday landed in Skopje heading a Church delegation on a visit to Greek troops in Kosovo.

The Archbishops flight could not land in Kosovos airport due to bad weather conditions, thus the delegation landed in Skopje and boarded buses for Kosovo.

Greek troops in Urosevac, numbering about 250, welcomed the Greek prelate, who told them that their mission there was to secure peace, allaying fears of uranium caused diseases, saying, ?I would not be here, if I was not certain that I can tell you not to be afraid. And (as you know) I am not a politician, I am not interested in politics?.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article