Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-04-16

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

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

CONTENTS

[01] Mugging-Kiosk-Theft

[02] Easter-Roads-Death Toll

[03] Petrola-Court-Licence

[04] Stephanopoulos-Tsohatzopoulos-Kosovo

[05] Papandreou-FYROM-Albanians-Balkans

[06] Arrest-Easter-Church-Killing

[07] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

[01] Mugging-Kiosk-Theft

Three men brutally mugged a 61-year-old kiosk owner in broad daylight on the holiday island of Rhodes, making off with a million drachmas, police said on Monday.

One of the three had a dispute with the kiosk owner, identified as Mihail Petrantis, and returned soon after with two associates.

The three men, who were Albanians, stole a bag containing the cash and fled in a car after beating Petrantis, police said.

Police have arrested one suspect in the incident, which occurred on Easter Sunday, and the two other men are wanted. Arrested was Dimiter Gaksho, 25, a gardener.

[02] Easter-Roads-Death Toll

Police said on Sunday that 16 people had so far been killed in road accidents over the Easter holiday.

Since Thursday, when the holiday exodus began, 173 accidents were reported with 243 people injured, police said.

The report was issued as holidaymakers began returning to Athens on Sunday afternoon, leading to congestion on the Athens-Corinth and Athens-Lamia motorways.

[03] Petrola-Court-Licence

Local authorities, associations and inhabitants of western Attica have asked the Council of State to rescind a government-issued permit allowing the expansion of facilities owned by Petrola Hellas, an oil refining company that belongs to the Latsis energy, banking and shipping group.

The class action lodged with the country's highest administrative court states that award of the permit for the expansion and modernisation of Petrola's plant near Elefsina runs contrary to the constitution, and is illegal.

The company began trading on the main market of the Athens Stock Exchange in the middle of March at 6.16 euros (2,099.02 drachmas) a share after a successful initial public offer (IPO) and a private placement.

Investors who bought into the IPO were informed in Petrola's prospectus that the proceeds of the share sale would be used to help fund the investment plan under dispute, which is budgeted at 260 billion drachmas.

Before the IPO, residents of the Thriasio plain, in which Elefsina is located, had sought intervention by the capital markets commission to halt the firm's bourse entry, but the complaint was rejected.

The residents' action group said that Petrola had failed to mention in its promotion material that the land on which it intended to expand was the subject of judicial proceedings, thus violating stock market legislation.

It said the investment Petrola was planning may not materialise for legal reasons, changing its financial profile for shareholders.

The permit allowing construction to begin was granted on the basis of a joint ministerial decision on January 25, 2001.

The class action says that the much of the land on which the company's new installations are to built, and also containing current facilities, is a disputed stretch of farmland and woodland on which another court has yet to rule.

The petition also claims that approval on environmental grounds has not been obtained for the project.

[04] Stephanopoulos-Tsohatzopoulos-Kosovo

UROSEVAC (ANA/M.Lampathakis) - President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos welcomed the performance of Greek troops taking part as KFOR peacekeepers in Kosovo during an Easter visit to the troubled region.

The two officials arrived at the Rigas Phereos military camp in Urosevac on a snowy Easter Sunday, travelling by road from Skopje in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as Pristina airport was closed due to adverse weather.

They were treated to an official Easter luncheon hosted at the camp and cracked eggs with soldiers, enjoying a traditional celebration.

Stephanopoulos told the troops that the inhabitants of Kosovo appreciated the sense of solidarity emanating from Greece, and from the peacekeepers themselves.

Showing a neighbourly concern for the region, Greece was working to avert a chain reaction of strife by advocating the principles of international law, which should be respected by both sides, he added.

Tsohatzopoulos told reporters at the camp that NATO had found cooperation with Greek peacekeepers in the Balkans to be constructive.

[05] Papandreou-FYROM-Albanians-Balkans

BELGRADE (ANA/M.Mouratidis) - Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said on Monday that ethnic tensions in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), which has led to fighting between Albanian insurgents and government troops, would not spread.

Papandreou told Yugloslavi'a SENSE news agency in an interview that the crisis could be resolved through joint efforts involving the US, European Union and countries of southeastern Europe.

Furthermore, Greece's aim was to seek permanent stability in the region, Papandreou noted.

"Greece itself will have a lot to gain. We have nothing to gain if we remain geographically cut off, with strife, instability and a neighbouring region that shows no growth on our backs," he said.

"We want to see growth in the region and see Greece linked by road to Europe, so that it can sell its products in this market, a market that should respect European standards," Papandreou added.

At the same time, Greece was in a position to help other Balkan countries in the region to undertake reform and switch to EU-oriented legislation.

Finally, the Albanian question in the region should be resolved through the principle of the sovereignty of law and through laws of state.

In the future, the issue of borders among states would acquire less importance when the rights of minorities were strictly upheld, a key message from the world community that had demonstrated in the FYROM crisis its ability to show a unified response and back political solutions.

[06] Arrest-Easter-Church-Killing

A man with a history of drug abuse is to be charged on two counts of murder after he allegedly opened fire on worshippers taking part in an Easter service from a church forecourt, killing a child and an adult, police said on Monday.

The dead were identified as Yorgos Karayiannis, aged 11, and Dimitris Stoupas, a 47-year-old store owner from the port of Kavala. No-one else was hurt in the attack, which occurred in the northern village of Karitsa in Pieria.

Arrested on Sunday was Apostolos Yiannoulis, an unemployed 37-year-old resident of the village, who had a record of arrest for drug possession and abuse.

Yiannoulis had allegedly fired six bullets into the crowd from the front door of his home, located 20 metres from the church forecourt, on Saturday just before the priest's traditional declaration of Christ's resurrection at midnight.

Police said they raided the home of a friend of Yiannoulis in another village, where they found the wanted man after a day-long search.

In his evidence, Yiannoulis admitted to having let off the gun but claimed that he was shooting into the air, in a custom to celebrate Christ's resurrection. He denied being under the influence of drugs at the time.

Yiannoulis will also be charged with violation of firearms legislation. Police found the pistol of Yugoslav origin he allegedly used about 50 metres from his home on the night of the crime.

Yiannoulis' friend, identified as Nikolaos Katsaros and also on the record for drug abuse, will be charged with harbouring a cri

minal.

The two victims of the shooting spree, who were both fatally wounded in the chest near the heart, were buried on Monday.

[07] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout the country on Tuesday, turning to showers in the Cyclades islands, Crete, the Dodecanese islands and eastern Aegean islands. The northwest may also see rain later in the day. Early morning visibility will be limited. Winds variable, light to strong. Temperatures in the north will range from 4C to 18C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 6C to 23C; and in the Aegean islands from 10C to 22C. Cloudy in Athens with temperatures between 9C and 23C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 7C to 18C.

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

Tuesday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 382.006

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 547.583

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.296

Swedish kroner 37.554

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.111

Swiss franc 222.625

Norwegian kroner 41.873

Cyprus pound 584.136

Canadian dollar 245.126

Australian dollar 193.982

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