Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-07-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK leader meets OKE leadership

[02] Gov't promises stepped up works along hazardous stretch of N-S highway

[03] Gov't defends F/B fare deregulation

[04] Getty Museum returns noted artifacts to Greece

[01] PASOK leader meets OKE leadership

OKE President Nikos Analytis said that OKE had created an observatory for the Lisbon strategy and would be asked to give an opinion on the draft bill for education, while stressing the need for very broad consensus in society regarding the balance between security for the workforce and flexibility for businesses.

Regarding social insurance reform, Analytis said his talks with Papandreou had focused chiefly on whether Analytis would be involved once a Technical Commission for the issue was formed, noting that PASOK appeared sceptical about whether the Commission could work.

According to PASOK's sector head for social affairs Maria Damanaki, meanwhile, the party was willing to participate in dialogue on social insurance reform but wanted the government to make its intentions clear and a plan on which to base the talks.

[02] Gov't promises stepped up works along hazardous stretch of N-S highway

The statements came after an on-the-spot inspection of works at the Aghios Konstantinos and Kammena Vourla resorts on the highway by a ministry delegation, led by Souflias.

The total budget for highway upgrades south, north and along the Malliakos Gulf is budgeted at 800 million euros for a stretch of roadway approximately 80 kilometres, Souflias said.

The Malliakos portion of the Athens-Thessaloniki highway has long been considered one of the most hazardous provincial roadways in the east Mediterranean country, due to a lack of barriers between opposite lanes, heavy traffic, numerous curves and steep road shoulders, among others.

[03] Gov't defends F/B fare deregulation

"Isolated cases cannot cast a shadow over the fact that the majority of ferry boat services operate smoothly," alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros said in response to a press question referring to coastal shipping and a spate of delays recorded over the weekend.

Antonaros reminded that ferry boat operators are obliged to inform passengers of any problems in their schedules and routes.

In citing the briefing he had from the merchant marine ministry, he stressed that a probe is underway to determine whether specific operators undertook the prescribed measures in cases where problems arose.

ANA-MPA photo / P. Saitas.

[04] Getty Museum returns noted artifacts to Greece

The items in question are a 6th century BC bas-relief from the northern Aegean island of Thasos and a 4th century inscribed stele from Viotia (classical name Boeotia), north of Athens and near the town of Thebes -- both of which are currently on display at the Getty.

Meanwhile, negotiations will continue between the two sides for the return of another two artifacts, a marble statue of a kore (representing a standing young woman) made before the 5th century BC and a golden Macedonian wreath.

Caption: The 4th century Boeotian stele. ANA-MPA photo.

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