Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-01-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM to attend Blessing of Waters on Kythira

[02] SYN leader: Youth in the vanguard

[03] Situation 'difficult but manageable'

[04] Athens Newspaper Headlines

[01] PM to attend Blessing of Waters on Kythira

Karamanlis will attend the doxology in the morning, followed by a visit to the Town Hall, before the Blessing of the Waters ceremony.

Meanwhile, the prime minister requested the holding of an off-the-agenda Parliamentary debate on the subject of education, in a letter on Friday to Parliament President Dimitris Sioufas.

In his letter, Karamanlis underlined that "the issue of education in all its aspects and at all levels, and particularly with regard to tertiary (higher) education, is an exceptionally important matter that requires a priority discussion in the national parliament, so that all the political forces may take a stance."

"This is so because the future and the course of education require common positions, to the degree possible, as they are a timeless issue and do not concern only decisions of the government at any given time. For this reason, I request the holding of an off-the-agenda discussion, as per Article 143 of the Parliamentary Rules of Order."

[02] SYN leader: Youth in the vanguard

He added, however, that "some people on the left and right are attempting to isolate the youth movement, both politically and socially", but warned that "they will not succeed".

Questioned on the prospects for a collaboration between SYN and main opposition PASOK, Tsipras said that all the problems did not begin in 2004 (when New Democracy took over the government), stressing that the overindebtedness to the banks, the disdain of public education and health, were all inherited from the first "cycle of modernization" under the Simitis (PASOK) governance.

Tsipras urged PASOK, with the aim of advancing the political dialogue, to "comprehend that we cannot move forward with the same recipes", and called for the main opposition party to take a stance on the 15 points recently made public by SYN.

As for the outbreak of violence in December, to a question on the violence particularly against police stations, Tsipras responded that the cause should be sought "in the unprecedented incident in Exarhia" in the shooting death of a 15-year-old pupil by special police guard.

He explained that "I would not characterize as violence the social protest and insubordination, even if expressed in the most aggressive manner", but added that he does not place that protest "in the same category as blind destruction".

[03] Situation 'difficult but manageable'

He charged that the situation was being "dramatized in an irresponsible way by the opposition" and that "the existing problems are being artifically inflated", stressing that "the picture of collapse has nothing to do with the reality", in reply to questions in his interview with the Kosmos tou Ependyti (Investors' World) newspaper.

[04] Athens Newspaper Headlines

The Russian military exercises in the Aegean, the ongoing Israeli raids on Gaza, and political and economic developments were the main front-page items in Saturday's dailies.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Russian manoevers in the Aegean" noting that, for the first time in 20 years, with the permission of the Greek national defence ministry, air and sea exercises commenced on Saturday southeast of Rhodes and south of Crete in international waters and inside the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR).

APOGEVMATINI: "My daddy is to blame for his separation from my mommy", noting that, according to a survey conducted by University of the Aegean professor of sociology and psychologist Efstratios Papanis and PhD candidate Myrsini Roumeliotou, the majority of children of divorced parents aged 15-50 maintain that the father is to blame for the separation.

AVGHI: "Action, now, to end the war".

AVRIANI: "Putin deployed the Russian fleet in the Aegean", referring to the exercises in the Aegean, adding that Moscow was dynamically entering the game, determined to cancel out the US plans in the Middle East and the Aegean.

CHORA: "The 'bear' in the Aegean - Russian exercises from tomorrow to 11 January".

ELEFTHERI ORA: "SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left parliamentary alliance) 'children' were taking part in vandalisms in Piraeus" together with the anarchists, as charged by former deputy mayor Kyriakos Manolakos, in an exclusive interview with the newspaper.

ELEFTHEROS: "What's behind the Russians' arrival in the Aegean", given the conjuncture of the dramatic developments in Gaza and the continuing Turkish provocations in the Aegean.

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "90 days of agony over the future of the Greek economy".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Three-month crash test for economy, Karamanlis - The crisis intensifies insecurity among working people and business enterprises".

ESTIA: "Critical year for Greece - Everything will depend on the first months".

ETHNOS: "Reduction of incomes by up to 2 percent - The public sector salary increases in 2009 a 'magical picture'."

KATHIMERINI: "The citizens' expectations are very low, due to the prospects of the economy", according to Public Issue opinion poll.

NIKI: "Dismissals, as Greece enters New Year - The government leading thousands of Greeks into unemployment".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Condemn the government that acquits the butchers of the Palestinians".

TA NEA: "The shopping centers sweeping the market - Cry of agony from the small and medium size shops - Malls springing up like mushrooms throughout Greece".

TO VIMA: "Hot (political) January - Karamanlis under pressure".

VRADYNI: "Perpetuating crime - Bloodshed without end in Gaza: More tha 420 dead and 2,000 injured".

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