Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-01-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] More snowfall, followed by rain and storms from the west on Wednesday

[02] Verhofstadt calls on Tsipras not to extradite the eight Turkish officers

[03] New breakdown at Kardia III power unit leaves Ptolemaida without heating

[01] More snowfall, followed by rain and storms from the west on Wednesday

Snowfall is expected to peak on Monday night, with National Meteorological Centre Director Antonis Lalos forecasting "snowfall that is quite significant and extensive in the greater part of the country, with the exception of the northern Ionian, Epirus and western Greece" until Tuesday night.

"The remaining regions will face serious issues. In fact, because the snow fall will take place during the night it will be intense in places, such as in the northern Aegean and also in Evia and Sporades. Snow is also expected in Attica, the Peloponnese, Cyclades and Crete by tomorrow afternoon," he added.

Lalos said Attica could expect snow during Monday night, which could be quite heavy in the north and even settle at low altitudes. He said this would last until Tuesday afternoon and then gradually subside, to be followed by rain and possibly storms on Wednesday.

From Tuesday night to Wednesday, snow will continue to fall on the western, central and northern parts of Greece except Athens, with the phenomena most intense in the northern Peloponnese and the north. At the same time, rain and storms will start at sea and coastal areas on the Ionian Sea, in the Peloponnese and in the Aegean and Crete, moving from the west and south. Lalos warned of a flood risk, especially in areas where it had recently snowed, such as southern Crete.

"The frost will continue, creating problems in northern Greece, for example, where the temperature does not have time to rise above zero. The temperature is expected to rise from Wednesday and Thursday in southern and southeastern regions and in Attica. In the rest of the country, however, it will remain quite low though not as low as in previous days," Lalos said.

The phenomena are expected to continue until Thursday and will then be confined to the north and eastern Aegean before subsiding.

[02] Verhofstadt calls on Tsipras not to extradite the eight Turkish officers

"I hope that you share my view about the need to preserve and fully respect fundamental European values and principles, which Greece helped shape throughout European history and which it decided to abide by through its membership of the European Union and the Council of Europe," Verhofstadt says in the letter.

"I sincerely hope that Greek authorities will be guided by these principles when deciding the fate of the eight Turkish officers," he added.

The cases of the eight officers are expected to be heard at the Supreme Court in separate hearings this week. All eight officers fled to Greece on a military helicopter, hours after the aborted coup attempt on July 15.

[03] New breakdown at Kardia III power unit leaves Ptolemaida without heating

"Our technicians are working tirelessly to restore the problem and we hope that by three in the afternoon we will be able to restart the unit and normalize its operation by this evening," the unit's director Vasilis Tsingas told Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

According to Tsingas, the problem was caused by the frost of the past week and affected Kardia III and IV which provide heating to the city of Ptolemaida. It follows a similar breakdown on the same units on Sunday.

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