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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 03-01-14The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>CONTENTS[01] Weather forecastA cloudy and cold day is forecast, with snowfalls in northern Greece and local showers in some regions of the country. Winds north-northeasterly, light to strong, turning very strong in the Aegean from evening. In Athens temperatures will range between 3C to 10C and in Thessaloniki between -1C to 3C.(14/1/2003 12:16:00 μμ) [02] Resumption of Cyprus issue talksAfter a month s break, UN-mediated talks on the Cyprus dispute resumed this week. UN special envoy for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto has returned to the island to urge both sides to agree to UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan s blueprint for talks that sees acceptance of a broad power-sharing deal by February 28.Cyprus President Glafkos Klerides and Turkish –Cypriot leader, Raulf Dektash will meet with de Soto tomorrow thus opening a new circle of face to face meetings. Mr.de Soto, who had successive meetings with both sides, reiterated the importance of sticking to a deadline for achieving agreement by February 28 and cautioned against drastic changes in the UN plan. He stressed that the choice of the two communities was the UN plan with balanced refinements or no plan. He also said that both Athens and Ancara supported the solution of the long-standing Cyprus dispute. The U.S special coordinator in the Cyprus issue, Tomas Weston is also expected to arrive in Nicosia on Thursday. Cyprus government spokesman said that this was a crucial week for the solution of the Cyprus political problem, stressing that the Greek-Cypriot side would pursue a comprehensive settlement. Meanwhile, the Turkish-Cypriot public is expected to play a new important role in the long-standing issue. Opposition parties, unions and non-government organisations have joined forces to prepare a massive rally today, calling for a deal to be finally concluded to resolve the political problem on the island. If no deal is reached by the end of next month, Turkish-Cypriots will be left out of the E.U. (14/1/2003 12:19:00 μμ) [03] Presentation of Greece s EU Presidency prioritiesPrime-minister, Costas Simitis will today present the priorities of the Greek presidency of the EU to the European parliament in Stasbourg. In a letter, addressed to the E.U member states-including the 10 candidate countries- Mr Simitis stressed that the Greek Presidency will focus on unemployment and daily problems of EU citizens with the aim for a broader, better and stronger Europe in which all citizens voices will be heard.In the meantime, Foreign Minister, George Papandreou yesterday left for an extensive 3-day tour of the western Balcans with the objective of boosting their ties with the EU. The first leg of the tour is the former Yiougoslav Republic of Macedonia, followed by Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. (14/1/2003 12:20:00 μμ) [04] Domestic terrorism, another arrestedTerrorist suspect Anestis Papanastasiou was remanded in custody yesterday, pending trial, charged with membership in the November 17th urban guerilla group. The 40 year old bank employee, who joins another 17 suspects in jail and an 18th released on bail, claimed he was innocent and reiterated that he was merely a victim of coincidences. Speaking through his lawyer, he described the November 17th group as a militaristic organisation to which he had no connection.In the meantime, the Athens Public Prosecutor ordered an urgent preliminary enquiry into press allegations that an extreme right-wing publisher had extorted money from leading industrialists on the pretext of ensuring they were eliminated from the November 17 hit list. Grigoris Mihalopoulos, the publisher of the Eleftheri Ora newspaper, has strenuously denied the reports and has challenged anyone with evidence against him to produce it at the district attorney s office. (14/1/2003 12:21:00 μμ) [05] Wave of bad weather hit northern GreeceA severe wave of bad weather over the week-end has caused serious problems in northern Greece . The Evros region has been declared in a state of emergency as due to torrential rains-the Evros river is only a meter from overflow level. Reinforcement along its banks broke at one point flooding hundreds of acres of crops. In Kilkis, overflowing of the Axios river destroyed the water and irrigation system .(14/1/2003 12:22:00 μμ) The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |