The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 08-02-26

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Israel: Compromise on Katsav's Case

Sources: REUTERS

Israels Supreme Court upheld a plea bargain on Tuesday under which former president Moshe Katsav will avoid rape charges or jail time in exchange for admitting lesser sexual crimes against women employees. Womens rights groups had appealed to the court to throw out the deal. The case has stirred powerful emotions in a country where women complain that authorities do little to combat sexual harassment at work.

[02] Reactions by PPC Employees

Sources: ΝΕΤ 105.8

Reacting to the signing of a memorandum between the Public Power Corporation, RBE, a Germany company, and Halyvourgiki, a Greek steel-producing company, PPC employees stormed the Corporations headquarters in central Athens. Claiming that such a move would pave the way for a future privatisation bid, they took actions with a view to cancelling the meeting scheduled for 1000 hours. The PPC employees are to stage a three-hour work stoppage starting from 1000 hours.

Translated by Areti Christou

[03] Huge Fire in Myanmar

Sources: REUTERS

A huge fire which raged for 13 hours through a big market building in Mandalay, Myanmars second city, injured 21 people and destroyed more than 1,500 shops, official media and witnesses said on Tuesday. Four Buddhist monks and three women were among those injured in the fire which took 78 fire engines and more than 4,000 people to put out on Monday, they said. Altogether, 1,558 shops, including computer training schools, in the four-storey Yadanabon Market Building were destroyed in a fire started by an electrical fault on the ground floor, state-run newspapers said. There was also a major fire on Monday on the western outskirts of Yangon, the former capital of the military-ruled country, which left nearly 3,000 people homeless after destroying 200 houses, the newspapers reported.

[04] Spanish Leaders' Debate

Sources: ANA-MPA

Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy held Monday their first televised debate in view of the 9 March general elections. The debate was viewed as pretty crucial for the neck and neck race of the two parties, as analysts claim that a poor turnout could harm the Socialists, who are slightly ahead of the Conservatives in the polls.

Rajoy blasted Zapatero for increased unemployment rate and inflation hike, as well as his governments failure to negotiate with ETA, the Basque separatist guerrillas.

Zapatero, on his part, defended his governments economic work, including a construction boom helped power the average Spaniards purchasing power. He drew his attention to the reforms he introduced in favour of women, immigrants and homosexuals, and slammed the Conservatives of Rajoy for not standing by the governments side in its fight against ETAs terrorism.

Read the story on other sources:

BBC: Spanish leaders in heated debate

El Mundo: El primer debate entre Zapatero y Rajoy evidencia la renida disputa electoral

[05] 6.7 Magnitude Tremor Hits Sumatra

Sources: REUTERS

A magnitude 6.7 quake hit off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Monday, the US Geological Survey reported. It said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.9, struck at 1806 GMT 164 km southwest of Padang in Sumatra and was only 35 km deep. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center which monitors the world for tsunamis said there was no threat of a tsunami. A powerful earthquake struck in the same area earlier, triggering panic and a brief tsunami warning, although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. A huge earthquake measuring more than 9 struck off Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, causing a massive tsunami and more than 230,000 deaths in countries across the region.

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