General News

[akritas]

SNOWFALL AND RAIN IN MACEDONIA
Thessaloniki, 15 December 2005 (14:00 UTC+2)

Snow, rain and gusty north winds are being reported in north Greece where large parts of the provincial road network in the region's mountains are covered with snow and cars need snow chains.

Snow fell during the night on the mountains of west and central Macedonia where temperature is below zero.

Since the early morning hours today, show chains need all vehicles traveling on the provincial road network of Florina-Kastoria through Vigla and Vitsi and on the Kastoria-Ioannina provincial road network through Nestorio and Amynteo as well as on the provincial road network in the mountains of the prefecture of Kastoria

source:MPE

[akritas]

Thessaloniki, 19 December 2005 (14:16 UTC+2) ,MPA


Frost and chilling temperatures are the dominant characteristics of weather in north Greece and snow chains are necessary for vehicles on the provincial road network in central and west Macedonia. Also, snow chains are necessary on the mountain road network in north Chalkidiki and Orestiada and the roads to ski resorts in the region.

Arctic temperatures are being recorded in north Greece. Indicative temperatures: Nevrokopi -17 degrees Celsius, Florina -10, Kastoria -6, Kozani -5, Kavala, Alexandroupolis and Serres 0 degrees Celsius, while in Thessaloniki temperature was 1 degree Celsius.

Schools in Florina, northwest Greece, will not open today, while in Kozani the school bells rang with a one-hour delay.

[Makedonia25]

Greece welcomes EU summit results

www.chinaview.cn 2005-12-20 02:50:56

ATHENS, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Greek government on Monday welcomed the results of the European summit for Greece, saying that the tough negotiations lasting many months had led to a happy outcome for the country.

Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said that Greece had achieved its goals in securing 20.1 billion euros (24.2 billion US dollars) from the total EU budget for 2007-2013.

"We fought so that not a single euro would be lost from the equivalent summit meeting in June, even though the total sum for the EU was smaller," he said.

The spokesman pointed to the one-year extension gained by Athens for the absorption of funds from the 4th Community Support Framework, the delay of a revision in the Common Agricultural Policy until after 2013 and the increased contribution by the EU in co-funded projects.

While Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis stressedt hat the outcome was very favorable for Greece, describing it as a personal success for Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

[Makedonia25]

Turkey Attributes Great Importance To Relations With Greece, Gul
Published: 12/19/205

ATHENS - Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Sunday that Turkey attributed great importance to friendly relations with Greece.
Giving an exclusive interview to Greek Kathimerini newspaper, Gul talked about Turkish-Greek relations, Turkey's EU bid and Cyprus issue.

Gul said Turkey considered improvement of relations with Greece as a mission and said that improvement would be to the advantage of both sides. Positive conclusion of Turkey's EU bid would also contribute to bilateral relations, Gul said.

Referring to the need of a different approach in course books on history, Gul stressed that Turkey made some changes in the course books in the last three years and he believed Greece would do the same thing. This would change Turkish and Greek children's perspective of the other country, Gul said.

Gul said that Turkey expected Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to visit Turkey again.

Responding to a question about the decision of the Turkish parliament on consideration of Greece's extension of its territorial waters as casus belli, Gul said that the issue was sorted out by 1997 Madrid Declaration and that there was no new development. ''The Madrid declaration which foresees Greece not to extend its territorial waters and which urges Turkey not to apply to a military method is still in force,'' Gul said.

Upon a question about the title of Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, Gul said that ''Turkey regards the Patriarch as the leader of the Greek Orthodox population in Turkey.''

Answering another question about opening of Heybeliada Seminary, Gul said that there was no obstacle for that under the existing laws and proposals (about the issue) were being discussed.

Also thanking Greece for the support it extended to Turkey's EU bid, Gul said that the performance of Turkey in accession talks was very important. Gul said Turkey would be better off in ten years time and the reform process would continue.

Referring to Cyprus issue, Gul emphasized that a big opportunity on the way to settlement was missed by the rejection of Annan Plan by Greek Cypriots last year. The Turkish side was ready for compromise, but Greek Cypriot leader Papadopoulos didn't want to make a compromise, Gul said.

Upon a question about opening of Turkish ports to Greek Cypriot flagged ships, Gul said that Turkey suggested last May to lift all the restrictions on the island at the same time but Papadopoulos didn't accept that proposal.

[Makedonia25]

Nestle to buy Greek ice cream co for $287m

REUTERS[ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2005 03:12:08 AM]
NRI Special Offer!
ZURICH: Nestle is buying Greek-based Delta Ice Cream for about e240m ($287m) to expand in the growing ice cream market in Greece and the Balkans, Nestle said on Monday. Delta Ice Cream, which had sales of e122m last year, is the leading ice cream business in Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Nestle said in a statement.

Over 96% of Delta Ice Cream is owned by the Greek milk and dairy products group Delta Holdings. The deal is Nestle’s latest in a string of acquisitions over recent years in ice cream, and Kepler Equities analyst Jon Cox said the acquisition was part of a trend to target premium brands

“We tend to view small bolt-on acquisitions in niche segments or regions as positive with ice cream part of the trading-up-to-premium-brands phenomena we are seeing in other food categories such as coffee and chocolate,” Mr Cox said.

[Makedonia25]

Takes two to tango in divided Cyprus, says NATO chief
Published: 12/19/2005

ANKARA - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Monday urged Turkey and Greece to work together with their respective ethnic communities in Cyprus to reunite the Mediterranean island split in two for more than a decade.
"As the British say, it takes two to tango," De Hoop Scheffer told reporters in the Turkish capital of Ankara after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"So the solution is not only to be found in Ankara, but in Nicosia and ... in Brussels."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-backed Greek Cypriot coup aimed at linking the island with Greece.

While Turkish Cypriots voted "yes" to a United Nations plan to reunify the island in an April 2004 referendum, Greek Cypriots voted overwhelmingly against the measure that would have created a loose confederation called the United Cyprus Republic.

When Cyprus joined the European Union with nine other countries the following month, the Turkish Cypriot state to the north of the UN-patrolled Green Line was left out of the bloc.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council this month that only "negligible" progress had been made in efforts for a settlement.

Turkey, which is also seeking to join the EU, accuses the Greek Cypriots of hampering its bid to extract concessions on Cyprus.

De Hoop Scheffer said he also discussed NATO's peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan, Kosovo and the fight against terrorism with Turkish leaders including Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul.


12/19/2005 17:37 GMT

[Makedonia25]

Greece re-enacts doomed Cypriot airliner route
19 Dec 2005 10:01:16 GMT

Source: Reuters

LARNACA, Cyprus Dec 19 (Reuters) - Greek and Cypriot aviation authorities tried on Monday to piece together the riddle of Europe's worst air disaster this year by re-enacting a flight that killed 121 people in August.

A Boeing 737-300 from Larnaca in Cyprus to Prague operated by Helios Airways slammed into a Greek hillside on Aug. 14.

Investigators are trying to work out what happened on the plane to render its two pilots unconscious, leaving a flight attendant with an emergency oxygen kit grappling with the controls before the plane crashed from lack of fuel.

"Inevitably, not all the questions will be answered, but it will shed light on some key elements of what happened," said Seraphim Kamoutsis, head of the Greek investigations team.

Re-enactments of flights are unusual, and Monday's flight in the depths of winter failed to match the clear, almost perfect flying conditions of the Sunday morning in August.

Helios, a subsidiary of Britain's Libra Holidays Group, has defended its maintenance record but disclosed the aircraft had previously had decompression problems. Decompression reduces oxygen supplies and can lead to rapid loss of consciousness.

[Makedonia25]

Riots in Australia Spur Introspection
Ethnic Tensions Seen as Linked to War on Terror

By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, December 20, 2005; Page A23

CRONULLA, Australia, Dec. 19 -- Across Tom Ugly's Bridge just south of Sydney, this sleepy beach suburb once conjured the good-natured images of Australia's laid-back surf culture with strapping, straw-haired lifeguards and locals heading to the shore in their pick-up trucks for a cold lager with their mates.

That no-worries image went up in a blaze of hate last week when an angry crowd of 5,000 Anglo Australians staged vicious mob attacks on dark-skinned beachgoers and on people they believed to be Muslims.



Police officers question a man after confiscating a banner deemed offensive on North Cronulla beach in Sydney. (By Will Burgess -- Reuters)
After the incident, Lebanese Australian street gangs staged reprisals, rampaging across Sydney's largely white southern suburbs with guns, bats and iron bars. The incidents have amounted to the worst outbreak of ethnic violence here since Australia became a federated nation in 1901. In recent days, Cronulla Beach, a suburb, stood largely deserted as 2,000 police officers locked it down with checkpoints to prevent further attacks.

Over the weekend, police arrested more than 59 people, including alleged white supremacists and Lebanese Australian gang members carrying homemade bombs, iron-spiked bats, swords and axes. Officials said the blockade of troubled beach areas could continue through Christmas.

Yet the violence and lingering tensions in Sydney, Australia's largest metropolis, have sparked an extraordinary level of soul-searching across this island country about race, religion, and cultural and national identity. Perhaps most striking is that community leaders and sociologists are viewing the riots, at least in part, as a local manifestation of the broader ethnic troubles linked to the global fight against terrorism.

Anti-Muslim feelings, community leaders say, have been rising for the past several years in Sydney, with its picturesque harbor and 4 million residents known for their welcoming hospitality. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Australia, which has staunchly supported the Bush administration and dispatched troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, has had a preoccupation with terrorism.

Australians refer to bombings by Islamic attackers at Bali, Indonesia, nightclubs in October 2002 as their version of Sept. 11. Of the 202 people killed in the attacks on the resort island, 88 were Australians, including seven women from the Cronulla Beach area. Their photographs are displayed on a stone memorial in the center of the area where the riots took place one week ago.

Authorities arrested 18 Islamic radicals in Sydney and Melbourne last month under newly strengthened anti-terrorism laws. The men, among them Australian-born Muslims, had been stockpiling large amounts of explosives and chemicals for what appeared to be a series of major terrorist attacks, officials said. Among their plans, according to testimony and evidence presented in court, were a bomb attack on a nuclear power plant in Sydney and an assassination attempt against Prime Minister John Howard. Reports on the trials were featured on the front pages of newspapers and on television news shows here in the days before and after the riots.

Tensions erupted after a group of Lebanese youths allegedly attacked two Australian lifeguards -- figures viewed here as national symbols akin to Canada's Mounties or Britain's Beefeater guards. Radio talk-show hosts and tabloid newspapers inflamed passions by calling for demonstrations on the beaches. A campaign of cell phone text messages went further, some apparently originating from white supremacist groups, and widely disseminated. The messages prodded protesters to turn Dec. 11 into a "bash the Lebs day" -- referring to Australians of Middle Eastern descent, many of whom are ethnically Lebanese.

Participants said the crowd on the beach that day included men wrapping themselves in the Australian flag, some wearing profane shirts slandering the prophet Muhammad. At least one man in the crowd wore a shirt that read, "Osama Bin Laden Doesn't Surf."

"It started as a laugh with the mates," said Tim Kelloway, 16, a bronzed surfer who recounted the day's events. "But then things just got scary."

The ethnic taunts become violent, and mobs began "attacking anyone at the beach who looked like a Leb," said Kelloway, echoing the accounts of 11 other eyewitnesses interviewed for this article.

"The situation was ready to explode here," Kelloway said. "The Lebs have been coming around more and more, being rude to the Aussie girls and acting like this beach is theirs. I think we were all surprised by how bad things have become, but the truth is, they aren't really Australians. Look at what they do in other parts of the world. I mean, they don't see themselves as Aussies and we don't see them as Aussies, either."

More than three decades after this nation officially dropped its policy of selective immigration and welcomed people of many ethnic backgrounds, the riots have shocked many Australians. In recent decades, the country has embraced the concept of a multicultural society, in which non-European immigrants were not pressured to assimilate culturally into mainstream society.

Police officers question a man after confiscating a banner deemed offensive on North Cronulla beach in Sydney. (By Will Burgess -- Reuters)
Leaders of Australia's large Asian population -- the nation's single largest ethnic group after white Australians -- hail the country as exceedingly tolerant. "We could not ask for a more hospitable home," said Peter Wong, a legislator in the New South Wales parliament who immigrated from China almost 40 years ago.

Those sentiments, analysts and community leaders said, can be attributed in part to the rise in recent years of violent Lebanese and Middle Eastern gangs who are taking their cues from an unusual mix of Muslim-empowerment messages and American hip-hop culture. Wearing baggy jeans and souped-up low-riders, they cruise the streets of Sydney, dwelling mostly in the disadvantaged western suburbs, which suffer from lower education levels and employment rates almost twice as low as the national average. In 2002, several gang members were charged with brutal rapes of Australian women.

Community leaders say that increasing anti-Muslim sentiment has isolated people of Middle Eastern origin from other Australians, although many Lebanese here are Christians who fled violence in their country in the 1980s. People of Middle Eastern origin largely live in the greater Sydney area, where they make up about 5 percent of the population.

Young Arab Australians say that white Australians don't give them a chance, especially in the age of the war on terrorism. In high school, "I had lots of Aussie mates, but these days, you get the feeling they just don't trust you," said Ahmad Kanj, 30, an Australian-born Lebanese X-ray technician. Kanj advises young Muslims at the Islamic Youth Center in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool.

"They look at us in the malls, when we're walking down the street. And you know what they're thinking," he said.

"It's unfair to call us racists," said Alice Campbell, 16, who said she was at the Cronulla riots. "I have lots of Middle Eastern friends. But some of them come down here with their women who go into the water fully clothed and then turn around and stare at us and calling us cheap sluts. . . . I say, they need to start understanding our culture if they really want to be Aussies."

Members of Howard's Conservative Party and some commentators have used the sudden explosion of ethnic violence to denounce the concept of multiculturalism, which was embraced and promoted by the previous government, led by the Labor Party. Howard, meanwhile, has refused to describe the attacks against Australians of Middle Eastern descent as racially motivated. The prime minister instead referred to the violence more vaguely as a problem of "law and order" while insisting it must be viewed in the context of the assault on "Aussie" lifeguards the previous week. "Australia is not racist," he told reporters last week.

However, a public opinion poll by the Sydney Morning Herald published Monday showed that 75 percent of respondents disagreed with Howard, saying that the country has underlying racial problems.

The government of the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, has promoted meetings between representatives from both the beach communities and minority groups from the western suburbs. But the state legislature also passed emergency measures last week, allowing lockdowns of troubled neighborhoods, roadblocks and train searches that have lead to dozens of arrests and confiscations of weapons.

The national government has taken only one direct measure: an offer of a $385,000 grant to train Lebanese Australians as lifeguards.

"Australia has changed in the post-9/11 world without many of us even realizing it," said Amanda Wise, a fellow at Macquarie University's Center for Research on Social Inclusion. "It is clear that we are now in the middle of Islam-aphobia, and we need to admit that racism is at the core of this so we can begin dealing with it."

[Makedonia25]

Poll: Australians see racism in country
CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Three-quarters of the Australian voters surveyed in a recent poll say that there is racism in the country.

The numbers contradict the stand of Prime Minister John Howard, who said that last week's riots in Cronulla, a beachside suburb of Sydney, were an issue of public order, The Age reported.

"I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country," Howard said. "I think it would be an enormous mistake if we began to wallow in generalized self-criticism because the overwhelming majority of Australians have the proper instincts and decent attitudes and decent values."

The riots began when a few thousand people responded to a text message urging them to gather on the beach in Cronulla to recapture it for white Australians. The crowd turned ugly with about 200 people physically assaulting beachgoers who looked Middle Eastern while many of the others cheered them on.

Fifty-nine percent of those polled said they thought the riots would harm Australia's reputation overseas.

[Makedonia25]

Thessaloniki - Greece's 'showpiece' city

December 21 2005 at 05:57PM

By Christine Pirovolakis

Thessaloniki, Greece - "We have nothing against Athens being the capital because we have been given an even bigger honour - living in the most beautiful city in Greece," taxi driver Nikos Papazoglou jokes about the rivalry between the country's two main cities.

Driving along Thessaloniki's waterfront promenade overlooking the Thermaic Bay with the city's landmark, the 15th century White Tower in full view, one instantly understands why it is celebrated as the "mother of Macedonia" and "the city whose praises are sung".

Shaped by centuries of outsiders, Thessaloniki is a city whose former occupants have left a definite imprint - from the Roman ruins dotting the numerous squares and markets to the Old Town with its Turkish flair and a downtown core so overloaded with Byzantine churches and chapels that it has been designated a World Heritage Site.

'The city whose praises are sung'
Once glorified as an important commercial centre and port during the 18th and early 19th centuries, Thessaloniki has suffered countless disasters over the years, including a devastating fire in 1917 that miraculously left most of the monuments and buildings standing - including a large section of the Byzantine city walls.

While Thessaloniki was never quite rebuilt according to the grand plan of French architect Ernest Hebrand, namely because of the 130 000 Greek refugees from Asia Minor that flooded the city between 1922 and 1923, the city was still developed into a more liveable metropolis than Athens; stimulated by its university, international trade fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival held in November.

It is surprisingly easily accessible by foot with central avenues running parallel to the seafront and cross-streets densely planted with shade-providing trees.

A good place to start is Aristolelous Square, a pedestrianised strip lined with beautiful buildings, trendy bars and outdoor cafes. From there you can walk to all the main sites of Thessaloniki without much effort.

You can catch glimpses of the city's ancient Roman influence at the Roman agora which is still being excavated and where an odium and two galleries have been discovered, as well as at the Arch of Galerius, constructed in the fourth century to celebrate the Roman victory over the Persian army.

The Old Town has a Turkish flair
Nearby lies the church of Saint Dimitrios, the patron saint of the city, with its 13th century crypt and mosaics, and the church of Saint Sofia, modelled after the world-famous one in Istanbul.

One should also not miss the magnificent Rotunda: A circular construction that was originally intended to serve as the mausoleum of Emperor Galerius but instead has served variously as a church and mosque.

Turkish influence is still very much evident today in the walled Kastra quarter, otherwise known as the Ano Polis or old Turkish quarter, located on the hillside beyond the modern slew of streets.

There pockets of Ottoman buildings which miraculously survived the fire still stand, as well as a Byzantine fortress complete with seven towers which later served a prison.

For most visitors, one sight which should not be missed is Thessaloniki's exceptional Archaeological Museum as well as the smaller Museum of Jewish Presence. The latter is intended to reflect the important past of the Jewish community in this city since the 15th century, who were the victims of deportations during WW2.

Also interesting is the Ataturk Museum, where the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born in 1881 in this house on Apostolou Pavlou Street.

Thessaloniki's ancient sites may be the basis for visiting this city, but the food and Anatolian-inspired eating establishments will also delight.

The Ladadika district, the only part of town to survive the great fire, once served as storage and trading place for olive oil. Today, its tiny buildings have been beautifully restored to host an array of traditional and gourmet restaurants as well as trendy bars and cafes.

Dominating an entire corner of the Ladadika is the charming Bristol Hotel. This neo-classical building has been restored with old-time finesse to operate as the city's only boutique hotel.

Also worth trying is the Modiano Old Market, a lively bazaar filled with meat and fish restaurants or the "Louloudadika" or "flower shops" that now host dozens of unique tavernas.

Thessaloniki is accessible by air directly from most European cities and can be reached by train from cities in Europe like Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, Moscow and Ljubljana. Visitors can also travel to and from Istabul with a new overnight sleeper that takes a little over 11 hours. - Sapa-dpa


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