NEWS IN ENGLISH 07-12-2014

The debate on the 2015 draft State Budget by the parliamentary plenum  is to be concluded tonight with a roll call vote.

The email sent to the troika by Finance Minister Ghikas Hardouvelis on Friday contained the commitment that a supplementary budget with prescribed measures  will be submitted to the Parliament if there is a deviation from the agreed  economic targets within the first half of the year. This means that the budget which is being currently discussed is reduced to a typical procedure that belittles the  authority of the Parliament.

Protest rallies have been scheduled against the austerity measures of the State Budget by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY)  just outside Greek parliament at 5 p.m., other unions, META and SYRIZA have set the time for 6 p.m., while the Communist Party-affiliated union PAME is holding its own rally at Omonia Square. Protests  in Thessalonica in front of the statue of Venizelos at 5.30 p.m. and in Heraklion, Crete at 6 p.m. at Eleftheria Square. As always POSPERT-Ertopen will be there.

A very curious plan seemed to be carried out until late in the night by police forces yesterday, complete with assaults, tear gas, pepper spray, stun grenades and water cannons,  298 blind arrests, gangs of plainclothes policemen destroying private property, while violence and chemicals were used in towns that had never experienced such treatment before.

Questions also arise by  the arrest of reporters and journalists while they were covering the events. Even private channels supporting the government have published videos of riot police “planting” evidence in demonstrators’ bags or reported unprovoked police violence against demonstrators and passers by.

Giorgos Romanos, father of the young prisoner who is on a hunger strike Nickos Romanos, has made clear that in the meeting he is going to have with PM Antonis Samaras on Monday he will ask him to recognise his son’s right to education. His son however has stated he does not agree with this meeting, as he believes that the Prime Minister is fully aware of the facts and does not need any meeting to hear what he already knows and approves of.



 “You have no right to sacrifice Nickos Romanos. You have the option and the duty to give him the furlough he is asking for and to save his life. By doing so you may save your soul,” said Syriza MP Zoe Konstadopoulou in Parliament, during the discussion for the 2015 State Budget.



Prisoners from all wings of the prison of Korydallos have announced that they will refuse midday withdrawal into the cells in solidarity to Nickos Romanos.



SYRIZA MP Giannis Mihelogiannakis from Heraklion Crete is starting a hunger strike near the Syrian refugees in front of the Parliament, declaring that he cannot tolerate to be part of the present political and social injustice.



The need for creation of mutual respect and trust between Greek and Turkey was underlined at the end of the 3rd Greek-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council held in Athens,  by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in a common statement. The two leaders  stressed their resolution to further relations between the two countries.



Employees in Manessis Steelworks are starting continuous 24-hour strikes, after what they describe as the last murder from the side of the employment, when 49-year old worker Christos Anestiades fell into the water tank to be found later by his colleagues who had been looking for him. The 6-meter-deep water tank is not fenced, it is unlit and outside the main building. to be found later by his colleagues who had been looking for him. The deceased should have been working with one more person, however the company had refused to hire anyone for financial reasons.



INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Clashes between police and demonstrators and shop looting marked yesterday’s protests for the murderous treatment of Afro-American citizens in Berkley California, USA.



WEATHER

Clouds and rains are expected in the West of the country for tomorrow, Thrace, the East Aegean islands and Dodecanese. The rest of the country will also have sporadic rains. Winds will have a velocity of 4-5 Beaufort.

There is the possibility of rain at night and local showers in Attica with temperatures will ranging  from 10-14 degrees Celsius.In Thessalonica temperatures will range from 9 to 15 degrees Celsius.      
Τελευταία τροποποίηση στις Παρασκευή, 14/06/2013 - 23:54