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20/09/2003

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TOP STORY
ND’s lead trimmed Opposition 7.7 pct up on PASOK but Simitis still PM of choice The PASOK government's series of social programs and welfare packages has helped trim the lead held by New Democracy in opinion polls but the conservatives still appear to enjoy an advantage that will be difficult to overturn.

FRONT PAGE NEWS

The Cartoon Of The Day


Banks in secret army debt pact?

The ministries of Finance and National Defense have made a secret agreement with a group of Greek and foreign banks to service Greece's military debt, which today exceeds 7 billion euros, sources say. This serves the government's aims of easing pressure on the 2004 budget while allowing further room for pre-election handouts.

2004 targets the unemployed

The Athens 2004 organizing committee yesterday said it would hire nearly 6,000 unemployed people on short-term contracts to cover personnel needs during next August's Games, in a program co-financed by the Labor Ministry and the European Union.

A whiff of sulfur in Ambelokipi

One of central Athens's busiest road junctions known as the Devil's Triangle - because of bottlenecks and despite a radical overhaul a decade ago - looks likely to keep its old name over the next few days until motorists get to grips with new traffic regulations that come into effect from midnight tonight.

Fugitive grilled on gangland hit

A former henchman of an Athens crime clan all but wiped out during gang warfare in 2000-2002 was questioned by police yesterday in connection with Monday's execution of an accountant linked with a rival underworld figure.

Mother of eight held for husband’s murder

A mother of eight from northern Greece was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering her husband and then dumping the body in a landfill with the assistance of her two eldest sons.

IN BRIEF

Two workers killed after a tunnel collapses in Amfissa : Two miners died yesterday in a mine near Amfissa, about 15 kilometers west of Delphi, when the roof of a tunnel collapsed upon them...

Open-ended action means only final-year students will sit exams : University and technical college professors yesterday agreed to embark upon open-ended strike action from Monday...

Postponed due to sick defendant : The trial of four pharmaceutical company officials and a civil engineer — charged with the “murder with possible malice aforethought”...

Cyprus vote : The Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus will hold parliamentary elections on December 14, Turkish-Cypriot officials said yesterday...

Railway disruptions : Kifissia-bound trains on the Piraeus-Kifissia urban electric railway will not be stopping at Tavros station from tomorrow...

F1 track : A presidential decree providing for the construction of a Formula 1 racetrack in Greece is nearly ready...

School buses : One in five inspected by teams of traffic police and prefectural authority officials in Piraeus over the last week was not properly equipped...

Hospital doctors : Doctors at hospitals in Athens and Piraeus are to stage a three-hour work stoppage, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Monday...

Sneaky robber : A 37-year-old woman, believed to have carried out more than 15 robberies over the last two years by drugging elderly people before stealing their belongings, was yesterday charged...


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Foreign Minister...
EDITORIAL

PASOK’s burden Announcements regarding the legalization of illegally constructed buildings show that the ruling PASOK party is planning to exhaust every possibility for adopting vote-gathering measures in an attempt to reverse the current climate before the next election. Poll results, initial indications from surveys not yet completed, and prevailing political opinions all conclude that the difference between the main opposition New Democracy party and PASOK is decreasing, but not enough to reverse the current correlation of forces.

COMMENTARY

Declarations of assets The announced extension of the declaration of assets requirement to cover about 200,000 people, and a ban on a large number of people from playing the stock market, means more bureaucracy. But this is simply a way to hide the State's inability to control tax evasion and corruption, as well as stock market officials' difficulty in establishing a credible capital market. These failings have led the government to draw up mass legislation that only multiplies the distortions in the economic system. When tax transactions are being simplified and ways are being sought to remove disincentives to economic activity, the government has decided to introduce restrictions that are unlikely to fulfill their purpose, and in fact will cause further harm.

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