Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-05-28
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 28/05/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Alpha Credit ready to bid for Ionian
- Spanish royal couple visit Thessaloniki
- Smoking still a problem for young Greeks
- Defence minister reviews work on tank landing craft
- Cabinet to meet tomorrow
- Elderly couple found murdered
- Arms cache found in Cretee
- Miss Indonesia named Miss Press
- Battle in Preveza over ferry services
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Alpha Credit ready to bid for Ionian
Alpha Credit Bank, Greece's biggest private bank, said on Thursday it would
offer to buy Ionian Bank, British newspaper Financial Times reported today.
Yiannis Costopoulos, Alpha Credit's chairman, told the Financial Times in
an interview that the bank would seek shareholders' approval next month for
a 80-90 billion drachmas capital increase to bid for a 51 percent stake in
Ionian, which is to be offered for sale on the Athens stock exchange.
Spanish royal couple visit Thessaloniki
Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia left Athens for Thessaloniki
today on the final leg of their five-day official visit to Greece. The
royal couple are scheduled to arrive at Thessaloniki's Macedonia Airport at
1 p.m. local time and will be received by Macedonia-Thrace Minister
Filippos Petsalnikos and local officials. Juan Carlos and Sophia will lay a
wreath at the city's Holocaust Memorial before visiting the Byzantine
Museum to tour the "Treasures of Mount Athos" exhibition.
Smoking still a problem for young Greeks
Greeks are smoking more than ever and starting younger but the majority of
them still believe there should be a ban on tobacco advertising, according
to the findings of a study, released today. Greeks begin smoking, on
average, at the age of 13.5, according to the Greek Cardiology Centre's
(ELIKAP) survey of 5,000 students aged 12-18 in 20 different areas around
Greece. Of the sample group, nine percent were regular smokers, 30 percent
were occasional smokers while 86 percent had parents who were smokers.
However, 72 percent said they agreed with a ban on tobacco advertising and
92 percent said they understand the discomfort of non-smokers around
smokers.
Defence minister reviews work on tank landing craft
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos today visited the Elefsina
Shipyards to be briefed on the progress of work on the last three tank
landing craft for the Hellenic Navy. Tsohatzopoulos asked construction to
be speeded up to enable delivery of the first of the three vessels in
December this year. Delivery dates for the craft had already been brought
forward compared to those set out in the original contract.
Cabinet to meet tomorrow
The Cabinet meets tomorrow to discuss two draft bills, one on the
protection of Greece's cultural heritage and the other on vocational and
professional training, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said today.
Responding to questions, Reppas said Prime Minister Costas Simitis was not
scheduled to have a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mesut Yilmaz on
the sidelines of the forthcoming Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)
summit in Yalta. Reppas said the Greek and Turkish premiers "may shake
hands" but this could not be considered a meeting. BSEC leaders will meet
June 4-5.
Elderly couple found murdered
An elderly couple was this morning found murdered in a rural area near the
village of Karteri, Thesprotia in northern Greece. According to the police,
Vassilis Athanasiou, 66 and his wife, Stamatia, 61 had been shot with a
hunting rifle in their small hut next to a sheep pen. Their bodies were
then reportedly dragged outside, doused with petrol and set alight. The
police chief of Epirus, Brigadier Ilias Krokidis, has gone to the scene of
the crime to supervise the murder investigation.
Arms cache found in Crete
A small arms cache has been seized at a farm in Hania, Crete, police said
today. They said Nikolaos Progoulakis, 62, and his two sons Iosif, 36, and
Nektarios, 27, were arrested Wednesday afternoon when a raid on their homes
and stables turned up four kalashnikovs, three pistols and thousands of
rounds of ammunition.
Miss Indonesia named Miss Press
Greek and foreign journalists yesterday voted the Indonesian candidate in
the "Miss Tourism of the Planet '98" contest as "Miss Press". Katharyne van
Dyke, a 26-year-old fashion company manager of Dutch origin, from Jakarta,
was awarded the title during a press gala at an Athens hotel late last
night. "It seems that my handshake with Mr. Simitis on his nameday brought
me good luck," said the tall brunette. The contest organisers and 24
contestants made a surprise call on Premier Costas Simitis on his May 21
nameday.
Battle in Preveza over ferry services
A serious quarrel has broken out between on the one side Preveza municipal
authorities and on the other the harbour master's office and operators of
ferry services between Preveza and Aktio. At 6 a.m. today, the municipality
used mechanical diggers to block all roads leading to the port, demanding
that all ferry-boats be moved to the western town's new pier in order to
alleviate traffic congestion along the sea front and allow landscaping work
to be completed.
WEATHER
Mostly fair weather in mosts parts of Greece today with some rainfall in
northwestern Greece. Winds light to moderate. Athens will be sunny with
some clouds in the afternoon and temperatures between 16-28C. Same in
Thessaloniki with temperatures from 15-26C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Wednesday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar 302.262 British pound 495.425
Japanese yen(100) 219.530 French franc 51.038
German mark 171.184 Italian lira (100) 17.357
Irish Punt 431.322 Belgian franc 8.298
Finnish mark 56.304 Dutch guilder 151.821
Danish kr. 44.934 Austrian sch. 24.324
Spanish peseta 2.014 Swedish kr. 39.095
Norwegian kr. 40.285 Swiss franc 205.741
Port. Escudo 1.671 Aus. dollar 187.290
Can. dollar 207.328 Cyprus pound 580.320
(M.P.)
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