|
|
|
Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-16
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 16/06/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Greek jets in Cyprus
- Government condemns attack on unionist
- Germant tourist drowns
- Road safety council to draft policy
- Concern over rash of robberies
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Greek jets in Cyprus
Four Hellenic Air Force F-16 jet fighters flew to Paphos air base on Cyprus
this morning as part of plans to evaluate the operational capacity of the
base within the framework of the joint Greece-Cyprus defence doctrine,
according to an ANA despatch from Nicosia. The jets joined a Greek C-130
aircraft which arrived in Paphos yesterday evening. According to informed
sources, the transport plane was carrying senior Greek military officials
who later met with the chief of the Cyprus National Guard at Paphos
air base. Two of the F-16s have since left Cyprus and returned to
Greece, while the others are expected to depart this afternoon.
Government condemns attack on unionist
The government today strongly condemned the attack on the president of the
teacher's union OLME during a protest rally in central Athens last night.
"These are unacceptable incidents that hooligans are introducing into
social struggles," acting government spokesman Nikos Athanassakis said.
Nikos Tsoulias, the head of the teachers' union, was hospitalised after
being attacked by sticks, stones and bars by a crowd of protestors during
the rally in Kaningos Square. The rally had been called to protest police
treatment of unappointed teachers objecting to the holding of a four-day
national recruitment exam for the state school system.
Germant tourist drowns
Police said today that a German national had drowned while swimming in the
sea in the area of Faros Prasonisiou on the island of Rhodes. The man,
identified as Max Rol Kaufman, 69, drowned while swimming yesterday. An
investigation is being conducted by the Rhodes Harbour Office.
Road safety council to draft policy
The transport ministry will soon submit a bill to Parliament which will
establish a Road Safety Council to draft and supervise a national road
safety policy, Transport Minister Tassos Mantelis announced today. Mantelis
said accidents on Greek roads claimed 2000 lives each year and left more
than 30,000 people with injuries. The cost to the national economy, he said,
was in the region of 150 billion drachmas annually. Mantelis said improving
roads and defining a national policy on road safety would be the overriding
concerns of the Council, which will have an initial budget of two
billion drachmas and a staff of 45.
Concern over rash of robberies
Public Order Ministry officials, senior police officers and the administration
of the Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE) met today to discuss a
recent spate of bank robberies. The main objective of the meeting was to
decide on measures to prevent armed robberies and protect both bank
employees and customers. It was decided to immediately convene the
competent committee, made up of representatives of the public order
ministry, OTOE and the Hellenic Bank Association to review security
measures at banks and, where deemed necessary, take additional measures.
WEATHER
Fair weather is forecast for all parts of Greece today, with local clouds
in the afternoon in the central regions. Winds will be northely, moderate,
turning strong in the Aegean Sea. Athens will be sunny with temperatures
ranging between 19-32C. Same for Thessaloniki, changing to overcast in the
afternoon, with temperatures of 17-31 C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Monday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 307.093
British pound 502.012 Japanese yen(100) 210.393
French franc 50.467 German mark 169.225
Italian lira (100) 17.181 Irish Punt 426.342
Belgian franc 8.204 Finnish mark 55.715
Dutch guilder 150.139 Danish kr. 44.457
Austrian sch. 24.046 Spanish peseta 1.995
Swedish kr. 38.109 Norwegian kr. 39.795
Swiss franc 203.757 Port. Escudo 1.654
Aus. dollar 180.246 Can. dollar 209.034
Cyprus pound 577.840
(M.P.)
|
