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Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-08-15

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 15/08/1998 (ANA)


MAIN HEADLINES

  • Assumption of Virgin Mary, Armed Forces Day celebrations
  • Briton arrested after fatal boat collision
  • Major heroin haul on Greek-Turkish border
  • Britons jailed for indecent exposure
  • PM's address on Armed Forces Day
  • Post office and bank robbed
  • Mass weekend exodus
  • Drachma, equities slump in wake of int`l crisis
  • Conference on `Fair Play` in sports
  • Mass transit fares in Athens to rise
  • Weather
  • Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Assumption of Virgin Mary, Armed Forces Day celebrations

Greece's political leadership headed by President Kostis Stephanopoulos attended on Saturday the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Armed Forces' Day celebrations at the monastery of Panagia Soumela, in northern Greece.

Celebrations were also held on the island of Tinos, with a service at the cathedral and a procession of the holy icon attended by twelve thousand pilgrims.

The Armed Forces' Day was also celebrated on Tinos, the site of a 1940 unprovoked attack on the Greek naval vessel "Elli" by Italian fascist forces. A special ceremony was held in memory of the 8 sailors killed in the attack.

Briton arrested after fatal boat collision

A 17-year-old Greek girl was killed and her cousin, also 17, seriously injured when the speedboat in which they were sunbathing with three friends, was rammed by a UK-flagged yacht and sank.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon north-northwest of Meganisi, near the Ionian island of Lefkada.

The British skipper of the yacht "Skoverlean", John Williams, 56, is reported to have abandoned the victims, later turning up at the Nidri coast guard office saying he had had a minor accident. He was arrested and is due to appear before a public prosecutor today.

Major heroin haul on Greek-Turkish border

Two Albanians were arrested on Friday at the Kipi border crossing with 26 kilos of heroin stashed in their car.

Bashkim Leka, 43, who was driving a luxury Mercedes, and Gezim Konti, 40, were traveling from Istanbul headed for Albania when Kipi customs officials became suspicious because the two appeared very nervous.

A search of the car turned up 26 kilograms of heroin hidden in the car's fuel tank, packed in 51 airtight plastic bags.

Police said the two Albanians attempted to escape while the car was being searched, but were apprehended by customs officials after a chase.

Britons jailed for indecent exposure

Four young Britons were sentenced on Saturday to seven to ten months in prison each after being arrested photographing each other in the nude at the Knossos archaeological site, on Crete. The four, convicted by a court in Heraklion, will reportedly file an appeal against the sentence on Monday.

They were arrested on Thursday as two of the four were taking photographs of the other two in the nude in front of King Minos' throne. The youths apologised to the court saying it was just a stupid prank on the spur of the moment.

PM's address on Armed Forces Day

Prime Minister Costas Simitis said today the Hellenic Armed Forces were the "cornerstone of a strong Greece" and "a true bridge of understanding between East and West".

In a message on the August 15 religious holiday of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, which is also the Armed Forces Day, Simitis said that the entire Greek people supported and had confidence in the Armed Forces.

He said Greece's "sensitive geographical position" dictated a defence policy "founded exclusively on the right of self-defence, as foreseen in the UN Charter".

Post office and bank robbed

A man held up a branch of the Greek Post Offices in the Athens suburb of Paleo Faliro on Friday, escaping with 170,000 drachmas after threatening staff with a revolver.

In Thessaloniki, two men robbed a branch of the Agricultural Bank, one threatening staff with a sawn-off shotgun while the other waited outside on a motorcyle with which they escaped with about 5 million drachmas.

At the time of the robbery there were no customers in the bank which has no security guard.

Mass weekend exodus

A mass exodus from the greater Athens area for the weekend due to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary holiday is expected to climax today. Authorities estimate that more than 110,000 people will leave by ferry for the Aegean islands and Crete, while traffic police will implement measures to facilitate increased traffic flow on the main highways.

Drachma, equities slump in wake of int`l crisis

A renewed financial crisis in Russia had a domino effect on Greek and other European markets yesterday, driving stock prices and the German mark lower.

Domestic markets were badly hit, with the drachma losing substantial ground against most foreign currencies.

Equities shed 3.89 per cent to finish at 2,513.25 points; capital outflows were 500 million DMarks while short-term interbank rates rose by 1-1.5 percentage points, bankers and brokers said.

The Greek currency was 1.36 per cent off against the US dollar, 1.02 per cent down against the British pound, 0.72 per cent lower against the DMark and lost 0.78 per cent against the Ecu.

Currency outflows reached 500 million German marks, while short-term interbank rates rose by between 1 and 1.5 per cent.

Dealers noted that although domestic market sentiment remained positive, prolonged market turbulence abroad could reverse the climate.

Sector indices suffered heavy losses. Banks plunged 4.16 per cent, Leasing fell 2.61 per cent, Insurance ended 4.0 per cent off, Investment eased 3.26 per cent, Construction plummeted 6.07 percent, Holding fell 3.99 per cent and Miscellaneous ended 4.18 per cent lower.

The parallel market index for small cap companies ended 4.79 per cent off, and the FTSE/ASE 20 index fell 3.85 percent to 1,527.26 points.

Conference on `Fair Play` in sports

The 4th conference of the European movement "Fair Play" will be held in Athens between Sept. 23-26 under the auspices of the Olympic Games committee, and entitled: "Audience Behaviour and the Ideal of Fair Competition".

The conference will be attended by several noted university professors and experts from various European Olympic committees.

Organisers believe the conference can stimulate interest among the sports world, since over the past decade discussions on audience behaviour at athletic events has been on the forefront throughout Europe.

Mass transit fares in Athens to rise

Most mass transit fares for the greater Athens will increase as of Monday.

Bus and trolley fares will increase from 100 to 120 drachmas, while the special rate fare will increase from 50 to 60 drachmas. Airport express-bus fares will rise from 200 to 250 drachmas from 5 a.m. through midnight and to 500 drachmas from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

However, the price of bus/trolley frequent user cards will drop from 6,000 to 5,000 drachmas, while the price of bus/trolley/subway combination cards remains at 8,000 drachmas.

Finally, ticket fares for transportation to one or two continuous zones remain the same, as the regular fare for three-zone transportation rises from 150 to 180 drachmas, with the special rate fares hiked from 50 to 60 drachmas.

WEATHER

Fine weather is forecast throughout the country for Sunday with some cloud expected in northern inland areas later in the day and possibility of thunderstorms in mountainous regions. Northerly winds, light to moderate reaching strong to very strong in the eastern Aegean Sea. Athens will be fine with the temperature ranging from 23 to 34 degrees Celcius. Thessaloniki fine with cloud developing in the afternoon and temperatures 20 to 33C.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 297.183 British pound 483.302 Japanese yen (100) 205.185 French franc 49.600 German mark 166.205 Italian lira (100) 16.850 Irish Punt 417.037 Belgian franc 8.064 Finnish mark 54.659 Dutch guilder 147.471 Danish kr. 43.698 Austrian sch. 23.620 Spanish peseta 1.961 Swedish kr. 36.692 Norwegian kr. 39.115 Swiss franc 199.491 Port. Escudo 1.626 Aus. dollar 177.925 Can. dollar 196.218 Cyprus pound 565.440

(K.G.)


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