Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-07-28

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 28/07/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• More Russian troops arrive in Thessaloniki
• Improved performance from border guard detachments
• Greenpeace calls for end to crop-dusting in Corfu
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Two Russian vessels docked in the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki on Wednesday, bringing equipment and troops destined to participate in the peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Another two vessels were expected to dock later in the day. A total of 400 troops and 130 military vehicles will be disembarked with this second dispatch of equipment of troops. The first Russian dispatch brought 450 men and 130 vehicles about two weeks ago. Also expected in Thessaloniki on Wednesday are two vessels bringing mililtary equipment and vehicles for the 450 soldiers of the United Arab Emirates, who arrived in the city by air on Tuesday.

Improved performance from border guard detachments

The three special detachments of border guards set up at the beginning of July in the prefecture of Kilkis, northern Greece to patrol the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) have so far apprehended and expelled some 1,000 illegal immigrants, the police said on Wednesday. The corresponding figure for last month, before the detachments went on active service, was approximately 600 illegal immigrants. The majority of the illegal immigrants were Bulgarians, followed by Albanians who preferred the flat ground in the area of the FYROM-Greek border to the difficult mountain paths of Pindos.

Greenpeace calls for end to crop-dusting in Corfu

Environmental organisation Greenpeace on Wednesday filed for a suspension of pesticide-spraying in the prefecture of Corfu and also filed a complaint against the prefectural authority. The legal action comes after two German citizens filed a complaint with the authorities, claiming they had been sprayed by crop-dusters while on holiday in Corfu. The Corfu prefect however, told reporters that spraying had been targetted at 36,250 acres of inaccessible and mountainous land and that the pilots of the helicopters doing the dusting had followed all the guidelines. Crop-dusting, he said, would continue.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Wednesday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          303.721
Pound sterling       482.707
Japanese yen (100)   260.291
French franc          49.141
German mark          164.810
Italian lira (100)    16.648
Irish Punt           409.288
Belgian franc          7.991
Finnish mark          54.214
Dutch guilder        146.271
Danish kr.            43.291
Austrian sch.         23.425
Spanish peseta         1.937
Swedish kr.           36.613
Norwegian kr.         38.636
Swiss franc          201.361
Port. Escudo           1.608
Can. dollar          201.019
Aus. dollar          195.265
Cyprus pound         557.484
Euro                 323.965

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