Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-03-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] US-Greece-Foreign Ministers-Meeting

[02] Greek Soccer Cup-Olympiakos-Win

[03] Council of State - Citizenship - IDs

[04] Weather Forecast-Thursday

[05] FYROM - Skopje attack - Two casualties

[06] UK - PM comments on NATO, FYROM

[07] ASE-close

[01] US-Greece-Foreign Ministers-Meeting

NEW YORK (ANA-T.Ellis) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou will have official talks at the State Department in Washington, on May 21, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher announced on Wednesday.

"Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou has accepted an invitation by Secretary of State Colin Powell to meet in Washington on May 21. Apart from the meeting the two will have a working luncheon," Boucher said.

[02] Greek Soccer Cup-Olympiakos-Win

Olympiakos Piraeus beat Panathinaikos Athens 4-1 away in Athens on Wednesday night and qualified for the semi-finals of the Greek Soccer Cup.

Olympiakos qualified 5-2 on aggregate, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg at home.

Olympiakos will be joined in the semi-finals by PAOK Thessaloniki, Iraklis Thessaloniki and Apollon Athens.

[03] Council of State - Citizenship - IDs

Greeces highest administrative court has ruled against excluding citizenship from new state-issued identification cards, less than a year after the governments decision to also delete religious affiliation caused an ongoing Church-state feud.

However, the Council of State upheld the exclusion of religious affiliation from new IDs -- which effectively rules out the optional listing as well -- ruling that citizens religious preferences definitely fall under the heading of personal and sensitive information.

[04] Weather Forecast-Thursday

Scattered cloud is forecast around the country on Thursday, turning to showers in the northern Ionian, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace. Early morning mist is expected, with limited visibility. Winds south-southwesterly, moderate, turning strong at sea. On the northern mainland, temperatures will range from 7C to 21C; on the rest of the mainland from 9C to 24C; and in the south from 12C to 23C. Cloud over Athens, with temperatures between 12C and 24C. Showers possible in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 9C to 21C.

[05] FYROM - Skopje attack - Two casualties

SKOPJE (ANA) One dead policeman and another was seriously injured from an attack by unknown suspects in the FYROM capitals old district, according to still sketchy reports.

A Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) government spokesman made the announcement to reporters, while noting that the attack was recorded in the Bit Bazaar market district.

FYROM, to Greeces immediate north, is reeling from the first violent signs of rebellion among its ethnic Albanian populace in the countrys northwestern part.

However, no information was provided as to whether the incident was linked to Albanian rebels.

[06] UK - PM comments on NATO, FYROM

LONDON (ANA - G. Papachristos) A call for active involvement by NATO in the FYROM crisis was made here on Wednesday by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who said the Alliance should not treat a situation created by its own actions with indifference.

The violence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, triggered by the attacks of Albanian extremists around Tetovo, near the tiny republic's border with Kosovo, was one of the main issues discussed by Simitis and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday.

The Greek prime minister categorically ruled out unilateral action by Greece in FYROM, even if the neighbouring state's government would like this, and stressed that Greece would act within the framework of the international organisations of which it is a member, such as NATO and the European Union.

"If NATO and the EU decide something, we will participate," he said and called for a more "decisive" NATO and EU presence in the area.

Simitis also ruled out sending Greek troops to FYROM, in response to questions, and said there were other ways of supporting FYROM's government.

Commenting on his talks with Blair on Tuesday night, Simitis said they had discussed EU affairs after the Nice summit, the Cyprus problem, cooperation against organised crime and terrorism and bilateral trade relations.

Earlier on Wednesday, Simitis had met with the Committee, an influential union of Greek shipowners based in London.

[07] ASE-close

Equity prices followed the lead of international markets to end substantially lower on the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday, although traders said the Greek market was calmer compared with its European counterparts following a sharp drop in prices in Wall Street on Tuesday.

The general index fell below the 3,050 technical support level during the session but managed to end at 3,073.50 points, 1.12 percent lower, off the day's lows of 3,046.64 points.

Turnover was 186.08 million euros, or 63.4 billion drachmas, of which 10.11 million euros were pre-agreed block trades.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.12 percent lower at 1,762.37 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell 1.01 percent to 373,02 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 329.29 points, off 0.38 percent.

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