Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-04-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] EU-Greece-Telecoms

[02] Cyprus - UN - FIR infringements

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

[04] Weather Forecast-Friday

[05] Lord Byron - Anniversary

[06] ASE-close

[01] EU-Greece-Telecoms

The European Union's executive Commission announced on Thursday that it had released 20 billion drachmas in funds from the Third Community Support Framework for Greece's telecommunications operational programme.

The amount, which represents the EU's participation in the programme, had been witheld since summer 1998 as Greece had failed to incorporate Community directives on liberalisation of the telecoms sector into its national legislation.

The Commmission told Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis that it was finally releasing the funds in recognition of progress made towards deregulation.

The Greek parliament in November 2000 voted through a bill allowing the liberalisation of telecoms, and presidential decrees on the details of implementation are being prepared.

In addition, the government has awarded seven licences for fixed-line wireless telecoms.

[02] Cyprus - UN - FIR infringements

NICOSIA (ANA) Cyprus on Thursday bitterly condemned what it called repeated wholesale infringements of Nicosia's Flight Information Region (FIR) rules by Turkish warplanes over the past three months.

In a letter to the United Nations general secretary, Cyprus permanent representative to the UN, Sotos Zakhaios, called for an end to such actions, which he noted violate international law and Security Council resolutions regarding the island republic.

Roughly one-third of Cyprus territory is occupied by Turkish troops following an invasion in July 1974.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

Friday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 382.951

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 547.671

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.298

Swedish kroner 37.466

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 314.461

Swiss franc 221.079

Norwegian kroner 41.935

Cyprus pound 584.376

Canadian dollar 246.171

Australian dollar 194.015

[04] Weather Forecast-Friday

Hot and humid weather is forecast throughout the country on Friday, with scattered cloud in most areas. Visibility will be limited early in the morning. Winds southerly, moderate to very strong, turning gale force in the Ionian. Temperatures in the north will range from 8C to 24C; in the west from 11C to 26C; and in the rest of the country from 10C to 28C. Scattered cloud in Athens, with temperatures between 12C and 27C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 9C to 23C.

[05] Lord Byron - Anniversary

The 177th anniversary of the death of Lord Byron was commemorated on Thursday with the laying of a wreath at the English poet and philhellenes statue in Athens.

?To Byron of Greece and the world? read the ribbon on the wreath, placed by the Athens-based ?Committee for the Preservation of Lord Byron's Heritage?. A ceremony at Athens Bar Association followed, where the committees presidium along with the president of the Greek Byron Society proposed that the anniversary of Lord Byrons death be designated by the Greek state as a ?Day of Philhellenism and International Solidarity?.

George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron, was born on Jan. 22, 1788 in London and died on April 19, 1824 in Messolonghi, western Greece. He died of fever and exposure while engaged in the Greek struggle for independence from Ottoman rule.

[06] ASE-close

Equity prices ended lower on Thursday as investors took short-term profits while a negative climate in European markets also discouraged sentiment on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Traders said the market needed some correction after a five-day rally which pushed the general index 9.44 percent higher, with many stocks included in a new Morgan Stanley index rising as much as 19 percent over the same period.

The general index, however, managed to end above the 3,280 technical support level, to 3,285.96 points, off 0.91 percent. Turnover was a moderate 286.13 million euros, or 97.5 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.90 percent lower at 1,930.02 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 0.26 percent to 380.39 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 328.29 points, off 0.78 percent.

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