Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-05-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] US-Greece-Powell-Terrorism-2004 Olympiad

[02] Thessaloniki-Exhibition-'Byzantine Hours'

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[04] Bond Auction-Outcome

[05] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

[06] ASE-close

[07] Athens 2004 - Gov't - Venue

[01] US-Greece-Powell-Terrorism-2004 Olympiad

WASHINGTON (ANA - T. Ellis) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday expressed his absolute support and confidence in Greece's ability to handle the threat of terrorism effectively and organise safe Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

Powell was speaking in reply to a question by Senator Ben Campbell, while tesifying at the US Senate's Budget Committee.

Despite the Republican legislator's insistence on the need for pressure to be exerted by the US on Athens to safeguard the security of American and other athletes who will be participating in the Olympiad, Powell substantively rejected the spirit of the question.

"We also--you know, I don't want to misstate this, because I also have confidence in the Greek authorities, and I know that they are committed to having safe games. But we certainly should monitor their preparations to make sure our youngsters are not being put in conditions of danger. But I have confidence that the Greek authorities know how to deal with this kind of thing, and any concerns we do have, we should present to them," he said.

Powell also admitted that "there's been a general area of concern because there is a potential for this kind of activities just about anywhere in the world, but Greece, and the 17 November group is troublesome", insisting that "it's not endemic to Greece. I mean, we had our own homegrown whacko, whoever it was, who set a bomb off in Atlanta."

[02] Thessaloniki-Exhibition-'Byzantine Hours'

An exhibition named "Byzantine Hours" will be organised in Greece by the culture ministry and will be developed simultaneously in Mystras, Athens and Thessaloniki between August this year and January, 2002.

The exhibition refers to Byzantine culture and includes Byzantine antiquities from the country's museums, findings from recent excavations and Byzantine exhibits from 42 museums around the world.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Buying rates for Wednesday

U.S. dollar 385.507

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 546.520

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 45.302

Swedish kroner 37.560

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 311.985

Swiss franc 220.535

Norwegian kroner 42.152

Cyprus pound 584.577

Canadian dollar 248.161

Australian dollar 199.280

[04] Bond Auction-Outcome

The state on Tuesday auctioned 1,100 million euros of five-year bonds that produced an average weighted yield of 4.99 percent, the Public Debt Management Organisation said.

The auction, which was a reopening of a February 19, 2006 fixed-income issue at 6.00 percent, was oversubscribed by 2.9 times, said the organisation, which belongs to the finance ministry.

Settlement is May 18, 2001.

[05] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday, likely to turn to showers or storms on high ground on the northern mainland. Winds northerly, light, turning moderate in the Aegean. On the mainland, temperatures will range from 9C to 28C; and in the islands from 14C to 24C. In Athens, temperatures of 13C and 28C; and in Thessaloniki of 11C to 26C.

[06] ASE-close

Equity prices lost more ground on Tuesday, undermined by lack of domestic buying interest and a low turnover, with the general index finding support at the 3,000 level on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Shares in the banks and telecommunications sectors were mostly hit while smaller capitalisation stocks resisted pressures.

Analysts said that moves by developed markets' foreign institutional investors, probably next week, could offer a breathe to the Greek bourse, currently on a losing streak. The market has fallen in the nine out of the last 10 sessions.

The general index ended 0.97 percent lower at 3,022.52 points, near the day's lows of 3,019.17 points. Turnover was a low 131.89 million euros, or 44.94 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.11 percent lower at 1,754.44 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index dropped 0.21 percent to 353.16 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation shares ended at 305.38 points, off 0.12 percent.

[07] Athens 2004 - Gov't - Venue

Olympic preparations once again dominated the Greek governments docket on Monday, as a high-ranking cabinet committee supervising coordination amongst several ministries and Athens 2004 organisers (ATHOC) was chaired by Greek PM Costas Simitis.

One of the hotly detabed proposals centred on a transfer of the Olympic slalom and canoeing venue from the Schinias site, east of Athens, to coastal stretch of land across Athens old airport. A rowing centre would still be constructed at Schinias.

The proposal was made by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who said any transfer would spare the area of ?heavy construction? with repercussions to the surrounding environment and the nearby site of Marathon. He also said the landmark Marathon battle site would not be affected with the transfer.

However, ATHOC head Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki reportedly rejected to such a prospect outright, saying no decision has been made when leaving the meeting at the prime ministers office. Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis also aired his concerns over possible delays associated with any transfer in the venue site.

Objections over the Schinias site as an Olympic venue have been vigorously aired, among others, by the Athens Academy, the Archaeological Society and by several environmental groups, including WWF-Hellas, all of whom claim that 2004-related construction will cause irreversible damage to the areas fragile ecosystem and the battlefield.

Conversely, ATHOC has repeatedly stressed that the entire area will be upgraded, environmentally safeguarded, sparred of illegal land use in future decades to come, while a small private airport and dilapidated former military facilities will be removed a view publicly endorsed by the Greek government and the IOC.

In addressing the meeting, Simitis noted that the pace of preparations and planning has definitely accelerated over the past year, ?something that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has verified?, while warning that ?we must all continue at the same intensive pace.?

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