Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-05-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] Sports roundup-Soccer

[02] Pangalos-Interview

[03] Thessaloniki-Byzantine Museum-Exhibition

[04] Politics-Opinion Poll

[05] Foreign Minister-Interview-Turkey-Cyprus-Balkans

[06] Corinth Canal-Strike

[07] Patriarch-Tour-Cappadocia

[08] Weather Forecast-Monday

[09] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[01] Sports roundup-Soccer

Olympiakos Piraeus is officially the champion of Greece's top soccer league as the 2000-2001 season came to an end on Sunday, leaving, however a bitter taste in mouths of three teams who may have to face each other in order to remain in the category.

Three teams ended the season on the 11th slot of the point's chart and are awaiting for the Greek soccer federation to announce the reforms of the national league before match ups are arranged to determine which two of the three will remain in the category.

The results of the 30th and last game-day were as follow:

Athinaikos Athens- Ethnikos Asteras Athens 1-3

Panionios Athens-OFI 0-2

PAS Ioannina- Paniliakos Pyrgos 3-0

Kalamata- Panathinaikos 2-4

PAOK- Panahaiki 5-1

Iraklis Thessaloniki- Ionikos Piraeus 3-2

Skoda Xanthi-AEK Athens 0-1

Aris Thessaloniki- Olympiakos Athens 2-2

In the standings:

Olympiakos 78

Panathinaikos 67

AEK 61

PAOK 51

Iraklis 46

Ionikos 44

Aris 44

Xanthi 38

Panionios 36

Ethnikos Asteras 34

OFI 33

PAS Ioannina 33

Panahaiki 33

Paniliakos 29

Kalamata 21

Athinaikos 20

[02] Pangalos-Interview

Theodoros Pangalos, a deputy of the ruling PASOK party and a former minister, said that the government needed to solve its problems within two months or risk losing the next national elections, due by April 2004.

In an interview to the Vima newspaper published on Sunday, Pangalos accused the government of being technocratic and solely oriented towards economic policy.

He called on senior party officials to rally in order to win the country's three largest municipalities, proposing that Foreign Minister George Papandreou should stand in Athens, Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis in Piraeus, and Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Thessaloniki.

[03] Thessaloniki-Byzantine Museum-Exhibition

A new permanent exhibition at Thessaloniki's Museum of Byzantine Culture opened on Sunday containing a range of works from the 14th to 19th centuries.

On display are icons representing almost all schools and trends in Orthodox painting, ceramics, coins, religious objects, religious engravings, and documents.

The works in the exhibition, which was inaugurated by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, are donations from the Ikonomopoulos and Papastratou collections.

On Saturday, Venizelos also launched the northern port city's book fair, held by the Asssociation of Publishers of Northern Greece.

[04] Politics-Opinion Poll

Voters would cast their ballots in favour of the main opposition New Democracy party in a national election, but would opt for Prime Minister Costas Simitis as premier, according to an opinion poll published on Sunday.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Sunday Vima newspaper and conducted by Kapa Research, showed voters giving ND 29.7 percent and the ruling PASOK party 22.9 percent, lagging by 6.8 percentage points.

Coming next in voter preference were Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos' party at 9.1 percent; the Communist Party of Greece, 5.8 percent; the Coalition of the Left and Progress, 2.7 percent; and the Democratic Social Movement trailing with 0.9 percent.

Simitis took 31.7 percent of the vote as best candidate for prime minister, followed by ND leader Costas Karamanlis, who gained 30.8 percent.

In addition, ranking top in popularity stakes was President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos with 89.2 percent of the vote.

Among senior PASOK party officials, Foreign Minister George Papandreou was the favourite; and from ND, George Souflias.

Finally, running neck and neck as the best successor to Simitis in the PASOK party leadership were Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos at 24.9 percent and Papandreou at 24.8 percent, the poll showed.

[05] Foreign Minister-Interview-Turkey-Cyprus-Balkans

Foreign Minister George Papandreou has reaffirmed his commitment to a policy of rapprochement between Greece and Turkey, also criticising opponents of the attempt at detente.

"Our approach is right. It has allowed the possibility of a really substantive improvement with Turkey in many sectors," Papandreou told the Kathimerini newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

"There is a relative detente. We must continue in this direction," he added.

The minister attributed criticism of the rapprochement policy to "a rationale of defeatism", "big words" and "heroic inaction."

Asked to comment on the Bush administration's attitude to Cyprus joining the European Union, Papandreou said: "They told me with absolute clarity that they have the Helsinki decision as a base," which does not require resolution of the Cyprus problem before entry.

The minister recently visited the US, his first official trip to Washington since the new administration assumed power.

Also asked to explain a foreign ministry document that expresses fears of a possible Turkish backlash at the time of Cyprus' entry into the 15-nation bloc, the minister replied: "We are ready for any provocation, if any arises."

He added that Greece, as a serious country, "prepares for all contingencies," while doing its best to foster peace.

Turning to the Balkans, Papandreou said that US officials he had spoken to during his visit had shown interest in Greek proposals on handling the region's crisis and asked for regular contact on the matter.

The minister said he believed the US would contribute to resolution of Greece's name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He avoided mention of any possible US pressure on FYROM.

Finally, Papandreou welcomed a recent meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, saying their communication on a personal level was very good.

Powell showed interest in Greece's proposal for an Olympic truce, and asked an associate present at the meeting to closely monitor the issue, he added.

[06] Corinth Canal-Strike

The Corinth Canal will be closed to shipping for most of Sunday and Monday due to a strike, the merchant marine ministry said in a statement.

The canal will be closed from 0600-2200 on both days, the ministry said.

[07] Patriarch-Tour-Cappadocia

SINASOS, Turkey (ANA A. Kourkoulas) Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos toured the Cappodocia region of Turkey at the weekend, accompanied by senior Orthodox clerics and Greek pilgrims.

On Saturday, Vartholomeos led a morning liturgy at the Church of Saints Konstantinos and Eleni in the village of Sinasos in Cappadocia, a region that was a centre of Orthodox Christianity in eastern Asia Minor during the Byzantine era.

During the service, the Patriarch welcomed a recent rapprochement between Greece and Turkey, saying the move would benefit the peoples of both countries and stand as a paradigm for world peace.

His schedule in Cappadocia, which he also visited last year, included receptions hosted by senior local government officials.

On Sunday, the Patriarch ordained Metropolitan Bishop Tarasios of Buenos Aires as an elder of the Orthodox Church, nearly 80 years after the last such ordination in Asia Minor when a pact in 1923 allowed an exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey.

Attending the ceremony held in Prokopio for Tarasios, who studied in the US and Rome and served at the the Patriarch's seat in Istanbul for a decade, were hundreds of pilgrims from Greece and the US.

[08] Weather Forecast-Monday

Sunshine is forecast in most parts of the country on Monday with scattered cloud in eastern Macedonia, Thrace and the northeastern Aegean islands that may turn to showers on the mainland from afternoon. Winds northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in parts of the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 12C to 25C; on the rest of the mainland from 14C to 28C; and in the islands from 16C to 26C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 16C and 27C. Mostly sunny in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 15C to 25C.

[09] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Buying rates until Monday

U.S. dollar 393.475

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 559.174

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 45.316

Swedish kroner 37.340

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 324.988

Swiss franc 221.338

Norwegian kroner 42.782

Cyprus pound 585.863

Canadian dollar 255.300

Australian dollar 205.048

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