Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-06-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[02] Greece - FYROM - Insurgency

[03] Weather-Wednesday

[04] WOMAD festival - Athens concert

[05] Blue chip buying lifts ASE higher

[06] Greek performer - SW Albania concert

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Buying rates for Wednesday

U.S. dollar 398.911

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 549.455

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 045.343

Swedish kroner 036.268

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 327.675

Swiss franc 222.059

Norwegian kroner 042.340

Cyprus pound 587.520

Canadian dollar 261.732

Australian dollar 209.473

[02] Greece - FYROM - Insurgency

The government reiterated on Tuesday that Athens will not unilaterally assume any military initiative in neighbouring FYROM, the latest Balkan flashpoint thats brought fighting to within only a few hours drive from Greece's northern frontier.

A government spokesman told reporters during a regular press briefing that the dispatch of Greek units to the strife-torn Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) could be examined only within the framework of an international peacekeeping force a consideration he said exists only in theory.

?Its too soon for anyone to say that international organisations are ready to take such a decision,? spokesman Dimitris Reppas said.

Meanwhile, north of the border, a tenuous ceasefire was apparently still holding on Tuesday, although representatives for the Albanian insurgents that have taken up arms against the Skopje government said they were now in range of the capital and its international airport.

Earlier, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou called the situation in FYROM ?very difficult?, following a meeting at the prime ministers office, which focused on preparations for this weekend's EU summit in Goteborg, Sweden.

Papandreou noted that ?theres a hope the extremists will be isolated? if political procedures move forward, otherwise, as he warned, ?the crisis will worsen and the international community will be called on to intervene militarily in order to ensure FYROMs integrity?.

On his part, Reppas added that none of Greeces borderline military units has been placed on any type of higher alert status.

[03] Weather-Wednesday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday, with the possibility of cloud and local showers later in the day in northern regions of the country. Temperature will range from 16 to 33 C in the north, 17 to 37 C in the rest of the mainland, and 19-35 C on the islands. Athens will be sunny, with temperatures 19-36 C. The same for Thessaloniki, with temperatures 16-32 C.

[04] WOMAD festival - Athens concert

The noted ethnic musical festival ?Womad? World of Music, Arts, Dance -- makes a stop in Greece this summer, with a three-day series of performances planned at an equestrian centre in the Goudi district this month (June 22-24).

Groups from 18 countries are participating in Womad this year, including Afro Celt System (UK/Ireland/Senegal), Hevia (Spain), Madredeus (Portugal), Papa Wemba (Zaire), Sierra Maestra (Cuba), and Youssou NDour (Senegal).

[05] Blue chip buying lifts ASE higher

Selected buying in blue chip stocks, included in the MSCI global index, lifted the general index higher on Tuesday but failed to lead a recovery of the wider market on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Traders said very tight liquidity conditions pressured prices of 55 stock shares to new record-low for the year. On the other hand, Commercial Bank (+2.82%), Hellenic Telecoms (+1.75%), Alpha Bank (+1.57%), Viohalco (+2.63%), Petzetakis (+4.21%) and Titan (+1.72%) scored gains, while banks and telecoms accounted for almost 50 percent of the day's turnover.

Analysts said the market would find long-term support at the 2,880-2,820 levels.

The general index ended 0.39 percent higher at 2,887.92 points, off the day's highs of 2,913.22 points, with turnover a low 145.32 million euros, or 49.52 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,697.14 points, up 0.74 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell 0.14 percent to 322.46 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP 80 index ended at 888.70 points, off 1.13 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 265.62 points, off 1.00 percent.

[06] Greek performer - SW Albania concert

One of Greece's most popular performers will stage a concert in the southwestern Albanian town of Gjirokaster for the sizeable ethnic Greek community in that country's south and the "friendly Albanian people", according to a press release on Tuesday.

Yorgos Dalaras has reportedly accepted an invitation by the Greek consulate in Gjirokaster to stage a free concert there on Saturday -- a "gesture of solidarity" by Greek society towards the ethnic Greek community in Albania, a consulate announcement stated.

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