Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-08-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Patriarch made honorary citizen of Nissyros (RECASTS-adds detail)

[02] Greeks migrate on annual leave, leaving cities deserted

[03] Fire under control in boat-building warehouse

[04] Greek 'copter plays key role in extinguishing Bulgarian fire

[05] Mountain seminar on role of the countryside in the EU

[06] Northern cross-border trade, transit centre to open October

[07] Patriarch made honorary citizen of Nissyros

[08] Weather Forecast: Sunny skies on Sunday

[09] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

[01] Patriarch made honorary citizen of Nissyros (RECASTS-adds detail)

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos on Saturday received a golden key to Nissyros after being made an honorary citizen of the eastern Aegean island.

Among dignitaries present at the ceremony was Deputy Interior Minister Kostas Keserlis.

In his speech, Vartholeomeos warned that young people were at risk, especially from drug abuse. He called on society to show understanding.

The patriarch will spend the weekend on Nissyros before returning to Istanbul, where he is based, on Monday.

[02] Greeks migrate on annual leave, leaving cities deserted

Residents of Athens and Thessaloniki on Saturday fled the two cities' concrete and high temperatures at the start of their annual summer leave.

Leaving usually congested streets empty, holidaymakers flocked onto motorways to the countryside in a continuation of Friday's exodus.

Thirty five passenger and car ferries were due to leave the port of Piraeus on Saturday and 13 from Rafina, all destined for the Aegean islands.

[03] Fire under control in boat-building warehouse

Tens of fire-fighters on Saturday brought under control a fire that broke out earlier in the day in a shipyard warehouse in the port of Lavrion, police said.

The large warehouse was located in a boat-building yard for leisure craft that belongs to Olympic Marine.

Police and fire brigade officials are investigating the cause of the blaze, which severely damaged vessels stored in the building.

[04] Greek 'copter plays key role in extinguishing Bulgarian fire

SOFIA (ANA/B.Borisov) - A Greek fire-fighting helicopter sent to Bulgaria to help combat a raging forest blaze in the neighbouring country's southeast effectively ended the wildfire, Bulgarian state TV said on Saturday.

Showing footage of the seven-day fire that was extinguished late on Friday, reporters said the helicopter requested by Bulgarian authorities from the Greek fire brigade had dropped about 15 tonnes of water during each of its numerous flight-missions since Thursday.

Hundreds of local fire-fighters, soldiers and volunteers who had joined forces on land had been unable to put out the blaze over five days before the helicopter's arrival, state TV said.

[05] Mountain seminar on role of the countryside in the EU

A conference was held in mountains near the northwestern city of Ioannina on Saturday on the role of the countryside and regional institutions in the formation of the European Union this century.

Among speakers from home and abroad at the event, which was held under the aegis of the European Parliament, was National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who underlined the importance of economic and social development coupled with environmental protection and quality of life, especially for the regions.

Another speaker, Agriculture Minister George Anomeritis, told the conference that interest was shifting mainly towards growth for mountain areas.

[06] Northern cross-border trade, transit centre to open October

A cross-border trade and transit centre that is being built on the border with Bulgaria, the first of its kind in Greece, is to launch first-phase operations in October, with the project due for completion in July 2002, officials said on Saturday.

The centre near the Promahonas border post, Serres, will include space to store and to exhibit products initially of the country's exporting companies, many of which are based in the north.

The products will then be sold wholesale to traders in southeast European countries.

The owner of the centre is Promahon SA, which is mainly owned by private sector companies with the state holding a small minority.

The national economy ministry allocated 1.8 billion drachmas from the European Union Interreg II programme for construction of the centre.

The Promahonas border post currently handles 97 percent of imports and exports by rail.

The completed project will include banks, customs and tax offices, restaurants, wholesale outlets, transport company offices and exhibition space.

[07] Patriarch made honorary citizen of Nissyros

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos on Saturday received a golden key to Nissyros after being made an honorary citizen of the eastern Aegean island.

Among dignitaries present at the ceremony was Deputy Interior Minister Kostas Keserlis.

In his speech, Vartholeomeos warned that young people were at risk, especially from drug abuse.

The patriarch will spend the weekend on Nissyros before returning to Istanbul, where he is based, on Monday.

urged for peace between Christians and Moslems, especially in the Balkans, saying the reason for conflict was political, not religious.

Vartholomeos told a vespers service he led in the Cappadocia region of Turkey that clashes between the two religious groups in their history "are not due to religious differences, but to other reasons," which he defined as political.

"This is also happening today in the Balkan region, where some are trying to present the conflict as a clash of religions, as a clash between Christians and Moslems, but things are not like this," he told the congregation.

Vartholomeos outlined initiatives the Patriarchate had taken for dialogue between the two religions, including a proclamation signed in 1994 after an inter-faith meeting in Istanbul.

"Fanaticism and fundamentalism are not blessed by any religion, and every war in the name of a religion is a war against all religion, he added.

It is the third time in two years that the Patriarch has visited Cappadocia, which was a centre of Orthodox Christianity in eastern Asia Minor during the Byzantine era.

[08] Weather Forecast: Sunny skies on Sunday

Sunshine is forecast throughout the country on Sunday. Winds northerly, light to moderate, turning strong in the Aegean. In the west, temperatures will range from 23C to 38C; on the rest of the mainland from 22C to 36C; and in the Aegean islands from 25C to 33C. Sunny in Athens with temperatures between 26C and 36C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 25C to 35C.

[09] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

Indicative buying rates

U.S. dollar 383.857

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 548.385

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 45.386

Swedish kroner 36.853

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 309.970

Swiss franc 224.207

Norwegian kroner 042.419

Cyprus pound 589.033

Canadian dollar 250.091

Australian dollar 198.607

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