Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-08-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] Occupancy rate in Athens hotels drops in first-half 2001

[02] Foreign exchange rates - Tuesday

[03] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

[04] New Jerusalem Patriarch - lead-all

[05] Greek stocks ease in record-low turnover

[01] Occupancy rate in Athens hotels drops in first-half 2001

The average occupancy rate in Athens hotels dropped by 7.4 percent in the first half of 2001 versus the same period of last year, Arthur Anderson, the international management consultants, said in a survey released on Monday.

According to the survey, the occupancy rate was 66.5 percent, down from 71.9 percent in the same period of 2000.

The rate is close to the European average of 66.8 percent, the survey said.

The average room price in Athens hotels in the first half was 127.19 euros, up 3.6 percent from the same period of last year, it added.

[02] Foreign exchange rates - Tuesday

Indicative buying rates

U.S. dollar 375.937

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 535.526

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 45.419

Swedish kroner 36.722

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 309.182

Swiss franc 223.281

Norwegian kroner 041.925

Cyprus pound 587.986

Canadian dollar 244.405

Australian dollar 195.059

[03] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

The day will start sunny in most parts of the country on Tuesday with scattered cloud in the central and northern mainland. Macedonia, Thrace and the northern Aegean may see showers and storms from evening. Winds north-northeasterly, moderate to strong and very strong, turning gale force in the Aegean. In the west, temperatures will range from 16C to 33C; in the north from 13C to 28C; and in the rest of the country from 18C to 31C. In Athens, the weather will be mostly sunny with temperatures between 19C and 31C. Scattered cloud in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 17C to 28C.

[04] New Jerusalem Patriarch - lead-all

Athens Exarch and Metropolitan of Ierapoleos Irineos was elected on Monday as the new Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Palestine, Syria, beyond Jordan River, Cana of Galilee & Holy Zion.

He succeeds Patriarch Diodoros I, who died eight months ago after heading the Jerusalem Patriarchate since 1981.

Irineos served as Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Athens for several years prior to his election.

The new patriarch of Jerusalem was born Emmanuel Skopelitis in 1939 on the eastern Aegean island of Samos. He arrived in Jerusalem in 1953 and graduated from the patriarchates academy in 1963.

Irineos became a monk and was ordained as a deacon in 1959; as a church elder in 1965, followed by his ordination as an archimandrite the following year. He studied theology at the University of Athens.

Shortly after the announcement, Ecumenical Patriarchate Vartholomeos conveyed his congratulations to Irineos, according to an ANA dispatch from Istanbul.

In Greece, main opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis also sent congratulations, referring in his telegram to a ?new period of productive? ecclesiastical leadership for the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

[05] Greek stocks ease in record-low turnover

Equity prices ended lower on Monday, extending their decline for the sixth consecutive session on the Athens Stock Exchange, hit by a record-low turnover of 22.94 billion drachmas and lack of buying interest.

The general index ended 0.49 percent lower at 2,611.12 points, off the day's lows of 2,585.16 points, helped by a recovery in banks and telecoms stocks.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,461.14 points, off 0.38 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index dropped 1.42 percent to 295.92 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP 80 index ended at 857.45 points, down 1.51 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 254.76 points, off 0.66 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 266 to 63 with another 18 issues unchanged.

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