Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-08-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Balkan Medical moves to muffle overloud nightclub

[02] Athens Stock Exchange opening: restrained rise

[03] Foreign exchange rates - Friday

[04] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

[01] Balkan Medical moves to muffle overloud nightclub

Workers at the Balkan Medical Centre in Thessaloniki took to the streets in protest early on Friday over noise pollution generated by a neighbouring nightclub.

Staff at Balkan Medical, a private hospital founded by the Athens Medical group, say noise levels generated by the club are well in excess of the 30-decibels legal limit and that patients are constantly complaining that they are unable to sleep.

"In measurements we took in the hospital's lobby, noise pollution levels reached 87 decibels," said Yiannis Abatzis, a representative of Balkan Medical Centre staff.

The staff were joined in their protest outside the Theatro club in the small hours of Friday morning by local residents and municipal councillors of the Kato Pylaia district, who are also disturbed by the noise.

Thursday was supposed to be the first night at the club for Greek pop idol Anna Vissi, who called off the show for "technical reasons".

As spokesman for staff at Balkan Medical, Abatzis was quick to point out that their protest was not aimed at the specific artist "whom we all love" and that there would be no protest during the show starting on Friday night.

"All we want is to highlight the extent of the problem and protect ourselves and our patients," he added.

The Athens Medical Centre group, meanwhile, has asked for the issue of a restraining order against the offending nightclub, which is due to be discussed on August 24.

[02] Athens Stock Exchange opening: restrained rise

Equities rose slowly at the opening of trade Friday on the Athens Stock Exchange for the second consecutive day, with the general index up 0.85 percent at 2,729.71 points and turnover at 12 million euro, with 2.2 million euro in block trades.

Individual sector indices were mostly moving upward except for insurance, which was down 0.1 per cent. The biggest gains were for the telecoms index, up 1.57 per cent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 0.94 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 0.56 percent, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP index was up 0.73 percent.

Of the stocks moved, 188 were up, 44 were down and 146 were unchanged.

[03] Foreign exchange rates - Friday

Indicative buying rates

U.S. dollar 369.657

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 534.174

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 45.410

Swedish kroner 36.511

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 308.259

Swiss franc 222.479

Norwegian kroner 041.713

Cyprus pound 588.840

Canadian dollar 242.095

Australian dollar 194.736

[04] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

Sunshine is forecast in all parts of the country on Friday with scattered cloud on the mainland from evening that may lead to storms, mainly on high ground. Winds north-northeasterly, light to strong, turning very strong over the Aegean. On the mainland and in the Ionian, temperatures will range from 19C to 35C; and in the Aegean islands from 23C to 30C. In Athens, the weather will be sunny, with temperatures between 23C and 34C. Scattered cloud in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 22C to 33C.

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