Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-11-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] Public Works minister meets Olympiad Organising Committee chief

[02] Turkish delegation due in Thessaloniki on Friday

[03] "New Horizons" cinema department in Thessaloniki festival

[04] Greek president notes Greece's contribution to global security and

[05] Archbishop Anastasios visits Rizareios Academy

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[07] Antenna TV called on to give explanations on "Big Brother"

[08] UK mobile phone maker launches sales in Greece

[09] Greek youths seem to be the least tolerant to foreigners in EU, poll

[10] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks nose up, show signs of consolidation

[11] Weather Forecast: Overcast, rainy on Friday

[12] Olympic Airways' sale delayed again

[01] Public Works minister meets Olympiad Organising Committee chief

Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou dined on Thursday with Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki who said afterwards "we women can communicate", which Papandreou agreed with.

The two ladies, who are shouldering an important part of the Olympiad's preparation, said they will worry until the end, until the 2004 Olympics are completed.

According to reports, their meetings will be regular from now on, even three times a month, while the next meeting will take on the form of a session including their associates.

Daskalaki one again categorically denied rumours of her resignation. On her part, Papandreou said she and Daskalaki discussed the better preparation of the Olympic Games, as well as alternative plans which should exist for each Olympic project.

[02] Turkish delegation due in Thessaloniki on Friday

A Turkish delegation headed by Minister of State Ramazan Mirzaoglu is due to arrive in Thessaloniki on Friday for talks with local officials and trade groups on issues concerning cooperation between the two countries.

A dinner will be hosted in their honour by the "Greek Forum", the "Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in the Balkans" and the "Association of Industrialists of Northern Greece".

On Saturday morning the delegation will attend an event at the Turkish Consulate in Thessaloniki. Later in the day Mirzaoglu will meet Macedonia-Thrace Minister George Paschalidis.

[03] "New Horizons" cinema department in Thessaloniki festival

The New Horizons parallel cinema department is participating for the 10th consecutive year in the Thessaloniki Film Festival with 40 films and dedications to the independent American, German and French cinema. The New Horizons department has been functioning for 10 years.

Speaking at a press conference in Thessaloniki on Thursday, the director of the event Dimitris Eipidis said a different aspect of the modern-day cinema is continuing to be shown, far from commercial expediencies and social, political and aesthetic conformism.

This year's event will be starting on Friday, in parallel to the beginning of the 42nd Cinema Festival, and 10 films of an international choice will be screened, as well as five German, five French, seven American, nine in the framework of the "3X3" programme, three on the dedication to "shadows at night" and one for children.

The films of an international choice include the recent film "Kandahar", referring to Afghanistan and directed by the Iranian Moshen Makhmalbaf.

Meanwhile, American actress Fay Danaway will be arriving in Thessaloniki later on tonight as she was invited by the Festival to be honored for her long time contribution to filmmaking.

[04] Greek president notes Greece's contribution to global security and peace

Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos on Thursday noted Greece's contribution in securing global peace and the freedom of peoples, during his visit to the Monastery of Arkadi, Rethimnon, Crete.

He said that Greece was called upon to serve the idea of peace in these difficult times, adding that the most important aim and obligation is not the projects of peace time, but also the preparation of the country to deter any danger and threat.

Stephanopoulos noted that this primary aim is fulfilled by Greece, adding that everyone should contribute to the confrontation against terrorism.

The Greek president also said that the developed countries should stand by the poor peoples of the world and spoke of the country's development, which, he said, needs everyone's contribution and effort to be achieved.

He stressed the need for a common European Union foreign and defence policy, underlining that Greeks should place special emphasis on the European Union.

[05] Archbishop Anastasios visits Rizareios Academy

A church service was held at the Rizareios Academy's Cathedral on Thursday on the occasion of the arrival of Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania Anastasios, who was accompanied by Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos during his visit to the Academy.

Archbishop Anastasios was later given a tour of the academy, while the students gave him the gospel of Ioannis Katakouzinos. Visibly moved, Archbishop Anastasios spoke of the rennaissance of Orthodoxy in an address to students in the hall of ceremonies.

He said the church of Albania rose from its ashes. New churches were built and others were renovated. At the end of the address, the students gave a dinner for the two prelates.

Archbishop Anastasios was due to visit the Athens Academy on Thursday night, while on Friday morning he will be receiving visits by party leaders before leaving for Tirana at noon.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 376.769

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 551.607

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 045.372

Swedish kroner 035.036

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 312.270

Swiss franc 230.283

Norwegian kroner 042.831

Cyprus pound 588.799

Canadian dollar 235.976

Australian dollar 193.883

[07] Antenna TV called on to give explanations on "Big Brother"

The issue concerning the controversial "Big Brother" TV programme came to the forefront again on Thursday with the National Radio and Television Council (ESP) this time voting in favour of calling on "Antenna" TV channel to give explanations of a probable violation of Article 15 of the Constitution and of the Council's rules regarding ethics on "securing the quality of programmes which is the mission of radio and television and for the cultural development of the country."

[08] UK mobile phone maker launches sales in Greece

Sendo, a newly created UK mobile phone manufacturer, is to launch sales in Greece with Athens-quoted Infoquest as its representative, company officials told a news conference on Thursday.

The new firm's general director, Hugh Brogan, said that Sendo specialised in offering customers a network of user-friendly, tailor-made software programmes, along with customer support.

The company, which has a policy of delivering products within three days, has launched operations in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Taiwan and Hong Kong since it was created a year ago.

[09] Greek youths seem to be the least tolerant to foreigners in EU, poll says

BRUSSELS (ANA - B. Demiris) - Greek youths between the ages of 15 and 24 seem to be the least tolerant toward foreigners in their country as compared with the youths in the other 14 member states of the European Union, a Eurobarometer opinion poll that was published on Thursday showed.

The same poll showed that members of this age group did not view the euro as the most important accomplishment of the European Union during the past decade.

The poll was conducted between April and May 2001 and about 10,000 youths from all 15 member-states responded to the survey.

Specifically, according to the Eurobarometer survey 44 per cent of Greeks between the ages of 15 and 24 believe that "an excessive number of foreigners resides in Greece", recording the highest positive response to this question of the survey, where Italians came second with 38.4 per cent, the Belgians third with 37.9 per cent and the Germans fourth with 32.1 per cent.

[10] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks nose up, show signs of consolidation

The Athens bourse finished slightly higher on Thursday, showing signs of consolidation despite a bout of profit-taking.

The general share index gained 0.06 percent to end at 2,634.90 points. Turnover was 192.7 million euros.

Spurring the mild profit-taking were a denial by Commercial Bank of Greece of any immediate plans to forge an alliance with another bank; and by Intracom, which rejected talk of an alliance with Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 0.17 percent up; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 0.79 percent higher; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities 0.54 percent up.

Of 360 stocks traded, advances led declines at 191 to 126 with 63 issues remaining unchanged.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Banks: +0.53%

Telecoms: +0.01%

Insurance: +0.97%

Investment: -0.43%

Construction: -1.13%

Industrials: -0.03%

Holding: +1.29%

Base metals: +1.54%

Minerals: 0.00%

Publishing: -0.36%

Textiles: +1.85%

Retailing: -0.47%

Information Technology: -0.33%

IT solutions: -0.06%

Wholesale: +1.16%

Food & Beverage: +0.80%

Parallel Market for smaller cap stocks: +0.81%

Selected shares from the Morgan Stanley index closed in euros as follows:

Aluminium de Grece: 31.56

Alpha Bank: 20.48

Coca Cola 15.40

Hellenic Petroleum: 6.74

Commercial Bank of Greece: 34.86

National Bank of Greece: 28.38

EYDAP: 6.92

EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 16.24

Motor Oil: 8.02

Titan Cement Company (common): 38.20

Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation: 19.98

Panafon-Vodafone: 5.80

The most heavily traded shares were National Bank of Greece, Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, Koumbas, Cosmote and Intracom.

[11] Weather Forecast: Overcast, rainy on Friday

The weather will be cloudy throughout the country on Friday, with showers in Crete, the eastern Aegean islands and Dodecanese islands, turning to brief storms in the southeast. The west will see showers, mainly in the northwest, where storms may also break out. Winds south-southwesterly, light to moderate, turning strong at sea. In the north, temperatures will range from 8C to 20C; in the west from 11C to 22C; and in the rest of the country from 10C to 24C. Cloud over Athens with temperatures from 14C and 23C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 10C to 20C.

[12] Olympic Airways' sale delayed again

The sale of a majority stake in Olympic Airways, scheduled for November 15, will be delayed until the end of the month, Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, at a press conference, Verelis said that current conditions "do not support this kind of actions with banks unwilling to support the ailing airline industry."

This development supports the view that AXON Group, the leading candidate in the tender, is not capable to ensure the viability of the Greek national carrier.

Verelis said that it would be a satisfactory development if all business groups interested in the sale decided to unite their forces in their effort to acquire a majority stake in Olympic Airways, stressing the need even for a cooperation between candidates in the tender.

Commenting on a recent decision by the new Athens airport management to cut airport fees, Verelis said it would need a cut of up to 10 percent to boost the airport's competitiveness and urged Greek police forces for tighter security controls at the airport.

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