Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-05-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[03] Greek PM begins official two-day visit to Yugoslavia

[04] Greece, Turkey back stready rise in business ties

[05] Prince Charles expected to leave Mount Athos by Saturday

[06] Yiannitsis addresses event on Europe's Day

[01] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

Sunshine is forecast in all parts of the country. Late in the day, Macedonia and Epirus may see isolated storms. Winds variable, light to strong, turning very strong in parts of the Aegean. On the northern mainland, temperatures will range from 11C to 25C; on the rest of the mainland from 13C to 26C; and in the islands from 14C to 24C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 14C and 25C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 12C to 24C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.913

Pound sterling 0.627

Danish kroner 7.494

Swedish kroner 9.383

Japanese yen 117.5

Swiss franc 1.466

Norwegian kroner 7.640

Cyprus pound 0.583

Canadian dollar 1.433

Australian dollar 1.688

[03] Greek PM begins official two-day visit to Yugoslavia

BELGRADE (ANA - V. Mourtis) Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Thursday arrived in Belgrade for the first official visit by a Greek premier to the city in 16 years. In statements to reporters, Simitis said the main aim of his visit was to promote bilateral economic ties with Yugoslavia and that his presence in Belgrade signalled the start of a new period in relations between the two countries.

Simitis kicked off the two-day visit by penning his signature on a series of agreements between Greece and Yugoslavia for bilateral economic and technical cooperation in road and air transport, along with his Yugoslav counterpart Dragisa Pesic.

The Greek prime minister later described his meeting with Pesic as warm and friendly and stressed that the two countries shared a common goal in desiring cooperation, peace and development in the Balkans. He underlined that this goal could not be achieved without Yugoslavia's participation.

[04] Greece, Turkey back stready rise in business ties

ANKARA (ANA/A.Kourkoulas) - Greece and Turkey support a gradual increase in business ties to their mutual benefit, the two countries' finance ministers said on Thursday.

Visiting Ankara, Greek Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis told a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Kemal Dervis, that a move had been made with the European Investment Bank to back economic cooperation between Greece, Italy and Turkey.

[05] Prince Charles expected to leave Mount Athos by Saturday

Britain's Prince Charles is expected to leave Mount Athos, the Orthodox monastic community in northern Greece, either on Friday afternoon or on Saturday, according to reports.

Prince Charles, who is staying at the Vatopedio Holy Monastery, arrived in the sea region of Mount Athos on board shipowner Yiannis Latsis' yacht and from there left for the Vatopedio Monastery with a speedboat. His friend Camilla Parker Bowles is also on the yacht.

His programme is kept secret, while representatives of the Holy Community said the visit, which began on Easter Monday, is strictly a private one.

[06] Yiannitsis addresses event on Europe's Day

Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Yiannitsis on Thursday evening addressed an event on Europe's Day organised at the Zappeion Hall by the European Commission representation in Athens.

The minister's address focused on Greece's twenty-year presence in the European process as a full member of the European Union saying that the country has gained a great deal. The expected enlargement of the EU, through which Cyprus will become an EU member, demands tremendous reforms on an institutional level but mostly on a European citizen's level, he said.

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