Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-05-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] Culture Minister Venizelos inaugurates 25th Book Fair in Athens

[02] President Stephanopoulos visits outlying islands north of Corfu

[03] Culture minister holds talks with Chinese counterpart

[04] Spanish FM expresses certainty on Euroarmy solution

[05] Seamen to launch rolling 48-hour strikes on June 11

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Tuesday

[08] ASE ends above 2,400 level on Monday

[01] Culture Minister Venizelos inaugurates 25th Book Fair in Athens

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Monday inaugurated the 25th Book Fair at the Pedion tou Areos Park in Athens.

The minister also announced two new institutions underway in Thessaloniki, an international exhibition at HELLEXPO with the participation of countries from southeastern Europe, and a Balkan translation centre which will translate Greek books into Balkan languages and vice versa.

Venizelos also announced that Greece will be the theme country in 2004 at the book exhibition in Turin, the city which will host the next Winter Olympic Games.

Exhibited at the book fair are 40,000 book titles by 300 publishers.

The fair was attended by political party representatives and foreign ambassadors, while Prime Minister Costas Simitis sent a message of greetings.

[02] President Stephanopoulos visits outlying islands north of Corfu

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos visited the small islands Mathraki, Othoni and Erikousa to the north of Corfu on Monday, meeting with local residents who voiced complaints at being 'forgotten' by an 'Athens-centred' government.

The president congratulated them on their decision to stick it out and stay on the islands, describing them as 'guardians' of the outlying territories, and said the state was making efforts to support the continued residence of people on such islands.

[03] Culture minister holds talks with Chinese counterpart

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos met on Monday with his Chinese counterpart Sun Jiazheng and discussed with him the issue of cultural exchanges leading up to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Venizelos, who termed cultural cooperation between Greece and China as excellent, said that a new educational exchanges protocol will be signed between the two countries in the coming days.

He thanked Jiazheng for the Chinese government's stance on the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

The Greek minister also referred to China's participation in the Cultural Olympiad and to its hosting of the Olympic Games in 2008.

[04] Spanish FM expresses certainty on Euroarmy solution

Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his Spanish counterpart Josep Pique said on Monday night efforts were continuing for a solution to the issue of the so-called European army.

The ministers were speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Euro-Mediterranean forum being held on the Aegean island of Mykonos.

Pique expressed certainty that a solution will be found to the European army issue and expressed ''understanding'' for the Greek government's concerns to which, as he said, ''we shall try to give some answers.''

He avoided any comment on possible changes to the Ankara text.

On his part, Papandreou referred to the issue of the ''EU-NATO Contact Code'', saying that it is an idea under discussion and processing.

''We have many ideas. We are discussing them and I wish to thank my colleague Josep and the Spanish Presidency for all it is doing to help. It is a difficult problem. We shall find solutions which shall take into consideration Greek as well as wider European interests,'' Papandreou said.

Papandreou said there will be no announcements until results are achieved.

[05] Seamen to launch rolling 48-hour strikes on June 11

Seamen are to launch rolling 48-hour strikes beginning on June 11, the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation said on Monday.

The strike call applies to seamen on all categories of ships, the federation said in a statement.

Unions are seeking a timescale from the government for an increase in seamen's pensions of up to 80 percent of wages before retirement.

They have also sought a doubling of one-off allowances, a rise in supplementary pensions, and the creation of a seamen's unemployment fund.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.927

Pound sterling 0.635

Danish kroner 7.497

Swedish kroner 9.286

Japanese yen 116.5

Swiss franc 1.465

Norwegian kroner 7.611

Cyprus pound 0.582

Canadian dollar 1.429

Australian dollar 1.681

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Tuesday

Changeable weather is forecast in most parts of the country, with scattered cloud, sunny spells, showers or storms chiefly on the central and northern mainland from late afternoon. The weather will be fine in the Cyclades, Crete and Dodecanese islands. Winds variable, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 12C to 26C; on the rest of the mainland from 14C to 28C; and in the islands from 15C to 27C. Unsettled in Athens, with temperatures between 15C and 27C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 14C to 25C.

[08] ASE ends above 2,400 level on Monday

Greek stocks ended higher on Monday, extending last week's rally and pushing the general index above the 2,400 resistance level for the first time in more than two months.

The index rose 0.53 percent to end at 2,402.07 points, surpassing the 2,400 level for the first time since March 11 (2,436 points).

The Greek bourse easily absorbed some profit taking with the help of an improved turnover, which totalled 127.4 million euros.

The Construction, Holding and Insurance sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day (2.79 percent, 2.43 percent and 1.50 percent, respectively), while Food-Beverage, Cement and Textile sectors suffered losses (0.26 percent, 0.25 percent and 0.08 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.55 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.85 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index increased 0.88 percent.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 205 to 110 with another 47 issues unchanged.

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