Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-07-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek and Italian PMs inaugurate electric power network

[02] PM and Irish president discuss improving bilateral ties

[03] International treaty on terrorist bomb attacks tabled in Parliament

[04] Patra candidate for hosting 2009 Mediterranean Games

[05] Wednesday weather - Sunny all over the country

[06] Greek stocks end down in record-low turnover

[01] Greek and Italian PMs inaugurate electric power network

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday inaugurated the electric power network linkage between Greece and Italy with satellite connections from their offices.

The project, constituting Greece's first electric power linkage with the other European Union countries via Italy, concerns an underwater cable 163 kilometres long, submerged in the Ionian and Adriatic seas, and was the reason for the double celebration taking place simultaneously in Greece and Italy.

The two prime ministers addressed messages on the occasion of the electric power linkage between their two countries, stretching from Gramenitsa in the western Greek porefecture of Arta to Galadina in Italy's region of Otranto.

The project was completed last March and is expected to bring the first quantities of Italian-origin electricity to the local market in mid-July.

Revenues from the use of the cable will be divided with 25 percent going to Greece's Public Power Corporation (DEH) and 75 percent to Italy's ENEL company in accordance with the corresponding percentages of participation in the project's cost.

[02] PM and Irish president discuss improving bilateral ties

Greece and Ireland could finally work on developing bilateral ties, which had been stunted over the past 50 years due to Ireland's troubled relations with the United Kingdom, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis noted after a meeting with visiting Irish President Mary McAleese on Tuesday.

He said they had agreed on a common framework for improving bilateral relations during their talks.

Apart from having the strongest growth rate in the European Union, Ireland was also a small country that had achieved very good results in economic development and social cohesion, Simitis said.

Greek-Irish cooperation within the EU would be easy, since the two countries were roughly the same size and faced similar problems, he added.

The prime minister also stressed Greece's support for the peace process in Ireland, and said that solutions did not arise from conflict.

On her part, McAleese noted that this was the first visit by an Irish president to Greece and that this was due to the geographic and historical distance between the two countries.

''We are, however, partners within the European Union and this creates opportunities and obligations, which we must meet for the benefit of our peoples,'' she said.

[03] International treaty on terrorist bomb attacks tabled in Parliament

The international treaty on the suppression of terrorist bomb attacks has been tabled in Parliament for ratification. The UN treaty to be ratified was opened in New York for signing on January 12, 1998, and was signed by Greece on February 2, 1998.

According to the relevant bill's introductory report, the treaty is aimed at combatting terrorist attacks with explosives or other lethal apparatuses and the combatting and punishment of their perpetrators.

Among others, each country takes suitable measures to have offences concerning terrorism characterised as penal ones and punishable actions not to enjoy political, philosophical, ideological, racial, national or religious coverage or coverage of a similar nature.

It is also determined that each country in whose territory the alleged perpetrator is to be found, if it does not extradite him, is obliged to bring the case before its relevant authorities immediately, without any exceptions and regardless of whether or not the offence was perpetrated in its territory.

[04] Patra candidate for hosting 2009 Mediterranean Games

The Hellenic Olympic Committee on Tuesday said that its plenary session named Patra as the candidate city to apply for hosting the Mediterranean Games in 2009.

After an hours-long and occasionally heated debate with the candidacy of rival city Thessaloniki strongly supported by the northen citys Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos, the Committee decided on Patras candidacy, which will be officially sumbitted to the International Mediterranean Games Commission on 31 July.

[05] Wednesday weather - Sunny all over the country

Sunny throughout Greece on Wednesday with a chance of scattered cloud later in the day in the midlands. Northerly winds, moderate to strong on the Aegean. Temperatures in northern Greece between 19C to 34C, on the rest of the mainland 21C to 33C, and on the islands 22C to 29C. Scattered cloud in Athens with a possibility of rain and temperatures ranging between 23C to 33C. The same for Thessaloniki with temperatures from 21C to 32C.

[06] Greek stocks end down in record-low turnover

Greek stocks fell on Tuesday hit by a drop in turnover to a new record-low for the year in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index ended 0.74 percent lower at 2,185.44 points, with turnover at 55.6 million euros.

The IT and Wholesale sectors were the only ones to scored gains (up 0.24 percent and 0.05 percent, respectively), while the parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks rose 0.34 percent.

On the other hand, the Construction, IT Solution and Holding sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (2.50 percent), 1.43 percent and 0.92 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.75 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 0.98 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.15 percent lower.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 188 to 112 with another 55 issues unchanged.

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