Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-08-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] CORRECTION - Greece wins first gold medals in European Athletics

[02] Greece wins first gold medals in European Athletics Championships

[03] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny Thursday, temperature down

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

[05] Accreditation committee announces retesting for foreign medical school

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, fuelled by European markets

[07] Alleged 'N17' leader slapped with more than 80 felony counts

[01] CORRECTION - Greece wins first gold medals in European Athletics Championships

In second paragraph please read ... clocking 11.10 seconds (instead of ... clocking 11.20 seconds).

A corrected version follows:

Greece won its first medals, two gold and two bronze, in the European Athletics Championships in Munich on Wednesday.

Katerina Thanou won the gold medal in the women's 100-metre sprint, clocking 11.10 seconds.

Thanou, 27, was the silver medallist in the Olympic Games in Sydney and finished third in the previous European Athletics Championships in Budapest in 1998.

Katerina Vogoli won the gold medal in the women's discus with a throw of 64.31 metres. Tassoula Kelesidou took the bronze medal in the same event with a throw of 63.92 metres.

Greece's second bronze medal of the day came in the hammer-throw.

Alexandros Papadimitriou took third place with a throw of 80.21 metres.

[02] Greece wins first gold medals in European Athletics Championships

Greece won its first medals, two gold and two bronze, in the European Athletics Championships in Munich on Wednesday.

Katerina Thanou won the gold medal in the women's 100-metre sprint, clocking 11.20 seconds.

Thanou, 27, was the silver medallist in the Olympic Games in Sydney and finished third in the previous European Athletics Championships in Budapest in 1998.

Katerina Vogoli won the gold medal in the women's discus with a throw of 64.31 metres. Tassoula Kelesidou took the bronze medal in the same event with a throw of 63.92 metres.

Greece's second bronze medal of the day came in the hammer-throw.

Alexandros Papadimitriou took third place with a throw of 80.21 metres.

[03] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny Thursday, temperature down

Sunny weather is forecast in most parts of the country, with scattered cloud in the north turning to showers or storms mainly in the northeast. The temperature will drop several degrees. Winds north-northwesterly, moderate to strong, turning very strong in the south. In the north, temperatures will range from 19C to 30C; in the west from 21C to 32C; and in the rest of the country from 22C to 35C. Temperatures in Athens between 24C and 34C; and in Thessaloniki between 22C and 30C.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank.

U.S. dollar 0.977

Pound sterling 0.636

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.387

Japanese yen 117.8

Swiss franc 1.470

Norwegian kroner 7.568

Cyprus pound 0.578

Canadian dollar 1.543

Australian dollar 1.835

[05] Accreditation committee announces retesting for foreign medical school graduates

The Greek accreditation committee for higher education diplomas from foreign universities announced on Wednesday that the a number of graduates of foreign medical schools that were tested in the last round of examinations for accreditation will be tested again, as a batch of exams were destroyed during a break in.

The managing board of the state appointed committee will convene to draft catalogues of those that will have to be retested as their exams were destroyed or stolen, while it was also announced that the new test day will be scheduled in September.

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, fuelled by European markets

The Athens bourse finished higher on Wednesday, fuelled by rising markets elsewhere in Europe.

Also perking up trade were better than expected first-half results reported by EFG Eurobank Ergasias.

The general share index gained 1.59 percent to end at the day's high of 2,127.12 points. Turnover was 64.2 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 1.83 percent up; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 1.23 percent higher; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities 1.47 percent up.

Of 361 stocks traded, advances led declines at 222 to 80 with 59 issues remaining unchanged.

[07] Alleged 'N17' leader slapped with more than 80 felony counts

A voluminous indictment replete with numerous felony charges has reportedly been compiled against the alleged co-founder and leader of the notorious ?November 17? terrorist group, Alexandros Giotopoulos, who is currently jailed without bond.

Sources said the relevant indictment against the 58-year-old Giotopoulos -- the Paris-born son of a noted pre-war leftist intellectual -- lists charges related to crimes from 1984 to the present, all based on testimony provided by Christodoulos Xiros. The latter confessed to being a particularly active ?N17? operative and hitman since the early 80s.

Xiros is being held in a maximum-security cellblock at Korydallos prison, although in a separate wing from Giotopoulos.

As opposed to Christodoulos Xiros, Giotopoulos -- who admitted that he lived under an assumed name in Greece for almost three decades before he was arrested on the sparsely populated and remote Dodecanese isle of Leipsos last month denied any connection to ?N1? or of even knowing any of the other 14 suspects arrested in the ongoing criminal investigation, the largest in modern Greek history.

The indictment against Giotopoulos reportedly includes nine counts of homicide; 20 attempted homicides; participation in nine armed robberies and 19 bombings; 13 counts of grand larceny; multiple felony weapons charges and even charges of torching forestland, among others, all in all, a total of more than 80 felonies.

More felony counts are expected to be filed against him after Savvas Xiros, Christodoulos younger brother, finishes providing his testimony to prosecutors. Savvas, one of three Xiros brothers implicated in ?N17s? 27-year reign of terror, provided police with an unprecedented breakthrough in eradicating the terror gang when he was injured in an apparent botched bombing at the port of Piraeus in late June. He is currently recovering from injuries at an Athens hospital under guard.

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