Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-08-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Culture minister on two years before 2004 Athens Olympics

[02] First 'test event' for 2004 Games this month (recast adds more)

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[04] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks nose up in move to consolidate

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

[01] Culture minister on two years before 2004 Athens Olympics

Exactly two years on 13 August before the opening date of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Monday in a statement said that all Greeks must rest assured that the organisation of the Games will be impeccable not only from a technical point of view but also as far as the human values are concerned.

The culture minister said that all infrastructure projects are underway and advancing on schedule, reiterating that the use of the Olympic installations will go beyond the Games, constituting a ?legacy? for the country.

Emphasizing the positive and tangible impact of the Olympic preparations on the Gross National Product, the creation of new jobs and the workers income, Venizelos added that this was not a time to relax since the Olympic ?wager? would not be won on the projects, but on the active and generous involvement of the Greek people.

Finally, the minister said that our entrance into the ?final stretch? for the preparations is celebrated with the great achievements of the Greek athletes at the European Championships in Munich last week, as well as with the first ?test event? which is the sailing Regatta scheduled to take place at Aghios Kosmas complex from 16 through 23 August.

[02] First 'test event' for 2004 Games this month (recast adds more)

The first ?test event? for the upcoming Olympics, the highly anticipated Athens Games of 2004, is scheduled for this month (Aug. 16-23) at the Olympic sailing centre off southeast Athens.

The sailing event at the Aghios Kosmas complex, off a popular Athens beachfront, comes almost two years to the day (Aug. 13) before the next Olympics commence in the Greek capital, the site of the first modern Games in 1896.

More than 550 athletes with some 361 sailing craft, and representing 43 countries, will participate.

?With this first test event in sailing the Olympic Games essentially begin. This event is taking place so we can learn to work with each other, and also, for athletes to better learn about conditions for the Olympics,? Athens 2004 organising committee (ATHOC) official Marton Simicek said during a press conference at the sailing centre.

''The organizing of the Regatta at the Olympic Center of Sailing of Agios Kosmas is the first test event of the Olympic preparations, which brings enthusiasm all over Greece,'' ATHOC President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said.

''We in Athens 2004 welcome the International Federation of Sailing, the teams and the sailors, the representatives of the mass media, as well as all the members of the Olympic Family who came to us for this event. It will be a great success,'' she concluded.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 0.985

Pound sterling 0.643

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.356

Japanese yen 117.4

Swiss franc 1.473

Norwegian kroner 7.525

Cyprus pound 0.578

Canadian dollar 1.549

Australian dollar 1.822

[04] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks nose up in move to consolidate

The Athens bourse finished slightly higher on Monday, brushing off a decline in European markets in the wake of a sharp rise that Greek players also had shunned.

The general share index gained 0.21 percent to end at 2,136.20 points. Turnover was 51.0 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 0.11 percent down; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 0.27 percent lower; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities 0.58 percent up.

Of 349 stocks traded, declines led advances at 147 to 122 with 80 issues remaining unchanged.

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

Sunshine is forecast in most parts of the country, with showers likely in the northeast. Winds north-northwesterly, moderate to strong, turning very strong in the south. In the north, temperatures will range from 18C to 31C; on the rest of the mainland from 20C to 34C; and in the islands from 23C to 33C. Temperatures in Athens between 24C and 34C; and in Thessaloniki between 23C and 30C.

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