Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-03-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece rules out double name solution for FYROM

[02] Greek, Australian tourism ministers discuss restart of direct flights

[03] ATHOC chief and PM discuss Olympics preparations

[04] Cultural events in framework of Greek EU presidency

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[06] Weather Forecast: Cloud on Friday

[07] Greek stocks end off five-year lows on Thursday

[01] Greece rules out double name solution for FYROM

The Greek foreign ministry on Thursday ruled out a double name for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in order to overcome a long-standing impasse between Athens and Skopje over the tiny republic's name, saying this was not a realistic proposal.

Foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis had been asked to comment on a proposal by a United States official calling for a double name solution, with Washington mediating.

He also noted that an interim agreement between Greece and FYROM had been silently renewed, as provided for within the agreement itself.

''Greece wants the adoption of one and only one name by the neighbouring state for all purposes. We have the desire to continue negotiations within the framework of the United Nations for a jointly acceptable solution,'' he said.

Greece objects to the use of the name 'Macedonia' for FYROM, which shares a border with a northern Greek province with the same name.

[02] Greek, Australian tourism ministers discuss restart of direct flights

Australia's Tourism Minister Ian McFarland reassured visiting Greek Development Deputy Minister, responsible for tourism, Dimitris Georgakopoulos that he would intervene with Australia's airlines to ensure the start of direct air flights between Australia and Greece.

The two ministers met in Canberra, in the framework of an official visit by the Greek minister in Australia.

The demand by Mr Georgakopoulos reflected the joint position of all Australia's travel agents, mainly those with travel programmes to greece.

Representatives from Australia's largest travel organisations stressed that the restart of a direct flight between Greece and Australia would significantly boost travel to Greece, with tourist arrivals in the country falling to 60-70,000 annually.

Greece's National Tourist Organisation expects tourist arrivals from Australi and New Zealand to rise by 8-10 percent this year.

[03] ATHOC chief and PM discuss Olympics preparations

A scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Costas Simitis and the head of the Athens Olympics Organising Committee, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, was held on Thursday in what was described as an ''excellent climate''.

The meeting, which was due to be held since the last meeting of a government committeee for the Olympics, had been postponed due to the prime minister's heavy workload. It covered all issues in view of a visit by the International Olympic Committee Coordinating Commission in April.

It particularly focused on the issues that are currently high on the agenda of both ATHOC and the government, such as Olympic overlays, construction of sports facilities, cooperation with local government and problems created by certain municipalities who object to the construction of certain Olympic projects.

[04] Cultural events in framework of Greek EU presidency

Cultural events scheduled in the framework of the Greek European Union's presidency will take place in 40 countries throughout the world.

The events include the archaeological exhibitions ''Athens, the cradle of democracy'', with replicas of items used in the functions of the Athenian democratic form of government, and the ''Greek jewel'' with 74 jewels dating from neolithic to Byzantine times, an exhibition which has already begun a tour from Prague and will continue in Warsaw and Budapest.

Another interesting event is the programme ''Cinema'' with the screening of Greek films of international acclaim.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.105

Pound sterling 0.688

Danish kroner 7.486

Swedish kroner 9.289

Japanese yen 129.7

Swiss franc 1.475

Norwegian kroner 7.893

Cyprus pound 0.586

Canadian dollar 1.626

Australian dollar 1.798

[06] Weather Forecast: Cloud on Friday

Cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, turning to rain in west from afternoon. The rain will spread across the mainland overnight. Winds variable, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from -1C to 14C; on the rest of the mainland from 3C to 17C; and in the islands from 7C to 16C. Temperatures in Athens between 6C and 16C; and in Thessaloniki from 3C to 14C.

[07] Greek stocks end off five-year lows on Thursday

A decision by the European Central Bank to lower its key interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.50 percent on Thursday disappointed European investors and had a limited impact on market sentiment across Europe.

Greek stocks ended slightly higher in the Athens Stock Exchange halting a several-day decline to five-year lows. The general index ended 0.20 percent higher at 1,567.63 points, with turnover a low 47 million euros.

The Cement, Construction and Industrial sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (1.71 percent, 0.91 percent and 0.67 percent, respectively), while the Telecommunications, IT and IT Solution sectors scored the biggest gains (1.19 percent, 0.94 percent and 0.91 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 0.29 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index fell 0.19 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index rose 0.19 percent. The wider FTSE/ASE 140 index rose 0.20 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 139 to 130 with another 86 issues unchanged.

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