Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-05-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] Ecumenical patriarch inaugurates 5th academic meeting of Judaism and

[02] Two exhibitions on Egypt to be held at Athens Concert Hall

[03] Meeting on future of European cinema concludes in Thessaloniki

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly fair on Wednesday

[06] Greek stocks end lower, shipping sector soars in ASE

[01] Ecumenical patriarch inaugurates 5th academic meeting of Judaism and Orthodoxy

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos inaugurated the 5th academic meeting of dialogue between Judaism and Orthodoxy in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Tuesday, attacking religious fanaticism on the occasion.

Vartholomeos said such meetings were useful and aimed at enabling one interlocutor to understand the way of thinking of the other, who belongs to a different religion, and expressed regret that the phenomenon of religious fanaticism has not yet disappeared.

He said the fanatic is basically a fearful man who, in the depths of his soul, is not completely convinced of the truth of his faith, adding that ''the fanatics are not the chosen ones of a religion but the weakest of its members.''

The meeting is being attended by delegations of Orthodoxy, headed by the Metropolitan of France Emmanuel, and of Judaism, headed by the president of the World Jewish Congress Rabbi Israel Singer.

[02] Two exhibitions on Egypt to be held at Athens Concert Hall

Visitors at the two exhibitions to be organised by the Athens Concert Hall will have the opportunity of examining fascinating Egyptian culture between June 3 and July 15.

The one will be titled ''Images of Egypt. From Ghiza to Fayum'' and will have sculptures, ancient articles and portraits of Fayum.

The exhibition will provide visitors with a wonderful journey back in time and will begin with a brief account of the vast world of ancient Egypt and will take place in cooperation with Cairo's Egyptian Museum.

The other, a photographic exhibition, will be titled ''The New Valley of the Nile.''

[03] Meeting on future of European cinema concludes in Thessaloniki

The immediate establishment of a federation of cinema centres of the 25 EU member states, with the participation of a state mass media, preferably television, and a commercial bank, from each country, for the purpose of examining the possibilities for cooperation in the sectors of European films production and distribution was decided by the representatives of filmakers from the European countries who took part in the meeting on ''The future of European cinema and of the audiovisual following enlargement'' which ended in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Tuesday.

The delegates adopted the proposal by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and it was decided for the meeting to take place by the end of June within the framework of the Greek EU Presidency.

Present at the meeting were Venizelos, member-state ministers,EU Culture and Education Commissioner Viviane Reding, representatives of the European Commission, known filmakers of European cinema, presidents of cinema organisations and various experts from 36 countries.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.199

Pound sterling 0.729

Danish kroner 7.483

Swedish kroner 9.266

Japanese yen 140.0

Swiss franc 1.540

Norwegian kroner 7.922

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.649

Australian dollar 1.818

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly fair on Wednesday

Cloudy with a chance for showers is forecast for Wednesday throughout the country. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 14C to 24C; and in the rest of the country from 16C to 26C. Temperatures in Athens between 18C and 25C; and in Thessaloniki from 16C to 23C.

[06] Greek stocks end lower, shipping sector soars in ASE

Greek stocks ended Tuesday's session lower despite increased buying demand for shipping stocks amid talk of new mergers and takeovers in the sector.

The general index fell 0.85 percent to end at 1,675.01 points, with turnover a moderate 90.3 million euros.

News of a block sale, of 3,266,841 shares, by Minoan Lines at a price of 1.30 euros per share, was the main theme in the Athens Stock Exchange and helped push shipping sector share prices sharply higher.

The IT Solution, Wholesale, Publications, IT and Cement sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (3.20 percent, 2.74 percent, 2.28 percent, 2.25 percent and 2.17 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.15 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 0.63 percent, the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 1.32 percent and the wider FTSE/ASE 140 index ended 1.08 percent down.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 275 to 53 with another 33 issues unchanged.

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