Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-08-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] August holiday exodus gains impetus on Saturday

[02] Ministers open farming trade fair on Crete

[03] Weather Forecast: Rain in west, centre on Sunday

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[01] August holiday exodus gains impetus on Saturday

Tens of thousands of Athenians flocked out of Athens on Saturday in an annual holiday exodus to seek cool beaches and the joys of the countryside.

More than 150,000 vacationers were expected to leave the ports of Piraeus and Rafina in 116 ferry departures over the weekend in the flight from Athens towards the Aegean islands that began on Friday.

In the north, residents of Thessaloniki and Kavala also headed out of the city, many opting for the northern Aegean island of Thasos.

Ferries around the country were mostly booked to capacity along with trains, long-distance buses and domestic flights to holiday destinations.

At the same time, the meteorological department issued a weekend rain and storm warning for the mainland and the Ionian Sea, with torrential rains already hitting the northwestern prefecture of Ioannina.

The country's leaders are also joining the wave of holidaymakers.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis has retreated to his holiday home on the coast outside Athens; and the leader of the New Democracy party, Costas Karamanlis, is on the island of Naxos.

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos is expected to spend his holidays in his family home near Rio, Achaia.

[02] Ministers open farming trade fair on Crete

Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis and Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos inaugurated an annual farming trade fair, Agricultural August 2003, in Hania on the southern island of Crete.

Opening the event arranged by local authorities on Friday evening, Tsohatzopoulos said that regional development hinged on the attainment by local communities of economic, social and environmental alignment and cohesion.

''The road to regional development is not marked only by infrastructure works and major tourism campaigns,'' the minister added.

[03] Weather Forecast: Rain in west, centre on Sunday

Scattered cloud is forecast all parts of the country, with rain and storms in the west along with isolated showers on the central mainland. Winds north-northeasterly, moderate, turning very strong in the Aegean. In the west and north, temperatures will range from 18C to 30C; and in the rest of the country from 20C to 33C. Temperatures in Athens between 24C and 32C; and in Thessaloniki from 22C to 29C.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.125

Pound sterling 0.701

Danish kroner 7.489

Swedish kroner 9.304

Japanese yen 135.7

Swiss franc 1.542

Norwegian kroner 8.222

Cyprus pound 0.592

Canadian dollar 1.583

Australian dollar 1.739

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