Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-09-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek foreign minister to visit Cyprus, U.S. in September

[02] Organisation of World Heritage Cities symposium to be held in Rhodes

[03] Florence Nau exhibition at Sofitel Athens Airport

[04] Petrol station owners threaten with strike action

[05] Washington's Shakespeare Theater to perform in Athens

[06] Alpha Bank plans to sell up to 6.5 pct of share capital

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[08] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Tuesday

[09] Greek stocks end sharply down on Monday

[01] Greek foreign minister to visit Cyprus, U.S. in September

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou is due to carry out a working visit to Cyprus on Wednesday and Thursday, during which he will have talks with the country's state and political leadership.

During the meetings and the dinner that will be given in his honour by Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, talks with cover all aspects of the Cyprus issue and preparations for Papadopoulos' visit to Athens on September 16.

While on Cyprus, Papandreou is also due to speak at an event organised by Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot teachers at the Ledra Pallas Hotel about the future of education on Cyprus.

After his return from Cyprus, Papandreou is next scheduled to visit the United States on September 15-16 to receive a prize for his work as head of the EU Council of Ministers, while he is also expected to meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell and White House Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.

[02] Organisation of World Heritage Cities symposium to be held in Rhodes Sept. 23-26

New strategies for the management of the historic cities will be discussed during the 7th international symposium of the Organisation of World Heritage Cities (O.W.H.C.) which will be held in the medieval city of Rhodes from September 23-26, under the auspices of UNESCO.

Hundreds of mayors and representatives of the 188 historic cities will meet during the four-day period in Rhodes who are participating along with the Medieval City of Rhodes at O.W.H.C. as well as scientists and technocrats who deal with issues of preservation, projection and management of cultural heritage.

At the same time, under the auspices of UNESCO, a separate forum will be held of youths aged between 16 and 19, who were selected by the World Heritage cities, who will discuss and propose programmes for the protection of ''vulnerable'' historic cities.

[03] Florence Nau exhibition at Sofitel Athens Airport

An exhibition of the work of French artist Florence Nau entitled 'Elaias Ellason Eleos'' (The Olive's Lesser Mercy) will open at the Sofitel Athens Airport's Art Gallery on September 18.

This is the third exhibition open to the public at the hotel, which is housed within the grounds of the new Athens airport, and will run until October 30. Visitors can view the exhibition throughout the week on a 24-hour basis.

Nau is a painter who has lived and worked in Greece for the past 10 years, inspired by the Greek landscape. She has developed a technique that uses olive-tree trunks to express human passions.

[04] Petrol station owners threaten with strike action

The union of Greek petrol station owners on Monday threatened with indefinite strike action unless the government finds a solution to a dispute over the use of cashier machines in petrol stations around the country.

The union will meet with representatives of the finance and development ministries on Tuesdsay in a last attempt to find a compromise solution.

[05] Washington's Shakespeare Theater to perform in Athens

The Washington based Shakespeare Theater will hold two performances of the ''Oedipus Cycle'' on Wednesday and Thursday in Athens' Herod Atticus ancient theater.

The direction of the three plays, set in Africa and performed by Afro-American actors, is Michael Kahn and the proceeds will go to the construction of the American-Greek Center of Arts located in Halandri Attica, which will open at the end of 2004.

The Shakespeare Theater performed the famous ancient trilogy of Sophocles two years ago in the United States and Kahn's next goal is to undertake the ''Orestias''.

The performances are taking place under the auspices of the U.S. embassy in Athens.

[06] Alpha Bank plans to sell up to 6.5 pct of share capital

Alpha Bank, a blue chip on the Athens bourse, said on Monday that it planned to sell up to 6.5 percent of its share capital in a private placement to institutional investors using book building to determine the price of stock.

For sale will be up to 12 million shares from the portfolio of Ionian Holding, owner of the stock.

Through Ionian Holding, Alpha Bank, the country's second largest credit institution, owns about 15.8 million shares in itself, representing about 8.6 percent of share capital.

Underwriting the transaction will be JP Morgan and UBS, with Alpha Finance handling the placement of stock in Greece.

Analysts said that other major banks including the country's largest, National Bank of Greece, and Emporiki Bank, were likely to follow suit in the sale of stock.

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.116

Pound sterling 0.704

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.201

Japanese yen 130.4

Swiss franc 1.550

Norwegian kroner 8.313

Cyprus pound 0.587

Canadian dollar 1.531

Australian dollar 1.726

[08] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Tuesday

Cloud, rain and storms are forecast on the mainland and in the Ionian and northern Aegean, gradually easing off except in the northwest. The rest of the country will see scattered cloud. Winds south-southwesterly, moderate. In the west and north, temperatures will range from 15C to 28C; and in the rest of the country from 16C to 30C. Temperatures in Athens between 19C and 29C; and in Thessaloniki from 18C to 27C.

[09] Greek stocks end sharply down on Monday

Greek stocks fell sharply on Monday in the Athens Stock Exchange as investors continued taking profits after a five-month rally of prices.

The general index dropped 2.55 percent to end at 2,091.70 points, with turnover a moderate 121.3 million euros.

All sector indices suffered losses, with the Publication, Holding, Insurance, IT and Textile sectors recording the heaviest percentage losses of the day (more than five percent), while the Telecommunications sector suffered the smallest losses (1.05 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks dropped 2.29 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index plunged 4.39 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 5.01 percent down.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 336 to 22 with another 10 issues unchanged.

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