Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-10-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] FM addresses Socialist International conference in Brazil

[02] Gov't welcomes Turkish admission that Greek minority's rights were

[03] US Federal Civil Aviation Service delegation visiting Athens

[04] Separated Siamese twins return home to Thessaloniki with happy parents

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

[06] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Thursday

[07] Greek stocks ease slightly on Wednesday

[01] FM addresses Socialist International conference in Brazil

SAO PAOLO (ANA/D. Konstantakopoulos) - Foreign Minister George Papandreou on Wednesday addressed the Socialist International's conference here, underlining issues concerning the prevention and resolution of conflicts in the new international environment.

Papandreou, who headed a delegation representing PASOK at the conference, also spoke of a ''holistic'' strategy that confronts in a systematic fashion the root causes of conflicts with the active participation of the society of citizens, the dialogue of cultures and the measures for confidence building, calling them essential tools for the prevention of conflicts.

Papandreou referred to the example of Greek-Turkish relations, saying ''only a few years ago, the rapprochement of Greece and Turkey was unthinkable. Now we have signed 10 agreements and 14 confidence building measures and we are trying to resolve several of the most contentious issues that separated us for so long''.

He stressed that the support offered by the society of citizens is vital for the process of confidence building.

[02] Gov't welcomes Turkish admission that Greek minority's rights were violated

The Greek government on Wednesday welcomed news that a Turkish Parliamentary Committee in Ankara had recognised that Turkey's past policies had violated the rights of the Greek minority in that country.

Commenting on information about the decision allegedly made on Tuesday, government spokesman Christos Protopapas said it was a positive step.

''Our people have lived through persecution and the fact that Turkey admits this directly, even after the fact, is positive, in the sense that it can prevent a similar stance in the future,'' Protopapas said.

[03] US Federal Civil Aviation Service delegation visiting Athens

A delegation of the US Federal Civil Aviation Service is currently visiting Athens for a series of meetings with the Greek Civil Aviation Service as part of regular contacts between the two sides on flight security.

Talks will focus on issues concerning the flight model sector and flight security regulations and control to enable, on completion of the evaluation, the country to be included in Category 1 on the US flight security list.

The US Civil Aviation Service's experts will prepare a report expected to be publicised in early 2004.

[04] Separated Siamese twins return home to Thessaloniki with happy parents

The two four-month-old Siamese twins, who were separated on October 11 after a 10-hour-operation in a clinic in Rome, returned to Thessaloniki with their parents on Wednesday afternoon.

The family arrived at Macedonia airport at 17:40 with a flight from Athens and the parents, with the girls in their arms, went to their home.

However, the infants will have to be under constant medical attention over a period of months.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.177

Pound sterling 0.691

Danish kroner 7.491

Swedish kroner 9.100

Japanese yen 127.2

Swiss franc 1.563

Norwegian kroner 8.277

Cyprus pound 0.588

Canadian dollar 1.543

Australian dollar 1.668

[06] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Thursday

All parts of the country will see cloud, rain and storms, easing off from the west overnight. Winds southerly, very strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 7C to 15C; in the west from 16C to 21C; and in the rest of the country from 14C to 21C. Temperatures in Athens between 10C and 17C; and in Thessaloniki from 9C to 12C.

[07] Greek stocks ease slightly on Wednesday

Greek stocks ended Wednesday's session lower in the Athens Stock Exchange, reversing an early rally that pushed the general index to the 2,130 level in the first two hours of trading.

The general index ended 0.22 percent lower at 2,107.92 points, with turnvoer an improved 123.2 million euros.

The Wholesale, Cement and Investment sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day (1.01 percent, 0.91 percent and 0.48 percent, respectively), while the Insurance (1.22 percent), Textile (1.03 percent) and Publication (0.39 percent) sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 0.12 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index fell 0.15 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index fell 0.29 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 173 to 113 with another 75 issues unchanged.

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