Athens News Agency: News in English, 04-02-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

[02] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Thursday

[03] PASOK leader addresses rally in Thessaloniki, pledges new measures by

[04] ND leader Karamanlis addresses election rally in Kalamata

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.273

Pound sterling 0.673

Danish kroner 7.511

Swedish kroner 9.307

Japanese yen 138.3

Swiss franc 1.586

Norwegian kroner 8.896

Cyprus pound 0.590

Canadian dollar 1.694

Australian dollar 1.633

[02] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Thursday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country with showers in the west, north and eastern Aegean islands. Winds south-southeasterly, strong to very strong, turning gale force at sea. Temperatures in Athens 11C to 19C and in Thessaloniki from 5C to 13C.

[03] PASOK leader addresses rally in Thessaloniki, pledges new measures by new gov't

PASOK pary leader George Papandreou, addressing a rally in Aristotelous Square in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Wednesday evening, said the city has given victory in the March 7 elections to his party adding that the new PASOK government will implement new measures and the new four-year term will be one of hope and growth.

The rally was also attended by Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who addressed the crowds at the end of Papandreou's address.

The PASOK leader referred to work achieved by PASOK governments with his father and PASOK founder Andreas Papandreou and Simitis, saying the new Right and its leader are trying to annul this work.

''We are safeguarding the Greek people with what they have achieved. They have no right towards history and the country to annul the work of the Greek people,'' he added.

Papandreou spoke of ''the people's national unity, against which the conservative party is presenting nihilism, denial and talk of disaster'' and wondered what the Right has offered all these years.

Referring to the charter presented by main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis, he said 21 out of the 25 measures included in the charter have either been applied or are being applied by PASOK governments.

Papandreou said the people will trust PASOK for economic stability because it has proved that it can safeguard it. He added that they will also trust it to manage the 2004 Olympic Games since it has brought the issue to the point it is today, as well as for the handling of the issue of Cyprus as it has achieved Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

[04] ND leader Karamanlis addresses election rally in Kalamata

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Costas Karamanlis described the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party as representing ''the past, being the party of lost opportunities and a partnership of the few,'' while speaking at an election rally in Kalamata, Messinia prefecture in the Peloponnese on Wednesday.

''On March 7, Greece will turn a page, and on March 8 the Greek people will have given the order for a new government, a government that will be modest and humble,'' Karamanlis said.

He went on to say that, ''We will all create a new chapter in the country's political life and we will offer each citizen new prospects,'' referring to farmers, lower and middle-income individuals, the unemployed and the young.

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