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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-06-27Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Papoulias resumes briefing meetingsAMNA--President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias resumes his meetings on Wednesday ahead of the EU Summit that opens Thursday in Brussels. Papoulias will represent Greece at the Summit, replacing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who is recovering from eye surgery and remains bedridden.At 11:30 Papoulias will meet with Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, and caretaker Finance Minister Giorgos Zannias. Finance Minister-designate Yannis Stournaras will be also present at the meeting.amna At 12:30, the president will receive Democratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis, whose party participates in the coalition government. amna Papoulias will leave for Brussels with Aegean Airlines in the economy class on Wednesday afternoon. [02] Attack against Microsoft with booby-trapped vanAMNa--An attack with a booby-trapped van at took place at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday at a Microsoft building in the Athens suburb of Maroussi.Unidentified individuals with a stolen van threatened the security guards of the company at the entrance of the building and stormed with the van into the lobby and set off a large number of gas canisters which were in the van and fled.amna Serious damage to the building's lobby and minor damage on the first storey were reported. Police found in the stolen van, which was totally destroyed from the explosion, remnants of the gas canisters as well as plastic bottles. Police are conducting an investigation. [03] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailiesThe Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies at a glanceThe deliberations ahead of the EU Summit in Brussels, the appointment of Professor Yannis Stournaras as Finance Minister and the predictions, mostly dominated the headlines on Wednesday in Athens' newspapers. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "The state loses 285,000 euros from the shut-down of every small shop...!". AVGHI: "Minister of recession and sell-off". AVRIANI: "Yannis Stournaras is prime minister Antonis Samaras' strong card". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Discounts and installments in taxes for the weaker". ESTIA: "What will happen with the taxes". ETHNOS: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel raises a new Berlin Wall". IMERISSIA: "Message to Europe for steady course". KATHIMERINI: "Stournaras chosen with the eyes on Europe". LOGOS: "One arrived...another left". NAFTEMPORIKI: "New Finance Ministry crash test with the (EC, ECB, IMF) troika". RIZOSPASTIS: "Communist Party (KKE): Popular rally for free medicine and Health services". TA NEA: "Kifissia (Athens suburb, Samaras' residence) secrets". [04] Athens Stock Exchange opening: RiseAMNA--E quity prices were rising at the opening of trade on Wednesday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with the basic share price index up 1.18 percent, standing at 582.54 points at 11:00 am, and turnover at 5.145 million euros.The FTSE/A SE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 1.89 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 0.92 percent. All individual sector indices were moving upward, with the biggest gains in Banks, up 3.70 percent; Telecoms, up 3.24 percent and Public Utilities, up 2.02 percent. O f the stocks traded, 36 were up, 25 were down, and 7 were unchanged. [05] Survey shows sharp fall in tourism revenue, bookings in 2012AMNA--The tourism sector experienced a continued decline in the first five months of 2012, according to a survey carried out by the Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts for the Hotel Chamber of Greece that was unveiled on Tuesday. This showed that the sector's indicators declined further in April and May relative to the first quarter of the year.The biggest reduction in tourist arrivals was in the islands of the northern Aegean (roughly 50 percent) and the Peloponnese (40 percent) but the reduction was smaller for hotels on Crete (10 percent). The survey stressed that the political uncertainty, especially after the May 6 elections affected the year's overall results, which will see the tourism revenues decline because there is not enough time for the climate to improve.amna The hotel chamber said that bookings fell by at least 10 percent in 2012 and revenue by 15-20 percent, with hotels in Athens hardest hit. The sharp fall in domestic tourism was another major factor, they added.amna Advance bookings for the summer months (June-September) also fell by 32.5 percent relative to 2011, mainly due to the greatly reduced number of Greeks planning holidays. Foreign tourists have also been affected by negative press speculating Greece's exit from the euro, with the greatest fall in advance bookings in the Pelopponese, central Greece, Attica and the Cyclades islands. The reduction in these areas is around 40 percent, while northern Greece and Thessaly show reductions of 25 percent, Crete 20 percent and the Dodecanese islands 15 percent. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |