Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 10-08-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papandreou-Netanyahu talks in Athens focus on bilateral ties, Mideast situation

[02] LA.OS party positive on Netanyahu visit to Greece

[03] Fall-out continues over death of ethnic Greek man in Himare

[04] Stocks up in slow trading

[05] Foreign Exchange rates - Tuesday

[06] Junta ringleader Ioannidis dies

[07] Ecuadorian man found stabbed

[08] Falling tree injures 20 during feast in church courtyard

[09] West Nile virus infects 47 so far

[10] Robbers target Samaria Gorge cashbox

[11] Wildfires under control

[12] Fair on Tuesday

[13] The Monday edition of Athens ' dailies at a glance

[01] Papandreou-Netanyahu talks in Athens focus on bilateral ties, Mideast situation

Papandreou referred to very productive talks with his Israeli counterpart, both on Monday and during his own visit to Israel recently. He added that a joint Greek-Israeli committee will be set up to enable cooperation to proceed more creatively and strategically.

"Relations between Greece and Israel are not competitive with other bilateral or multilateral cooperation," the Greek prime minister said when asked whether such a committee might create problems with neighbouring Turkey.

Papandreou also said a meeting was decided between the corresponding tourism, finance and economy ministries so that mutual visits to the two countries by businesspeople and related investment initiatives can be organised.

"We do not believe that relations between Greece and Turkey and Israel and Turkey are competitive to relations we are developing with Israel," Papandreou emphasised, adding that "regional cooperation is of vital importance for good neighourliness, as well as for resolving problems in the region, which are many."

On his part, Netanyahu stressed that "I agree absolutely with every word that Mr. Papandreou said, it would be something unnatural if we do not strengthen relations between Greece and Israel." He added that Israel is interested in improving its relations with Turkey, but is also interested in developing its relations with Greece in all sectors.

Papandreou expressed certainty that the visit will be helpful in developing bilateral cooperation, as well as cooperation in such sectors as investments, tourism, energy, telecoms, IT services, water desalination and innovation technologies.

Cooperation will also take place in the sector of renewable energy sources, new farm technologies and security.

Netanyahu referred to cooperation between the two countries in a series of sectors, especially in tourism, with the possibility of attracting tourists who would like to visit Athens and Jerusalem.

The Israeli prime minister said he and Papandreou also discussed defence and security issues, adding that we want a "peaceful Middle East", while he also briefed Papandreou on the steps taken by Israel for the start of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.

The Greek prime minister further said that Greece has traditionally good relations with its neighbours, while ground exists for further deepening its relations with Israel.

Lastly, Netanyahu said "economic cooperation between Greece and Israel is to the benefit of both countries," while terming as "difficult and courageous the decisions" that Papandreou took shore up the economy and public finances, while promising that Israel will help as much as it can in terms of economic growth, "since this is the solution to the crisis".

Finally, Papandreou underlined that "our role is not to talk a lot, but to act; to assist in the contacts between Palestinians and Israelis, between the Arab world and Europe; we are ready to contribute anywhere we can; our goal is for a solution for peace in the Middle East as soon as possible."

[02] LA.OS party positive on Netanyahu visit to Greece

The Parliament-represented party added that Greece's traditionally good relations with the Arab world do not prevent the development of relations with Israel, while calling on the Greek government "to pay attention to the new avenues being offered to it, correcting omissions of the past."

[03] Fall-out continues over death of ethnic Greek man in Himare

The man's arrest comes on the heels of a high-profile statement by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha over the weekend, who touched on the possibility that ethnic hatred may have been the real motive behind 37-year-old Aristotelis Goumas' death last Thursday. The victim was rammed by a car while riding his motorcycle, an incident initially attributed by the local press to "road rage".

"The deliberate death of a human being, in every instance, is a deplorable and condemnable crime. The motives, in case (the information) circulated is confirmed, are even more deplorable. The government has asked and is asking from the public safety authorities to make every effort to bring before justice the chief perpetrator of this crime. Let me once again stress, if the motives cited by the mass media and other people are confirmed, then it makes this crime even more inhumane. This is an act of extreme and blind fanaticism," Berisha said, adding:

"I do not believe that there is an Albanian that does not know that the community which lives in that city (Himare) is bilingual, and not just today, but 100 years and 200 years ago."

Eyewitnesses in the coastal Albanian town said Goumas quarrelled with at least three men in his shop on Wednesday because the latter demanded he stop speaking Greek. He was subsequently assaulted by the trio, a day before one of the men allegedly ran him over.

Goumas' death sparked a demonstration by local residents, who blocked a busy coastal highway for several hours on Friday morning in protest. Municipal workers in Himare also held a work stoppage on Monday.

The suspect allegedly driving the vehicle was identified as one Ilir Muca from the town of Vlore.

Speaking on Monday, the leader of the Unity for Human Rights Party, Vangelis Dule, called for a restructuring of police services in the town -- which has see unprecedented growth as a resort over the past decade -- as well as a more ethnic Himariotes on the local force.

The incident also drew stern condemnations from Albania's main opposition Socialist Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration party.

In statements after the deadly incident, Himare Mayor Vassilis Bolanos emphasised that this is "a premeditated crime, as the perpetrators had been provoking the victim for days." Bolanos also referred to phenomena of ethnic intolerance, which he said harm Albanian society.

In Athens, foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said the incident and information that the alleged perpetrators acted out of ethnic prejudice have unnerved the ethnic Greek minority in the neighbouring country.

"Such unacceptable and criminal acts aim to generate ethnic tension, with unforeseen consequences, and to undermine Greek-Albanian bilateral relations. The Albanian government must guarantee the proper and swift dispensation of justice, something that will comprise the only answer, in practice, to the reasonable concerns of the Greek national minority in Albania," the spokesman added.

Finally, Delavekouras said the Greek foreign ministry is closely and continuously monitoring all of the issues affecting the Greek minority in Albania, underlining that the respect and protection of ethnic Greeks' rights and security, beyond the self-evident obligation of the Albanian government, is also mandated by international law and the European acquis communautaire, "for which Albania desires integration".

The main opposition New Democracy (ND) party and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) also sharply condemned the incident and called on the government in Athens to take all necessary measures to ensure that a full investigation and subsequent judicial actions are taken.

"The Greek and Albanian people must condemn and isolate those searching for pretexts and reasons to cultivatae ethnic hatred and tension, because the latter serve the plans of the two people's enemies," a KKE statement read.

Moreover, a spokesman for the right-of-centre Popular Orthodox Rally (LA.OS) party, Costis Aivaliotis, underlined in a statement that:

"If we killed everyone that spoke Albanian in Greece we would have transformed the land into a huge cemetery ... There's a difference: on that land (Himare) they have been speaking Greek continuously for 3,000 years".

Financial News

[04] Stocks up in slow trading

The Big Cap index jumped 0.60 pct, the Mid Cap index ended 0.31 pct lower and the Small Cap index fell 0.50 pct. Chemicals (2.04 pct) and Foodstuffs (1.96 pct) scored the biggest percentage gains of the day, while Commercial (1.93 pct), and Telecoms (1.70 pct) suffered the biggest losses.

Broadly, advancers trailed decliners by 79 to 81 with another 44 issues unchanged.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Insurance: -1.39%

Industrials: -0.93%

Commercial: -1.93%

Construction: +0.08%

Media: -0.52%

Oil & Gas: -0.89%

Personal & Household: +0.09%

Raw Materials: -0.50%

Travel & Leisure: +0.63%

Technology: -0.63%

Telecoms: -1.70%

Banks: +0.91%

Food & Beverages: +1.96%

Health: -0.05%

Utilities: -0.43%

Chemicals: +2.04%

Financial Services: +0.35%

The stocks with the highest turnover were National Bank, Alpha Bank, Coca Cola and Eurobank.

Selected shares from the FTSE/ASE-20 index closed in euros as follows:

Alpha Bank: 5.55

ATEbank: 1.11

Public Power Corp (PPC): 13.25

HBC Coca Cola: 18.30

Hellenic Petroleum: 6.14

National Bank of Greece: 10.34

EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 5.40

OPAP: 11.63

OTE: 5.80

Bank of Piraeus: 4.64

Titan: 15.86

[05] Foreign Exchange rates - Tuesday

U.S. dollar 1.292

Pound sterling 0.827

Danish kroner 7.509

Swedish kroner 9.570

Japanese yen 110.37

Swiss franc 1.345

Norwegian kroner 8.017

Canadian dollar 1.347

Australian dollar 1.449

General News

[06] Junta ringleader Ioannidis dies

Ioannidis was hospitalised at a Piraeus-area hospital after being transferred from the nearby Korydallos penitentiary, where he was serving a life sentence.

Throughout his 35-year incarceration Ioannidis had refused to request clemency.

During the military junta (1967-1974), Ioannidis served as chief of the dreaded Greek military police (ESA). In November 1973, after a student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic, Ioannidis, by then a brigadier general, toppled dictator and coup co-conspirator Georgios Papadopoulos.

Ioannidis' even harsher dictatorship engineered the coup d'etat in Cyprus to remove Archbishop Makarios, thereby serving as a long-sought pretext by the Turkish military to invade the island republic in July 1974.

[07] Ecuadorian man found stabbed

According to police, the victim was stabbed. An investigation is underway.

[08] Falling tree injures 20 during feast in church courtyard

Three people, including two teenage girls, were more seriously injured and transferred to an Athens hospital, while 16 people ended up at the nearby Corinth hospital.

[09] West Nile virus infects 47 so far

The virus has claimed three victims so far.

Fifteen patients have been discharged from hospital while 28 are still receiving treatment, seven of whom in ICUs. One man infected with the virus has not been treated in a hospital.

[10] Robbers target Samaria Gorge cashbox

According to reports, three masked suspects with shotguns roughed up an employee at the entrance of the famous gorge at the Xyloskalo site. Afterwards they tied the man's hands and took his mobile phone, radio receivers and the keys of the safebox.

[11] Wildfires under control

Meanwhile, a wildfire in a forested area in Thesprotia prefecture (NW Greece) was partially contained.

Fires on Zakynthos and Lassithi prefecture, Crete , are reportedly under control.

Weather Forecast

[12] Fair on Tuesday

[13] The Monday edition of Athens ' dailies at a glance

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Market frozen despite summer sales season".

APOGEVMATINI: "Guide for the in public and private sector".

AVRIANI: "Storm over Church of Greece 's property sell-off - New evidence on Archdiocese's deals with shipowners".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Declaration of wealth for all".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Ten changes in electoral law".

ESTIA: "State hinders development".

ETHNOS: "7,000 civil servants transferred - Transfers in autumn in prefectures, municipalities".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "The five economic policy priorities - Revenues, mergers, state utilities, closed professions and social package".

TA NEA: "Confiscations for debts to state - FinMin's plan to collect 26.4 billion euros".

VRADYNI: "Memorandum ravages market and society - 'Troika's' recipe leads to impasse".

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