Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-08-15
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 15/08/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Assumption of Virgin Mary, Armed Forces Day celebrations
- Briton arrested after fatal boat collision
- Major heroin haul on Greek-Turkish border
- Britons jailed for indecent exposure
- PM's address on Armed Forces Day
- Post office and bank robbed
- Mass weekend exodus
- Drachma, equities slump in wake of int`l crisis
- Conference on `Fair Play` in sports
- Mass transit fares in Athens to rise
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Assumption of Virgin Mary, Armed Forces Day celebrations
Greece's political leadership headed by President Kostis Stephanopoulos
attended on Saturday the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Armed Forces'
Day celebrations at the monastery of Panagia Soumela, in northern
Greece.
Celebrations were also held on the island of Tinos, with a service at the
cathedral and a procession of the holy icon attended by twelve thousand
pilgrims.
The Armed Forces' Day was also celebrated on Tinos, the site of a 1940
unprovoked attack on the Greek naval vessel "Elli" by Italian fascist
forces. A special ceremony was held in memory of the 8 sailors killed in
the attack.
Briton arrested after fatal boat collision
A 17-year-old Greek girl was killed and her cousin, also 17, seriously
injured when the speedboat in which they were sunbathing with three friends,
was rammed by a UK-flagged yacht and sank.
The accident occurred on Friday afternoon north-northwest of Meganisi, near
the Ionian island of Lefkada.
The British skipper of the yacht "Skoverlean", John Williams, 56, is
reported to have abandoned the victims, later turning up at the Nidri coast
guard office saying he had had a minor accident. He was arrested and is due
to appear before a public prosecutor today.
Major heroin haul on Greek-Turkish border
Two Albanians were arrested on Friday at the Kipi border crossing with 26
kilos of heroin stashed in their car.
Bashkim Leka, 43, who was driving a luxury Mercedes, and Gezim Konti, 40,
were traveling from Istanbul headed for Albania when Kipi customs officials
became suspicious because the two appeared very nervous.
A search of the car turned up 26 kilograms of heroin hidden in the car's
fuel tank, packed in 51 airtight plastic bags.
Police said the two Albanians attempted to escape while the car was being
searched, but were apprehended by customs officials after a chase.
Britons jailed for indecent exposure
Four young Britons were sentenced on Saturday to seven to ten months in
prison each after being arrested photographing each other in the nude at
the Knossos archaeological site, on Crete. The four, convicted by a court
in Heraklion, will reportedly file an appeal against the sentence on
Monday.
They were arrested on Thursday as two of the four were taking photographs
of the other two in the nude in front of King Minos' throne. The youths
apologised to the court saying it was just a stupid prank on the spur of
the moment.
PM's address on Armed Forces Day
Prime Minister Costas Simitis said today the Hellenic Armed Forces were the
"cornerstone of a strong Greece" and "a true bridge of understanding
between East and West".
In a message on the August 15 religious holiday of the Dormition of the
Virgin Mary, which is also the Armed Forces Day, Simitis said that the
entire Greek people supported and had confidence in the Armed Forces.
He said Greece's "sensitive geographical position" dictated a defence
policy "founded exclusively on the right of self-defence, as foreseen in
the UN Charter".
Post office and bank robbed
A man held up a branch of the Greek Post Offices in the Athens suburb of
Paleo Faliro on Friday, escaping with 170,000 drachmas after threatening
staff with a revolver.
In Thessaloniki, two men robbed a branch of the Agricultural Bank, one
threatening staff with a sawn-off shotgun while the other waited outside on
a motorcyle with which they escaped with about 5 million drachmas.
At the time of the robbery there were no customers in the bank which has no
security guard.
Mass weekend exodus
A mass exodus from the greater Athens area for the weekend due to the
Assumption of the Virgin Mary holiday is expected to climax today.
Authorities estimate that more than 110,000 people will leave by ferry for
the Aegean islands and Crete, while traffic police will implement measures
to facilitate increased traffic flow on the main highways.
Drachma, equities slump in wake of int`l crisis
A renewed financial crisis in Russia had a domino effect on Greek and other
European markets yesterday, driving stock prices and the German mark
lower.
Domestic markets were badly hit, with the drachma losing substantial ground
against most foreign currencies.
Equities shed 3.89 per cent to finish at 2,513.25 points; capital outflows
were 500 million DMarks while short-term interbank rates rose by 1-1.5
percentage points, bankers and brokers said.
The Greek currency was 1.36 per cent off against the US dollar, 1.02 per
cent down against the British pound, 0.72 per cent lower against the DMark
and lost 0.78 per cent against the Ecu.
Currency outflows reached 500 million German marks, while short-term
interbank rates rose by between 1 and 1.5 per cent.
Dealers noted that although domestic market sentiment remained positive,
prolonged market turbulence abroad could reverse the climate.
Sector indices suffered heavy losses. Banks plunged 4.16 per cent, Leasing
fell 2.61 per cent, Insurance ended 4.0 per cent off, Investment eased 3.26
per cent, Construction plummeted 6.07 percent, Holding fell 3.99 per cent
and Miscellaneous ended 4.18 per cent lower.
The parallel market index for small cap companies ended 4.79 per cent off,
and the FTSE/ASE 20 index fell 3.85 percent to 1,527.26 points.
Conference on `Fair Play` in sports
The 4th conference of the European movement "Fair Play" will be held in
Athens between Sept. 23-26 under the auspices of the Olympic Games
committee, and entitled: "Audience Behaviour and the Ideal of Fair
Competition".
The conference will be attended by several noted university professors and
experts from various European Olympic committees.
Organisers believe the conference can stimulate interest among the sports
world, since over the past decade discussions on audience behaviour at
athletic events has been on the forefront throughout Europe.
Mass transit fares in Athens to rise
Most mass transit fares for the greater Athens will increase as of
Monday.
Bus and trolley fares will increase from 100 to 120 drachmas, while the
special rate fare will increase from 50 to 60 drachmas. Airport express-bus
fares will rise from 200 to 250 drachmas from 5 a.m. through midnight and
to 500 drachmas from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
However, the price of bus/trolley frequent user cards will drop from 6,000
to 5,000 drachmas, while the price of bus/trolley/subway combination cards
remains at 8,000 drachmas.
Finally, ticket fares for transportation to one or two continuous zones
remain the same, as the regular fare for three-zone transportation rises
from 150 to 180 drachmas, with the special rate fares hiked from 50 to 60
drachmas.
WEATHER
Fine weather is forecast throughout the country for Sunday with some cloud
expected in northern inland areas later in the day and possibility of
thunderstorms in mountainous regions. Northerly winds, light to moderate
reaching strong to very strong in the eastern Aegean Sea. Athens will be
fine with the temperature ranging from 23 to 34 degrees Celcius. Thessaloniki
fine with cloud developing in the afternoon and temperatures 20 to
33C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 297.183
British pound 483.302 Japanese yen (100) 205.185
French franc 49.600 German mark 166.205
Italian lira (100) 16.850 Irish Punt 417.037
Belgian franc 8.064 Finnish mark 54.659
Dutch guilder 147.471 Danish kr. 43.698
Austrian sch. 23.620 Spanish peseta 1.961
Swedish kr. 36.692 Norwegian kr. 39.115
Swiss franc 199.491 Port. Escudo 1.626
Aus. dollar 177.925 Can. dollar 196.218
Cyprus pound 565.440
(K.G.)
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