Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-03-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] German president-Visit to Greece

[02] Thessaloniki-UNESCO-Women's Festival

[03] Kalamata joins AEK, Ionikos and Panionios in Cup semi-finals

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

[05] Foreign Exchange Market-Close

[06] Book-Ban-Religion

[07] Cargo Ship Owners-New President

[08] Weather Forecast-Friday

[09] Papandreou - Dimitrov - Statement - Kosovo (recasts)

[10] ADEX-close

[11] ASE-close

[12] Papandreou - Dimitrov - Statement - Kosovo

[01] German president-Visit to Greece

The President of the Federal Republic of Germany Johannes Rau is to conduct an official three-day visit to Greece on April 3, at the invitation of the Greek President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos, an announcement issued by the press office of the presidency noted on Thursday.

[02] Thessaloniki-UNESCO-Women's Festival

An international women's festival will be held in Thessaloniki from 22-27 September.

The festival is organised by UNESCO, the European Union, the UNESCO Centre for Women and Peace in the Balkans, the Association of Inter-Balkan Women's cooperation and the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

Taking part in the festival will be about 1,000 women from 30 countries of Europe, Asia and Africa. The women represent the fields of architecture, the fine arts, dance, music, cinema, literature, theatre and photography.

[03] Kalamata joins AEK, Ionikos and Panionios in Cup semi-finals

?Relegation? candidate Kalamata became the last team to qualify for the Greek Cup semi-finals on Thursday by defeating this year˘s ?Cinderella team? OFI Irakleio 3-0 at home. The first match had ended in a win for OFI by 1-0.

Thomas Troupkos scored twice (45-pen, 75) for the Peloponnese club, with Soares closing the scoring in the 81st minute.

Kalamata joins AEK Athens, Ionikos Piraeus and Panionios Athens, all first divisions clubs, in the quest for the 2000 Greek Cup.

On Wednesday, AEK trounced its cross-town rival Olympiakos Piraeus 3-0 at its quake-stricken Nea Philadelphia pitch. The first game had ended 1-1.

The draw for the semi-finals is set for Friday at noon.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

Following are indicative foreign exchange buying rates for commercial banks released by the central bank for the next working day.

Friday's rates (buying)

Euro 330.862

U.S. dollar 343.946

[05] Foreign Exchange Market-Close

The drachma rose against the euro and the US dollar in the domestic foreign exchange market on Thursday.

At the central bank's daily fixing, the euro was set at 333.530 drachmas from 333.570 drachmas in two previous sessions and 333.690 drachmas on Monday.

[06] Book-Ban-Religion

A Thessaloniki first instance court on Thursday temporarily banned the sale of a book written by a former leftist MP that sparked a vehement condemnation by Greece˘s Orthodox Church leadership and vigorous protests over recent weeks.

A judge ruled that the book, entitled "M to the Nth Power", could not be sold in the court˘s jurisdiction of central Macedonia until at least May 16, when deliberations on the essence of the matter are scheduled to be pleaded by attorneys.

[07] Cargo Ship Owners-New President

The Union of Mediterranean Cargo Ship Owners announced on Thursday that Nikos Varvates has become its new president.

His predecessor, Spyros Alexandratos, resigned after being elected president of the Shipping Chamber of Greece. He remains a member of the union.

[08] Weather Forecast-Friday

Sunny weather is forecast on Friday, except in the northeast, which will be overcast and showery.

Winds westerly, moderate to strong.

[09] Papandreou - Dimitrov - Statement - Kosovo (recasts)

KORCE, Albania (ANA) ˇ Tension in northern Kosovo and southern Serbian was the focal point of a joint press statement issued here on Thursday following a meeting between Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his FYROM counterpart Aleksandar Dimitrov.

The two men met in the southeastern Albanian town on the sidelines of a trilateral meeting that also included Albanian FM Paskal Milo, their host in Albania.

The two ministers "expressed their deep concern regarding the possible negative impact on the security and stability of the region by the deterioration of the situation in the three communities, those of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedje in south Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,? the joint statement read.

?Ministers Papandreou and Dimitrov once more that they condemn violence and extremism and agreed to follow closely the developments and continue consultations if necessary.?

[10] ADEX-close

Futures contract prices ended lower on Thursday on the Athens Derivatives Exchange following a decline in the two benchmark indices FTSE/ASE 20 and FTSE/ASE 40, which ended 0.05 and 0.55 percent lower respectively.

A total of 1,651 contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 20 market, worth 9.2 billion drachmas. The March expiring contract ended at 2,765 points, the April contract at 2,798 points, the May contract at 2,820 and the June contract at 2,846 points.

A total of 732 contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 40 market, worth 2.1 billion drachmas. The March expiring contract ended at 710 points, the April contract at 734, the June at 770 and the September contract at 840 points.

[11] ASE-close

Equity prices ended flat on Thursday unable to maintain their initial big gains on the Athens Stock Exchange as a wave of profit-taking in the last hour of trading reversed the trend.

The general index ended 0.05 percent lower at 4,865.63 points, off the day's highs of 4,997.99 and the day's lows of 4,816.46 points.

Traders said the submission of a formal application for EMU membership by the Greek government boosted sentiment in the market and led investors to selective buying early in the session.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.05 percent lower at 2,742.46 points, while the FTSE/ASE 40 index ended at 713.67 points, off 0.55 percent.

Turnover was a low 190 billion drachmas.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 967.34 points, off 1.95 percent.

[12] Papandreou - Dimitrov - Statement - Kosovo

KORCE, Albania (ANA) ˇ Tension in northern Kosovo and southern Serbian was the focal point of a joint press statement issued here on Thursday following a meeting between Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his FYROM counterpart Aleksander Dimitrov.

The two men met in the southeastern Albanian town on the sidelines of a trilateral meeting that also included Albanian FM Paskal Milo, their host in Albania.

?The two ministers expressed their deep concern over the possible negative repercussions to security and stability in the region from a worsening of the situation in three communities: Prezevo, Gouyanovac and Medvedie in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia˘s southern (republic of) Serbia,? the joint statement read.

?Ministers Papandreou and Dimitrov reiterated once more that they condemn violence and extremism, agreeing to closely follow developments and continue their contacts when necessary.?

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