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Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-05-11Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Nationwide Strike-Journalists11/05/2001 20:19:40Journalists are to join a 24-hour nationwide strike called for May 17 by the General Confederation of Greek Labour (GSEE) and the ADEDY civil servants union over government plans for reform of the social insurance system. Participation in the strike by journalists and affiliated staff in all media is to press for a realistic, viable and equitable overhaul of the social insurance system, the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists Unions said in a statement on Friday. The strike begins at 6am on May 17 and ends at 6 am on May 18. Journalists also joined a 24-hour nationwide strike called by GSEE and ADEDY on April 26. [02] Athens Bourse-Brokerages-Transactions-April11/05/2001 19:38:34Transactions at the Athens Stock Exchange by stockbrokerages totalled 6.076 billion euros in March, down 41 percent on the previous month. Ranking top among stock brokerages in turnover including block trades were Alpha Brokerage (8.23 percent of the market), followed by EFG Eurobank Securities (7.12 percent), P&K Securities (6.45 percent), Sigma Securities (6.29 percent) and National Securities (5.30 percent). [03] Greece - Yugoslavia - ND leader11/05/2001 19:15:39BELGRADE (ANA) Greeces main opposition leader Costas Karamanlis was received here by Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica on Friday, as talks expectedly touched on the latest troubling developments in the Balkans. Karamanlis arrived in the Yugoslav capital for a two-day visit to attend a European Democratic Union (EDU) meeting sponsored by the European Peoples Party (EPP), part of the conservative and centre-right political groupings efforts to promote democratisation in the region. The main opposition New Democracy leader later told reporters both men agreed on several basic principles concerning the region, namely, the inviolability of the regions borders; respect for human and minority rights, as well as the need to condemn any initiative backed by violence. [04] Alpha Bank-Rate Cuts11/05/2001 19:14:34Alpha Bank, the country's largest private bank, on Friday announced that it would lower its deposit and loan rates, effective on May 14. Alpha's main new rates are as follows: [05] Athens 2004 - Greenspace, parks11/05/2001 19:11:40Athens 2004 organisers (ATHOC) on Friday countered a whirlwind of brewing criticism by local environmental groups, citizens groups and municipal officials by promising to turn some 1,500 hectares of land in the greater Athens into greenspace prior to the Games. Specifically, ATHOC released a list of sites where ?environmentally friendly? landscaping and planting is projected by the summer of 2004, in coordination with the town planning and environment ministry and a greater Athens zoning entity. Among others, ATHOC said 500 hectares out of the 1,400 allocated for Olympic villages and venues will be turned into greenspace and parks. In terms of the 2,500 hectares set aside for road works and the rehabilitation of urban areas, almost half 1,050 was promised as greenspace. The announcement comes on the heels of a protest march from Athens to the ancient battlefield site of Marathon last weekend by opponents of a plan to build an Olympic rowing and canoeing centre at the Schinias site, in the battlefield. Objections over the Schinias site as an Olympic venue has been aired by the Athens Academy, the Archaeological Society and by several environmental groups, including WWF-Hellas, which claims construction will cause irreversible damage to the areas fragile and downgraded, over the past decades, ecosystem. Conversely, ATHOC has repeatedly stressed that the entire area will be upgraded, environmentally safeguarded and cleared of illegal land use, a small private airport and dilapidated former military facilities a view publicly endorsed by the government and the International Olympic Committee. [06] National Bank of Greece-Rate Cuts11/05/2001 19:05:04National Bank of Greece, the country's largest state-run bank, on Friday announced that it would lower its deposit and loan rates, effective on May 14. National's main new rates are as follows: [07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday11/05/2001 18:47:23Buying rates until Friday U.S. dollar 385.289 German mark 172.829 French franc 051.531 Pound sterling 546.880 Irish punt 429.202 Belgian franc 008.379 Luxembourg franc 008.379 Dutch guilder 153.389 Italian lira (100) 017.457 Austrian schilling 024.565 Danish kroner 45.299 Swedish kroner 37.686 Finnish mark 056.852 Spanish peseta 002.032 Portuguese escudo 001.686 Japanese yen (100) 314.867 Swiss franc 220.165 Norwegian kroner 42.155 Cyprus pound 584.416 Canadian dollar 249.853 Australian dollar 201.902 [08] Weather Forecast-Saturday11/05/2001 18:18:46Scattered cloud is forecast throughout the country on Saturday, turning to showers or storms in parts of the mainland, southern Ionian, Peloponnese, Cyclades, Dodecanese, eastern Aegean islands and Crete from evening. Winds northeasterly, light to strong, turning very strong in the Aegean. Temperatures on the northern mainland will range from 8C to 18C; on the rest of the mainland from 11C to 24C; and in the islands from 14C to 22C. Scattered cloud in Athens turning to rain in the evening, with temperatures between 11C and 23C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 10C to 18C. [09] ASE-close11/05/2001 16:18:40Equity prices ended the last trading session of a subdued week flat with buying interest focusing on smaller capitalisation stocks end blue chip stocks remaining under mild pressure. Traders said tight liquidity undermined sentiment in the market and stressed that a decision by National Bank and Commercial Bank to cut interest rates was largely ignored by investors. They also said that a decision by the Capital Markets' Commission to improve its proposal over the implementation of margin account system in the market, encouraged trading in smaller capitalisation stocks. The general index ended 0.29 percent higher at 3,120.39 points, off the day's highs of 3,144.34 points. Turnover was a low 126.40 million euros, or 43.07 billion drachmas. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.13 percent lower at 1,818.52 points, while the FTSE/ASE 40 index rose 0.61 percent to end at 359.17 points. The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 308.87 points, up 0.85 percent. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |