Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-12-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] CCBE head: Greece should adopt free legal representation clause

[02] Snow returns to northern Greece as weekend approaches

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[04] Weather Forecast: Heavy rain on Saturday

[05] GNTO offers to host 50 children of fallen US firefighters

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Saturday

[07] Greek stocks remain under pressure, end lower

[01] CCBE head: Greece should adopt free legal representation clause

The president of the European Bar Association (CCBE) Ruppert Wolff arrived for an official visit to Greece this week, while meeting on Friday with Greek Justice Minister Philippos Petsalnikos.

Among others, the crucial issue of safeguarding the right to legal representation, especially for financially needy citizens, was discussed in the Petsalnikos-Wolff meeting.

Wolff, along with the Greek representatives in the CCBE, D. Hatzimihalis and E. Tsouroulis, later focused on the issue at an Athens press conference, where the former stressed that Greece alone in the European Union has not instituted the right to free legal representation -- as is the case in the other 14 EU member-states.

The CCBE numbers some 500,000 attorneys throughout Europe.

[02] Snow returns to northern Greece as weekend approaches

The cold front returned to Greece with a vengeance on Friday afternoon, with the country practically cut in two by the extreme weather conditions and snow to the north from Fthiotida.

Traffic police warned motorists that all vehicles required snow chains after Kamena Vourla going north, while the road from Pelasgia to Almyros in Volos was impassable because of deep snow on the road surface.

Fthiotida prefecture and the city of Lamia had also come to a standstill due to heavy snow, they said.

Meanwhile, the General Secretariat for Civilian Protection warned local authorities at all levels on Friday to prepare for the renewed bout of extremely bad weather predicted by the weather service (EMY).

It also advised the public to take precautions when travelling during the holidays, such as not travelling when the bad weather was at its worst, to take instructions from traffic police into account, and to always travel with snow chains and outdoor gear, such as anoraks and galoshes.

The weather, which started with rain in many parts of west and mainland Greece, is expected to get steadily worse through Friday night, with the rain spreading to the islands of the Aegean on Saturday.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 377.981

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 547.319

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 045.430

Swedish kroner 035.557

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 291.713

Swiss franc 230.860

Norwegian kroner 042.321

Cyprus pound 588.331

Canadian dollar 238.971

Australian dollar 191.529

[04] Weather Forecast: Heavy rain on Saturday

Heavy rain and snow is forecast throughout the country early on Saturday, while later in the day the intense weather phenomena will subside and will be limited to the eastern Aegean. Winds northwesterly, moderate to gale force. In the north, temperatures will range from -1C to 9C; on the rest of the mainland from 1C to 13C; and in the islands from 5C to 14C. Heavy rain early in the day in Athens with improvement later on in the day and temperatures between 6C and 13C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 2C to 8C.

[05] GNTO offers to host 50 children of fallen US firefighters

The state-run Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) on Friday announced that it hopes to host 50 children of New York firefighters who died in the line of duty in the wake of the dastardly Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The offer by GNTOs leadership was conveyed to US ambassador in Greece Thomas Miller, while the agencys staff has been instructed to organise the hospitality programme.

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Saturday

Heavy rain and snow is forecast throughout the country early on Saturday, while later in the day the intense weather phenomena will subside and will be limited to the eastern Aegean. Winds northwesterly, moderate to gale force. In the north, temperatures will range from -1C to 9C; on the rest of the mainland from 1C to 13C; and in the islands from 5C to 14C. Heavy rain early in the day in Athens with improvement later on in the day and temperatures between 6C and 13C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 2C to 8C.

[07] Greek stocks remain under pressure, end lower

Equity prices remained under pressure for the second consecutive session on Friday to end lower on the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index fell 0.80 percent to end at 2,564.21 points, with turnover an improved 82.1 billion drachmas, or 238.4 million euros, boosted by block trades worth 50.6 billion drachmas.

The IT Solutions, Wholesale and Textiles sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (2.67 percent, 2.49 percent and 1.74 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.70 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index fell 0.86 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index dropped 1.62 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 277 to 58 with another 24 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the week with a net loss of 0.003 percent.

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