Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-05-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] IATA kudos for Eleftherios Venizelos airport

[02] Closer cooperation, the focus of EU police chiefs meeting on Crete on

[03] 23-year old air hostess suspected for SARS to be released from hospital

[04] Ecumenical patriarch to inaugurate religious conference in Thessaloniki

[05] New e-Vote poll on EU-US relations

[06] Ethnic Greek journalists conduct their 7th meeting in Athens (ADDS)

[07] Hellenic Foundation for Culture organizes literature event in Oxford

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[09] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Tuesday

[10] Greek stocks fall 0.92 pct on Monday

[01] IATA kudos for Eleftherios Venizelos airport

IATAs Global Airport Monitor for 2002 this week notes that the new Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport of Athens jumped to the top of its category (up to 15 million passengers annually) in terms of easy transit through the facility, signposting, ease in making connections with other flights, as well as in restaurant/eating facilities and comfortable waiting/gate areas.

[02] Closer cooperation, the focus of EU police chiefs meeting on Crete on Monday

European Union chiefs of police on Monday launched their seventh meeting at the seaside resort of Aghia Pelaghia on Crete. Under high security, they discussed ways to further improve law enforcement cooperation in the Union and develop a system for collaborating in trans-national police operations.

Chaired by Greek chief of police Fotis Nasiakos, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, the meeting was also attended by delegations from the EU, Europol, Eurojust, the European Commission, the European Police Academy (CEPOL), the new EU partners, candidate-states Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, as well as Norway and Iceland.

According to sources, Nasiakos is expected to propose the establishment and operation of a telephone ''hot line'' among the bloc's police chiefs.

[03] 23-year old air hostess suspected for SARS to be released from hospital

The 23-year-old air hostess from South Africa that was Greece's first suspected case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) will be released by the end of the week, Greek health authorities said on Monday.

Her health is excellent and the early lab tests for SARS were negative, the same sources said.

Meanwhile Deputy Health Minister Hectoras Nasiokas chaired a briefing on ''Greek tourism and SARS'' in the presence of representatives from the tourism sector.

Nasiokas stressed that SARS is a ''global problem'' and noted that ''no country can order the non-transmission of the disease within its borders.''

He added that Greece had nothing to hide and underlined that the policy is that of transparency, full cooperation and continual briefings, as an effective way to control a possible case and protect from secondary cases.

The representatives of tourism organizations also addressed the briefing.

[04] Ecumenical patriarch to inaugurate religious conference in Thessaloniki

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will inaugurate a two-day conference between the Christian Orthodox and the Jewish faiths in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on May 27.

The conference will be attended by delegations of the Orthodox faith headed by the Metropolitan of France Emmanuel and the Jews headed by the president of the World Jewish Council Israel Singer.

It will take place as part of the dialogue which has begun at the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1977 between the three monotheistic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

The purpose of the dialogue is to consolidate peace through the appeasement of religious and racial differences.

[05] New e-Vote poll on EU-US relations

The Greek presidency of the European Union announced on Monday the launch of a new ?e-Vote? on transatlantic relations, at a crucial time when the partnership appears at a crossroads.

Respondents will be asked to voice their opinion on three questions involving EU-US relations.

e-Vote is an experiment in ?e-democracy? from the Greek EU presidency aimed at gauging the views of citizens across Europe on a range of keys issues facing the Union. The service offers anyone the opportunity to visit http://evote.EU2003.gr and to share their ideas, opinions and suggestions about the present and future EU. Tens votes are currently active: on the EU Today; the EUs Role in the World; the Future of the EU; the Lisbon Agenda; EU enlargement; the War in Iraq; EU Drug Policy; the environment an sustainable development; EU-US Relations, and immigration.

[06] Ethnic Greek journalists conduct their 7th meeting in Athens (ADDS)

Ethnic Greek journalists from 37 countries, working in media in their adopted homelands, are visiting Greece for the 7th annual meeting, touring Athens and Thessaloniki.

Press and Media Ministry General Secretary Dimitris Geros welcomed the journalists and briefed them of the results and experience of the European Union Summit in Athens last month.

The journalists are discussing the establishment of a union for journalists of Greek origin.

Later in the day, they were briefed on the Athens 2004 Olympic Games preparations and the organizing of the Games' security, by ATHOC General Secretary Costas Kartalis.

Kartalis stressed that 90 per cent of the construction projects have been completed, adding that the full completion will take place in May 2004.

[07] Hellenic Foundation for Culture organizes literature event in Oxford

The Hellenic Foundation for Culture is organizing an event on modern Greek literature at the Oxford Magdalen College on May 22, with the participation of five Greek authors, where all live or work.

The focus of the panel discussion of the writers, Nikos Athanasou, Angela Dimitrakaki, Panos Karnezis, Eugene Trivizas and Eleni Giannakaki, will focus on the impact of life in Britain on a Greek writer.

Oxford University Greek Studies Prof. Peter Mackridge will coordinate the panel discussion, which will take place in the Magdalen College, the building of which was designed by architect Dimitris Profyrios.

The literature event is part of a series of events entitled ''Greece in Britain 2003'' and it is organized by the Hellenic Foundation of Culture in London, in light of the Greek EU presidency.

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.174

Pound sterling 0.718

Danish kroner 7.483

Swedish kroner 9.260

Japanese yen 137.0

Swiss franc 1.525

Norwegian kroner 7.983

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.597

Australian dollar 1.795

[09] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Tuesday

Scattered cloud is forecast in most parts of the country, with sunshine in the west and eastern Aegean islands. Winds northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in parts of the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 12C to 25C; in the west from 14C to 29C; and in the rest of the country from 15C to 27C. Temperatures in Athens between 17C and 27C; and in Thessaloniki from 16C to 25C.

[10] Greek stocks fall 0.92 pct on Monday

Greek stocks ended lower on Monday following a general negative climate in other European bourses, with investors worrying that a sharp rise in the euro/US dollar exchange rate could hit European exports.

The general index fell 0.92 percent to end at 1,734.94 points, with turnover a low 76.1 million euros.

The Insurance, Investment and Food-Beverage sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (2.52 percent, 2.31 percent and 1.94 percent, respectively), while the Textile (3.03 percent), Retail (1.03 percent) and Cement (0.77 percent) sectors scored the biggest gains.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.27 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 0.15 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index eased 0.53 percent and the wider FTSE/ASE 140 index dropped 1.0 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 208 to 101 with another 52 issues unchanged.

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