Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-11-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] Cabinet approves proposed electoral law reform

[02] Thessaloniki to host Balkan-Black Sea Partenariat Nov 17-18

[03] Greek cheese wins first prize in World Cheese Awards 2003

[04] Three-day events marking November 17 anniversary beginning on Saturday

[05] Doctors of the World hold photograph exhibition in Athens

[06] UK betting operator eyes Greece

[07] Potatoes hit 1.30 euros per kilo on Rhodes

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

[09] Weather Forecast: Showers on Saturday

[10] Greek stocks end week with net loss of 1.44 pct

[01] Cabinet approves proposed electoral law reform

The Cabinet on Friday unanimously approved the proposals for a draft bill to reform electoral law presented by Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis, government spokesman Christos Protopapas announced.

He said the new system introduced by the draft bill would give rise to stable governments and be fairer, with a greater degree of proportional representation, as well as allowing pre-electoral party collaboration and coalitions, increasing transparency and reducing injustices and imbalances at the expense of the smaller parties.

The bill will also split the 2nd Athens constituency into three and the rest of Attica into two separate constituencies, as well as a allowing a greater number of candidates and votes in constituencies with three or more seats.

Opposition parties, New Democracy (ND), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology party severely criticised the changes in the electoral system decided during the cabinet meeting.

[02] Thessaloniki to host Balkan-Black Sea Partenariat Nov 17-18

The city of Thessaloniki will host a Balkan and Black Sea Partnership 2003 trade fair at the International Trade Fair Centre November 17-18, with the aim to bring together 129 companies from Southeastern Europe (as exhibitors) and around 300 companies from the European Union (as visitors).

The organisers of the Partenariat said they have already scheduled more than 2,000 business meetings between companies seeking cooperation and predicted that business meetings would surpass 4,000 during the event.

The Partenariat is organised by the Inter-Balkan and Black Sea Business Centre and the Exporters' Union of Northern Greece. It is fully funded by the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry.

[03] Greek cheese wins first prize in World Cheese Awards 2003

A Gruyere cheese made in Crete by Cretalat-Kriaras won the golden medal and the international trophy for hard cheese of Origin Protected Name in an international cheese contest World Cheese Awards 2003 held in London early November.

More than 1,000 cheese from around the world participated in this year's contest.

The Greek cheese won the trophy after competing, among others, with Swiss Gruyere, English Cheddar and Italian Parmezan cheese.

Cretalat-Kriaras also won the bronze medal for fresh soft cheese (Cretan Myzethra) in the category of new products in the English market for 2003.

[04] Three-day events marking November 17 anniversary beginning on Saturday

The gates of the Athens Polytechnic will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, signalling the beginning of three-day celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the November 17, 1973, student uprising against the military junta ruling Greece at the time.

Thousands of policemen have been provided to guard the event, particularly on Monday when the celebration will heighten with the march to the US embassy in Athens.

On Monday, the last day of celebrations, the Polytechnic gates will close at 2 p.m. and the main event will begin with speeches and then the march to the embassy will follow.

[05] Doctors of the World hold photograph exhibition in Athens

Doctors of the World on Friday launched a photograph exhibition in Athens that documents their work around the globe.

The photographs were taken by Yiannis Yiannakopoulos, a photo-reporterand volunteer worker for the organisation.

Inaugurating the exhibition at the Athens City Arts Centre was Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Loverdos.

[06] UK betting operator eyes Greece

Betting firm Stanleybet International Ltd of the United Kingdom said on Friday that it was interested in setting up business in the Greek market.

The company, which is a subsidiary of London-listed Stanley Leisure Plc, said the European Court had ruled that it had the right to operate sporting bets in countries of the EU.

"Our aim is to discuss the situation with the authorities and the monopoly of suppliers in Greece, in order to seek ways of creating competition in the Greek market, offering consumers much better products and a greater choice," the statement said.

[07] Potatoes hit 1.30 euros per kilo on Rhodes

Inhabitants of the tourist island of Rhodes complained to a senior government official on Friday that the cost of potatoes had soared to 1.30 euros per kilo.

Hearing the complaint during a trip to Rhodes, Deputy Development Minister Kimon Koulouris ordered the region's prefect to step up spot checks in the market and apply a regulation stating government-ordained profit margins for the produce, punishing offenders.

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.185

Pound sterling 0.702

Danish kroner 7.499

Swedish kroner 9.028

Japanese yen 128.4

Swiss franc 1.579

Norwegian kroner 8.280

Cyprus pound 0.587

Canadian dollar 1.541

Australian dollar 1.648

[09] Weather Forecast: Showers on Saturday

Showers are forecast in many parts of the country, especially the south, with temperatures rising slightly in the west. Winds east-northeasterly, moderate. Temperatures in Athens between 11C and 16C; and in Thessaloniki 9C and 13C.

[10] Greek stocks end week with net loss of 1.44 pct

Greek stocks ended the last trading session of the week slightly higher in the Athens Stock Exchange, with the Greek market showing strong resistance to profit taking pressure.

The general index ended 0.10 percent higher at 2,163.47 points, after moving within the 2,155-2,165 point range throughout the session. The general index ended the week 1.44 percent lower. Turnover was a moderate 114.3 million euros.

The Investment, Textile and IT sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day 1.41 percent, 0.59 percent and 0.57 percent, respectively, while the Construction, Food-Beverage and Telecommunications sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (1.16 percent, 1.12 percent and 0.45 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 0.13 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 0.05 percent lower and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index eased 0.03 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 179 to 102 with another 78 issues unchanged.

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