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Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 10-08-18Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>Wednesday, 18 August 2010 Issue No: 3569CONTENTS
[01] Defence, security issues discussed by Greek, Israeli PMsFurther development of defence relations and cooperation in the defence and security sectors were discussed on Tuesday by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and visiting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.Talks were held on the picturesque isle of Poros, south of Athens, where the two premiers were joined by Greek Defence Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Alternate DM Panos Beglitis. Both premiers and their wives departed on Tuesday morning for the Saronic Gulf island aboard a coast guard vessel from the Flisvos marina in southern coastal Athens. Earlier, Papandreou and the Netanyahu couple toured the early 20th century armored cruiser "Georgios Averof" as well as the adjacent mid-20th century destroyer "Velos", as both vessels currently serve as floating naval museums. During their stay on Poros, Papandreou hosted a luncheon in honor of Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu. [02] ND leader receives Israeli PM NetanyahuMain opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras on Tuesday called his same-day meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu very useful, following talks the two men held in Athens on bilateral ties and issues of common interest.Referring to Greek-Israel relations, Samaras said his party is positive, while underlining that very delicate handling is necessary to maintain balance with the Arab world and to safeguard the traditionally good ties between Greece and the latter. He also stressed that development of relations with Israel , especially in the tourism and economic sector, must be independent of the course of Israeli-Turkish as well as the Greek-Turkish relations. Samaras, a former foreign minister in the early 1990s, said the Cyprus problem was discussed along with the situation in the Middle East, adding that talks also touched on the need for the existence of a Palestinian state but also security for the state of Israel . [03] KKE leader critical of Athens' ties with IsraelCommunist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary General Aleka Papariga expressed disagreement with what she called Athens' policy vis-à-vis Israel, in statements made Tuesday on the occasion of a two-day visit to Greece by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Papariga said KKE's criterion in Greece's bilateral and multilateral relations is to what extent foreign policy contributes to the repelling of every form of attack by imperialism, as she called it, claiming that the policy towards Israel is not moving in this direction. [04] Protests in Athens over Israeli PM's visitTwo separate rallies were held in Athens on Monday afternoon to protest the visit to Greece by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The first was held in downtown Syntagma Square by members of various anti-war and pro-peace activists, along with Palestinians residing in Athens. The second rally assembled outside the War Museum by members of the Communist Party-affiliated PAM labour group, amongst others, before heading off the Israeli embassy. [05] Gov't on Med Sea drillingEnvironment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Tina Birbili on Tuesday cited Athens' concerns regarding deep-sea drilling in the Mediterranean Sea. in a letter to her Italian counterpart Stefania Prestigiacomo, the Greek minister stressed that provisional restrictions on deep-sea drilling for oil are necessary until Mediterranean countries establish and adopt a specific strategy for such drilling in the Mediterranean basin."In case of an accident, like the one in the Gulf of Mexico, the consequences for the sea would be disastrous and possibly irreversible. For this reason, coordination and preventative mechanism is necessary," she said. [06] Ecumenical Patriarch in PolandEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is paying an official visit to Poland following an invitation by the Polish Orthodox Church. The Patriarch who arrived on Monday and will conclude his visit on August 20, will visit the cities of Warsaw and, Lublin and the Grabarka mountain, a holy land which visit thousands of pilgrims every year.Bartholomew will have a series of meetings with the President of the Polish parliament and will be bestowed the title of the honorary doctor of at the Catholic University of Lublin. Financial News [07] Nat'l Bank acquires 95% of Stopanska BankSKOPJE (ANA-MPA / N. Frangopoulos)National Bank of Greece (NBG) announced on Tuesday that it was acquiring another 20 percent of Stopanska Banka, its subsidiary in the neighbouring former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM). The acquisition was achieved via two transactions on the Skopje stock market. The additional 20 percent will bring NBG's share in Stopanska Banka, the country's largest, to 95 percent. National Bank's first purchase of Stopanska Banka shares dates to 2000. [08] Bounced cheque figures for July, y-o-yThe value of bounced cheques amounted to 166.3 million euros in July, according to data provided by the Tiresias S.A. credit agency on Tuesday.In numbers, bounced cheques totalled 18,599. Compared to the previous month bounced cheques increased by 5,505 in absolute numbers and by 6.58 percent. Compared to July 2009, the figure fell by 43.91 percent in value and decreased by 38.70 percent in absolute numbers. The value of bounced cheques over the January-July 2010 period amounted to 963.7 million euros, or 104,568 cheques over the same period. [09] Banks fuel rally on Tues.Heightened interest by investors in bank shares rallied the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, with the composite index of the market up 2.81 percent to end at 1,678.06 points. Turnover was still a low 78.92 million euros.The Big Cap index jumped 3.68 pct, the Mid Cap index ended 1.45 pct higher and the Small Cap index increased by 3.53 pct. Financial Services (5.70 pct) and Banks (4.90 pct) scored the biggest percentage gains of the day, while Insurances (4.11 pct) and Foodstuffs (0.94 pct) were the only indexes to show losses. Broadly, advancers led decliners by 139 to 49 with another 21 issues unchanged. Sector indices ended as follows: Insurance: -4.11% Industrials: +2.81% Commercial: +2.30% Construction: +3.38% Media: +3.03% Oil & Gas: +1.86% Personal & Household: +0.17% Raw Materials: +4.41% Travel & Leisure: +0.69% Technology: +4.23% Telecoms: +3.45% Banks: +4.90% Food & Beverages: -0.94% Health: +3.22% Utilities: +3.18% Chemicals: +0.37% Financial Services: +5.70% The stocks with the highest turnover were National Bank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and Eurobank. Selected shares from the FTSE/ASE-20 index closed in euros as follows: Alpha Bank: 5.99 ATEbank: 1.17 Public Power Corp (PPC): 13.71 HBC Coca Cola: 18.10 Hellenic Petroleum: 6.20 National Bank of Greece: 10.79 EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 5.80 OPAP: 11.70 OTE: 6.00 Bank of Piraeus: 4.78 Titan: 16.55 [10] Foreign Exchange rates - WednesdayReference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank:U.S. dollar 1.296 Pound sterling 0.829 Danish kroner 7.508 Swedish kroner 9.508 Japanese yen 110.54 Swiss franc 1.351 Norwegian kroner 7.969 Canadian dollar 1.344 Australian dollar 1.436 General News [11] 'Antikythera Mechanism' exhibition opens on KytheraAn exhibition entitled "The Mechanism of Antikythera" will be on display on the southwestern Aegean island of Kythera (Kythira) until Sept. 19, an initiative by the ministry of education.The exhibition opened on Aug. 11 in Potamos, Kythera while on Aug. 19 the exhibition will be transferred to Chora, the island's main town. Visitors of the exhibition will be able to learn about the history of the ancient mechanism, believed to be an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as a primordial "mechanical computer") designed to calculate astronomical positions. The artifact was discovered within an ancient shipwreck off the nearby isle of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete . It has been dated to about 150-100 BC. Technological devises of similar complexity appeared a thousand years later, scholars have noted. [12] Wildfires reportA wildfire broke out in a forested area in the region of Mapsos, Tenea municipality in the Corinthia prefecture on Tuesday. Other wildfires were reported in the region of Palambas in Thesprotia prefecture and on the island of Cephalonia. Lastly, a wildfire on the isle of Kythira was receding and was not threatening residential areas.A wildfire that erupted on Monday on the western Cyclades isle of Kythnos island was reportedly under control. Meanwhile, a fire on nearby Kythira island was still in progress. According to authorities, first estimates show that 4,000 hectares of brush land were torched, along with herds of animals and roughly 1,000 beehives. Weather Forecast [13] Fair on WednesdayFair weather and northerly winds are forecast in most parts of the country on Wednesday, with wind velocity reaching 3-6 beaufort. Temperatures will range between 20C and 39C. Fair in Athens, with northerly 3-5 beaufort winds and temperatures ranging from 24C to 38C. Local cloudiness in Thessaloniki, with temperatures ranging from 23C to 35C.[14] The Tuesday edition of Athens ' dailies at a glanceMarket liquidity conditions and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu'a visit to Athens and talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou mostly dominated the headlines on Tuesday in Athens ' newspapers.ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: " 200,000 hectares of forestland reclassified " APOGEVMATINI: "Hike in market prices". AVGHI: "Adventurism made in USA - Papandreou and Netanyahu agree on joint military exercises vis-à-vis axis Turkey 's opening towards Iran ". AVRIANI: " Greece's games with Israel set fire to Mediterranean by torpedoing country's relations with Arab countries; provoke tension with Turkey ". ELEFTHEROS: "Americans behind Greece-Israel bridge, in order to bring Turkey back on track". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Smooth taxes for wealthy - Employees and pensioners will continue to pay unbearable taxes". ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Balance changes - Greek-Israeli relations create new axis in region". ESTIA: "Europe recovering, Greece in recession ". ETHNOS: "Ultimatum on student transfers". IMERISSIA: "Spreads skyrocket". KATHIMERINI: " China now the second power in world economy". NAFTEMPORIKI: "State property to private interests". NIKI: "New taxes total seven billion euros in 2011". RIZOSPASTIS: "Communist Party: Profiteering against people with bread, flour, pasta". TA NEA: "University entry exams". TO VIMA: "Triple scissoring of incomes". VRADYNI: " Israel 's message to Ankara via Athens ". 36, TSOCHA ST. ATHENS 115 21 GREECE * TEL: 64.00.560-63 * FAX: 64.00.581-2 INTERNET ADDRESS: "http://www.ana-mpa.gr" * e-mail: anabul@ana gr * GENERAL DIRECTOR: ILIAS MATSIKAS Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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