Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-12-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Athens bus drivers to stage stoppages this week

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[03] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Wednesday

[04] Olympic flame heads for Salt Lake City; emphasis on security

[01] Athens bus drivers to stage stoppages this week

Athens bus drivers are to stage work stoppages on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from the start of their shift until 07:00, and from 22:00 until the end of the working day.

The drivers are to hold talks with the government on solving problems in serving the public.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 379.708

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 540.058

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 045.405

Swedish kroner 035.679

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 305.907

Swiss franc 229.538

Norwegian kroner 042.430

Cyprus pound 588.667

Canadian dollar 241.324

Australian dollar 196.216

[03] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Wednesday

Cloud is forecast in all parts of the country on Wednesday, with showers likely in the east, Evia, the Cyclades and Crete. Winds northerly, light to very strong, turning gale force in the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from -5C to 12C; in the west from 0C to 17C; and in the rest of the country from 2C to 14C. Overcast in Athens, with temperatures between 6C and 14C. Light cloud in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 1C to 11C.

[04] Olympic flame heads for Salt Lake City; emphasis on security

Symbolism reigned supreme at the venerable Panathenian Stadium in downtown Athens on Monday afternoon as the ?Olympic flame? was handed over to Salt Lake City Winter Games officials, less than three months before the Olympics return to America amid draconian security measures.

The all-marble U-shaped stadium, a reconstructed ancient venue that hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896, served as the backdrop for the ceremony in a chilly Greek capital.

The event was attended by a large delegation from Utah's capital -- including Native Americans in traditional dress -- Hellenic Olympic Committee (EOE) and Athens 2004 organising committee (ATHOC) officials led by ATHOC chief Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, several government ministers and the US ambassador to Athens.

?The level of security for Salt Lake City will be the highest in Olympic history for a Winter Games, because President George Bush is absolutely committed to providing full-proof security,? Salt Lake City organising committee president Mitt Romney said afterwards.

Romney emphasised that security plans were most definitely changed and stepped up following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

?Everything has changed,? he said, adding that flights will be banned around the Salt Lake City area during the holding of key events for the 2002 Winter Games in February, among others.

?You can never do security good enough. After Sept. 11 you can never be satisfied ... Were thinking of (emergency) contingencies we have never thought about ... its a lesson for the United States, its a lesson for Greece,? US envoy Thomas Miller later said.

The US ambassador added that counter-terrorism cooperation between Athens and Washington was the best he has personally witnessed going back to 1985.

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