Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-01-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Ecumenical Patriarch on historic visit to Iran next week

[02] Pavement slide uncovers cave in Plaka district

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[04] Weather Forecast: Snow and rain on Tuesday

[05] Interior minister meets with new ADEDY presidium

[06] Greek stocks fall in thin trade on AS

[01] Ecumenical Patriarch on historic visit to Iran next week

ISTANBUL (ANA) Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will officially visit Iran this month, the Patriarchate announced on Monday.

Vartholomeos, the ?Primus inter pares? among Orthodox Patriarchs representing approximately 250 million Eastern Orthodox faithful around the world, is expected to meet in Tehran with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini Khamenei.

Vartholomeos' four-day visit to Iran begins on Jan. 11.

The Patriarch is also scheduled to address members of the diplomatic corps serving in the Iranian capital on the issue of ?Religions Contribution to Establishment of Peace in the Modern World?.

Additionally, contacts with a delegation from the Inter-Religious Dialogue Centre, other Iranian ministers and officials as well as a visit to the historic city of Isfahan are planned.

Vartholomeos planned visit to predominately Shiite Iran comes three weeks after a high-profile ?all-faiths meeting? in Brussels brought together representatives of all the worlds major monotheistic religions including several well-known clerics from the Muslim world -- in a bid to increase cooperation and understanding among religious faiths.

Iran is the second Muslim nation, following Bahrain, to issue an official invitation to the Ecumenical Patriarch.

[02] Pavement slide uncovers cave in Plaka district

A cave apparently hidden since antiquity came to the forefront on Monday after the pavement gave way on a secondary road near the Acropolis in central Athens.

A truck parked exactly over the three-metre cave subsequently fell in, police said.

According to reports, the subterranean cavity was located recently during work for a new metro line passing nearby, although support beams placed by construction crews failed to prevent the landslide.

Archaeologists and engineers were dispatched to the site, located in the old quarter district of Plaka.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Euro foreign exchange rates for tourists - Indicative buy rates

(Amount of currency per 1 euro)

U.S. dollar 0.890

Pound sterling 0.619

Danish kroner 7.438

Swedish kroner 9.211

Japanese yen 116.72

Swiss franc 1.471

Norwegian kroner 7.975

Cyprus pound 0.575

Canadian dollar 1.421

Australian dollar 1.718

[04] Weather Forecast: Snow and rain on Tuesday

Sunny in most parts of the country on Tuesday, with light snowfall in the east. Winds northerly, of gale force. In the north, temperatures will range from -14C to 7C; on the rest of the mainland from -8C to 9C; and in the islands from -3C to 12C. Sunny in Athens with temperatures between -1C to 8C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from -4C to 7C.

[05] Interior minister meets with new ADEDY presidium

Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis met on Monday with the newly elected Supreme Civil Servants Administrative Council (ADEDY) presidium and discussed issue concerning the functions of the state's central administration.

The minister promissed funding for the ADEDY's central database system, which will be upgraded and supported to aid the work of the central administration.

[06] Greek stocks fall in thin trade on AS

Equity prices ended Monday's session slightly lower in very thin trading conditions as investors remained sidelined awaiting fresh incentives and directions.

The general index ended 0.31 percent lower at 2,638.19 points, with turnover an extremely low Dr 23 billion, or 67.3 million euros.

The Retail, Wholesale and IT Solution sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.60 percent, 1.10 percent and 0.98 percent, respectively), while the IT, Metals and Publication sectors scored moderate gains (1.39 percent, 0.51 percent and 0.46 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.42 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.12 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index eased 0.29 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 168 to 123 with another 58 issues unchanged.

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