Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-10-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] Qatar calls Varholomeos' visit there a ''peace gesture''

[02] Soccer: Greece beats Armenia 2-0 in Euro 2004 Group Six qualifier

[03] Athens to host biennale of Young Creators in June 2003

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

[05] Athens flight safety official gets international award

[06] Weather Forecast: Sunshine on Thursday

[07] Negative reports undermine sentiment in ASE

[01] Qatar calls Varholomeos' visit there a ''peace gesture''

DOHA (ANA A. Kourkoulas) Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos on an official visit here on Wednesday called his visit in Qatar and his contacts with the local political and religious leadership a ?new communication phase with the Islamic world and particularly with the Arabian Islamic world?.

On a visit to Qatar at the invitation of the Emirates government, Vartholomeos had separate meetings with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Qatari foreign minister and Dr. Yusef al-Qaradawi, a prominent religious leader.

At his meeting with the prelate of the Orthodox Church, the Qatari Emir welcomed the Patriarchs initiatives on the intra-religion dialogue as a ?peace gesture? saying, ?it is only through dialogue that we can achieve peace?.

[02] Soccer: Greece beats Armenia 2-0 in Euro 2004 Group Six qualifier

Greece beat Armenia 2-0 (half-time 1-0) in a Euro 2004 Group Six qualifier in Athens on Wednesday night.

Greece's goals were scored by Demis Nikolaidis in the 2nd minute and 61st.

[03] Athens to host biennale of Young Creators in June 2003

Athens will host the 11th biennale of Young Creators of Europe and the Mediterranean from June 6-15, 2003.

The biennale, as a cultural event which promotes cooperation between the countries of Europe and the Mediterranean, is inextricably linked with the spirit of the Cultural Olympiad.

The artistic event assumes particular importance in light of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The biennale is an institution which has been organised since 1983.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 0.990

Pound sterling 0.636

Danish kroner 7.488

Swedish kroner 9.140

Japanese yen 122.8

Swiss franc 1.479

Norwegian kroner 7.368

Cyprus pound 0.577

Canadian dollar 1.571

Australian dollar 1.809

[05] Athens flight safety official gets international award

The president of the Greek Commission for Accident Investigation and Flight Safety has won a Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) award for 2002.

The recipient of the Aviation Week & Space Technology Award, Akrivos Tsolakis, has also been elected as a board member of the FSF.

[06] Weather Forecast: Sunshine on Thursday

Sunshine is forecast in all parts of the country, with early morning mist on the mainland and Ionian. Winds variable, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 09C to 25C; in the west from 11C to 27C; and in the rest of the country from 12C to 26C. Temperatures in Athens between 14C and 26C; and in Thessaloniki from 12C to 22C.

[07] Negative reports undermine sentiment in ASE

Greek stocks ended lower on Wednesday hit by a new negative report by UBS Warburg over the country's two largest telecommunications companies (Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation and Cosmote).

The investment bank, one day after downgrading Europe's banking sector, downgraded six European telecoms' share price targets, including OTE and Cosmote to 12.2 euros from 17 euros and to 10 euros from 11.75 euros, respectively.

The general index fell 1.50 percent to 1,801.37 points, after climbing to 1,850.91 points early in the session.

The Textile, IT Solutions and Base Metal sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (3.70 percent, 2.72 percent and 2.06 percent, respectively), while the IT sector suffere the smallest percentage losses (-0.37 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.56 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 1.71 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 2.04 percent lower.

Turnover was an improved 86.8 million euros. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 272 to 53 with another 35 issues unchanged.

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