Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-09-12

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Arafat's expulsion would be a 'mistake', Greece says

[02] Archbishop of America holds memorial service for Sept. 11 victims

[03] PM and Cyprus president teleconference to inaugurate Hellas-Sat 2

[04] Composer Mikis Theodorakis admitted to Onassio for check-up

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud, some rain on Saturday

[07] Greek stocks end week 2.96 percent lower

[01] Arafat's expulsion would be a 'mistake', Greece says

Foreign Minister George Papandreou on Friday expressed open disagreement with the Israeli government's decision to expel Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, saying it would create further obstacles in the path toward peace.

''I want to stress that I think this decision to be a mistake, because if it is carried out it will create new tension and possibly new adventures in the Middle East and wider region,'' Papandreou said.

The Greek foreign minister made the statement, which echoed the official line of the EU, after talks with Prime Minister Costas Simitis regarding the results of his visit to Cyprus on Wednesday and Thursday and an upcoming visit to Athens next Tuesday by Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos.

[02] Archbishop of America holds memorial service for Sept. 11 victims

NEW YORK (ANA/P. Panagiotou) - Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America Dimitrios officiated a memorial service on Thursday for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, at the site of the, now destroyed, Greek Orthodox Church dedicated to Agios Nikolaos.

The Church was totally destroyed when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, literally, on it.

The memorial service, beyond its general character became more specific as the names of the 25 Greek expatriates, that were killed in the attack, were mentioned and the prelate of the Greek Orthodox Church held in his hands a little girl that was born after the attack, having lost her father in the towers.

Dimitrios spoke of the efforts to rebuild the small chapel and once again thanked the Greek government for providing some 500,000 dollars toward that end.

[03] PM and Cyprus president teleconference to inaugurate Hellas-Sat 2 operations

NICOSIA (ANA - G. Leonidas) Prime Minister Costas Simitis will hold a teleconference with Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos via the newly-launched Greek-Cypriot satellite 'Hellas Sat 2' on Monday at 12:45, during a ceremony for the delivery of transmitters to the Greek State after the completion of tests and the start of the satellite's commercial operation.

According to an announcement by Hellas Sat, there will also be a presentation of the technical capabilities of the satellite, which is currently considered to be the most powerful in Europe.

In addition to his talks with Papadopoulos, the Greek premier will be linked up to Greek troops currently serving in Kabul, Afghanistan and with the mayor of the remote Aegean islet of Fourni, near Ikaria.

The choice of locations is symbolic, seeking to demonstrate the success of the joint Greek-Cypriot project and its capacity to provide telecommunications links to all areas in Greece and most areas around the world.

[04] Composer Mikis Theodorakis admitted to Onassio for check-up

Composer Mikis Theodorakis has been admitted to the Onassio Cardiac Centre for a precautionary check-up after complaining of mild chest pains around the heart.

The internationally-acclaimed composer was checked into the hospital on Thursday for a complete screening that will be completed during the weekend, though doctors were reassuring about his condition and stressed that the tests were just a precaution.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.126

Pound sterling 0.706

Danish kroner 7.488

Swedish kroner 9.167

Japanese yen 131.8

Swiss franc 1.568

Norwegian kroner 8.324

Cyprus pound 0.588

Canadian dollar 1.545

Australian dollar 1.706

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud, some rain on Saturday

All parts of the country will see scattered cloud, with rain and storms in the central and northern mainland, the Aegean islands and the eastern Aegean. Winds northerly, light to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 14C to 23C; and in the rest of the country from 16C to 29C. Temperatures in Athens between 19C and 27C; and in Thessaloniki from 17C to 22C.

[07] Greek stocks end week 2.96 percent lower

Greek stocks ended the final session of a negative week lower in the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday, despite strong resistance showed by a handful of blue chip stocks like Alpha Bank and Public Power Corporation.

The general index fell 0.58 percent to end at 2,082.78 points, for a net loss of 2.96 percent in the week.

All sector indices ended lower with the Holding (2.48 percent), Publications (3.32 percent) and Construction (2.07 percent) suffering the heaviest percentage losses of the day.

Turnover was a low 113.5 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.37 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 1.55 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 2.24 percent down.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 251 to 73 with another 35 issues unchanged.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article