The Russian Church avoids to take sides and hopes that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible between the two parties taking under consideration the existing circumstance, according to letters sent by the Moscow Patriarchate to the Ecumenical P atriarchate.

The good climate in the relations between the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate will be sealed with the visit of Archbishop Christodoulos to the Fener.

They also examined developments concerning Cyprus after the meeting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had yesterday with Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos in which was recorded divergence of views.

Mr. Anastasiadis discussed with Mr. Karamanlis the imminent Euro-elections and the likelihood to undertake initiatives within the framework of the European People's Party aimed at achieving a new mobility for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Mrs. Angelopoulou stated that everything moves as planned and that efforts should intensify to achieve the goal, which is to host successful Olympic Games.

Mrs. Petralia stated that no issue was raised regarding the presence of a foreign, armed force in Greece.

of Greek Armenians delegation. The delegation visited Mrs. Psarouda-Benaki together with the Metropolite of the Orthodox Armenians in Greece.

The Greek Parliament President stressed that the Armenians living in Greece constitute a dynamic and active community that contributes greatly and creatively to the Greek society. She also referred to the Greek-Armenian Friendship Group formed in Parliam ent to be activated shortly.

The President of the National Council of Greek Armenians expressed feelings of gratitude to the Greek Parliament for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and expressed the Armenian community's wish for a visit to Armenia by the Greek Parliament Presi dent.

Of the stocks trading today, 114 had gains and 186 had losses, while the value of 57 stocks remained unchanged.

The Prime Minister stated that EU funds have to be absorbed immediately in the construction of new public projects to cut the number of the unemployed that will be recorded after the Olympic Games.

Mr. Karamanlis stated that the goal of the economic policy of his government is to create more, new and stable jobs for the Greek people and especially, the young.

The Turkish ambassador also briefed the Greek Parliament President on the reform legislative work in the Turkish Parliament to harmonize with the European standards and thanked Greece for its support toward this direction.

Mrs. Psarouda Benaki referred to the recent meeting she had with her Turkish counterpart in Strasburg within the framework of the Council of Europe Parliament Presidents Conference pointing out the opportunities offered by the parliamentary dialogue in t he effort to build good relations.

Cypriot Republic President Tassos Papadopoulos after meeting in New York with Mr. Annan expressed disagreement with assessments included in the report.

Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis stressed the need to leave open the prospect for the quickest possible solution to the Cyprus problem and the reunification of the island.

Mr. Annan called on Mr. Papadopoulos to back his appeal to all countries to lift the restrictions blocking the economic development of the Turkish Cypriots saying that such a move would signal that the Greek Cypriots want to offer a helping hand to their

fellow countrymen.

The vice-president of the Australian government received the Olympic Flame at Sydney's International Airport where it arrived on board the specially modified airplane "Zeus".

The Olympic Flame was then taken to the Opera House where the first formal ceremony was held in the presence of the New South Wales State Prime Minister. First torchbearer was Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman.

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