Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-10-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] �������� �.��������� �� ���������� ��� "��������"

[02] Bank of Cyprus-IPO

[03] Communists-Rally

[04] Vartholomeos-Patras

[05] Albanian PM-Elections-Greece

[06] Migrants-Chios

[07] NATO-Greece-Turkey-Exercise

[08] NATO-Greece-Turkey-Exercise

[09] NATO-Greece-Turkey-Exercise

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[02] Bank of Cyprus-IPO

NICOSIA (ANA) - The Bank of Cyprus held a successful initial public offer last week that will make it the first foreign company to join the Athens Stock Exchange.

Welcoming the oversubscribed IPO, the bank's chairman, Solon Triantafyllides, urged buyers to retain their stock.

He also announced that the banking group would open a stock brokerage in Greece.

[03] Communists-Rally

Trade unionists aligned to the Communist Party of Greece on Saturday held a rally in central Athens to protest against a planned government overhaul of the labour market.

Speakers at the rally blasted the General Confederation of Greek Labour, which represents nearly a million public and private sector workers, and the ADEDY civil servants union for what they called its flaccid stand against the government's plan.

[04] Vartholomeos-Patras

The city of Patras on Saturday welcomed Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos with honours accorded to heads of state in a ceremony attended by local officials, deputies and Greek Orthodox worshippers.

In a speeech, Patriarch Vartholomeos reviewed Patras' history and mentioned notable public figures who came from the city, including President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos.

The Patriarch also received an honorary doctorate at Patras University.

He told the award ceremony that both Greek and Turkish education failed to instill a sense of morality in children, despite the two countries' good intentions.

Five people were arrested during the Patriarch's visit for distributing leaflets against the cleric.

[05] Albanian PM-Elections-Greece

ALBANIA (ANA/I.Paco) - Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta said that he hoped disagreements with Greece stemming from regional elections in his country this month would not damage ties between the two countries.

"I think that what happened was the result of sentiment and attention-seeking that are part of an election campaign, regardless of whether some limits are exceeded, but everything has quietened down now, and will do so even further," Meta told the Klian (phonetic spelling) TV station in an interview on Friday.

A Greek party that stood in the elections and Greece's government had challenged the result in the town of Himara, south of Tirana, claiming that the vote had been manipulated.

"I am sure this will not affect relations with Greece. Because I hope that the Greek government and Mr. (Costas) Simitis, especially, represent an example for other countries too. That, in other words, relations should be built with neighbouring countries and that some problems should be overcome," he said.

Meta also welcomed what he called a "realistic" and "calm" response shown by some Greek media to the election challenge. He said it would be helpful if Albanian media softened their tone towards Greece.

[06] Migrants-Chios

A Turkish cargo ship carrying 672 illegal migrants, including children, was towed to the port of Mesta, on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, coastguard officials said on Saturday.

The migrants - 144 children, 70 women and 458 men - were given food and shelter in a local sports stadium, the officials said.

According to the Ukrainian captain of the Turkish-flagged Funda, the vessel had sailed from Canakkale in Turkey and was headed for Italy.

The ship had anchored off the island of Chios, seeking shelter in a gale.

The migrants had initially refused food and water offered by coastguard officials, throwing it overboard. They had also refused to be towed to a safe anchorage, insisting that Italy was their destination.

When their agreement was secured late on Friday, the ship was towed to Chios and the migrants were led to the stadium in Pyrgi.

Taken to a local hospital for check-ups were 13 childen, six women and five men.

Merchant Marine Minister Christos Papoutsis and Foreign Minister George Papandreou had tried on Friday to secure Turkey's consent to take back the migrants.

The ship's captain and six-member crew of five Ukrainians and one Turk were arrested on Saturday and are due to hear charges. The vessel was seized.

[07] NATO-Greece-Turkey-Exercise

NICOSIA (ANA/G.Leonidas) - Greece on Saturday asked NATO to order an immediate halt to a major exercise being conducted in the region after Turkey banned Greek warplanes and ships from its territory, National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said.

NATO told the Greek government that it needed two hours to examine the latest hitch in the two-week exercise, Tsohatzopoulos said in Larnaca.

Bypassing existing agreements, Ankara had sought a ban on Greek warplanes and naval vessels in Turkish airspace and waters as part of NATO's Destined Glory exercise, a request unacceptable to Greece, he said.

[08] NATO-Greece-Turkey-Exercise

NICOSIA (ANA/G.Leonidas) - Greece on Saturday asked NATO to order an immediate halt to a major exercise being conducted in the region after Turkey banned Greek warplanes and ships from its territory, National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said.

NATO told the Greek government that it needed two hours to examine the latest hitch in the two-week exercise, Tsohatzopoulos said in Larnaca.

Bypassing existing agreements, Ankara had sought a ban on Greek warplanes and naval vessels in Turkish airspace and waters as part of NATO's Destined Glory exercise, a request unacceptable to Greece, he said.

[09] NATO-Greece-Turkey-Exercise

NICOSIA (ANA/G.Leonidas) - Greece on Saturday asked NATO to order an immediate halt to a major exercise being conducted in the region after Turkey banned Greek warplanes and ships from its territory, National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said.

NATO told the Greek government that it needed two hours to examine the latest hitch in the two-week exercise, Tsohatzopoulos said in Larnaca.

Bypassing existing agreements, Ankara had sought a ban on Greek warplanes and naval vessels in Turkish airspace and waters as part of NATO's Destined Glory exercise, a request unacceptable to Greece, he said.

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