Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-03-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] Lesvos cancer child's death prompts questions in Parliament

[02] Skopje government denies offensive against Albanian extremists

[03] Greek FM due in Skopje for talks with FYROM's government

[04] Cyprus-flagged 'Cyborg' catches fire off Spanish coast

[05] ASE opening: marginal increase with focus on small cap stocks

[06] Foreign Exchange - Tuesday buying rates

[07] Weather Forecast - Partly cloudy with scattered showers on Tuesday

[01] Lesvos cancer child's death prompts questions in Parliament

The death of four-year-old Panagiotis Vasilellis from cancer while the National Bank was sitting on millions of drachmas donated for his treatment in the US was raised by MPs in Parliament on Tuesday, in questions to the government's health and welfare ministers and to Prime Minister Costas Simitis himself.

[02] Skopje government denies offensive against Albanian extremists

SKOPJE (ANA - M. Vihou) Reports by CNN and the BBC regarding an military offensive against Albanian extremists in the north were denied by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Tuesday.

A spokesman for FYROM President Boris Trajkovski denied that troops had attacked Albanian extremists holed up in the village of Tanusevci, on the borders with Kosovo, for the past 19 days. He said the night had passed relatively calmly, with only sporadic gunfire.

The foreign ministry in Skopje, meanwhile, reported that 177 people, mainly women and children, had abandoned a village in the Kumanovo area and headed toward Skopje, claiming that they feared bomb attacks on their village by FYROM security forces. The village in question in mainly Albanian and is near the border with Serbia.

[03] Greek FM due in Skopje for talks with FYROM's government

Foreign Minister George Papandreou is due in Skopje on Tuesday for talks with the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding the tide of violence that has spilled over the borders of Kosovo into FYROM's northern regions.

Papandreouwill go to FYROM directly from Vienna, where he had been on a three-day official visit, changing his plans at the last minute in response to the increasingly volatile situation in the tiny republic.

While in Skopje, he is expected to have talks with FYROM President Boris Trajkovski and FYROM Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski.

Late on Monday afternoon, Papandreou also spoke with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, to inform him about the visit to Skopje and on Athens' positions regarding the crisis in the region.

According to Greek foreign ministry sources, Powell expressed total agreement with the Greek approach, which calls for a strong message from the international community regarding FYROM's territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders.

Government sources, meanwhile, said that Georgievski had also been in touch with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis over the phone on Monday night, asking for Athens' help in containing the tense situation that has arisen in the region.

(Photo - 296581)

[04] Cyprus-flagged 'Cyborg' catches fire off Spanish coast

The crew of the Cyprus-flagged motor vessel "Cyborg" was evacuated by the Spanish Coast Guard on Tuesday, after a fire broke out in the engine room for unknown causes as it sailed four nautical miles from the shores of Almera, in the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia.

The Greek captain, Vassilis Poulis, first engineer, Panagiotis Tsoutsoulis, his wife Georgia and 24 seamen of various nationalities were all taken to safety uninjured.

The skipper had earlier sent out a distress signal after the crew had failed to put out the fire, which spread because of a flammable cargo.

The ship, which the first engineer's wife had boarded as a visitor, had sailed from Italy headed for Spain.

[05] ASE opening: marginal increase with focus on small cap stocks

Equity prices rose marginally at the opening of trading on Tuesday on the Athens Stock Exchange, with the general index up 0.10 percent at 3,175.43 points and turnover at 15.1 million euro.

For the second day, investor interest was focused on small cap stocks.

[06] Foreign Exchange - Tuesday buying rates

Tuesday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 363.272

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 534.0072

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.279

Swedish kroner 37.283

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 304.132

Swiss franc 219.838

Norwegian kroner 41.092

Cyprus pound 583.566

Canadian dollar 235.357

Australian dollar 189.769

[07] Weather Forecast - Partly cloudy with scattered showers on Tuesday

Partly cloudy weather will prevail throughout Greece on Tuesday with scattered showers in Macedonia, Thrace and the islands of the north and east of the Aegean.

Winds will be south-southwesterly, moderate to strong.

In the north, temperatures will range from 6C to 18C; on the rest of the mainland and the Ionian from 9C to 23C; and in the Aegean islands from 13C to 21C.

Partly cloudy with the possibility of rain in the evening in Athens, with temperatures between 11C and 21C. Similar weather in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 7C to 17C.

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