Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-04-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] Kosovo-Visit-Easter-Stephanopoulos-Tsohatzopoulos

[02] Corinth Canal-Strike

[03] Easter-Church-Killing

[04] Easter-Orthodox-Turkey

[05] Simitis-Turkey-Balkans

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates Until Tuesday

[07] Weather Forecast-Easter Monday

[01] Kosovo-Visit-Easter-Stephanopoulos-Tsohatzopoulos

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Sunday visited Greek troops stationed in Kosovo to share Easter celebrations with them.

[02] Corinth Canal-Strike

The Corinth Canal will remain closed to sea traffic until Tuesday due to a strike by workers who say they are owed backpay.

Their employer claims the workers have received their legally ordained pay, authorities said on Sunday.

[03] Easter-Church-Killing

Two people were killed, one of them a child, when a gunman opened fire on worshippers taking part in an Easter service from a church forecourt, northern police said on Sunday.

The dead were identified as Yorgos Karayiannis, aged 11, and Dimitris Stoupas, a 47-year-old store owner. No-one else was hurt in the attack, which occurred in the village of Karitsa, Pieria.

Witnesses claimed that the gunman was Apostolos Yiannoulis, 37, unemployed, who had a record of arrest for drug possession and abuse.

Yiannoulis fired six bullets into the crowd from the front door of his home, 20 metres from the church forecourt, at 2355 on Saturday, just before the priest's traditional declaration of Christ's resurrection.

Police have launched a manhunt for Yiannoulis, who disappeared immediately after the attack.

[04] Easter-Orthodox-Turkey

ISTANBUL (ANA/A.Kourkoulas) - Thousands of Orthodox faithful from Greece and abroad filled streets around the Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul to celebrate Easter with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian church.

After a candlelit procession on Saturday night, the record number of visitors for Orthdox Easter on the shores of the Golden Horn at midnight heard Vartholomeos declare that Christ is Risen, the climax of the celebration.

Among officials from Greece and abroad attending the celebration of Christ's resurrection was the Greek ambassador to Turkey, Ioannis Korantis.

[05] Simitis-Turkey-Balkans

Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Sunday welcomed a decision by Turkey to lower its defence spending by an equivalent of 17 trillion drachmas, saying the move followed Greek cuts as well as the spirit of the times.

"This is a very large sum, roughly quadruple the amount that Greece spent in the years in question. I will not go into the matter of whether the move was made because Greece had earlier taken a similiar initiative," Simitis told reporters on the Ionian island of Corfu.

In the throes of a financial crisis, Ankara has announced that it will postpone spending of 19.5 billion US dollars earmarked for defence procurements. Athens is to postpone by at least four years a purchase of 60 Eurofighter jets worth 4.8 billion US dollars in order to help fund social projects.

"The financial element takes precedence, as it has also taken precedence in Turkey, when the global environment is such that it makes all parties stop and think about stability and growth. Greece did exactly that in recent years, creating an environment of stability and development," he said.

Greece's efforts to join the European Union's euro zone and its successful entry on January 1, 2001 had set an example to countries in the Balkan region.

"It is no coincidence that Turkey, exactly at the end of the period of our endeavour, sought to become a candidate for entry into the European Union, the prime minister said.

"It is indisputable that this development is also due to our own endeavour in the economic sector, and not only in the economic sector, he added.

The prime minister also noted that despite a war in Kosovo and current instability in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia due to nationalist conflicts, a climate of cooperation had emerged, rather than one of fear.

Greece had been the main player in a drive towards cooperation, stability and peace in the Balkans with the European Union and the US also seeking the same objective, Simitis said.

"We helped along Turkey's candidacy for the European Union, thus promoting a climate of cooperation in the region. This decision was the result of a broader dynamic, of which we are at the epicentre, as pioneers," he added.

The prime minister, who is spending Easter on Corfu, visited a naval base on the island, accompanied bythe Deputy Press Minister Telemachus Hytiris and Deputy Finance Minister George Drys.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates Until Tuesday

Tuesday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 382.006

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 547.583

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 45.296

Swedish kroner 37.554

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.111

Swiss franc 222.625

Norwegian kroner 41.873

Cyprus pound 584.136

Canadian dollar 245.126

Australian dollar 193.982

[07] Weather Forecast-Easter Monday

Mostly sunny weather is forecast for Easter Monday although Thrace and the Dodecanese and eastern Aegean islands will start cloudy and showery, easing off during the day. Winds variable, light to strong, turning very strong at sea. Temperatures in the north will range from 3C to 14C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 5C to 17C; and in the Aegean islands from 10C to 19C. Mainly sunny in Athens with temperatures between 8C and 17C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 5C to 14C.

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