Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-02-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek FM meets with Powell, UN Chief

[02] ND leader voices reservations on basis of Greek-Turkish dialogue

[03] Weather Forecast: Cloud, local showers on Monday

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[01] Greek FM meets with Powell, UN Chief

WASHINGTON (ANA - T. Ellis) - Greece's foreign minister George Papandreou had a brief meeting Saturday with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the sidelines of the 2002 Winter Olympics taking place in Salt Lake City, Utah.

During the discussion, the two men examined developments in the Middle East and the role Greece could play in the framework of the initiatives being undertaken by the EU.

Papandreou further brought up the Greek idea of an Olympic Truce, an issue he also discussed during a telephone conversation with IOC chief Jacques Roggue.

While in Salt Lake City, Papandreou also met with UN secretary general Kofi Annan, with whom he discussed Greece's efforts to promote the Olympic Truce idea, which the UN supports, as well as the latest developments in the Cyprus issue as evolving given the current round of negotiations between Cyprus president Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash taking place in Nicosia.

[02] ND leader voices reservations on basis of Greek-Turkish dialogue

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Costas Karamanlis in an interview with the Sunday edition of "Typos" newspaper, held reservations as to the basis of the impending Greek-Turkish dialogue.

Karamanlis also called for the specification of certain of the Copenhagen criteria for the accession of the new countries to the European Union and expressed the need for the government to strive for Cyprus' EU accession during Greece's EU rotating presidency the first half of 2003.

He appeared reserved as to the improvement of the climate on Greek-Turkish relations, at least as the basis of the new dialogue between the countries.

[03] Weather Forecast: Cloud, local showers on Monday

Cloud was forecast throughout Greece on Monday, with scattered cloud in the northwest and local showers in the east and south, and the possibility of heavy rainfall in the Aegean. The weather was expected to improve later in the day, beginning in the west and north. Temperatures were expected to range from 1 to 11 C in the north, 4-13 C in the Ionian and trhe rest of the mainland, and 8-14 C in the Aegean. Athens will be overcast, with possibility of showers, and temperatures of 6-13 C. The same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures of 3-11 C.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro until Monday

U.S. dollar 0.881

Pound sterling 0.623

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.334

Japanese yen 118.4

Swiss franc 1.484

Norwegian kroner 7.894

Cyprus pound 0.580

Canadian dollar 1.406

Australian dollar 1.726

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