Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-08-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] Wildfire sweeps across Peloponnese mountain

[02] Nine-year-old Greek wins top actor award at Locarno film festival

[03] Weapon found near president's home not army issue

[04] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud, some rain on Monday

[05] November 17 suspect says he pulled the trigger on UK diplomat

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[07] State doctors launch 48-hour strike Monday

[01] Wildfire sweeps across Peloponnese mountain

A wildfire raged for the third straight day on Sunday through a remote, mountainous tract in Laconia, the Peloponnese.

Firefighters were hindered in their land and air attempt to contain the blaze in Itylo due to inaccessible terrain and high winds.

Another forest fire broke out in Laconia on Sunday, with water dropping helicopters and fire engines called in to try to halt the blaze in Selasia.

[02] Nine-year-old Greek wins top actor award at Locarno film festival

Nine-year-old Yiorgos Karayiannis has been awarded the best male actor award at the Locarno film festival for his performance in ''A Tough Farewell: My Father,'' directed by Penny Panayotopoulou.

The film about death through the eyes of a child was well received by critics at the festival.

Karayiannis was competing against stars including Gerard Depardieu and Robin Williams.

[03] Weapon found near president's home not army issue

A gun found dumped in a carrier bag near the home of President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos does not belong to the army, its general staff said on Sunday.

The FN-type weapon was found on Saturday wrapped in newspaper near a motorcycle parked in the Athens suburb of Paleo Psychiko along with a magazine and eight 9-millimetre cartridges.

The owner of the vehicle reported the find to police, who said they had no record of the weapon being used in a crime.

[04] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud, some rain on Monday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, with showers or isolated storms expected in the Ionian, western central mainland, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace. Winds variable, moderate to strong, turning very strong in the Ionian. In the north, temperatures will range from 21C to 33C; on the rest of the mainland from 23C to 36C; and in the islands from 25C to 35C. Temperatures in Athens between 24C and 37C; and in Thessaloniki between 23C and 33C.

[05] November 17 suspect says he pulled the trigger on UK diplomat

Savvas Xiros, charged with taking part in the notorious November 17 terrorist group, confessed on Sunday to pulling the trigger in a drive-by shooting two years ago that left a British diplomat dead, judicial sources said.

Xiros, hospitalised since a botched bomb attack in June, told a magistrate that he shot military attache Stephen Saunders in Athens after a member of the group assigned to the slaying was foiled by a gun that wouldn't fire, the sources said.

Authorities have been unravelling November 17 since the failed bomb attack in Piraeus that left Xiros, a 40-year-old church mural painter, seriously injured when the device he was carrying exploded in his hand.

The police campaign has included a barrage of arrests; raids on arms caches, safehouses and homes; and probes into computer records, phone calls and bank accounts. Trial dates have yet to be set.

The UK brigadier's murder was the last of 23 killings in the urban guerrilla group's 27-year history.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank until Monday.

U.S. dollar 0.980

Pound sterling 0.640

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.386

Japanese yen 118.1

Swiss franc 1.470

Norwegian kroner 7.523

Cyprus pound 0.578

Canadian dollar 1.541

Australian dollar 1.829

[07] State doctors launch 48-hour strike Monday

Doctors in state health centres and medical practices are to begin a 48-hour strike on Monday in a running dispute with the government over pay and status.

Employed by the Social Security Foundation, the doctors are seeking payment of a monthly allowance given to staff in state agencies overseen by the health ministry; and salaried status for 5,500 colleagues hired on a contractual basis.

Minimum staff will report to work during the strike to handle emergencies, as required by law.

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