Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-10-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] President expresses abhorrence over hostages' ordeal in Moscow

[02] Road to ''Euroforce'' creation open, Greek premier says

[03] Deputy FM attends BSEC foreign ministers meeting in Albania

[04] Exhibition on the history of writing in Athens

[05] Great leap forward in Greece in orthopedic surgery

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[07] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Saturday

[08] Greek stocks remain under pressure on Friday

[01] President expresses abhorrence over hostages' ordeal in Moscow

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos on Friday expressed his abhorrence over the taking of hundreds of hostages by Chechen rebels in a Moscow theatre.

On arrival in Thessaloniki to attend the October 28 national holiday celebrations, Stephanopoulos said ''we are witness to a criminal act,'' against innocent people which regardless of its cause, is condemned by all.

Noting that the world ''is going through a difficult time,'' the president said that in view of the dangers on the international horizon, Greeks are obliged to remain united and on the alert and be prepared to confront any situation.

The protagonist of the Moscow Art Theatre, Irina Miroshinshenko, which is performing in Thessaloniki, expressed shock over the tragic events in Moscow, stating that she and the other performers are in constant touch with colleagues and relatives to hear the latest news about the tragic event.

Miroshinshenko, 58, is a member of the Moscow Art Theatre since 1965.

[02] Road to ''Euroforce'' creation open, Greek premier says

BRUSSELS (ANA - D. Stamboglis) - The road for an agreement for the creation of the ''Euroforce'' has been opened, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis said on Friday during a press conference here, after the end of an informal EU summit.

It is an issue between the European Union and NATO, Simitis added, stressing that it is not a Greek-Turkish affair or an EU-Turkish affair.

On Friday, in Brussels the 15 Union leaders approved a text that concerns the cooperation of the EU member-states in peacekeeping missions with NATO infrastructures.

Also, the summit's conclusions included a second text, in which the principles of the EU treaties and those of the United Nations' Charter are reaffirmed and presents a framework for the actions of the European Union.

According to Simitis the 15 leaders agreed on the two texts and asked of European Union security and defense high representative Javier Solana to discuss the issue with NATO, so that the two sides may come to an agreement.

[03] Deputy FM attends BSEC foreign ministers meeting in Albania

Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Magriotis took part in the 7th meeting of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) pact foreign ministers in Albania on Friday.

The meeting unanimously adopted a Greek proposal to take advantage of the Greek EU presidency in order to enhance EU relations with the BSEC. The Greek presidency intends to promote talks on a political level between the two organisations and to organise a meeting in Thessaloniki for European, Black Sea and Caucasus business people.

They also agreed to begin a cultural communications network linking ports in Greece and the Black Sea.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Magriotis had talks with Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano, Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta and other local officials.

During the meetings, Magriotis stressed that Greece would continue to support Albania's European prospects and contribute to its development and modernisation. He also noted that Greece was particularly interested in Albania's ethnic Greek minority, which it considered a ''bridge of communication and friendship'' between the two countries.

[04] Exhibition on the history of writing in Athens

An exhibition on the history of writing through the ages, on loan from the Warzburg University in Germany and enriched by material from the Epigraphical Museum in Athens, will open its doors at Athens university's Kostis Palamas building on October 31 and run until the end of November.

The collection is currently on display in the town of Wurzburg in Germany and spans the history of writing in all cultures from the earliest Neolithic symbols and ideograms circa 3000 B.C. to modern printed letters. The exhibition also spans all cultures, from runic scripts to Chinese ideograms and Egyptian hieroglyphs and also includes a section on musical notation. In Greece, it will further include characteristic examples of Greek inscriptions that illustrate the development of Greek script, in particular.

The exhibition is taking place under the auspices of the culture ministry and will be officially inaugurated next Thursday at 18:00.

It will be open to the public between 10:00-13:00 and 17:00-20:00 daily, except on November 16-17, and entrance will be free of charge.

[05] Great leap forward in Greece in orthopedic surgery

Great progress has been made in Greece these past few years in orthopedics through microsurgery, it was announced at a medical conference in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Friday.

The latest developments in the sector of orthopedic surgery enable the expert scientists to rejoin severed fingers and legs and other parts of the body with great success.

Operations which were impossible to be performed in the past are done today with the aid of the surgical microscope.

This was stated during the sessions of the 58th Panhellenic Orthopedics Conference which was organised in Thessaloniki by the Greek Society of Orthopedic Surgery.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 0.984

Pound sterling 0.633

Danish kroner 7.491

Swedish kroner 9.201

Japanese yen 122.1

Swiss franc 1.478

Norwegian kroner 7.416

Cyprus pound 0.576

Canadian dollar 1.539

Australian dollar 1.771

[07] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Saturday

Sunny weather is forecast in all parts of the country with light cloud in the east and south during the morning. Winds northerly, light to moderate, turning strong in the southern Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 9C to 20C; in the Ionian from 12C to 24C; and in the Aegean from 16C to 25C. Temperatures in Athens between 16C and 24C; and in Thessaloniki from 13C to 20C.

[08] Greek stocks remain under pressure on Friday

Greek stocks ended the last trading session of the week lower in the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday, hit by waves of profit taking selling throughout the session.

The general index ended at 1,761.29 points, off 0.90 percent, for a net loss of 3.21 percent in the week.

Turnover was a low 59.2 million euros. The Holding, Insurance and Bank sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (3.63 percent, 2.54 percent and 1.71 percent, respectively), while the Construction, Wholesale and Retail sectors scored gains (0.55 percent, 0.18 percent and 0.05 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.32 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index fell 0.94 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index eased 0.15 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 209 to 86 with another 54 issues unchanged.

The market's index commission on Friday presented its new FTCSA/ASE 140 index, which includes all shares included in the three existing FTSE/ASE indices of the market. The new index will begin trading from December 2.

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