Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-03-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Iraq war will not affect Olympics, culture minister says

[02] Fruit & veg prices jump up to 117 pct since start of the year

[03] Journalism conference in Samothrace to be dedicated to 2004 Olympic

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[05] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Tuesday

[06] Greek stocks plunge on Monday

[01] Iraq war will not affect Olympics, culture minister says

There were at least 18 months between the Iraq crisis and the start of the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the two issues were in no way related, Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Monday as he emerged from a meeting on the Olympic Torch Relay chaired by Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

Asked if the Olympic Torch would be passing through Baghdad, the minister expressed hope that ''the flames of war will have died out in the world by 2004'' and stressed that the messages of the Cultural Olympiad, the Olympic Truce and the Games themselves were a ''prelude to peace''.

Apart from Venizelos, the meeting was also attended by the head of the Athens Olympics Organising Committee, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Deputy Press Minister Tilemahos Hytiris and Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

Commenting on the meeting, Papandreou said that it had focused on practical issues, such as programming, the cities that the Olympic Torch would be passing through and events along the route.

[02] Fruit & veg prices jump up to 117 pct since start of the year

Fruit and vegetables prices have risen by up to 117.81 percent since the beginning of January due to adverse weather and the impact on crops, the development ministry said on Monday.

In a regular statement on prices, the ministry also warned that the increase was likely to continue, acting as inflationary pressure.

Green peppers posted the sharpest rise at 117.81 percent, followed by spring onions at 104.27 percent, aubergines at 100 percent, and spinach at 95.31 percent. The lowest increase was shown by potatoes at 11 percent, the statement said.

[03] Journalism conference in Samothrace to be dedicated to 2004 Olympic Games

The 11th Panhellenic Journalism Conference, which will be held this year on the island of Samothrace from July 3-6, will be dedicated to the 2004 Olympic Games.

Taking part in the conference will be approximately 400 journalists from Greece and abroad, including representatives of international journalist unions, journalists with international acclaim, politicians, world sport pesronalities, Olympic Games medallists and members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.088

Pound sterling 0.688

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.296

Japanese yen 128.1

Swiss franc 1.478

Norwegian kroner 7.866

Cyprus pound 0.588

Canadian dollar 1.600

Australian dollar 1.815

[05] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Tuesday

Cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, turning to rain and some snowfall on high ground in eastern Thessaly, the eastern central mainland, Evia, the eastern Peloponnese, the Cyclades, Crete, eastern Aegean and Dodecanese. Winds northerly, very strong to gale force. In the north, temperatures will range from 3C to 8C; on the rest of the mainland from 0C to 11C; and in the islands from 5C to 13C. Temperatures in Athens between 3C and 10C; and in Thessaloniki from 1C to 8C.

[06] Greek stocks plunge on Monday

Greek stocks ended sharply lower on Monday following a negative climate in international markets as fears of an imminent war in Iraq led investors to the safety of fixed-income assets, gold and the Swiss franc.

The general index fell 1.68 percent to end at 1,488.49 points, with turnover a low 46.5 million euros.

The Publication, IT Solutions, Textile and Investment sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (6.46 percent, 5.29 percent, 5.16 percent and 3.69 percent, respectively), while the parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks dropped 3.34 percent.

The Food-Beverage and Retail sectors suffered the smallest losses of the day (-1.27 percent and -0.74 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.96 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 2.10 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 2.61 percent lower. The wider FTSE/ASE 140 index ended 2.04 percent down.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 296 to 37 with another 26 issues unchanged.

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