Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-08-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM confident Athens will be ready, safe for the 2004 Olympics

[02] IOC's Oswald satisfied with Olympic preparations

[03] Suspect ID'd as Faliraki assailant ordered jailed pending trial

[04] Archbishop Christodoulos arrives in Poland for official visit

[05] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Tuesday

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[07] Political leaders return from holidays; Olympics top PM's agenda

[08] Illegals intercepted on Samos

[01] PM confident Athens will be ready, safe for the 2004 Olympics

A day after Athens 2004 organisers (ATHOC) confidently proclaimed the successful conclusion of three Olympic ?test events? over the weekend, Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Monday appeared satisfied over progress with Olympic preparations, stressing that Greece will be ready for the Games.

Accompanied by Athens 2004 Organising Committee President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Culture Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou, the premier toured the Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre (off the coast where the sailing competition will be held) as well as the Faliron Coastal Zone Olympic Complex, which includes several under-construction venues that will host beach volleyball, the handball preliminaries and Taekwondo.

''The projects are on schedule and they will be ready on time. Greece will be ready and safe during the Olympic Games?, the premier told reporters following his tour.

On her part, Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said the purpose of the Olympic ?test events? was to test venues, systems, procedures and the staff, so that everything can be up and working during the actual Olympic Games.

Four competitions were completed without any glitches last week at Olympic venues in and around Athens archery, canoe/kayak, equestrian events and cycling.

[02] IOC's Oswald satisfied with Olympic preparations

Denis Oswald, who heads the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Games, told premier Simitis on Monday

he was pleased with the progress of preparation for the Athens 2004 Games, during a one-and-half-hour meeting they had, attended also by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organizing Committee (ATHOC) President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.

Speaking on the rather hot and popular 'security issue', Oswald noted there should be no concern about safety of the Athens 2004 Games, while commenting on certain reports appearing in the foreign press and bringing up the specific issue, he underlined that all the cities which have organised the Games have faced similar critique some months before the Games started.

In statements after the end of the meeting, Osward said: ''I am overall happy with the Olympic Games preparation. With regard to security, it remains first priority, but there should be no concern as everyone works hard on that issue.''

[03] Suspect ID'd as Faliraki assailant ordered jailed pending trial

Authorities on the holiday island of Rhodes on Monday ordered the continued incarceration of a 21-year-old British man charged with manslaughter following a nightclub brawl last week that left a teenage holiday-maker bleeding to death.

Peter-Mark Navarro was remanded in custody after he was arraigned before a local judicial magistrate on the popular Dodecanese Island.

According to police, he confessed to slashing 17-year-old Paddy Dorans neck with a broken beer bottle during an alcohol-fuelled melee between two groups of young British tourists at the raucous Faliraki resort. Authorities had also announced last week that he had first been identified as the assailant by three of the men in custody.

Doran, from Peterborough, central England, was with a group of friends identified as British citizens originally from Northern Ireland.

According to reports, the brawl began after a minor altercation inside a local disco club.

Conversely, another five suspects, mostly in their early 20s, were freed after paying a 4,000-euro bail. They were charged with ?direct complicity? in the homicide.

[04] Archbishop Christodoulos arrives in Poland for official visit

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos arrived in Poland on Sunday afternoon for an official visit to the Orthodox Church of Poland, which will last until Friday.

Christodoulos was welcomed at Warsaw airport by Metropolitan Savvas of Warsaw and a number of other clergymen.

Addressing Christodoulos, Metropolitan Savvas said the visit was signifying a greater tightening of ties of brotherhood existing among the Greek and Polish churches.

For his part Archbishop Christodoulos pointed to the ''unbreakable ties'' between the Polish and Greek people, which as he said were developed since the 19th century.

[05] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Tuesday

Sunny weather is forecast in all parts of the country on Tuesday, with scattered cloud only in the afternoon in Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace. Possibility of sporadic showers in the mountainous regions. Winds northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in the southern Aegean. Temperatures in the north will range from 18C to 37C; in western Greece from 19C to 39C; and in the Aegean islands from 22C to 35C. Temperatures in Athens between 24C and 37C; and in Thessaloniki from 22C to 36C.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.278

Pound sterling 0.708

Danish kroner 7.491

Swedish kroner 9.315

Japanese yen 135.0

Swiss franc 1.557

Norwegian kroner 8.370

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.566

Australian dollar 1.710

[07] Political leaders return from holidays; Olympics top PM's agenda

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis returned to Athens on Saturday after concluding his summer holidays, while the rest of the country's political leadership is expected to have returned to the capital by Monday.

According to sources, the first items on the premier's agenda will be preparations for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games as well as preparation for his early September keynote address at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).

On Monday, Simitis is set to meet with IOC Coordinating Commission head Dennis Oswald, among others.

The premier will also meet with several top ministers to discuss a so-called ''social convergence charter'', which will be unveiled during a customary state-of-the-nation address given by Greek premiers to inaugurate the trade exhibition in Thessaloniki.

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Costas Karamanlis will also return on Monday for contacts with his staff, as he will also prepare for his address at TIF, traditionally given by the main opposition leader a week after the prime minister's speech.

Karamanlis toured the quake-stricken Ionian island of Lefkada over the weekend.

[08] Illegals intercepted on Samos

Ten illegal immigrants were intercepted early Sunday by the coast guard on a remote part of the eastern Aegean island of Samos. All of the Third World illegals were transferred to a reception centre on the island.

According to reports, a Turkish smuggler who ferried the group onto Greek territory escaped arrest.

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