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Friday, May 17, 2013

Northern Irish man jailed for 14 years in Athens for drugs smuggling

Lorry driver Andrew Doherty, 38, from Co Tyrone, was found with 125kg of herbal cannabis in November 2011

A Northern Irish lorry driver is starting a 14-year prison sentence in a Greek jail for his part in a £1m herbal cannabis-smuggling operation.

Andrew Doherty, from Sion Mills, County Tyrone, was arrested in November 2011 as part of a police operation involving the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Garda Siochana in the Irish Republic and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency.

The arrest was made in Igoumenitsa, a coastal city in north-west Greece, after Greek police and customs officers stopped the lorry the 38-year-old was driving. They found 125kg of herbal cannabis, which police believe was destined for Northern Ireland.

A PSNI spokesman said Doherty appeared in court in Athens on Friday and was sentenced to 14 years in jail. A Greek was also jailed by the same court.

A number of other suspects were arrested at the time of the seizure, which included a further 100kg of herbal cannabis found in a warehouse in Greece.

Detective Chief Inspector Todd Clements, from the PSNI's organised crime branch, said: "We welcome this substantial sentence imposed on an individual involved in drugs supply. Drugs pose an international threat to local communities in Northern Ireland and organised crime branch is committed to working with agencies across the world to ensure Northern Ireland is a safer place. Our inquiries into this seizure will continue."


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An Early Greek Spring Brings Hope of Recovery

(Photo/Yianna Antoniou) The signs of spring are abundant in Greece, even in austerity-weary Athens where the smells of flowers bring a little hope to people buried under austerity measures. The smell of spring in Greece, even in the capital Athens, is overwhelming. The citrus and bitter orange trees are in blossom, the sweet aroma of their flowers so strong that it covers any unpleasant smell of ...

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Greece Celebrates International Museum Day on May 18

The Secretariat General of Culture of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs in cooperation with the International Council of Museums branch in Greece presented the program of celebrating events on the occasion of the International Museum Day on Saturday, May 18. Several institutions from around the country will take place in the festivities marking the essential role cultural ...

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Troika Anxious Over 2015-16 Fiscal Gap

Anti-austerity protesters in the streets of Athens With Prime Minister Antonis Samaras predicting a recovery for Greece’s economy as soon as next year, the country’s international lenders are more worried about 2015-16, saying the outlook is ';inherently uncertain" and will be the focus of negotiations with the government later this year, the European Commission said. The ...

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Greek Teacher Exam Strike Fizzles

Greek teachers who had been ordered not to strike on the first day of university entrance exams, showed up to monitor the tests on May 17, giving up their plans to protest requirements for extra work without ...

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Lesbian Kiss Greek Politics Hit Eurovision

Eurovision, the pop-schmaltz-saccharine-kitsch song contest that is known for bad taste and fantasy tunes that avoid the real world, has had a taste of gay marriage and Greek politics thrown into the mix for this year's final in Malmo, Sweden on May 18. In the second semifinal on May 16 - where Greece's entry was the last selected to go on – Finland's Lady Gaga-flavored ...

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Greek Parliament Disrupted By 'Heil Hitler' Shouts, Insults

A Greek parliamentary session was the scene of a contentious debate between rival political parties on Friday, ending in the ejection of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn...

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Smaller Art Athina does not scrimp on quality

By Margarita Pournara Smaller but livelier, Art Athina is back at the Faliro Arena on the southern coast of the Greek capital, and after the art ...

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Greek Prime Minister Visits China to Promote Bilateral Cooperation

Beijing, May 17 (Prensa Latina) The most notable activities of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in China, who is visiting the country at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Kegiang, are the investment and cooperation agreements on agriculture and sea transport, which show Chinese support for Greece's economic recovery. The Greek head of State held talks with Prime Minister Li, ...

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Greece faces slow, jobless recovery next year

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's deep, six-year recession is likely to end in 2014, but growth will be weak and unemployment will remain above 20 percent for another three years, the country's international debt inspectors said.

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Greek Festival kicks off in Wormleysburg with gyros, baklava and music


Greek Festival kicks off in Wormleysburg with gyros, baklava and music
PennLive.com
They prepare nearly everything from scratch including more than a dozen types of Greek pastries, sweet breads and dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves.) It's also one of the few places where you'll find authentic Greek coffee, baklava sundaes and saganaki, ...


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Greek vs Irish unions, 20-0


Kathimerini

Greek vs Irish unions, 20-0
Kathimerini
The Irish labor movement is very different from its Greek counterpart. The unions are affiliated to the Labour Party, which is part of the coalition government. In Greece they are headed by a number of party affiliates, which tempts the various ...


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Archaeological finds delay completion of Maliakos Gulf highway

The new section of national road on the Maliakos Gulf in central Greece will not be completed until the end of 2014 due to significant archaeological finds, it has been revealed.Some 23 kilometers of the 77.2-kilometer stretch is yet to be completed following repeated delays.The Stylida-Raches stretch is due in the fall of 2014 and the Lamia bypass is expected by the end of 2014.This could lead ...

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Armed robbers net 1 mln euros at Larissa bank

Two armed robbers made off with 1 million euros in a raid on a branch of National Bank in the main square of Larissa, central Greece, on ThursdayAccording to witnesses, the robbers pretended to be bank customers before pulling out their ...

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Two racist gang members held over arson attack on migrant cafe

Two Greek men, both aged 34, arrested in connection with an arson attack on the coffee bar of a Cameroonian national in the run-down central Athens neighborhood of Aghios Panteleimonas on Monday night appear to be members of a racist gang, police said on Thursday.According to police spokesman Christos Parthenis, a search by officers ...

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Exams begin Friday after Greek teachers call off strike

University entrance examinations are to begin as normal on Friday, with pupils sitting papers in Modern Greek, after the secondary school ...

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International Energy Saving Award For Crete

The International Conference MEDEEA-Mediterranean Energy Cities European Energy Awards that took place in Cyprus' capital Nicosia on May 15-16 awarded the municipality of Malevizi in the Greek island Crete for its energy-saving policies. During the conference, projects were awarded, among which the actions of Malevizi municipality, with the leading integration of the village Keramoutsi in ...

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Greek economy recovering but few jobs

GREECE'S international lenders say the country's six-year recession is still likely to end in 2014, but unemployment will remain above 20 per cent for another three years.
The European Commission's report released on Friday said Greece's economy is expected to grow by 0.6 per cent next year, although it noted this depends on faster reforms in the product and services ...

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Greek shipping magnates are not really feeling the whole economic depression thing

, an 288-metre LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) tanker with a capacity of 84,682 deadweight tonnes chartered by Russian energy giant Gazprom, arrived at the Japanese port of Tobata. The ship belonged to Dynagas, a privately held company owned by George Prokopiou, one of Greece's preeminent shipping magnates. It was a delivery of historic significance. To make it, ...

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Greece China sign communique for closer cooperation

Greek and Chinese government officials issued a joint communique on Friday agreeing to intensify cooperation in various sectors amid reports that more than 10 trade pacts had been signed since Prime Minister Antonis Samaras arrived in the capital of Beijing on Thursday."Greece and China agree to maintain the high level exchanges and contacts and to proceed with a strategic plan for the ...

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Entertainer at Greek island hotel charged with robbing stabbing 12-year-old guest

ATHENS, Greece - A Greek island hotel entertainer has been charged with attempted murder and theft for allegedly stabbing a guest's child 20 times after the 12-year-old confronted him over a theft. The Dutch suspect, who is 20, was formally accused by a prosecutor on Crete Thursday. He was jailed pending a court appearance next week. The Russian boy was severely injured in Tuesday's ...

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Fitch Takes Rating Action on Greek SF Tranches Following Sovereign Upgrade

Fitch Affirms Japan at 'A+'; Negative Outlook The affirmation of Japan's sovereign ratings in part reflects the greater commitment of the Bank of Japan and government to bring to an end two decades of economic stagnation and deflation. If successful and underpinned by structural reform to raise potential growth along with a credible medium-term deficit reduction plan, Japan's ...

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Young Greeks Could Get U.S. Work Visas

Ted Spyropoulos, Chairman of the SAE committee that lobbied to make it easier for young Greeks to come to the U.S. and work, with jobs drying up in Greece. WASHINGTON, D.C. - With unemployment for Greeks under 25 at a staggering 64 percent and many fleeing the country's crushing economic crisis in search of work and a better life, the door is opening for them in the United States, if only a ...

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Hot Salpa But Dont Hold The Tulisa

Greek-Irish model Georgia Salpa strikes the kind of pose that her many fans like, and which has ranked her among the world's beauties, and a virtual reality TV star. Two Greek beauties, Georgia Salpa and Cypriot Tulisa Contostavlos, have been rated among the 100 sexiest women in the world by the magazine FHM. Salpa, who was born in Athens to an Irish mother and Greek father, came in 10th ...

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New Democracy Takes Slim Lead Over SYRIZA

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s New Democracy (ND) Conservatives continued to hold a lead over the major opposition party Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) but by less than 1 percent in a poll conducted by the Marc/Alpha agency. ND had 21.6 percent with SYRIZA at 20.7 percent. The poll showed the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn still locked in third with 9.4 percent, ahead of Independent Greeks ...

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Greek Donkey Milk Olive Oil Cosmetics

Ten years ago, her husband made a farm with horses and donkeys in Edessa, out of love for the four-footed creatures. It was then that Crysoula Tsirogka, knowing about the beneficial properties of donkey milk, decided to give it every day to her child, who was facing respiratory problems. Since then, the child no longer needed medicine and his condition was significantly improved. Commercial use ...

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Greece To Adopt IRS Methods

Tax cheat-singer Tolis Voskopoulos got away with it With antiquated record keeping, court cases backed up a decade, and tax cheats still running rampant during a crushing economic crisis, Greece is planning to use the same kind of cross-referencing and collection techniques that make the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the most efficient – and feared – in the world, although ...

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Chinese president meets Greek PM calling for stronger partnership

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday and called for a stronger partnership between the two nations, with both having a rich traditional ...

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After upgrading Greeces credit rating Fitch boosts banks

Fitch Ratings on Friday upgraded several Greek Banks following a decision earlier this week to raise the country's credit rating by one grade, to B- from CCC, citing the ...

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UPDATE 1-Greece slow on asset sales but may tap bond market soon-EU/IMF


UPDATE 1-Greece slow on asset sales but may tap bond market soon-EU/IMF
Reuters
BRUSSELS/ATHENS, May 17 (Reuters) - Greece's foreign lenders expressed concern at its slow pace of asset sales on Friday but praised the country for tackling its budget gap and said it may be able to tap bond markets in 2014. In a report summarizing ...


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Canada deports Palestinian hijacker after 25-year legal battle

OTTAWA (Reuters) - After a 25-year legal battle, Canada has finally deported a Palestinian convicted of an attack on an Israeli airliner in 1968, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said on Monday. Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, a former Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine commando, took part in the assault on an El Al jet in Athens that killed an Israeli man. He was deported to Lebanon on Saturday. A Greek court sentenced him to 17 years in jail in 1970, but he was released a year later in a hostage exchange. He came to Canada in February 1987 under a false identity. ...

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Greek strikes halt air travel

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Flights in Greece were halted for four hours Thursday as the country's two largest labor unions staged work stoppages to protest austerity measures and a government decision to cancel a teachers' strike.

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Greek hotel entertainer stabs child

An entertainer at a Greek hotel has been charged with stabbing a 12-year-old Russian boy after he accused the man of stealing his laptop and mobile phone.

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Greek PM in China touts country as European 'gateway'

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday touted his troubled but improving economy as an attractive entry point for Chinese investment into the European Union. "Greece can become a real 'gateway' ...

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Greek parliament evicts far-right lawmaker for volley of insults

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's parliament evicted a far-right lawmaker for insulting rivals in a tumultuous debate on Friday that prompted jeers of "Heil Hitler" from a leftist deputy and bolstered calls to crack down on the nationalist Golden Dawn party.



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Women in trousers 'hostile', says Ukip donor

Demetri Marchessini aired controversial thoughts after publishing his book Women in Trousers: a Rear View

Nigel Farage is facing fresh embarrassment over a Ukip supporter after it emerged that one of the party's most generous donors believes that women are guilty of "hostile behaviour" by "deliberately" wearing trousers to make themselves unattractive to men.

Demetri Marchessini, a Greek-born shipping tycoon who gave Ukip £10,000 this year, made the comments in a coffee table book that features photographs of women from behind.

The millionaire teamed up with a photographer a decade ago to find "unattractive backsides", in the words of the Observer writer Liz Hoggard, on the streets of London and New York.

Marchessini wrote in Women in Trousers: A Rear View: "I adore women and want to see them looking beautiful. Everyone has the obligation to look as attractive as possible. It pains me to see women looking terrible.

"Walk along any street and you see women using trousers like a uniform every single day. This is hostile behaviour. They are deliberately dressing in a way that is opposite to what men would like. It is behaviour that flies against common sense, and also flies against the normal human desire to please."

In an interview with the Observer in 2003, the tycoon complained to Hoggard of the "vulgarity" of modern celebrities. He said: "Vulgarity is the name of the game today. Film stars today make no effort to look nice at all. [Jennifer] Lopez looks like a Mexican tart. I don't know how that can be a fashion leader."

He defended his book: "We were trying to get reality. Real women walking up and down the street. Normal life."

Marchessini said women should not wear trousers because they are meant for men's bodies. He said: "The interesting thing about this phenomenon is that, because women cannot see themselves from the rear, the vast majority of women are unaware that trousers are very unflattering to them. Trousers are made for men's bodies, which are mostly straight up and down.

"Women's bodies on the other hand consists of curves. Women have big bottoms – they are meant to have big bottoms. Countless women who would look lovely in dresses or skirts are embarrassingly unattractive in trousers."

Marchessini warned that women are undermining their chances of finding a partner by wearing trousers. "The more women dress like men, the less they are attractive to men. If a man finds a woman attractive, he will find her legs sexy even if they are not perfect, simply because they are her legs. Women know that men don't like trousers, yet they deliberately wear them."

Marchessini donated £5,000 to Ukip in February and a further £5,000 the following month – about 10% of the cash donations to the party.

Ukip has faced embarrassment before over sexism. Godfrey Bloom, one of the party's most prominent MEPs, complained in 2004 that women failed to clean properly behind fridges.

He said: "I want to deal with women's issues, because I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough. I am going to promote men's rights."


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