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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Israel team up for Mediterranean gas

by  Kostis Geropoulos ATHENS – Greece, Cyprus and Israel might also hold a trilateral summit soon, following the talks between the Greek, Cypriot and Egyptian leaders in Cairo on November 8. Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed the Cairo Declaration during their meeting, agreeing to cooperate in several areas such as combating terrorism and making use of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean. Anastasiades said in Cairo that the three countries discussed increasing cooperation in the field of energy, with the belief that the discovery of hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean can contribute to supporting regional cooperation for stability and prosperity. It is thought Greece and Cyprus may hold a similar meeting with Israel in January. Anastasiades is due to visit Jerusalem on December 2. Leo Drollas, a London-based oil and gas consultant, told New Europe in Athens on November 11 on the sidelines of a conference on Energy and Development 2014 organised by the Institute of Energy for South-East Europe (IENE) that a tripartite summit between Greece, Israel and Cyprus is a good idea. The three countries could in theory boost EU energy security by supplying gas to Europe, he added. “Greece should get closer to Israel because on many levels it shares common interests and now this new dimension of gas adds to the pressures to get closer. Greece and Israel are both small countries that don’t have huge natural resources, especially in energy and the new discoveries that Israel has made and Greece might make or is likely to make, make them much more similar to stand alone against a quite hostile world in this area,” Drollas said. He noted that the situation is more complicated with Cyprus because the island is divided and Turkey is the protecting power of the north. Regarding the Cairo declaration signed by Samaras, Anastasiades and el-Sisi, Drollas said it has a deeper significance than just the hydrocarbons. “It’s a realignment of countries in this region. Greece has a great interest in hydrocarbons, of course, both via Cyprus and its discoveries and the potential discoveries in Greece itself. So Greece needs allies, so to speak, to further these developments and it’s always good to have friends in the region who have friends who have common interests,” he said. The three countries are challenging Turkey’s efforts to chart gas deposits in areas of the east Mediterranean claimed by Cyprus. Samaras is expected to meet Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Athens on December 5-6. Egypt’s relations with Turkey quickly soured last year after el-Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement supported by Turkey's government. Drollas told New Europe that Turkey feels under stress because of what’s happening on its own borders and it’s being quite provocative in certain maneuvers in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean. “I don’t believe Turkey is more belligerent than before, but it’s coming under stress and it’s trying to find some way of showing its importance and power,” he said. Meanwhile, energy-starved Egypt badly needs natural gas imports. It has been unable to clinch attractive import deals with allies like Russia and Algeria at least partly because it lacks re-gasification technology needed to import liquefied natural gas (LNG). At the same time, Egypt has excess capacity in its LNG facilities because it is using so much of its own gas internally and could export Cypriot or Israeli gas to the world markets. “It makes perhaps sense instead of building a new LNG facility on Cyprus to run a pipeline from the fields which are not that far from the Egyptian facilities, instead of building a $5-billion or more facility on Cyprus,” Drollas said. “On the other hand, for political reasons it might be best for Cyprus to have an LNG facility of its own because it can then sell to the world market and especially the European market which is, of course, its main area of activity,” he said. Drollas also said that Israel is unlikely to use Egypt’s LNG facilities to export gas. “I personally don’t think that Israel will go down that route with Egypt although they are closer now with the change of government in Egypt. The situation there is always very unstable underneath and the enemies of the current government might use that as a stick to beat the government in Egypt and the Egyptian current government has many enemies in the region,” Drollas said. “For its own strategic future Israel might be better off if it has an LNG facility of its own or to share one with Cyprus. After all the discoveries are close to both countries - I would have thought rather than get too involved with Egypt,” he said. He said that for Israel, Cyprus and Greece building an LNG facility could facilitate exports to Europe. “They could end up through pipelines but an LNG facility opens the country to the world market and it might be better in the very long run to have that kind of facility rather than have pipelines because the pipelines have to traverse quite deep water to get to the Greek side. It’s unlikely that a pipeline would go onto Turkey given current condition or any foreseeable conditions so I’m not so sure that might be the right way,” Drollas said. See also: Greece, Cyprus, Egypt to boost East Med cooperation


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Greeks and Jews Cross Paths, Make Common Cause After WWII

NEW YORK – For most citizens of the nations on the winning side of WWII, the transition back to normal life was relatively simple, but for some Jewish Americans, the victory over nazi Germany was a call to duty and adventure. Charles Weiss was an undergrad at Harvard University in the summer of 1945 but […] The post Greeks and Jews Cross Paths, Make Common Cause After WWII appeared first on The National Herald.


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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' Sequel News! Don't Act Like You're Not Interested

Lest you thought the playful stereotyping of Greeks was something reserved for the last decade…NO. Making fun of people of foreign descent is ...


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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' officially a go, director Kirk Jones hired

Back in May, original Greek Wedding star Nia Vardalos confirmed that the sequel was in the works. John Corbett is also set to return, with Tom Hanks' ...


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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' Has a Director, Is Officially Happening

Kirk Jones, who helmed "Nanny McPhee," will take the director's chair for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2," which now has a distribution deal with ...


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Santorini and Crete among top hotel destinations

The Greek islands of Santorini (pictured) and Crete have made it into the list of the world’s top 25 tourism destinations with the best hotels, compiled by Agoda.com. Santorini secured seventh place and Crete 12th in the global rankings of the leading onl... ...


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Internet penetration rates soar across country

Penetration of information technology continues to increase in Greece, as Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) figures on Tuesday showed a significant rise in the number of Greek households with a Web connection and in the portion of the population tha... ...


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Don't fake the monk: Greek police find a fraud

Fugitive civil servant sentenced to three life terms found to have been living for years as a monk in remote retreats


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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2′ Nabs A Distributor and Director

In May, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 got engaged. Now, it's hired its wedding planner and found a venue. The sequel to the monster hit 2002 comedy ...


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Greek Islands offers specials for Veterans Day

Today Greek Islands offers specials for Veteran's Day: ½ off gyros during lunch and ½ off gyro platter during dinner. The family-owned restaurant has ...


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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' Brings on 'Nanny McPhee' Director

... as they did on the original My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which grossed over $241 million domestically and $368 million worldwide, making it one of ...


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Euro 2016 Group F Betting: Romania remain as favourites but O'Neill's men are the value play

Anghel Iordanescu's men took a small measure of revenge for that defeat when they defeated Greece in their opening Euro 2016 qualification tie.


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Investor's Watch List – National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG), Hecla Mining Company ...

Miami, Florida – Monday, November 11, 2014 – (TechSonian)_National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG)along with its subsidiaries, offers ...


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Greece town budget for 2015 keeps taxes stable

For Greece residents, the upshot of the town's 2015 budget is that there won't be an increase in the overall tax rate. But while the rate will remain ...


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Losses force Frigoglass to close Turkish unit

Greek refrigerator maker Frigoglass reported a 32 percent deeper third-quarter loss on Monday, hurt by higher taxes and lower spending from brewers in Russia. The company, which sells coolers to beverage companies including Coca-Cola HBC and brewers in Eu... ...


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A Conversion With Anastasia Zannis

Groomed for stardom from childhood, from the tennis court to the operatic stage, Anastasia Zannis chose a varied musical path. She has sung in places as geographically diverse as Calgary, Canada, where she performed at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony; Marathon, Greece for the start of the mythic race; and Carnegie Hall, her biggest triumph to date, sandwiched incidentally between the two. Now she is poised to propel her career into a new orbit while never forgetting the country she calls home. Anastasia Zannis is not quite ready to speak about herself. While not exactly self-effacing, she preferred to convey her ideas and reveal her dreams to The Huffington Post in a conversation with me... We are seated in front of my grandmother's Steinway grand piano dating from the 1920s, which I had transported from my family house in Syros, Greece. E.C. You were just in Syros. Why was that? A.Z. I am preparing a concert in celebration of the 400 years since the artist El Greco's birth. As you know, Syros houses a fresco by El Greco in the church of "Dormition of the Virgin," but the concert, which will be attended by the President of the Republic, will be in St. Nicholas' church, which features a choir with a storied reputation as one of the best in Greece. Obviously there will be a religious theme. I am going to sing Ave Maria by Shubert and "Amazing Grace". E.C. From what I understand though, you are moving away from opera? A.Z. I am much more of a cross-over classical singer. I sing arias but I also try different arrangements to them as Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli have done. I don't tamper with the melody but I prefer modern sounds. It is very much what the great Greek composer "Vangelis "did who wrote the theme for "Chariots of Fire". I admire him greatly. E.C. Yes I love his work. Does he still compose? A.Z. Of course. His last concert was at the Katara theatre in Doha in 2012. E.C. Would you like to sing in the Middle East? Doha is an upcoming cultural hub. A.Z. Yes I would like that a lot. E.C. But let's go back to the beginning which was ... A.Z. I was born in Athens and my father played the role of producer my whole life. On my mother's father's Steinway, I started piano lessons as a discipline when I was 4. My father played me classical recordings and jazz, nurturing my knowledge of opera to follow his own. It was his dream for me to become a soprano. E.C. Do you have siblings? What about their career dreams? A.Z. I have a younger brother and yes, ironically, he has a great voice but his focus was the long jump and he became a champion at it representing Greece in the National team with an 8.09 personal record. He is a strong and romantic character. I admire him very much. My mother also had her dreams. When she graduated from the American College in Athens and was about to move to London to study and instead fell in love with my father, they got married and she became pregnant with me. I always feel guilty that I was the reason for her not to follow her dream. That's why I travel a lot, I follow my dream and try to lead the life my mother never did. Every time I land in a different country my voyage is dedicated to her. My father wanted me also to excel at sports and I began playing tennis, playing on the Greek national team from the ages of 10 to 18, and I won a silver medal in the Panhellenic games. I also travelled to tournaments all over Europe. E.C. It sounds as if you were pressured. Were you? A.Z. I could say that I missed having a childhood, even though it sounds like a cliché. I was not allowed to listen to other kinds of music like my peers. Even though I socialized with other children, I always had this driven focus and deep down I felt different. E.C. How did you fit in the music and the sport? A.Z. Well, school was until 2p.m. and afterward I did my homework, from 6 to 9p.m. I had tennis and piano and I also had lessons in English and Italian and French. E.C. Sounds tiring... A.Z. Yes but this routine kept me happy and when I get depressed today, I go back and recreate this disciplined life style. I never really got stressed, life seemed like a great game! After 18, I gave up tennis though and went to study opera, got my diploma at the Athens Conservatory with honors. Then I went to London and did some classes at the Royal Academy of Music. I loved that. I went to two musicals a day. E.C. How did musicals influence you? A.Z. That's when the crossover happened. I understood I had to take a different path. E.C. So this was a significant time for you, an epiphany of sorts? A.Z. Well, I gave up the tennis and I really started rebelling against the disciplined regimen I had followed until now. That's when I started to feel stress and it was the most difficult time of my life. This was between the ages of 18 and 21. All I wanted to do was to go out, go against my father, have the little revolution I didn't have at school. I spent a lot time on the island of Mykonos. Up to then I had socialized a lot with athletes while on the tennis circuit, now I felt a bit unhinged. E.C. How did this manifest in your life? A.Z. Well at the age of 22, after graduating, I branched out into folk and traditional Greek music. I really wanted to seem a professional singer so I performed with some really big artists such as the composer Micky Theodorakis, etc. My father was appalled! As I was departing from opera anyway, he wanted me to go to the US and pursue jazz. E.C. How did he show his displeasure? A.Z. He never came to hear me sing these folk songs. That was a big shock to me. So I went to Germany to sing in a gala organized by the tenor Jose Carreras. This was my "crossover" baptism. I sang with a rock band and a symphony orchestra, headed by the great composer Stephanos Korkolis. We toured and recorded the "The Challenge " in Germany and I was very happy. At the same time I recorded 3 songs for the Buddha Bar Collection. E.C. Well, quite a leap... A.Z. These Buddha Bar songs somehow just happened of their own accord and these and the German tour, pulled me out of Greece. But not for a long... E.C. What kept you here in Greece? A.Z. I fell in love... ! I could have taken off and left definitively but the woman in me won and not the singer. E.C. Aah ... the woman and the singer struggling against each other - what great soprano does that remind you of? Maria Callas? A.Z. Oh thank you. But Maria Callas was a legend, I cannot compare myself to her but I feel very close to all the women that are waiting for their prince to come ! Even Callas did! Well anyway, the "in love" came to an end and that's when I appeared on the TV show Fame Story in 2005. It was at its zenith and it proved very beneficial to me. I became very famous and people were calling me by my first name on the street. It was so helpful for me and my self-esteem. But it also had an artistic advantage for me. I sang Fados (Portuguese traditional songs) and songs from Phantom of the Opera. E.C. Would you advise young people to go on these talent shows today? A.Z. If the talent shows now were like Fame story was then, then yes, absolutely. On shows in other countries, yes again. But not in Greece, not now. Greeks can be very conservative. The truth is that no one show or fame can give or take away the voice from you. But again after Fame Story, it was time for me to take off again. E.C. Where did you go? A.Z. Any place they liked and wanted me. I created my own solo concert, I reacted like I was the producer of myself, so I performed in Tokyo (Keyaki Hall), Hamamatsu, Seoul -- where I won the Best Performance Award -- for the Greek national tourism organization, in Berlin. At the Cesme, Turkey song festival I won the third prize award. I really love traveling! E.C. Were you alone? A.Z. I had my musicians for company. I was fine with that. My only regret is that I never had a witness to record all of these experiences. I went to other places in Asia and also to Europe. E.C. And then to America. When was that? A.Z. 2011. My parents had really prepared me my whole life for this American dream and when I got there, it felt just like coming home. E.C. Didn't the competiveness of such a vast country scare you? A.Z. No, I felt challenged, not intimidated. When I travelled before that to faraway places, I felt the sense of being alone, not followed by anyone. In New York, I always feel I am not solitary, I feel the city is my friend even though I am alone in it. E.C. Where did you start singing in the States? A.Z. At the Greek Independence Day parade in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue in 2012-13-14. I sang the Greek National anthem outdoors accompanied by the Evzones, the Greek presidential national guards. There were about 150.000 people watching me and then I was so honored -- they asked me to sing the US national anthem in front of the former US President Bill Clinton. That was a big honor for me. Americans are also very patriotic. They responded so emotionally to their anthem! Performing the anthems and being among all these Greek expatriates I got very connected to them, and got the feeling that they are "missing home." E.C. You sang the Olympic anthem also at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary in Canada and at Ancient Olympia, also in Athens on the Hill of Pnyx. Does singing outdoors have its problems? A.Z. Not really. Of course we have microphones but the feeling is what counts. The crowd is alert and it's this feeling of an epic event happening, "we are in this together" feeling. I don't get distracted, I feel I am supporting an ideal, I get very emotional with these anthems, I am representing Greece and that counts for me. E.C. How can we raise Greece's profile? A.Z. That's one of the major goals of my career. So many international symbols are Greek like the name Nike, the sports brand, which means victory. Opera has its roots in ancient Greek tragedy. All actors dream of performing at the theatre of Epidaurus. It was significant for me to be the hostess at the opening ceremony in Marathon in 2012 and at Ancient Olympia at the start of the torch relay which sent the Olympic flame to the London Games of 2012. The marathon, the Olympics - all of them Greek. We need to spread this message! E.C. Carnegie Hall - how did that happen? A.Z. It was organized by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York. A concert dedicated to Archbishop Demetrios of America, to benefit ELPIDA, a charity for children with cancer. I was honored to be accompanied by American Grammy award-winning jazz musicians. E.C. What was your repertory? A.Z. Songs from Cole Porter, John Lennon, classical works from Italy and Spain, musicals and Greek poems by our poets Seferis and Elitis set to music by Hatzidakis. E.C. Was this your best experience? A.Z. Yes, my personal best! E.C. And your worst? A.Z.. At the Jose Carreras gala, I actually asked the producer if I could not go on and that I would pay him for my missed appearance. He told me it would cost $10,000,000 as it was a huge deal with ARD the broadcaster. E.C. Are you usually not nervous? A.Z. I like to spend the night before a performance at the theatre to get the vibe of the place. From 1p.m. on the day I perform I want to be alone. My mother never calls me, she knows I get really aggressive. I would like to appear from nowhere to get on stage as I avoid talking to anyone before I sing. I would have to revert to being me, whereas when I sing I am that performer, nothing to do with me. E.C. Has your career meant you sacrificed your personal life? Having children? A.Z. Children have never really been a consideration to me, and yes, it is not in men's nature to follow or support women in pursuit of their dreams. It always comes down to one question - are you taking the plane to another concert or are you staying? I usually say goodbye. E.C. Who are your heroes? A.Z. People who surpass themselves. Great athletes, like Roger Federer, who stays at his zenith and is low profile; Maria Callas, who had the temperament to match that amazing voice and who really lived out her passion in her life. E.C. Anyone else? A.Z. Yes, Barbra Streisand is a heroine without needing to be tragic, yet she is not boring at all. Her extraordinary discipline has kept her at the top for so long. E.C. So what is your dream? A.Z. To sing with her, a song for Greece but in English. E.C. You care for your country deeply. Do you admire other famous Greeks? A.Z. Yes, Arianna Huffington. I met her at the launch of her book "Thrive" at a 2-day seminar in New York. She is such a high profile figure, but still she came "home" to Astoria to present her book in Greek. That impressed me. I was reading "Thrive "every morning before going out to face Manhattan. Melina Mercouri was a Greek idol too. Remember the "Never on Sunday" soundtrack, the Oscar, but also her love and her fight for the return of the Elgin Marbles to the Parthenon, a cause supported now by George Clooney. E.C. So you hope to go far? A.Z. Yes, I am focusing on where my career will go next but I shall never forget the place I am from and the inspiration it gives me. E.C. Just to finish with Syros as we started with it - it has a smaller copy of La Scala Opera House, the Apollo theatre. Any plans for either one of these, Syros or Milan? A.Z. In Milan, La Scala? Amazing - yes arias, but not a full opera. Or maybe a musical if it was permitted. I would be equally proud to sing in either theatre! You know, Eugenia, it's not about being successful. It's our nature that we serve. Our nature is our destiny! This is my motto. It's all about being authentic and honest with yourself, if you achieve that I think you have achieved everything. I have a voice, and my nature is to sing, that's my fulfillment at the end of the day. And as she shakes her long chestnut hair and smiles a radiant smile you believe that she could be happy in either La Scala.


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Greek Banks to Implement Law on ‘Bad Loans’

Greek banks are ready to implement the law on “bad loans.” This emerged after today’s meeting at the government headquarters between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, government Vice President Evangelos Venizelos, Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, Development Minister Kostas Skrekas, and other government officials and representatives of the country’s systemic banks. The meeting focused on the results of the recently completed bank stress tests and Greece’s banking system’s strategies. According to Piraeus Bank President Michalis Sallas, the systemic banks are ready, even at a technical level, to start implementing the law of non-performing loans, right after it is voted by the Parliament. Addressing journalists while exiting the meeting, Sallas underlined that he agrees with the law, revealing that the next steps following the successful completion of the stress tests were also tabled during the meeting. “The stress tests were a very positive development and opens the way to the economy’s financing,” the Piraeus Bank head stressed. Sallas also said that he is against the measure of auctioning the debtors’ main residence, as banks do not desire to be burdened with portfolios of 70,000 or 100,000 euros. “Banks are not considering auctions,” he declared, adding that “there is no reason it has to be done and I do no see it happening.” Alexandros Tourkolias, National Bank of Greece CEO, Christos Megalou from Eurobank and Dimitris Matzounis from Alpha Bank were the other three representatives of the Greek systemic banks that attended the meeting at the government headquarters.


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As winter nears, towns worry about salt

Al Pound, a mechanic for the town of Greece, installs a salt spreader on the back of a plow in preparation for the upcoming winter season. (Photo: ...


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'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' Sequel Is Really Happening

Cast members of the new CBS comedy series "My Big Fat Greek Life," from left, Louis Mandylor, Nia Vardalos, Lainie Kazan and Michael Constantine, ...


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Tidbits: Greek bake sale this Saturday

The Greek Orthodox Church, 435 Keating Drive, will hold its annual fall bake ... The bake sale will include traditional Greek pastries, including baklava, ...


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EU to give 30 mn euros for redundant workers help

The European Commission Tuesday proposed over 30 million euros (about 37.5 million dollars) from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help redundant workers from Poland, Greece and ...


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Athens University of Economics and Business Amongst the Top in the Field

The Athens University of Economic and Business (AUEB) in Greece was listed amongst the top 1,000 business schools in the world for the fourth consecutive year, according to Eduniversal Business Schools Ranking Results. This year, AUEB was ranked 47th amongst the best 241 Business Schools of Western Europe,  characterized as top business school with significant international influence. So far, only the regional ranks have been announced, while the worldwide results will be publicly released on Eduniversal’s official website. “Securing our students a place in the working field is our first priority, in a country where youth unemployment rates reach 55%. Our strategy is based on the quality of the first year students who are attracted by our groundbreaking program of studies and continues with the high level studies we provide to them,” AUEB Dean Konstantinos Gatsios underlined during the 2014 Eduniversal Business Schools Ranking Results ceremony held in Istanbul, Turkey. According to Eduniversal, the best business school in Western Europe is the Copenhagen Business School followed by the London Business School and France’s INSEAD. Regarding the ranking methodology, what was taken into consideration is the international recognition of educational institutions, the international publications of each university, their participation in international academic unions and their performance in other international and national rankings. The ranking examines Business and Economic Schools and Universities from 154 countries, classified in six geographical categories.


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'Nanny McPhee' Director to Helm 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'

Universal will distribute the sequel, which will be directed by Kirk Jones


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Kirk Jones to Direct ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Sequel for Universal

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is getting a sequel, 12 years after the original film became a surprise hit at the box office. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” is officially in the works from Gold Circle, HBO and Playtone Productions, with Kirk Jones set to ...


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‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2′ Heading for Universal

Universal Pictures is coming to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” acquiring distribution rights in the U.S. and some international territories for the sequel to the 2002 comedy. Nia Vardalos is returning as the star and screenwriter for the sequel, in ...


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Monk's cell better than jail for Greek fugitive

He was convicted in absentia of embezzling some nine million euros of public funds between 1995 and 2002, the Greek news agency ANA reported.


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Looking To Go Beyond Greek Yogurt, Chobani Announces A Food Incubator

The Greek yogurt titan is looking to invest in food startups in hopes of finding the next, well, Chobani. The short version goes like this: Once upon a time, Americans ate super-sweet yogurt loaded with artificial preservatives and shiny neon fruit. Sometimes kids even drank the stuff down in hermetically sealed tubes . Read Full Story


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Greek State Officials Arrested For Blackmailing Businessman

Earlier today, Greek Police arrested two Financial Crime Unit (SDOE) officials, as well as an accountant, a Bank of Greece (BoG) employee and another Finance Ministry employee, following an entrepreneur’s complaints that the five blackmailed him for several months in order to close their investigation on his company without any fines imposed on him. As they told the businessman, who operates in the construction field, in a different case he would have to pay million of euros in fines. The five extortioners are a 68-year-old accountant, her 74-year-old husband who is a retired Finance Ministry accountant, their 43-year-old son who is a BoG employee, and two SDOE officials, 52 and 44 years old respectively. The case also engages another 54-year-old Finance Ministry employee. The case reached the police when the victim filed a formal complaint, according to which the two SDOE employees were blackmailing him, with the assistance of his 68-year-old accountant, in order to close, as they were saying, his construction company’s file without further complications. As he said to police officers, in a meeting held in his accountant’s office, where her husband and son were also present, the SDOE officers requested him to pay a sum of 60,000 euros. When he reacted to their demands, the blackmailers dropped their price to 50,000. After the meeting, the victim contacted the police, which, in a coordinated operation in Attica prefecture yesterday, arrested the 43-year-old BoG employee who received the agreed amount of money. Afterwards, his parents were also arrested for their active involvement in the case, while later, the two SDOE officials were also arrested. The five individuals, against whom a charge request was filed, appeared today before the prosecutor.


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Mid-Day Volume Movers: National Bank of Greece S.A. (NBG), The Procter & Gamble Company ...

National Bank of Greece S.A. (NBG) of the Financial sector has lost -2.74%, a change from open of – .96% ($-0.06 per share) at mid-day Tuesday with ...


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Must watch: Hilarious own goal scored by hapless amateur in Greece

Footage has emerged from an amateur game in Greece showing an own goal that wouldn't look out of place in a sketch show. It came during a match ...


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Oregon Greek life gives back

In the midst of a lot of negative talk surrounding Greek life, it's important to see the good that Greek life brings to the community. Every year, Greek ...


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Greek Life's second annual Philanthropy Week benefits charities

On Monday, Nov. 10, Philanthropy Week kicked off its second year with Greek Life's Polar Pies, sponsored by Delta Phi Epsilon and Student ...


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Far right tests Europe’s democracies

Four-and-a-half years since the onset of a brutal economic crisis that radically changed Greece’s political landscape, most experts agree that the financial meltdown does not tell the whole story of Golden Dawn’s meteoric rise, but few would deny it was a... ...


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Stocks drop as uncertainties overshadow Q3 results

Morning gains turned to afternoon losses for Greek stocks on Tuesday, as the benchmark dropped below the 900-point mark while National Bank’s stock dropped to a historic low of 1.71 euros per share. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 892.8... ...


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Guardian: Alexander the Great Caught in the Middle of the Macedonia Naming Dispute

Nikola Gruevski’s love affair with statues began with Alexander the Great. In 2011, much to the consternation of Greece, FYROM’s Prime Minister had the world’s largest sulpture of the warrior king installed in Skopje’s central square. Now, after peppering the capital with grandiose bridges, a gargantuan triumphal arch, concert halls, theaters, new government buildings and artwork, the Premier has gone a step further, the British Guardian underlined, referring to Skopje’s lately applied controversial policy of installing new monuments with Macedonian symbols in FYROM’s capital in order to promote the country’s position over the 23-year-long naming dispute with Greece. Upping the ante in what has become one of the West’s more unlikely disputes, Gruevski instructed that waxworks of Alexander, his father, Philip II of Macedon, and his mother, Olympias, be given pride of place in a new archaeological museum. “All these exhibits are of priceless value for our country and represent a part of our cultural heritage,” Gruevski pronounced as he opened the museum last month, provoking the Greek side. The controversial artwork, part of a lifting in the city’s post Communist-era profile, cost some 500 million euros to one of the poorest countries in Europe. Gruevski’s ambition was that these would lift the spirit of his fellow countrymen, 30% of whom suffer from unemployment. But officials do not deny that the building project has another purpose: to score points in the long-running battle over the name of Macedonia. The Greeks have long argued that their neighbor’s desire to lay claim to the nomenclature – and use of symbols associated with it – implies territorial ambitions over their own adjacent province of Macedonia. True to Balkan form, the row has its roots in ancient history, the Guardian underlined. In the 23 years since the landlocked state proclaimed independence, Alexander the Great has dominated the dispute. Athens says the Greek-born general is irrefutable proof of Macedonia’s Hellenic credentials; Skopje says he is an inherent part of local identity as the leader of an empire that incorporated the region and extended as far as India, the report continued. As a result to FYROM’s claims, Athens has blocked its bids to join the NATO and the European Union, insisting that the country should remain under the acronym FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the provisional name with which it was admitted to the United Nations, despite the fact that almost 130 states have already recognized it as the “Republic of Macedonia,” which is the country’s constitutional name. At the same time, even Skopjans themselves are at odds over a scheme that many say not only smacks of megalomania but has turned the capital into a mini Las Vegas. “I don’t see why the Greeks should be offended. We are offended,” said Sasho Ordanoski, a political analyst and outspoken critic of Gruevski’s overtly nationalist policies. “Skopje has become the European capital of kitsch in architectural and political style. The whole thing reeks of bad taste and has been a huge financial disaster. We both share the same territory of Alexander the Great’s historic empire and we have built Alexander’s highest monument in the world. If anything, Athens should be pleased,” Ordanski concluded. In Athens, politicians privately say the time is ripe to settle the dispute. A compromise solution of “Upper Macedonia” is among those thought to have been proposed by Greek officials. The UN has announced that envoys from the two states will meet in New York on Wednesday for a new round of negotiations. But, as the Guardian foresees, the omens do not look good, because Skopje’s Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki declared before the talks that the two countries “are further away from a solution than we were a few years ago.”


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Greece summer holidays guide: 2014

Jane Foster is a travel writer based in Athens and Dubrovnik. She has written guidebooks on the Balkans, Croatia, and Greece and writes for various UK and US newspapers. She has a degree in Architecture and speaks English, Italian, Croatian and Greek.


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These Charts Show Growing Numbers of People Being Excluded From the Economy

The language of inequality is not enough to capture the extreme conditions we are confronting across much of the world. Inequality is a distribution, and it has long been present. What matters in the current period is the specific mix of conditions that have made it so extreme and expelled so many from their habitual life. Extreme conditions often are caused by particular additional factors on top of the more common sources of inequality. For instance, the massive acquisitions of land in foreign countries by about 15 governments and 100 firms since 2006 has expelled small farmers and rural manufacturers from their land. Over 200 million hectares were acquired in this period. These foreign acquisitions are for mining, developing plantations and accessing water. Regional distribution of 2011 land acquisitions. Source: The Land Matrix: "Reported" data refers to deals presented in research reports, media reports and public government registers. "Cross-referenced" data refers to reported deals that are referenced from multiple sources. At the other end of the world, we have seen a very different kind of expulsion. From 2004 to 2014, the Federal Reserve estimates up to 14 million residential properties have been foreclosed, with about 13 million households thrown out. Again, this can hardly be captured in the language of inequality. It is, rather, a massive expulsion of people from their homes. It is also worth noting that such foreclosures are now happening in most European countries, especially in Germany. Much of what constitutes daily life today may be more or less the same -- even with a tendency towards growing losses for growing sectors of the population. But what we are seeing over the last decade in many parts of the world is that this ongoing routinized life can coexist with a variety of extreme conditions that are sharpening. The extreme condition is precisely the one that can often become invisible. The simplest example is that the long-term unemployed disappear from our unemployment measures, as do the imprisoned. Also, the areas with high foreclosures cited above can be quite invisible to the average resident in a city, partly because there is nothing there or little reason to go to such areas -- nobody to visit. Also easily rendered invisible are the vast numbers of rural households displaced by land grabs who leave for the slums of large cities, where they disappear and cease being evidence of that displacement. I think of these cases as instances of expulsions because they are not simply more of the same. They are sufficiently extreme that the people involved may never go back to normal, so to speak. These cases, and many of the others I focus on in my book Expulsions, tell a tale: the proliferation of the extreme version of often familiar conditions. Such expulsion dynamics are taking place both in the Global South and in the Global North, even if via different vectors. One juxtaposition is that of the growing numbers of internally displaced in the Global South, and the growing numbers of the imprisoned in the Global North, particularly in countries such as the U.S and the U.K. The "displaced" are mostly never going back "home." Home is now a plantation, a war zone or a luxury gated community. Similarly, many U.S. prisoners increasingly stay for very long stints or circulate between prison and neighborhood, back and forth. It is going to be very difficult to have a normal life in both these very distinct situations. UNHCR Global Trends (2012) Displacement: the New 21st Century Challenge We can add to these types of expulsions the growth of the long-term unemployed in advanced countries. In some countries, such as Greece, almost a third of the workforce is now unemployed. Significantly, they disappeared from all counts, enabling the IMF and the European Central Bank to declare in January 2013 that the Greek economy was back on track. I refer to this as a sort of economic cleansing, playing off the more familiar ethnic cleansing. It is, we might say, the expelling of the unwanted to achieve a positive, even if very partial, outcome. What brings home this notion of expulsions, rather than simply more poverty, is the growing wealth in most of these countries. Again this goes well beyond distributional factors such as inequality. It points to a disturbing capacity for structural divergence in several key components of economy and society. We have moved towards an economy that can simultaneously benefit some enormously and destroy unusually large numbers of others. Some divergence has long been part of dynamic economies -- whence Shumpeter's notion of "creative destruction." But this is not what we see in the current period. This is an extreme kind of divergence and an extreme decimation of once prosperous working classes and large segments of the middle classes. To see this in developed countries is alarming. It tells us that the way the advanced economy has evolved is problematic at the structural level, besides the distributional aspect. The following graphs capture some of this divergence in the sharp rise in government debt, even in countries such as Germany, seen as largely unaffected by the crisis. At the other extreme, the sharp rise in corporate profits and assets in the U.S. barely reflects the massive crisis for many households and (modest) firms. It is worth noting that corporate profits suffered only for about two years from the crisis, and the rise in corporate assets seemed overall untouched. Further, both corporate profits and assets grew even more sharply after 2008. OECD Stat Extracts and World Economic Outlook Database of the IMF FRED Economic Data, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank These, and many other expulsions, take on specific forms in each location of the world, and they're in diverse domains: economy, society, politics. Indeed, they are so specific in each place and domain -- and are usually studied in these very specific contexts -- that it is difficult to see that they might be the surface manifestations of deeper trends that today cut across the familiar divisions. For example, experts on the long-term imprisoned in the Global North do not really study the displaced in the Global South and vice-versa. And yet, at ground level, these displacements share a simple, common element: These are people being (usually permanently) cast out of what had been their lives. Further, many of these expulsions coexist with growth in "the" economy, even if the space of that economy is shrinking. This coexistence of growth (as conventionally measured) and these expulsions further add to the invisibility of those who are expelled from job, home and land. Many of the processes mentioned here include or incorporate complex forms of knowledge we admire -- notably, advanced mathematics for the algorithms of finance and complex legal innovations to enable the massive land-grabs that took off in 2006. I see this mal-deployment of knowledge as a major issue in our current global political economy. It brings to the fore the fact that forms of knowledge and intelligence we respect and admire are often at the origin of long transaction chains that can end in simple brutalities.


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Savvopoulos to Perform for Greek School in Istanbul

Savvopoulos-Patriarch The students of Zografeion Greek school in Istanbul will have the unique opportunity of attending, along with students ...


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Savvopoulos to Perform for Greek School in Istanbul

Savvopoulos-Patriarch The students of Zografeion Greek school in Istanbul will have the unique opportunity of attending, along with students ...


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Labor Party Promises $400000 to Lonsdale Street Glendi

The Greek Community of Melbourne's two-day Glendi in Lonsdale Street at the heart of Melbourne's Greek precinct is one of the most prominent ...


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3 Turks held in Greek detention center claim ill-treatment

Three Turks who were caught by Greek police while attempting to illegally cross into the country from the province of Edirne and are being held in a ...


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For fruits and vegetables, it's good to go Greek

At least it was recently when we spent a few hours cooking, talking and ogling photos of Greece — and Greek food — together. Kremezi, 67, is a ...


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Former Greek Court of Audit official hired on forged degrees

An ongoing inspection aimed at weeding out public sector employees who were hired on the basis of forged degree certificates or other fake qualifications has pointed to a Court of Audit department head. The unnamed employee joined the court in 1987 and re... ...


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Quotes from voters in this week's Associated Press global football 10

by  Associated Press Quotes from AP Global Football 10 voters Associated Press - 11 November 2014 11:45-05:00 LONDON (AP) — Quotes from voters in this week's Associated Press global football 10: Manos Staramopoulos, Dimocratia, Greece "It is a fact Thomas Muller is developing into a world-class striker. This shows almost every week in the shirt of Bayern Munich." James Porteous, South China Morning Post "Player of the week has to be Nemanja Matic, making Steven Gerrard look like a geriatric as Chelsea outclassed Liverpool in the Premier League's big game." Mike McGrath, The Sun, England "Chelsea's win at Anfield was thoroughly professional and deserved. It was a warning to the rest of the Premier League that they are hungry for the title and it will take something very special to stop them. In contrast, Manchester City are not playing well as a team, but Sergio Aguero's individual displays are rescuing his team at the moment." Chris Tait, The Herald, Scotland "Juventus beat Parma so mercilessly at the weekend one was unsure whether to simply acknowledge the score or notify their next of kin. Scoring seven goals is a remarkable achievement for any side, but Juventus made it look so easy." Federico Giammaria, La Voz, Argentina "Lionel Messi made history in the Champions League (by equaling Raul Gonzalez's record of 71 goals in the competition). Maybe his ability to break records means we do not, at present, appreciate the magnitude of such a player. But history will do its job." Marco Monteverde, News Corp. Australia "Not only did Juventus kick-start their Champions League campaign with a vital 3-2 win over Olympiakos, they flexed their considerable Serie A muscle with a 7-0 spanking of Parma." Tito Puccetti ESPN, Argentina "Carlos Tevez celebrated his return to the Argentina team with goals, one Diego Maradona style to lead his team to be the protagonist of the biggest win in the big leagues in Europe." Tom Timmermann, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, United States "Cristiano Ronaldo has 18 goals and five assists this season in La Liga and another three goals in the Champions League, which probably explains why he keeps being at the top of my ballot each week. Every week, it seems there's a big goal and assist total next to his name." Aurelio Capaldi, RAI Sport, Italy "Carlos Tevez scored a double to help Juventus crush Parma 7-0, but the first goal was so amazing and thrilling and entertaining that lots of people described it as "maradonesque" and not only because Diego Armando Maradona is from the same country of the Juventus striker." Sam Tighe, Bleacher Report, England "David Moyes watched on as his new club Real Sociedad beat last season's champions Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anoeta. Apart from Carlos Vela's diving, he'll be happy with what he saw." Leonardo Bertozzi, ESPN, Brazil "Toni Kroos is the conductor for this Real Madrid, playing as though he has worn the white shirt for years. An assist and a goal against Real Sociedad are not enough to describe his influence on the game." News Topics: Sports, Men's sports, Men's soccer, Professional soccer, Soccer People, Places and Companies: News Corp, Thomas Muller, Nemanja Matic, Steven Gerrard, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Moyes, Carlos Vela, Toni Kroos, United Kingdom, Missouri, Argentina, Western Europe, Europe, United States, North America, South America, Latin America and Caribbean Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Environment Minister Maniatis: Greece to Become a Pole of Stability in the Region

As a choice that leads Greece to become a regional pole of stability in the sensitive Southeast Mediterranean, characterized Environment Minister Giannis Maniatis the agreed partnerships with other regional powers such as Israel, Egypt and Cyprus, underlining that these agreements do not turn against anyone, but on the contrast, reach out to all countries of the region to participate. Speaking at a conference of the Institute of Energy of South East Europe, Maniatis said that these cooperation agreements “mark Greece’s choice to become a pole of stability and development in the region. The exploitation of hydrocarbons should be a good example of development, as was the case in Great Britain and Norway, and the leaders of the neighboring countries are wise enough to understand that this will benefit their people.” Furthermore, the Greek Minister underlined that the country is endowed with resources that can reduce its energy dependence from abroad. He also announced that the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) will immediately proceed with a tender for the creation of gas storage in the deposit of South Kavala, in Macedonia, Greece. “The storage will be one of three possible supply sources of the Greek-Baltic vertical pipeline, which, according to estimates from the Greek side, can be operational as of 2017, as it does not require major investments but only the linking of the existing networks of the region’s countries,” Maniatis explained, adding that the two other sources are the TAP pipeline and the floating LNG plants located in Northern Greece. The TAP pipeline, the Greece-Baltic pipelines and the East Med pipeline are designed to transport natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to the rest of Europe via the island of Crete and mainland Greece. According to Maniatis, they are all included in the government’s strategy for the country’s promotion as a regional energy hub, while the “Greco-Italian pipeline was and still is among the Greek and European priorities,” he concluded.


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Fugitive Spends Eight Years as Monk in Mount Athos

Greek Police arrested a 48-year-old wanted convict yesterday, who had got three life sentences for a series of financial crimes against the State and had been hiding for at least eight years in Mount Athos‘ monastery cells, as a trainee monk. According to the police press release, the 48-year-old fugitive was a former municipal employee that during a period of seven years, from 1995 to 2002, embezzled 9 million euros from the Daphni and Hymettus municipalities. The convict had access to the municipality’s income pool as he was an auditor, while others were also prosecuted for the same case. He was finally sentenced in absence in three life sentences, nine years and 67 months, as well as a fine of 22,420 euros, found guilty in the charges of fraud, forgery, defalcation of state money and debt towards the state. As police revealed, information on his identity reached the headquarters in the last months, and yesterday noon he was arrested in the town of Karyes, Greece, by local police. The 48-year-old will appear before the prosecutor in the upcoming days.


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Julianne Hough dons jumper to grab food with parents Bruce and Marianne in LA

Julianne Hough enjoyed en evening of authentic Greek food with her parents Bruce and Marianne at Ulysses Voyage in Los Angeles Monday.


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Mycenean Artifacts Discovered in Ancient Alikarnasos

The artifacts will shed light on the history of the Bodrum Peninsula, known in Greek as Alikarnasos. In the vicinity, the Great mausauleum of the ...


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Greek students protest at cuts

The government is trying to expel 180,000 students from universities because of a new six year limit on studying. Most of these students already have ...


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Greek Minor

By studying Greek, you will gain foundational skills to engage with the meanings of various New Testament documents. You'll delve into the history of ...


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