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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

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Greek Shipowners Consider Exodus as Crisis Leads to Proposed Higher Taxes

The Greek shipping industry will have to sustain additional taxes according to a proposed bailout agreement. Greek shipowners already agreed to voluntarily pay an additional tonnage tax from 2014-2017 to help the embattled economic crisis. However, the ...


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Dutch suggest EU send migrants straight back to Turkey as more arrive without case for asylum

BRUSSELS/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The Netherlands floated an idea on Thursday to ferry migrants reaching Greece straight back to Turkey to stop a relentless influx into the European Union as EU officials cited a rise in the numbers of those who would not qualify for asylum.


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24 found drowned off Greek isle, bringing week’s toll to at least 80

ATHENS – Twenty-four people attempting to cross to Europe from Turkey drowned when their boat sank off a Greek island, the Greek coast guard said on Thursday, raising to at least 80 the number of migrants and refugees to have died at sea in the past week.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.japantimes.co.jp

Boat sinking off GREECE claims 24 lives

More than 600,000 migrants fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn or impoverished countries arrived in GREECE from Turkey last year, risking ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.3news.co.nz

IOC to advise national Olympic bodies on Zika virus

[IOC President Thomas Bach, chats with children during his visit at a refugee camp in Athens on Thursday, Jan, 28, 2016. Bach says the torch relay for this year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will include a stop at a refugee camp in Athens. He also promised to build sporting facilities on the island of Lesbos that has been hard hit by the migrant crisis.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)]ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The IOC will advise all national Olympic bodies on how to deal with the Zika virus ahead of the games in Rio de Janeiro.


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Yanis Varoufakis: How The GREEK People's Magnificent "No" Against Austerity Became "Yes"

Yanis Varoufakis: How The GREEK People's Magnificent DIMITRI LASCARIS, TRNN: In 2010, hot on the heels of an unprecedented global financial ...


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Young Actors Bring GREEK Mythology and Psychology to the Stages of Venezuela

It's the result of a syncretism between my two great passions: GREEK mythology and psychology,” Escalona says. He graduated in psychology from ...


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Knicks bring up GREEK Freak's brother over Jimmer

Small forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, a 2014 second-round pick who was released during training camp, will sign a 10-day contract to claim the ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT nypost.com

#NashStrong chosen as GREEK Week philanthropy

Southfield senior Sean Mueller, a GREEK Week coordinator, said Nash's mother, Dicolia, submitted the Nash Foundation as a philanthropy option, and ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.cm-life.com

45361 refugees and migrants arrived in GREECE through January 25

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 31 times more refugees and migrants arrived in GREECE compared with January 2015.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT neurope.eu

Netanyahu talks cooperation with leaders of Cyprus, GREECE

Leaders of three countries agreed on cooperation in the fields of nergy, tourism, research and technology, environment, water management, ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ynetnews.com

Ai Weiwei says deep anger made him pull works from Denmark

LESBOS, Greece (AP) — Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei said Thursday he decided to withdraw his works from two Danish museums out of deep anger at a new law allowing Denmark to seize valuables from migrants. On Thursday, he joined with NGO staff helping migrants who had just arrived at a beach in inflatable rubber boats, lending a hand and chatting to people heading to buses waiting to take them to a camp.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com

Another Greek Tragedy

A boat load of 24 people including 10 kids die after their vessel capsizes and sinks Athens: The bodies of 24 migrants, including 10 children, were discovered off the Greek island of Samos after their boat capsized, the Greek coastguard said. Eleven ...


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Migrant Boat Sinks Off The Coast Of The Greek Island Of Samos - Death Toll Climbs To 25 After Dingy Ferrying 45 Capsizes

Death toll of asylum seekers rose to 25 after the sinking of a migrant boat. The bodies of 25 migrants, including 10 children, were discovered off the Greek island of Samos after a dingy ferrying 45 capsized, reported the Greek Coast Guard. The death toll ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.inquisitr.com

Rights groups criticise Europe refugee resettlement plan

Dutch Labour leader proposes that resettlement would be in exchange for Turkey taking back migrants expected to land on Greek shores this year A small alliance of European leaders is considering the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of refugees directly from the Middle East, in one of the first indications that top-level politicians may be willing to use mass resettlement as a way of managing the fallout from the European refugee crisis. The plan has been criticised by rights groups because it would go hand in hand with the expulsion of most refugees who land on European shores in the future. Continue reading...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com

Bodies of 31 migrants recovered off coasts of Italy and Greece

Half of victims women and children as Greek officials say wave of migration from Turkey shows no sign of slowing A bout of mild weather brought more tragedy off the coasts of Italy and Greece on Thursday when at least 31 people died attempting perilous crossings from Libya and Turkey, authorities in both countries said. Greek authorities recovered 25 bodies off the island of Samos, while another six were retrieved by the Italian navy – the first known deaths on the North Africa to Italy route this year. Those who had set off from the shores of Turkey were thought to be Iraqi Kurds. At least half of the victims were women and children. Related: Greece hits back after EU's Schengen threat Continue reading...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com

Bonnie Raitt Exclusive Presale July at the Greek

Bonnie Raitt's Dig In Deep Tour will make a stop at the iconic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 30 and feature her longtime touring band, which backs her on the forthcoming album. Venue Presale: NOW - Thursday, January 28 at 10pm Password ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.la.com

24 die in Greek boat tragedy

Sweden intends to expel up to 80,000 migrants who arrived in 2015 and whose application for asylum has been rejected, Interior Minister Anders Ygeman has said. The minister has said the government has asked the police and authorities in charge of migrants ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.tribuneindia.com

GREECE restarts Trainose privatisation

GREECE: The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund privatisation agency has relaunched the planned sale of national train operator Trainose, ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.railwaygazette.com

Summer House, Kalymnos, GREECE: villa review

This traditional accommodation in the north of lesser-known Dodecanese island, Kalymnos (GREECE'S former sponge diving capital) has unbroken ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.telegraph.co.uk

Greece cannot become a holding pen for migrants

Europe’s Schengen system permitting passport-free travel across 26 countries is on the brink of collapse. Following the arrival of 1.8m refugees on the continent last year, several EU states — Hungary, Austria and Sweden among them — set up temporary ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ft.com

Refugees in Europe: Mixed news as various nations make choices

In the midst of Europe’s refugee crisis, Britain and the Netherlands stepped forward Thursday to open doors to refugees. The Paris attacks in 2015 and the New Year’s Eve sexual assault scandal in Cologne hardened the hearts of many Europeans towards the thousands of refugees still awaiting asylum in the European Union. Just days after the EU pressured Greece to better enforce its borders, the Dutch have announced that they are working on a plan that would allow the European Union to accept up to 250,000 refugees.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.news.yahoo.com

Top GREEK Theater Scraps Play That Quoted Terrorist's Book

The state-funded theater says that it doesn't want to convey the impression that it backs "criminals forever condemned in the conscience of the GREEK ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com

Cyprus, Israel and Greece to explore trilateral energy projects of strategic importance

Cyprus, Israel and Greece view the energy sector, and in particular, natural gas and renewable energy, as a solid foundation for cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, says the joint declaration issued after the trilateral meeting in Nicosia.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT famagusta-gazette.com

Why are volunteers being treating like criminals in Greece?

The year 2015 was historic. Approximately one million people displaced from their homes took to the waters and made their way to Europe. According to UNHCR, some 90 per cent of these people who crossed the sea came from refugee-producing countries, fleeing ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT newint.org

Israel, Greece, Cyprus plan to lay connected gas pipeline

(JNS.org) Israel, Greece, and Cyprus will set up a committee to decide how to lay a pipeline between the three countries in order to export gas to Europe. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, and Greek Prime ...


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Dutch discussing plan to ferry refugees back to Turkey

[Diederik Samsom of the Dutch Labour Party attends a news conference at The Hague]By Thomas Escritt THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Senior Dutch government officials are discussing a plan to ferry refugees arriving in Greece back to Turkey to stem the flow of migrants seeking refuge in Europe, Labour Party leader Diederik Samsom said on Thursday. Samsom said in an interview with the daily Volkskrant that European countries would have to agree in exchange to take several hundred thousand refugees each year out nearly 2 million currently in Turkey. While Samsom has no formal government job as leader of the junior of the two Dutch coalition parties, he said he had discussed the proposal with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and with Sigmar Gabriel, the German Social Democrat vice-chancellor.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.news.yahoo.com

In Greece’s Populism, Precious Lessons for Europe

Athens — It may just be coincidence, but in the year since a radical left movement and an extreme right-wing party joined forces to govern Greece, the resilience of the European Union has been tested. But it may be also that the forces released in Greece ...


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Cyprus, Israel and Greece cooperate in gas exploration

Sofia, January 28, 2015/Independent Balkan News Agency Irish low-cost airline Ryanair will introduce direct flights between Sofia and Dublin, as well as Sofia to Brussels (Charleroi), starting in November 2016, the company said. In a filing with the London Stock Exchange, where it is listed, Ryanair announced its flight services schedule for next winter, which […]


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.balkaneu.com

EU Commissioner says tough issues to be discussed in Greek bailout review

Athens, January 28, 2015/Independent Balkan News Agency By Zacharias Petrou European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Thursday that the heads of the institutions are expected to arrive in Athens at the end of this week for the review of the Greek adjustment program. Moscovici pointed out that the announcement’s made yesterday about the improper […]


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.balkaneu.com

Deputy FM Mardas’ meetings in Ramallah and Tel Aviv

Following the Greek-Israeli High Level Cooperation Council that took place yesterday in Jerusalem, Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Mardas visited Palestine and met in Ramallah with the Palestinian caretaker Minister for European Affairs, Amal Zatu. Mr. Mardas and Ms. Zatu discussed issues of cooperation in the sectors of construction, building materials and commerce. The Palestinian side expressed interest in Greek participation in the construction of one of the industrial zones. Ms. Zatu also asked Mr. Mardas for Greece’s assistance, through the provision of know-how, with the development of the tourism market in Palestine, also expressing her satisfaction at Prime Minister Tsipras’...


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Ten children among 25 dead after refugee boat founders off Greek island of Samos

… border agency Frontex assists the Greek Coast Guard in the search … Wednesday, Brussels again harshly criticised Greece’s handling of the continent … newspaper this week. “If the Greece-Macedonia border is closed, refugees could …


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT world.einnews.com

NATO is now facing 'the biggest security challenges in a generation' - and European defense spending is rebounding as a result

[A NATO AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) aircraft is seen taking-off for a flight to Romania from the AWACS air base in Geilenkirchen, near the German-Dutch border in this April 16, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/Files]Thomson Reuters NATO defense cuts slowed sharply in 2015, alliance data showed on Thursday, also revealing a split between big-spending eastern European nations fearful of Russia and others such as Italy that are still reducing their budgets. Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, failing states on NATO's borders, and the spread of Islamic militancy have refocused governments on the need to defend home territory after more than a decade of NATO-led operations in Afghanistan. NATO's defense spending as a share of economic output fell 1.5 percent in 2015, the sixth straight year of cuts, dragged down by a 12 percent decrease in Italy, the U.S.-led alliance said in its annual report. But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted that total defense budget reductions outside the United States, which accounts for almost three-quarters of NATO military spending, fell just 0.3 percent last year. Overall, the alliance's total cuts were the mildest in four years — although Britain, Poland, Greece and Estonia are still the only European nations to meet a NATO goal of spending at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Stoltenberg said NATO was now facing "the biggest security challenges in a generation", pointing to potential risks from its former Cold War adversary Russia as well as on its southern flank, ranging from Libya to Iraq and the wider Middle East. Overall, NATO members spent more on defense in real terms in 2015, and actually increased their spending on new equipment. "The cuts have now practically stopped among European allies and Canada," Stoltenberg said. [Units from NATO allied countries take part in the NATO Noble Jump 2015 exercises, part of testing and refinement of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Swietoszow, Poland June 18, 2015. REUTERS/Anna Krasko/Agencja Gazeta]Thomson ReutersBut the cuts are disproportionately offset by increases in spending among the NATO countries that Russia most directly threatens. Poland's decision to increase defense spending by almost a quarter, as well as a strong showing in the Baltic nations that want more NATO troops in the region, helped offset the decrease in Italy and smaller reductions in Britain, Belgium and France. "We see a more assertive Russia to the east, a Russia that has invested heavily in defense over several years and which has also shown the will to use military force to change borders in Europe," Stoltenberg said, a clear reference to Russia's takeover of Crimea in March of 2014. [russia vs nato_07]Thomson ReutersNATO has always struggled with the uneven distrubtion of the alliance's defense spending. Because Europe has been fairly peaceful in recent decades, and because European NATO states are under the American defense umbrella, they haven't needed to dedicate all that much of their resources to their own security. But this has arguably turned NATO into less of a military alliance than a massive, seemingly open-ended US subsidy for its European allies — one that leaves those countries less capable of dealing with crsies in their own neighborhood. The Russian threat might begin to change that, at least for member states on the alliance's eastern periphery. In May of 2014, NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that European countries now risk becoming "free-riders" and told reporters “every ally is expected to play its part toward contributing to our shared security." The latest defense spending totaly show that  in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, a few of NATO states have begun to wake up to the reality that the alliance might not be sustainable in the long run if it's entirely dependent on a single country.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com

Refugee team to compete at Rio Olympic Games

[A statue of the Olympic Rings -- which represent the world's five continents -- outside the the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland]© AFP/File Fabrice Coffrini A cross-nation team of refugees will participate in this year's Rio Olympics to send a "message of hope", International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach said on Thursday. "The IOC has decided to invite the highest-qualified refugee athletes to the Olympic Games in Rio," Bach said at the Eleonas camp in Athens, a facility housing hundreds of migrants hoping to find passage to northern Europe. The refugee team, around five to ten strong, will participate as a delegation in its own right and be lodged at the Olympic Village with the rest of the athletes, Bach said. "We want to send a message of hope and confidence to the refugees and turn the attention of the world to the fate and problem of the 60 million refugees of the world," the German said. In December, the IOC said it had already identified three athletes who had fled their home countries and could qualify for the Games in August. They are a Syrian swimmer currently training in Germany, a Congolese judoka who found refuge in Brazil and an Iranian taekwondo athlete in Belgium, the IOC said. On Thursday, Bach took down the details of Farhad Takallo, an Iranian man at the camp who said he was a shooting champion. While he welcomed the prospect of training in Greece, Takallo asked Bach to help him reach Germany. Only war refugees -- at present Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans -- who reach Greece are allowed to continue the journey to northern Europe. Bach added that the Olympic torch relay, beginning in ancient Olympia in April, will pass from the Eleonas camp and a refugee will carry the flame.  NOW WATCH: An Olympian jumped up an entire set of stadium bleachers in 5 leaps


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In unprecedented meet, Netanyahu, Greek and Cypriot leaders push gas pipeline as peace catalyst

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Greek and Cypriot heads of government in Nicosia on Thursday, in an effort to strengthen ties between the three eastern Mediterranean nations and to advance plans to build a gas pipeline to Europe. Cyprus ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.timesofisrael.com

2013: EU Commission warns Greece refugees push-backs illegal – 2016: Belgium begs Greece to push back refugees & let them drown

It was back in November 2013 when the European Commission warned Greece and Bulgaria to stop turning down Syrian refugees at their land/river borders with Turkey, after the UN issued a similar call just a few days before. Two and a half years later, in January 2016, it is Belgium, […]


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.keeptalkinggreece.com

Croatian, Polish Presidents Discusses Migrants, Security

Croatia's president says the European Union should agree on criteria for accepting migrants and on how to secure the Greek border, where most of them arrive in Europe


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com

Cyprus, Israel, Greece see gas pipeline as peace catalyst

Nicosia (AFP) - The Cyprus president hosted talks Thursday with the Israeli and Greek prime ministers focused on plans to build a gas pipeline to Europe in what they termed a "catalyst for peace" in a turbulent region. The leaders of Cyprus, Israel and ...


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Officials, experts criticise Dutch GREEK island refugee ferry plan

The Dutch plan to send asylum seekers who arrive on the GREEK islands in small boats back to Turkey by ferry does not meet the UN treaty on the ...


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Netherlands drafting EU-Turkey refugee swap deal

The center-left PvdA leader has shed light on a plan to swap migrants in Greece for a quarter million refugees in Turkey. He added that ferries could begin transporting migrants as early as March.


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Holy Trinity gets its Greek on this weekend in EHT

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – How many people does it take to prepare a feast for hundreds? Well, if you’re a well-oiled machine like Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, you can make it happen with about 25 people. For several weeks, a group of 20 to 25 ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.shorenewstoday.com

More people arriving in Europe without 'genuine asylum claim', says EU executive

[Migrants cross the railway tracks as they wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni]By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union executive said on Thursday there had been an increase in the number of people arriving in Europe without a genuine claim to asylum as countries around the continent grow increasingly nervous over the migration crisis. The 28-nation bloc has all but failed to curb or control the influx of refugees and migrants, with more than one million arriving in Europe last year, mainly via Greece and heading towards the EU's biggest economy, Germany. More than 54,500 people have already reached Europe by sea this year, including 50,668 through Greece, according to data from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).


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Greek Defense Minister Lays Wreath While Turkish Jet Fighters Fly Above

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos was flying over the Imia islet to lay a wreath on the place where three men of the Hellenic Navy lost their lives, while two Turkish jet fighters were flying overhead, violating Greek airspace. The minister was ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Israel, Cyprus and Greece forge ahead with Europe gas pipeline

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades hosted a three-way meeting Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras focused on plans to build a gas pipeline to Europe. With Cyprus, which lies just 100 kilometers ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.israelnationalnews.com

Photo highlights of the day: a lion in winter and Ai Weiwei on Lesbos

The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of the best photographs from around the world, including a magnificent sculpture in London and a renowned Chinese artist on a Greek island Continue reading...


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Israeli PM meets with Cyprus, GREECE leaders to boost cooperation

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades hots a three-way meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Greek counterpart Alexis ...


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Migrant Boat Sinks off Samos in GREECE; At Least 24 Dead, Including 9 Kids

It renewed its call for a safe land passage to be opened on the GREECE-Turkey border in order to reduce the death toll in the Aegean Sea.


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Unemployment Among Women Main Reason for Low Birth Rate in Greece

Unemployment among women is the main reason for low birth rate in Greece, says a HuffPost Greece report. The report cites demographer Peter McDonald who believes the declining number of live births does not directly relate to poverty as much as it relates ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Europe's refugee crisis: At least 24 people drown after boat sinks off Greek island of Samos

Coast guard vessel arrives with the dead bodies of refugees at the port of Vathi on the Greek island of Samos on Thursday. At least 24 people drowned when their boat sank. Photo: AP Athens: Twenty-four migrants drowned when their boat sank off a Greek ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.smh.com.au

The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel pledge cooperation to bolster stability and security in conflict-wracked region

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel pledged on Thursday to work together to seize opportunities emerging from newly found offshore gas reserves in order to bolster stability and security in a region wracked by conflict.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT hosted.ap.org