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Greek News 2006 (from Yahoo news)

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Sunday 22th of October 2006

Greece kicked off the second and final round of nationwide municipal elections on Sunday.

The second round involves areas where no candidate won more than 42 percent of the vote last Sunday. Voters will choose mayors in 247 towns and cities, and regional governors in seven prefectures.

The main battle is unfolding between the ruling New Democracy party and the main opposition Pasok socialists in Greece`s second largest city of Thessaloniki, where government-backed mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos is seeking re-election against socialist deputy Christina Arapoglou.

In the first round of voting last Sunday, conservative-backed candidates swept 28 of the 54 regional prefectures, while socialist-backed candidates won an outright majority in 19.

The municipal elections came ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 2008. The vote is seen as a test for Greece`s political parties.

Sunday the 3rd of September 2006

Spain rocks Greece 70-47 for world title

SAITAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Sharp-shooting Spain blasted past Greece 70-47 to win their first world basketball championship gold medal on Sunday.
NBA-bound Jorge Garbajosa and guard Juan Carlos Navarro scored 20 points apiece as Spain overcame the absence of talismanic Menphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol to win their first major international title.
"We played really well with an incredible intensity in defense," Navarro told Spanish television station La Sexta. "We wanted to win for Pau and we achieved that in the end."

Garbajosa, who has just signed for the Toronto Raptors, sank six three-pointers and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead Spain past European champions Greece.
Back-to-back threes from Garbajosa blew the game open for Spain, giving them a 14-point advantage with 8:15 to go in the second quarter and they went in at halftime leading 43-23.
The gap was still 20 points after three quarters and the Greeks, who had shocked tournament favorites the United States in the semi-finals, never threatened a late fight back.
Spain's win was their 18th straight following a string of victories in pre-tournament games.
"It has been fantastic," gushed Spain coach Pepu Hernandez. "It was a great performance and experience and now we are world champions."
Gasol, who led Spain in points and rebounding, broke a metatarsal in Friday's epic 75-74 semi-final win over Argentina.
The NBA all-star hobbled on to the court on crutches and watched the game from the bench in jeans, pumping his fists and shouting encouragement to his team mates.
Gasol, named player of the tournament after averaging 21.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, burst into tears at the final buzzer as the Spanish celebrations began in earnest.

Wednesday the 23rd of August 2006

ATHENS (AFP) - A violent forest fire was raging in the northeastern Greek tourist region of Halkidiki close to inhabited areas, fire services said.
According to fire chief Andreas Kois, the flames were blazing in a seaside resort home to numerous second homes near the town of Polychronos. Authorities had not ordered an evacuation on Monday evening, Kois said on public television channel Net.After the departure at nightfall of two aircraft and one helicopter helping to fight the flames, 60 fire services personnel were still in place, backed up by 20 vehicles.The fire started on Monday afternoon for unknown reasons in a pine forest and spread quickly, fanned by strong winds.

Some people were being evacuated in Hanioti, south of Kalithea, according to the Austria Press Agency, citing Austrian lawmaker Paul Ruebig, who is holidaying in the area.APA also reported that around 1,000 people have been cut off on the beach because of the fires.
While inhabitants criticised the late air response, Kois said that 10 of Greece's 22 firefighting aircraft were grounded due to maintenance.
A sizeable amount of resources was also tied up fighting another blaze on Monday evening in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula in southwestern Greece.Another fire on the western island of Zakynthos had been brought under control by nightfall, Kois said.
Authorities have been on high alert due to the heatwave that has gripped Greece in recent days, sending temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

Firefighters battle a forest fire ripping through the Halkidiki peninsula. Firefighters in Greece were battling wildfires on multiple fronts for the third straight day, as authorities began assessing the damage wreaked on the picturesque northern peninsula of Halkidiki by a blaze that also claimed the life of a German tourist.

Friday the 29th of July 2006

Greek Premier on Mount Athos

The Holy Community of Mount Athos extended a cordial and at the same time modest welcome ceremony, as the norms of Mount Athos dictate, to Greek Premier Kostas Karamanlis, who arrived there on Friday noon, in the context of his first official visit in his capacity as Prime Minister. Karamanlis is currently meeting the members of the Holy Community in Karyes and he will then attend a dinner. During his two-day stay, he will visit the Holy Monasteries of Megisti Lavra, Vatopediou and Iviron, the convents ranking in the first three spots in the hierarchy. The Prime Minister is escorted by State Minister Theodoros Roussopoulos, Macedonia-Thrace Minister Giorgos Kalantzis, Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kassimis and Deputy Finance Minister Christos Folias.

Wednesday 26th of July 2006

Greek researchers find prehistoric skull

KRIOPIGI, Greece - Professor of geology Evangelia Tsoukala holds the skull of a mesopithecus at an excavation in Halkidiki, northern Greece. The skull is more than 5 million years old, researchers said.

The remains of the Mesopithecus Pentelicus -- a monkey-like animal, a little more than 3 feet long -- were found in the northern Halkidiki peninsula, outside the city of Thessaloniki.

"It's an important find because it's in such good condition," Evangelia Tsoukala, a professor of geology at Thessaloniki University who is heading the excavation, told state-run NET television.

"It had a tail ... it was herbivorous, and the skull is intact as well as the teeth," she said.

Local officials said they hope to build a museum in the area to put the skull and other prehistoric animal remains found at the site on display.

Friday the 21st of July 2006

Greece Sends Relief Aid

Greece is mounting its relief work in Lebanon. Speaking on NET 105.8 radio station from Cyprus, Greek Deputy Defence Minister Vasilis Mihaloliakos hailed the relief work carried out by the crews of navy ships Rhodes and Themistocles as a bridge of humanness, noting that they have already evacuated as many as 1,850 foreign citizens. "We are constantly proving that our culture is human-oriented," underlined Mihaloliakos.

On Saturday evening a Greek navy ship is to carry a shipment of some 13.5 tonnes of relief aid to Beirut. The relief package had been transferred to Larnaca, Cyprus, by a C-130 aircraft earlier today.

Responding to the request the Lebanese Government has submitted to the EU, the aid shipment is made up of food, tents bedclothes.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis highlighted Friday Greece’s role in providing relief aid, noting that Greece called for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East from the very beginning

Wednesday the 28th of June 2006

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) - Greek students clashed with police yesterday as 30 of the world's education ministers began a conference on higher education amid heated debate in Greece over plans for private universities.

Thousands of students and teachers protested in Athens against what they say is the commercialisation of Greek universities, while some 500 pro-communist demonstrators attempted to gain access to the seaside hotel at the suburb of Lagonissi where the conference was being held.

The protests broke up late yesterday after police fired tear gas at some 200 hardcore demonstrators who had started pelting them with stones and lighting fires.

Debating issues of funding, quality and university contribution to research, the meeting of the Organsiation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) opened amid upheaval in Greece's own education sector, with students taking to the streets for the third week running.

In his opening address to the meeting, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria alluded to problems of financing higher education.
"In our countries, higher education has continually expanded to influence up to 50 per cent of our populations," he said.

"This raises new problems, such as the means of financing this extension. In certain European countries, the public sector provides basic financing, which is not enough to pay the cost of expansion.

"We frequently face an unacceptable dilemma, namely whether to restrain access to study, or lower the quality of teaching," Gurria added.

The Greek student protest - the latest in a series since March - is primarily motivated by the conservative government's intention to amend the constitution to allow the creation of private universities.

Tuesday the 27th of June 2006

A rare Roman coin celebrating the assassination of Julius Caesar is seen on a screen during a press conference in Athens on Tuesday, June 27, 2006. The 3.2-gram silver coin was illegally excavated in Greece and confiscated in Britain from suspected antiquities smugglers. It is decorated with the head of Brutus, one of Caesar's murderers.

Sunday the 20th of May 2006

Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menounos

Finland's Lordi monster hit at Eurovision

It was a stunning upset for a competition that is usually associated with upbeat pop sounds or bland dance music.
Lordi calls itself a "horror rock" band and its song, Hard Rock Hallelujah, is a screaming blend of apocalyptic lyrics and crunching guitar sounds.
The band's frontman, Mr. Lordi, wielded a double-headed ax over his head during the Eurovision performance. He said his rock inspiration is the heavy metal band Kiss.
"This is a victory for rock music … and also a victory for open-mindedness," he said after the win on Saturday, a first for Finland.
"We are not Satanists. We are not devil-worshippers. This is entertainment," he told Reuters.
Many Finns were scandalized when the group was chosen to represent their country. But on Sunday they poured into the streets of Helsinki to celebrate the win, and President Tarja Halonen sent a telegram of congratulations.
The rest of Europe appeared mesmerized by the band, who hail from Arctic Lapland. The Eurovision Song Contest, which pits European countries against one another in a bid to produce the top song, was seen by about 150 million television viewers.
Lordi scored 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries for its performance, well ahead of Russia's Dima Bilian with 248 points and Bosnia's Hari Mata Hari with 229 points.
The Eurovision Song Contest, held in Athens and hosted this year by Greek pop singer Sakis Rouvas and Access Hollywood correspondent Maria Menounos, has been held annually since 1956 and has a kind of camp appeal for European viewers.
Many of the acts showcased on Saturday stuck to the catchy tune formula that has been successful in the past. Ireland's Brian Kennedy offered a syrupy ballad; the Bosnians had a love song; the Germany entry was a cowboy group calling itself Texas Lightning and Latvia's Cosmos performed a cappella.
Previous winners of the contest include '60s chanteuse Lulu, Sweden's ABBA, who won in 1974 with Waterloo, and Canada's Celine Dion, who represented Switzerland in 1988.
The Eurovision title entitles the winner to a trophy shaped like an ancient Greek column, but is no guarantee of stardom. Many past winners have faded into obscurity.
Mr. Lordi predicted his band's win would open the doors for a wider range of musical styles at Eurovision. "This is proof that from now on there will be more rock bands who will have the courage to join in," he said.
Band members never appear without their elaborate masks and makeup and do not reveal their true names.
Lordi's albums The Monsterican Dream (2004) and The Arockalypse (2006) are hits in Finland. The compilation album The Monster Show has also been released in more than 20 countries.

Friday the 21st of April 2006

This Sunday marks the Greek Orthodox Easter holiday

The President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias, will celebrate Easter at units and outposts of the 50th Motorised Brigade in the Northern Greek town of Soufli. According to the schedule, the President will arrive in Alexandroupolis’ Demokritos Airport at 7pm on Holy Saturday, and from there he will travel to Soufli. He will attend the Mass of Resurrection at the Church of St George, while he will then sit to dinner at the Officers’ Hall. On Easter Sunday, Mr Papoulias will visit the Lavara military outpost at 12:30pm, while he will attend an Easter feast at the camp of the 50th Motorised Brigade in Soufli at 1:30pm.

Greek PM Kostas Karamanlis will spend Easter on the island of Tinos. On Good Friday, Karamanlis will watch the Epitaph procession at the Church of the Virgin Mary, while on Holy Saturday he will attend the Mass of Resurrection at the Monastery of Kechrovouni. On Easter Sunday, the PM will visit the Kanaris frigate in the port of Tinos.

PASOK President George Papandreou will visit the island of Paros on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, while he will spend Easter Sunday at Dekeleia Airport in Tatoi.

KKE general secretary Aleka Papariga is on an official visit to China until 27 April.

Finally, SYN President Alekos Alavanos will also spend Easter on Tinos, his homeland. On Easter Sunday, he will visit Tinos’ Home for the Aged.

Wednesday, the 29th of March 2006

The view of the partial solar eclipse from Athens. The moon began blocking out the sun in the morning in Brazil before the path of greatest blockage migrated to Africa, then on to Turkey and up into Mongolia, where it will fade out with the sunset.

Saturday the 25th of March 2006

The 185th anniversary of Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire was celebrated in Greece.

Chinook helicopters fly over Parthenon, on the ancient Acropolis hill during a parade in Athens to commemorate Greek Independence Day. The national holiday on March 25 marks the start of Greece's 1821 war of indepedence against the 400-year Ottoman rule.

Wednesday the 1st of March 2006

ATHENS - Greece confirmed three more cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of birdflu in migratory birds on Wednesday, bringing the number to 19 since the disease was first reported in the country last month.
The three swans were found in the north, the same area where all other cases of birdflu have been reported, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
Greece is awaiting the results of tests on seven other wild birds suspected of infection, but has had no suspect domestic poultry cases.
Since the first case of birdflu was discovered in February, Greece has implemented a series of precautionary measures to stop the spread of the disease. These include a 10-km (6-mile) quarantine around the areas where the infected fowl were found.
The Agriculture Ministry said no further precautionary measures were needed.
According to wildlife experts, an unusually large number of migratory birds have arrived in Greece this winter, forced south from their usual wintering grounds by severe weather conditions in northern Europe

Wednesday the 1st of February 2006

The EU has ordered Greece to lift its ban on genetically modified (GMO) maize seeds, setting the scene for yet another battle over the controversial technology.
For while the Commission has the power to make its own ruling on the matter, Greece, along with a number of other Member States, has consistently voted against any new GMO authorisations.
EU law allows countries to decide whether to allow such seeds on national territory, although a ban must be approved by EU member states. When EU farm ministers fail to reach a consensus view on the matter however, the Commission can adopt its own proposed decision, as in this case.
The parent maize in question, MON 810, engineered by US giant Monsanto to resist certain insect pests, won approval for growing just before the EU began its biotech ban in 1998.
But in September 2004, the EU authorised 17 different seed strains of Monsanto maize from a parent crop known as MON 810 for planting and sale across EU territory, opening up bitter debate among Member States.
The Commission has now said that Greece does not have sufficient reasons to ban the Monsanto seeds, especially as EU scientists had already assessed MON 810 as safe for human health. It also said that Greece has not supplied the necessary scientific information to Brussels to support its ban.
The Biotech lobby has been demanding for months that Greece be brought to order. “Neither the Greek Government nor any of the authorities have provided any validated scientific evidence to support either a ban or withholding approval to use these products in food,” said Simon Barber, director of the plant biotechnology unit at EuropaBio.
But opposition within Europe remains strong. UK-based pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE), which enjoys considerable public sympathy on this issue, says that ten years after the first significant planting of GM crops, no plants with benefits to consumers or the environment have materialised.
“GM crops are not ‘green',” claims the new FoE international report.
“Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans, the most extensively grown GM crop today, has led to an increase in herbicide use. Independent reports from the US show that since 1996, GM corn, soybean and cotton have led to an increase in pesticide use of 55 million kilos.”
It is clear that Member States still need to be convinced that introducing genetically modified ingredients into food production is acceptable. The Commission has asked EU members over ten times to vote on authorising a GMO food or feed product, but in the large majority of cases, there was no agreement or simple deadlock.
Luxembourg, Greece and Austria consistently vote against GMO approvals, while the UK, Finland and the Netherlands almost always vote in favour. And GM ingredients are still regarded with some suspicion by consumers in Europe and as such are used infrequently in food formulations by food manufacturers who do not want to see sales fall.
It seems likely therefore that the Greeks, who have consistently voted against any new GM authorisation, will appeal against the EC's order at the European Court of Justice, the bloc's highest court.

Sunday the 29th of January 2006

A Greek Cypriot customs officer disinfects a UN vehicle coming from the Turkish areas of northern Cyprus, at the Agios Dhometios checkpoint in the divided capital of Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus is stepping up precautions after tests on birds from northern Cyprus revealed they had died of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, a senior government official said.

Wednesday the 25th of January 2006

A snow-covered icon is seen at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Pendeli as a monk walks in the background during snowfall at the northern Athens suburb of Palea Pendeli. Snow covered much of Athens and its outlying suburbs as a wave of bad weather hit Greece and cut off access to dozens of remote mountain villages, police and civil defense authorities said.

Friday the 20th of January 2006	Greece Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Karamanlis is on an official state visit to China. The China-Greece relations are in the "best" period of time since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 33 years ago. Hu said both China and Greece are great countries with profound civilizations. The two peoples respect and treat friendly with each other. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have built up sound relations on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, Hu said. He said the two countries have conducted fruitful exchanges and cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, shipping, technology, education and tourism. They also coordinate well in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, he added. The Chinese president said China and Greece have neither fundamental conflicts in interests nor pendent problems. Under the new historical circumstances, the two countries' building of an all-round strategic partnership will pose important and profound impact on the development of bilateral ties, he said. Noting Greece-China relations progressed quite well, Karamanlis said Greece sticks to the one-China policy and opposes "Taiwan Independence". "We hope to enhance cooperation with China in the fields of shipping, energy, investment, tourism, culture and education." he said. Greece had succeeded in hosting the Olympic Games in 2004 and China will host the 2008 Games, which has provided important opportunities for both sides to enhance cooperation in hosting the Olympics, he said. Greece attaches importance to China's important role in international and regional affairs, and expects to enhance coordination with China, the premier said. "We are also willing to make positive efforts in lifting obstacles to Sino-European relations and promote overall development of Sino-European relations." he said. The Greek prime minister arrived here Thursday morning for a four-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Monday the 8th of January 2006	A 4,500-year-old marble figurine of a male harpist, found on the Aegean Sea islet of Keros, is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. In April 2006, Greek and British archaeologists are to excavate on Keros in the hope of discovering why the tiny, arid islet once boasted the world's largest concentration of Cycladic marble artwork. This photo, shows a group of smashed 4,500-year-old figurines from the Aegean Sea islet of Keros in the museum's collection. .
Sunday the 8th of January 2006	A damaged church is seen in the village of Mitata, on the Greek island of Kithira following Sunday's magnitude-6.9 undersea earthquake. Schools and some public buildings were closed as a precaution Monday, in parts of southern Greece jolted by the earthquake that caused limited damage and three injuries. The quake struck between Kithira and Crete, southern Greece.
Friday the 6th of January 2006	Greek Orthodox metropolitan Ikonio Keoliptos throws the wooden crucifix into the waters of Golden Horn in Bosphorus in Istanbul during a ceremony celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ. Swimmers raced to retrieve the wooden crucifix thrown by orthodox priests into the Bosphorus traditionally following a mass at Aya Yorgi Church attended by hundreds of ethnic Greeks and visitors from Greece.