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ATHENS NEWS



Click Star soloists gather at Athens Concert Hall
Date : December 6, 2005
Author : grhomeboy
The Roland Petit’s choreographies, is part of the Athens Concert Hall tribute taking place this week. <br><br> A group of leading international dance soloists will pay tribute to French master choreographer Roland Petit at the Athens Concert Hall this week. <br><br> Lucia Lacarra, Wang Qinin, Svetlana Lunkina, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Cyril Pierre, Luigi Bonino, Lienz Chang and Li Jun will interpret celebrated pieces choreographed by Petit throughout his distinguished career. <br><br> Pieces from ballets include Georges Bizet’s “L’Arlesienne” and “Carmen,” Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek,” Maurice Jarre’s “Notre Dame de Paris,” Jules Massenet’s “Thais,” Leo Delibes’s “Coppelia,” Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Le Jeune Homme et la Mort” as well as Pink Floyd favorites provided with movement by Petit. <br><br> Born in Villemomble near Paris in 1924, Petit trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school before becoming a choreographer and developing landmark works such as “Paradise Lost,” “Les Forains” and “Les amours de Frantz.” In 1954, Petit married Zizi Jeanmaire, a dancer, who became his muse for a number of works.

Click The Grand Promenade
Date : December 6, 2006
Author : Jennifer Higgie
The exhibition title refers to the Grand Promenade of the Unification of Archaeological Sites, a majestically named footpath that winds around the base of the Acropolis, taking in pine groves and archaeological sites. Kafetsi’s idea was to create an ‘open’ museum combining Athenian heritage with contemporary art and daily life. Forty-four international and local artists were invited to choose a site for their work, including not only the Promenade but various other locations around town. <br><br> More on <a href=http://www.frieze.com/review_single.asp?r=2575 target=_blank>Jeniffer Higgie review</a>

Click City of Athens to spend 1.5 million euros on events for festive season
Date : December 6, 2006
Author : eKathimerini
The City of Athens will spend 1.5 million euros on decorating the city center and organizing events for Christmas, Athens Mayor Theodoros Behrakis said yesterday. The outgoing mayor said that the lights on the Christmas tree in Syntagma Square will be switched on in nine days. A 120-year-old carousel will also be set up in the square for children to ride. A smaller carousel will operate in Kotzia Square from December 16. A giant snowman in front of Zappeion Hall will house the “workshop of fun,” Behrakis said. The municipality has also organized three New Year’s Eve concerts at Syntagma, Kotzia and Klafthmonos squares.

Click Athens Classic Marathon
Date : October 14, 2006
Author : Greece Athens
Among all the Olympic events, the Marathon Race stands out because it was born by a real historic and heroic event. <br><br> It was a feat accomplished by a news-bearing foot soldier from ancient Athens, who announced - with his last words - the victory of the Greeks against the Persians in the battle of Marathon (490bc). <br><br> The 42,195m Marathon Race became one of the most competitive events when the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. A Greek athlete by the name of Spyros Louis, running what has ever since been referred to as the 'Original Course' from the ancient city of Marathon to the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens, won the gold medal of the first modern Olympic Games and became a legend of Greek and international athletics. The Marathon Race has always had a prominent place in the hearts and minds of sports enthusiasts, as it represents the highest effort where the human body, soul and mind are tested to their limits as the runner presses himself/herself to the finish line. <br><br> This year the Athens Classic Marathon (the only Marathon race in the world, which is held on the original course and the course of the 1896 first modern Olympic Games) will be held on November 5, 2006. Be there! <br><br> More info on <a href=http://www.athensclassicmarathon.gr target=_blank>Athens Classic Marathon</a>

Click Acropolis museum to boost bid for Parthenon sculptures
Date : October 10, 2006
Author : Greece Athens
ATHENS, Greece Greece's marathon campaign to reclaim the 2,500-year-old Parthenon sculptures from Britain will be boosted by a long-delayed Athens museum set to open next year, the premier said Monday. <br><br> Greece hopes the landmark structure, purpose-built to showcase finds from the ancient Acropolis, will eventually host the collection — even as a permanent loan — despite repeated refusals from the British government and British Museum officials. <br><br> Once the museum is completed, Greece will have a very strong argument for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said. We are taking a very important step to finally realize a dream that unites all Greeks. <br><br> The ancient marble masterpieces originally decorated the upper parts of the Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 B.C. They were removed in the early 19th century — when Greece still belonged to the Turkish Ottoman empire — by British diplomat Lord Elgin. <br><br> Athens argues the sprawling ¤129 million ($162 million) building will allow the sculptures to be reunited for the first time in 200 years, in a direct line of sight with their ancient home. <br><br> During a visit to the building site at the foot of the Acropolis hill, Karamanlis said the museum will be ready in the first half of 2007. Officials say it will then open to visitors by the end of next year. <br><br> It will be the most modern archaeological museum in the world, Karamanlis said. <br><br> More on <a href=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/09/europe/EU_GEN_Greece_Acropolis_Museum.php target=_blank>International Herald Tribune Europe</a>

Click Nia Vardalos Gets Permission to Film at Athens's Acropolis
Date : September 21, 2006
Author : Reuters
Greece has granted American actress and writer Nia Vardalos the rare privilege of shooting parts of her new Tom Hanks-produced film in the classical ruins of Athens's Acropolis, according to Reuters. <br><br> Greek authorities rarely approve such requests for fear of heavy equipment and film props damaging the ruins. They also fear use of archaeological sites for commercial ventures could compromise their global appeal. <br><br> The country's Central Archaeological Council (KAS) has, however, given the green light for the Hollywood production My Life in Ruins to use the ancient temple of Parthenon on the Acropolis as a location. <br><br> Nia Vardalos, who starred in the 2002 sleeper hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, will be playing a tour guide traveling across Greece with a group of tourists. Shooting is expected to start in the coming months. <br><br> While this is not the first time the Acropolis is used in a major Hollywood production, KAS had turned down dozens of requests since allowing Francis Ford Coppola to shoot Life Without Zoe in 1989 on the sacred rock.

Click Getty Museum Will Return 2 Antiquities to Greece
Date : September 17, 2006
Author : HUGH EAKIN
After months of intense scrutiny of its collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles said today that it had agreed to relinquish ownership of two of four rare ancient works that the government of Greece says were illegally removed from within its borders. <br><br> The compromise accord, which was initially reached in May at a meeting in Athens between the museum’s director, Michael Brand, and the Greek culture minister, Georgios A. Voulgarakis, provides for the return to Greece of a large stele, or grave marker, acquired by the museum in 1993 and a small marble relief from the island of Thasos bought by the museum’s founder, the oil magnate J. Paul Getty, in 1955. <br><br> The Getty has not yet worked out the formal arrangement under which the stele and the relief will be repatriated, but officials said the accord might include a provision for long-term loans from Greece. Talks are continuing on the other two objects sought by the Greek government, with goal of reaching an accord by late August, officials said. <br><br> Mr. Brand said the museum decided to give up title to the stele and votive relief even though negotiations are incomplete because the Getty was eager to establish a new working relationship with Greece. <br><br> More on <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/10/arts/design/10cnd-getty.html?ex=1158638400&en=d075e909107559ab&ei=5070 target=_blank>NYTimes</a>

Click 1st Arab-Hellenic economic forum in Athens
Date : September 15, 2006
Author : Athens News Agency
The first-ever Arab-Hellenic economic forum was held in Athens on Friday, with the primary focus on expanding tourism markets, both ways. <br><br> Tourism Development Minister Fani Palli-Petralia, among others, noted that private investments in the greater Athens area's hotel sector alone -- renovations and new construction -- have reached 500 million euros. <br><br> Lebanese Tourism Minister Joseph Sakris also addressed the forum, where he detailed the catastrophic consequences, as he said, that recent warfare inflicted on his country's tourism sector and infrastructure. <br><br> Finally, the president of the association of Greek tourism and travel agents (HATTA), Yiannis Evangelou, said the number of Greek tourists to Syria, for instance, doubled in 2006. <br><br> On the sidelines of the event, representatives of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEA) signed a memorandum of cooperation with the corresponding chamber in the UAE city of Sharjah.

Click Athens show reveals secrets of antiquities smuggling
Date : September 15, 2006
Author : By Dina Kyriakidou
Having fought for decades to recover its stolen ancient treasures, Greece is now hosting an exhibition exposing the secrets of antiquities smuggling past and present. <br><br> Sepia photographs of 18th century European aristocrats posing proudly next to looted ancient art may startle visitors to the Benaki Museum, but the show History Lost is not just a stroll through the past. <br><br> Organisers say its timing could not be better, coming as top museums such as the Getty in Los Angeles, whose former antiquities curator is on trial in Rome for trafficking looted Italian art, are beginning to give back stolen works. <br><br> The audio-visual show takes visitors through the ages of antiquities smuggling - from the Victorian collectors of Classical art to the looting of Iraq's National Museum in 2003 - and the routes of the modern-day illegal trade. <br><br> In the 17th century, wealthy Europeans, enchanted with the ideals of Classical beauty, filled their homes with Greek and Roman antiquities. By the 20th century, African and Asian art once seen as ethnic handicraft also fell victim to the trade. <br><br> The exhibition is divided in two parts, before and after the 1970 UNESCO convention on the illicit trade of cultural heritage, which prompted former Metropolitan Museum director Thomas Hoving to declare: The age of piracy has ended. <br><br> The United States signed the treaty in 1983 and Britain in 2003. But it was the Swiss signing in 2005 that was hailed a major victory against antiquities smuggling. <br><br> More on <a href=http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-09-15T103134Z_01_NOA537761_RTRUKOC_0_GREECE-ANTIQUITIES.xml target=_blank>Reuters</a>

Click Greek tourism to grow faster in '06, report
Date : September 14, 2006
Author : Athens News Agency
Tourist foreign exchange inflows are expected to lag behind, in growth terms, the growth rate of tourist arrivals in the country this year, a report by the Institute for Tourist Research and Forecasts (ITEP) said on Tuesday. <br><br> The report said tourist foreign exchange revenues were not expected to match a forecast of a 8-10 percent growth rate in tourist arrivals in Greece this year, but would record a growth rate of at least 6.0 percent for the year. <br><br> ITEP said tourist foreign exchange inflows recovered strongly in June, while he noted that tourist arrivals in August -with the exception of Corfu- exceeded forecasts and led to a forecast for a growth rate of 8-10 pct in 2006. Tourist arrivals in Crete and the Dodecanese rose 10.6 pct and 12.1 pct respectively, in the period January-August 2006, compared with growth rates of 6.3 pct and 1.4 pct in the corresponding period in 2005. Northern Aegean islands also recorded strong growth, exceeding 10 percent in the first eight months of the year. <br><br> Cyclades islands also recorded strong growth in tourist arrivals, while Ionian islands lagged behind with the exception of Cephalonia (up 16 pct this year after a drop of 10 percent in the same period last year). <br><br> The report noted that Greek tourism growth was more than double compared with other competitors in the European Mediterranean region (Spain +5.3 pct, Turkey -2.2 pct and Portugal +5.5 pct). <br><br> Another report says foreign tourist arrivals in Greece rose by 8.3 percent in 2005 over the preceding year 2004, according to figures released Wednesday by Greece's national statistics service (ESYE) regarding the previous year’s numbers. <br><br> According to the ESYE figures, arrivals from Europe, which account for 93 percent of the tourist market, rose by 6.5 percent in 2005, with the largest proportion (19 percent) coming from the UK, followed by Germany (15.7 percent), and Italy (7.9 percent). <br><br> A substantial increase was also recorded in arrivals from Romania (51.5 percent), Bulgaria (36.3 percent) and Russia (28.1 percent). <br><br> With respect to a breakdown of data concerning travel means and point of entry, the airports with the highest rate of traffic in 2005 were Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (AIA), with 24.1 percent, followed by Irakleio Airport (Crete) with 12.8 percent; Rhodes with 7.8 percent and Corfu with 5.6 percent. <br><br> In a comparison with 2004, the airports with the largest increase in traffic in 2005 were Mykonos (14.8 percent) and Santorini (10.5 percent), while declines in arrivals were recorded at the airports of Kavala (25.6 percent), Rhodes (77.8 percent) and Patras (Araxos) (49.3 percent). <br><br> A 2.6-percent increase was also recorded in passenger arrivals on charter flights in 2005 as opposed to 2004.

Click Athens Trophy
Date : Aug 20, 2006
Author : Greece Athens
This year will see the Circuit 21 boats from 11 different nations. Last year the racing was close, with races won and lost by seconds. This season promises to be even more exciting, setting new standards in every area. <br><br> The Breitling Med Cup is attracting the best sailors in the world. <br><br> From the round the world racers, massive budget America¢s Cup sailors, to medalists in the Olympics, all come together to compete on the TP52 Breitling MedCup Circuit. <br><br> The penultimate event in the circuit will be run by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club in the ancient military port of the <a href=http://www.greece-athens.com/place.php?place_id=81>Micromilano</a> peninsula in <a href=http://www.greece-athens.com/place.php?place_id=38>Piraeus</a>. Athens has long had a strong relationship with the sea and this tradition has continued from antiquity through to the modern day, when this historic capital played host to the 2004 Olympic Games. Without doubt one of the most spectacular venues in the Circuit, as much for its history as for its island-filled clear waters. Welcome to the cradle of the Mediterranean! <br><br> More on the event website: <a href=http://athenstrophy.horc.gr target=_blank>Athens trophy</a>

Click A soldier wipes the face of an evzone...
Date : August 20, 2006
Author : Orestis Panagiiotou / EPA
A soldier wipes the face of an evzone, who is not allowed to move as long as he remains on guard, outside Parliament in central Athens, yesterday. The temperature rose to around 40C (104F) yesterday in a heat wave that is expected to continue over the next few days. The City of Athens and the Athens-Piraeus Prefecture have opened doors to many of their air-conditioned facilities to locals looking for a place to cool off. More information is available on 1539. The National Meteorological Service (EMY) said there will be little relief from the heat before Wednesday.

Click Acropolis International Open Chess Tournament
Date : August 20, 2006
Author : Greece Athens
The International Tournament Acropolis 2006, organized by the Greek Chess Federation, is taking place between the 13 and 21 of August 2006 in Athens, Greece. <br><br> Official site: <a href=http://www.chessfed.gr/Acropolis2006/ target=_blank>Hellenic Chess Federation</a>

Click Athens named as destination venue for City Break 2007
Date : Aug. 20, 2006
Author : Boarding.no
Reed Travel Exhibitions and European Cities Tourism are delighted to announce that City Break 2007 will be staged in Athens, Greece.- We invite you to experience City Break 2007 in modern Athens, where you can explore the past and discover the new, said Alex Galinos, Managing Director, Athens Tourism and Economic Development Agency. <br> <br> Following last years very successful launch event in Helsinki, City Break 2007 will take place at the stunning neo-classical style Zappeion Mansion and the award winning Intercontinental Athenaeum. This three-day event, 11-13 June 2007, will focus on the growing European City Break market and is expected to attract over 200 European exhibitors from 30 countries who will showcase their products and destinations to pre-qualified international hosted buyers. <br><br> City Break is a break away from the normal trade exhibition format, featuring pre-scheduled appointments with buyers selecting up to 36 appointments with their chosen exhibitors. Companies exhibiting in 2006 included the likes of Eurostar, Blue 1, Octopus Travel, Tussauds Group as well as leading hotel chains and destination management companies. Most of Europe’s leading cities from Athens to Zagreb were represented. <br><br> International Buyers who attended City Break 2006 from around the world included representation from Tui, American Express, Gulliver Travel, Expedia, Easyjet.com <br><br> - Athens will provide the perfect host city destination,” commented Mark Walsh Exhibition Director City Break 2007. <br><br> - Following the rejuvenation of the city’s infrastructure as part of the Olympics in 2004, we have in place all the facilities needed to support a growing event such as City Break 2007. With it’s new hotels, restaurants and associated facilities the city will hopefully match that of the experience received from Helsinki, Finland, the inaugural show host city in 2006”. <br><br> Alex Galinos, Managing Director, Athens Tourism and Economic Development Agency said: <br> - We invite you to experience City Break 2007 in modern Athens, where you can explore the past and discover the new. The modern City of Athens, the premier city-state in ancient times, is delighted to host City Break, one of Europe’s newest networking and business travel exhibitions dedicated to promoting city break tourism, the fastest growth sector of European travel”. <br><br> More info on <a href=http://www.citybreakexpo.com target=_blank> City Break Expo</a>

Click Mare Forum in Athens
Date : August 17 2006
Author : Greece Athens
The Mare Forum will convene for its next marathon talking session in Athens, on Monday-Tuesday September 25 and 26, preceded by a warming up evening reception on Sunday. <br><br> The Mare Forum calls itself a unique channel for communication between regulators, implementers and enforcers, at the highest level of both government and industry, and with a global outlook. <br><br> Its first session was held in Amsterdam some 10 years ago, and this Athens gathering will be asked to focus on the Green Paper on Maritime Policy, published by the European Commission two months ago and which sets out the building blocks of an integrated strategy on maritime affairs. <br><br> Shipping is just one of the envisaged key elements, but, as the announcement brochure states, of no less importance than any of the other elements, which concern the wider uses of the seas and oceans, energy issues, coastal management and development, among others. <br><br> There will be sessions dedicated to shipping market issues including supply and demand forecasts, finance and investment, and human factor issues, such as maritime recruitment and labor standards, sea skills, and criminalization. <br><br> The numerous confirmed speakers include legislators, policy-makers and industry figures from around the world. <br><br> Lloyd’s List maritime editor and commentator Michael Grey, will again chair the session with the support of Mare Forum Managing Director, Jannis Kostoulas. <br><br> For further information and registration contact: info@mareforum.com or ruth@mareforum.com <br> Telephone +31 (0)10 281 0655. <br><br> The conference hotel is the <a href=http://www.goldenlist.gr/athens/astir_palace/>Astir Palace</a>, 40 Apollonos Street, 16671 Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece. <br><br> More on <a href=http://www.mareforum.com/mare_forum_2006.htm target=_blank>Mare Forum</a>

Click Theseus Ring
Date : August 3 2006
Author : Deutsche Presse-Agentur
The long-lost 'Theseus Ring,' a gold ring found in the Plaka district of Athens in the 1950s and generally dismissed as a fake, has been identified by Greek archaeologists as a genuine 15th century BC artifact, reports said Wednesday. <br><br> The Greek press had reported the discovery of a gold signet ring, with dimensions 2.7 x 1.8 cm dating from the Minoan period, and the National Archaeological Museum wanted to purchase it for 75,000 euros from the woman who owned it. <br><br> There was a huge debate about its authenticity until a panel of experts from the Culture Ministry declared the piece to be genuine. <br><br> The ring, which depicts a bull-leaping scene, is believed to come from the area of Anafiotika in the Athens ancient city centre of Plaka. The scene also includes a lion to the left and a tree to the right. <br><br> According to ancient Greek mythology, Prince Theseus was the son of King Aegeus of Athens. During this period, the Minoans under the leadership of King Minos, who lived on the island of Crete, had a very strong navy and often attacked various Greek cities, including Athens. <br><br> King Aegeus had an agreement with King Minos that if Minos would leave Athens in peace, Aegeus would send seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls to Crete every nine years, to be eaten by a monster that lived on Crete, the Minotaur. <br><br> Determined to slay the monster, Theseus joined the children on the next voyage despite pleas from his father. King Aegeus made Theseus promise to change the sails on the boat from black to white if he managed to come home alive. <br><br> After killing the Minotaur and sailing back towards Athens near Sounion, Theseus had forgotten to change the sail from black to white. When King Aegeus saw the black sail he thought Theseus was dead and jumped off a cliff, killing himself.

Click Liza Minelli in Athens for Hellenic Festival
Date : July 26, 2006
Author : Athens News Agency
Academy Award-winning actress and singer Liza Minelli was in Athens on Monday, where she will close the events for the Hellenic Festival with two concerts on Wednesday and Thursday night at the Herod Atticus Odeon beneath the Acropolis. <br><br> At a press conference at a central Athens hotel, she expressed herself excited and proud to be in Greece - a magical country that combines colour, romance and courtesy, lots of music and dance. <br><br> According to Hellenic Festival director Georgios Loukos, the organisers had saved the best for last and were closing the festival with a superstar. <br><br> He thanked Minelli and U.S. Ambassador to Athens Charles Ries for his help in organising the two concerts by the multi-talented artist, which are taking place in collaboration with the American-Hellenic Arts Centre of Halandri and the American Community School (ACS) in Athens. <br><br> He said the revenue raised by the concerts would go to support the activities of the arts centre, since the U.S. Embassy supported cultural programmes in the conviction that Art was a universal language uniting all peoples. <br><br> This is the second time that Minelli will be performing in Athens, while her appearance here will be part of a major European tour that the artist began in February this year in Munich. After Athens, she is due to appear in Moscow and finally in Montreal. <br><br> Her Athens performances will also be an opportunity for Minelli to take a 10-day trip in Greece.

Click First Athens mosque
Date : July 26, 2006
Author : Reuters
The Greek government on Tuesday unveiled a location for the first modern mosque in Athens. <br><br> The mosque will be located in a downtown area of the city which is slated to be redeveloped as a sports and parks complex aimed at revitalising the city centre. <br><br> The mosque will be built in the Botanikos area. The mosque will be paid for by the state, said Minister for Development George Souflias, adding it would be close to a new metro stop. <br><br> Greece had pledged to build a mosque in Athens to serve the city's growing Muslim community, mostly immigrants from Asia, but the plan had stumbled over the choice of location. <br><br> Earlier proposals included a site near the airport, 33 kms (20 miles) from the city, or the reopening of an 18th-century mosque which has since been turned into a museum. We welcome this decision and see it as a positive development in accord with the established position of the Church of Greece, Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece Christodoulos said in a statement.

Click Shakira: Stop The War in Lebanon
Date : July 22, 2006
Author : Sofia News Agency
Colombian pop star Shakira, whose father is from Lebanon, called for a cease fire in the country, which is torn to shreds by Israeli bombings. <br><br> So many mothers and children are dying every day and that's something we cannot tolerate, not today, not in the 21st century, said the singer before performing at a concert in Athens. <br><br> I want to call (on) the US leaders to stop this war, because we all know that they can stop it, she said. <br><br> I just hope that there is a diplomatic and international intervention right away, I think it's necessary.

Click Illegal Antiquities Cache Prompts Greek Inquiry
Date : April 18, 2006
Author : Anthi Karassava & Carol Vogel and Randy Kennedy
The Greek authorities said on Tuesday that they were investigating a suspected conspiracy to smuggle antiquities hidden on a remote island to major museums and other buyers abroad. <br><br> The inquiry, described by the Greek culture minister, George Voulgarakis, as one of the most complex cases in recent history, springs from a raid last week in an Athens suburb and another on Skhoinousa, a tiny Greek island, where the police discovered a vast cache of ancient artifacts, some more than 3,000 years old. <br><br> Mr. Voulgarakis said at a news conference that the antiquities seized at Skhoinousa, an island in the Cyclades, were stored in containers. Items cataloged so far by archaeologists range widely in age and geographic origin, he said, from marble busts of Roman gods to Corinthian columns, from Christian icons to an Egyptian amphora, with dates running from the early Hellenistic era to the post-Byzantine period. <br><br> Evidence retrieved in the raid indicated that many of the items had been bought at Christie's or Sotheby's between 2001 and 2005, although none had been declared to the Greek authorities before entering the country, as required by law, he said. <br><br> Specifically, the authorities are trying to determine whether the cache has any links to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Mr. Voulgarakis said. <br><br> Nearly three weeks ago the police raided a villa owned by the Getty's former antiquities curator, Marion True, on Paros, an island near Skhoinousa, and removed more than a dozen antiquities that had not been registered with the authorities. And for months, Greek officials have been pressing the Getty to return four artifacts in its collection that they contend were illegally removed from the country. <br><br> Still, Mr. Voulgarakis cautioned that we should not rush to any conclusions on any link between the Getty itself and the newly uncovered trove. No arrests have been made in connection with the raids, the minister added. <br><br> More on <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/19/arts/design/19loot.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 target=_blank>New York Times</a>

Click Greek Independence Day anniversary
Date : March 25, 2006
Author : Athens News Agency
The 185th anniversary of the March 25 Greek national Independence Day, which celebrates the start of the Greek revolution against Ottoman rule in 1821, was celebrated with pomp throughout Greece on Saturday, culminating with a parade by the Armed Forces in central Syntagma Square in Athens in the presence of President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias. March 25 is a dual holiday, as the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary is also celebrated on that day. <br><br> Today we celebrate the biggest historical event of modern Greece. A people almost unarmed, but with a flame in its heart and with a passion for freedom, rose up against an empire and gained its freedom, Papoulias said after the parade. <br><br> This gives us the message that freedom is not given, it is conquered. Today, the people and the Armed Forces are the guarantee for the progress of Greece, for its peaceful coexistence with all the peoples of the region, for peace in the region, which is necessary, the President continued.<br><br> He also expressed conviction that the Greek people, with their patriotism, and the Armed Forces, with their preparedness, would do their duty. <br><br> Prime minister Costas Karamanlis, in a statement, said that the March 25 holiday found the Greeks determined to make reality their visions for a strong and prospering Greece, for a Greece that was a factor of peace and stability in the wider region, for a society of cohesion and solidarity. <br><br> The premier added that we are in the middle of as great collective effort. A difficult effort which, however, we must complete. <br><br> Main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou said that the March 25 anniversary was always timely, as it embodies the struggles and visions of so many generations of Hellenes...Visions for social justice, freedom, democracy, for a society of solidarity. We hold this vision today, too, and are dedicated to those goals. <br><br> Before the parade, a doxology was held at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral, officiated by Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece, and attended by the President, the country's political leadership, the Armed Forces leadership, and the leadership of the Security Corps. <br><br> The doxology was attended by President Papoulias, premier Karamanlis, main opposition leader Papandreou, representatives of the political parties and the local administrations, former Presidents Costis Stephanopoulos and Christos Sartzetakis, the Armed Forces and Security Corps leaderships, and the leadersnip of the country's higher and supreme courts. <br><br> President Papoulias was greeted with full military honours at Syntagma Square after the doxology, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the parliament building.

Click Eurovision Song Contest 2006 Welcome Party
Date : March 25, 2006
Author : www.Greece-Athens.com
The official Welcome Party for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 will take place on 15th May at the Zappeion Hall, close to the city centre of Athens. Host of the night is the Mayor of Athens, Mr. Theodore Behrakis. The event will combine a cocktail party with an open air concert featuring Eurovision host Sakis Rouvas. <br><br> More parties will be held all over the Eurovision Song Contest week. This year, the Euroclub be located in Technopolis, the 'city of the arts'. The location, a former industrial building, offers three different venues for parties, meetings and concerts. Undoubtedly, several delegations will take the opportunity to organise their very own party in order to promote their representative in the contest.<br /> <br /> The organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 has also thought about the touristic desires of the 37 delegations. On 14th and 15th May, the artists from the 37 delegations can enjoy a day cruise to three islands: Aegina, Poros and Hydra. On 16th and 17th May, they will be able to go sightseeing in the historic centre of Athens. <br><br> Source: eurovision.tv <br><br> For more information follow the link: <a href=http://www.eurovisionathens.gr/ target=_blank>Athens 2006 Eurovision contest</a>

Click Tickets for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest
Date : February 23, 2006
Author : esctoday
Tickets for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest will go on sale on 27th February through tshellas.gr. At this moment, host broadcaster ERT gives a press conference at Divani Caravel to announce more details about the tickets. <br><br> Ticketstream Hellas in association with ACS courier and Eleftheroudakis Bookstores will handle the ticket sales. The price of the tickets will range from 20 to 250 euros, depending on the day and the seating. <br><br> Roughly, almost 100,000 tickets will be available for the semifinal rehearsals, the semifinal live show, the final rehearsals and the final live show. An approximate 15,000 people will be able to attend each event. The main source of ticket sales is expected to be via the internet. <br><br> Semifinal tickets will be available for EUR 50, 100, 150 and 200. For the final, tickets will be available for EUR 75, 100, 150 and 250. <br><br> For the first semifinal dress rehearsal, tickets for EUR 10 and 20 will be available. The second and third dress rehearsals of the semifinal provides tickets for EUR 10, 20 and 40. The first final dress rehearsal tickets can be obtained for prices between EUR 20 and 50, the second and third final dress rehearsals for prices between EUR 30 and 90. <br><br> The tickets will be purchased online through credit cards and each person can buy up to ten tickets. On 31st March, the system will close. The seating plan of the OAKA Olympic Indoor Hall decides if more tickets will be available. The tickets will be made to be kept as souvenirs.

Click Athens mayor on achievements
Date : February 9, 2006
Author : Athens News Agency
Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis presented the work accomplished during her 3.5 year tenure in office during an event held at the Athens Concert Hall on Wednesday. Bakoyannis said she delivered on her promise to make the Greek capital more modern, more friendly, more functional for both visitors and residents and to prepare the Olympic host city successfully, realising the greatest investment programme ever undertaken in Athens. <br><br> Additionally, she underlined the importance of Moody's rating of the city and the fact that in 2005, Athens achieved a primary surplus of €7 million for the first time. <br><br> Aside from the projects already completed, Bakoyannis also referred to the works currently under way, such as the reconstruction of the Votanikos district and part of Alexandras avenue due to the building of a new stadium for the Panathinaikos soccer club, while preparations are being made for the creation of a Metropolitan Park in Goudi. <br><br> The mayor also referred to the publicity and promotion Athens enjoyed abroad, following the infrastructure upgrade leading up to the 2004 Olympics. <br><br> However, she also spoke about the problems that remain unresolved, such as waste, which is one of the biggest problems facing local government and society. <br><br> In light of the West Attica prefecture coordinating body's decision to shut down the Ano Liossia landfill for three days, Bakoyannis noted that this situation cannot continue. <br><br> Greece cannot be the only country in the European Union in which recycling effectively does not exist; it cannot be the only country where illegal landfills operate, she said, adding that We - the local government and central government - must seek new policies and we must move forward. <br><br> Bakoyannis also referred to the creation of a municipal police force, the creation of a shelter for the homeless as well as a series of initiatives aimed at improving citizens' quality of life as more examples of the municipality's achievements. <br><br> In closing, she thanked all those Athenians who helped the municipality achieve its goals.

Click COSCO interested to buy stake in Greek port
Date : February 9, 2006
Author : China Daily 02/09/2006 page5
China shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) is in talks to own part of a major Greek port giving it increased access to European markets. <br><br> Company officials said COSCO Hellas, the firm's subsidiary in Greece, is interested in taking part in possible plans to buy shares in the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA). <br><br> So said an official surnamed Chen at COSCO's port operations department. <br><br> PPA handles almost 60 per cent of all Greek shipping. <br><br> Chen said COSCO President Wei Jiafu discussed port investment when he met Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in January, who was on an official visit to China. <br><br> Chen would not give further details as talks are in the initial stages. <br><br> The chance to buy into ports was created with the privatization of significant ports in Greece, including Piraeus. <br><br> The Greek Government owns 74.1 per cent of PPA at the moment. <br><br> The Thessalonica Port Authority said COSCO Hellas has also expressed an interest in developing co-operative ties with the northern Greek port. <br><br> Another firm, China Shipping Group (CSG) China's second-largest shipping company is seeking facilities in the Greek port of Crete. <br><br> COSCO President Wei Jiafu said earlier that port investment is a priority for the company's future expansion. <br><br> In December the group was involved in a joint venture formed by AP Moeller-Maersk and Hutchison Whampoa to buy and develop the second phase of Shanghai's Yangshan port. COSCO Pacific, a port investor affiliated to the Group, took 10 per cent of the venture. <br><br> In December, the group also signed an agreement to buy a 20 per cent stake in the Suez Canal Container Terminal in Egypt, its first port investment in the Middle East. <br><br> COSCO now holds stakes in a number of Chinese ports in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Rim in northern China. <br><br> Outside of China, it has a 49 per cent stake in a terminal in Singapore, a 25 per cent stake in Belgium's Antwerp port and stakes in other ports in the United States. <br><br> COSCO is expected to register a pre-tax profit of around 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in 2005, breaking all past records, said Chen.

Click Strolling through Athens
Date : January 30, 2006
Author : Theodore Koumelis
Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis announced the publication and release on the market of the new edition of the Strolling through Athens guide as well as an organised walking tour programme of the same name. Mayor Bakoyannis also presented the results of the City of Athens Stray Management Programme. <br><br> Mayor Bakoyannis said in her speech: “We are announcing two very important initiatives for the city which began in the pre-Olympic period and are forging ahead with the same force. The first initiative focuses on the promotion of Athens. We are happy to present you with the new edition of our popular guide, Strolling through Athens. <br><br> A joint publishing effort by the City of Athens and the Athens Tourism and Economic Development Agency, the guide is under the supervision the Foundation of the Hellenic World. We received positive comments about Strolling through Athens during the Olympic Games. These comments prompted us to proceed with the release of the guide on the market. <br><br> The Strolling through Athens guide is available in Greek at all bookstores. It will soon be available in English, French and German at select sales points throughout Greece and abroad. <br><br> At this point, I would like to thank the Erevnites publishing house, which has undertaken the printing and distribution of the publication, and I am confident that their experience in the publishing sector will contribute greatly to the successful promotion of this useful handbook on Athens. <br><br> The Strolling through Athens guide is a comprehensive publishing endeavour covering the historic wealth and the major sites and monuments of our city. Of high aesthetic value, pleasant to read, comprised of carefully researched text, the guide offers the reader a unique experience of Athens’ history and culture via 12 historic routes. <br><br> The 12 ‘walks’ underline the city’s most important cultural monuments and at the same time highlight a number of historic events that marked the history and development of the Greek capital. <br><br> However, for me, the most noteworthy part of the book has to do with the fact that the reader can - through its pages - discover those unique features of Athens that are still unknown to our visitors and perhaps to many of us. <br><br> Prominent figures, buildings, events and monuments of our city emerge via the suggested strolls through Athens’ history and are illustrated with a wealth of visual material. <br><br> This guide forms the basis for the design of a comprehensive programme for the promotion of the city under the same name which involves 12 organised walking tours based on the recommended ‘walks’ listed in the handbook. <br><br> The successful promotion of Athenian culture requires close collaboration with all city agencies and careful planning of all related projects and activities. The publication of Strolling through Athens is another move in this direction. It paves the way for similar initiatives and opens a window to knowledge, serving as a valuable tool for every visitor to the city, Greek or foreign. I would lastly like to thank public broadcaster ERT, the communication sponsor, for their support in this worthwhile effort. <br><br> The second initiative we would like to speak about is the City of Athens Stray Management Programme. <br><br> Three years ago, we launched for the fist time at the City of Athens a far-reaching programme for the management of the city’s stray animals. This initiative started from scratch, with no available means, no infrastructure or trained staff, in a time of increased pressure due to the upcoming Olympic Games. Back then, many thought it was a one-off project, lacking in fundamentals and objectives. <br><br> Today the City of Athens: <li>Has recruited specially-trained crews to patrol the streets in vans and collect stray animals without collars <li>Is working with 16 partner clinics, where the animals without tags are spayed or neutered, inoculated, cleaned of parasites, micro-chipped, treated for injury or illness, and nursed to good health. Finally, they are registered in the programme’s database to facilitate monitoring <li>Has created a temporary hospice - a specially equipped veterinary facility which can host and care for up to 100 animals per day that are recovering after being sterilised or due to injury, minor surgery or other treatment <li>Is electronically registering (micro-chipping) street dogs and providing them with traceable identification tags. The micro-chipping is animal-friendly and facilitates the immediate identification by City authorities of the animals it monitors, while answering some citizens’ fears of animal hygiene <li>Has founded the Voluntary Adoption Scheme through its growing network of volunteers. To encourage adoption, the city provides sterilisation, inoculation and basic medical treatment. City staff follow up with individuals who have adopted pets to ensure that strays go to good homes Is working closely with animal rights groups who help raise awareness and encourage the adoption of strays. <li>Launched far-reaching awareness-raising campaigns aimed at sensitising the public about responsible pet care. <li>Has created a municipal veterinary clinic <br><br> We are steadily and humanely dealing with the phenomenon, and hope that in two years’ time we will have made up for the lost time on behalf of the government. <br><br> From the launch of the programme in 2003 through to December 31, 2005, the City has: <li>Neutered, inoculated and registered 1,334 street dogs <li>Treated 862 injured or ill canines <li>Electronically tagged 885 strays <li>Found a warm and loving home through the City’s Adoption Programme for 214 of our furry friends <br><br> Today, we are forging ahead with a programme that has seen results. We’ve put the infrastructure in place and created a network of cooperation in our efforts to best deal with the issue of street dogs. <br><br> Our goals: stray animal welfare and humane animal population control. <br><br> Our priority: sensitising Athenians to the need for responsible pet care. <br><br> We say ‘yes’ to a clean Athens. Besides promoting the friendly and hospitable side of Athens, we should be able to show its clean face as well. The City Police, within the framework of the City’s Social and Prevention Action plan, is encouraging pet owners to clean up after their pets. Those who fail to comply are fined according to the City’s cleaning regulation. <br><br> This said, I would like to take this chance to invite you the City’s awareness-raising event at Eleftherias Park on February 5. I will not reveal what we have planned for the event because we want it to be a surprise especially for youngsters. Our goal is through fun and games and through contact with the animals to eliminate stereotypes and change attitudes. This event is a chance for us to see how we can change our city for the better. <br><br> I have said this several times before and I repeat: However many animals are sterilised or adopted on a daily basis, if each one of us creates new strays, we are simply reproducing an endless cycle. Without the active participation of the citizens, measures will never have full effect.”

Click Athens 2006: stage is ancient theatre
Date : January 24, 2006
Author : www.Greece-Athens.com
The stage of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest will look like a modern version of an ancient Greek theatre. Earlier we already revealed that the concept would have strong links with Greece's ancient history. As in previous years, lights, monitors and most likely some moving elements will give each performance its own, unique atmosphere. The Olympic Indoor Arena, a huge venue with a capacity of almost 18,000 people, brought a new challenge on the table; will everyone be able to see the show, even from the top rows? To solve this issue, the ceiling will carry a substantial amount of monitors. According to widely spread rumours, a blue shade will make the audience look like the sea. Tomorrow, host broadcaster ERT will most likely reveal more information about the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

Click Campaign against human trafficking opens in Athens
Date : January 21, 2006
Author : Athens News Agency
An international campaign titled End Human Trafficking Now, kicked off in Athens on Monday bringing royalty, politicians and artists to the Greek capital. <br><br> Attendees included Sweden s Queen Sylvia, Queen of Bahrain Sabika, former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble, French composer Jean Michel Jarre and others. <br><br> The campaign, organised by the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement, aims to send the message that step by step, atrocious crimes committed in the name of corporate profits must be stopped. <br><br> UNESCO's Good Will Ambassador and board member of the Women's International Peace Movement organisation Marianna Vardinoyannis described Monday's meeting as one of historical importance and an honour for the country, since it is from Greece that the message aimed at rallying the international business community in the fight against human trafficking is being sent. <br><br> On her part, Mubarak urged the business community to put an end to this horrific phenomenon, which according to her, is not only unethical but one of the greatest crimes against humanity. <br><br> Same report from Bahrain News agency <br><br> Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa attended in Athens today the roundtable of business community against trafficking of human beings, organized by the Suzanne Mubarak Women International Peace Movement and the Global Coalition Women Defending Peace. The roundtable focused on the magnitude of the issue and discussed its ethical principles and raised recommendations to combat the phenomenon. The main outcome of the Athens roundtable was issuing the ethical principles against trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, which will be presented in the World Economic Forum that starts in Davos on January 25. The round table was attended by the Queen of Sweden, Dr. Boutros Boutros- Ghali, former UN Secretary General ,UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Marianna Vardinoyannis, member of the Board of Directors of the Movement and. Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka, in a statement issued on the occasion highlighted the necessity of combating this phenomenon hoping that the business community on the international level and through this gathering would further cooperate with concerned parties to eradicate human trafficking in the world. Her Highness added that the ethical principles issued in Athens could help bring an end to the misery and agony of the less fortunate, in an attempt to protect the rights of all. From the business community, participants included representatives of Chief executive officers from the private sector and other members of non governmental organizations in this field. The main aim of the gathering was for the business community to launch a set of ethical principles to fight human trafficking, in particular that of women and children. At the world economic forum in Davos on January 25, CEOs will share the outcome of the meeting, namely the ethical principles, as an essential means of alerting the global business community. The business community expressed concern that the scourge of trafficking in human beings inflicts enormous suffering in the world, adding that the community considers unacceptable that millions of people are treated as commodities and slaves and therefore denied their basic human rights and dignity. The business community welcomed the efforts of the international community to eradicate human trafficking, through public-private partnership in addition to recognizing the significant potential of the business community to contribute to the global fight against human trafficking. The business community issued several ethical principles which explicitly demonstrated the position of zero tolerance towards trafficking in human beings, especially women and children ,develop a corporate strategy for anti-trafficking policy, ensure the community's compliance with the anti- trafficking policy and encourage business partners to apply ethical principles against human trafficking. Mubarak said the trafficking of human beings is a problem that man has inflicted on other human beings ,similar to the endless suffering and pain caused by wars and conflicts. She added that it is a problem that should never have been and the roundtable was not just organized because the issue of human trafficking is immoral but because it is a crime against humanity. Her excellency added that the world needs to send a clear signal that the state of affairs will not be tolerated and it is by collective responsibility that human trafficking could be eradicated. Trafficking in human beings is considered to be the third largest and fast growing criminal activity in the world. The international labor organization ILO estimates that more than two million people are trafficked across international borders every year, the majority being women and children. Forced labour, according to ILO raises profits of $32 billion a year. Dr. Boutros Ghali praised the initiatives Bahrain has taken through laying a national strategy to prevent this phenomenon. He added that it is essential for both government and non-government organization to work together to combat this phenomenon that impacts millions of people every year . Bahrain has taken major steps in preventing human- trafficking among which was the establishment of a task force of representatives from different ministries that have laid down a strategy to help eliminate any causes that might lead to human trafficking in the Kingdom. Other steps Bahrain has taken include a plan to launch the Safe Houses project as well as hotlines to receive and deal with work complaints. Governmental and non-governmental organisations co- operate to increase awareness on the importance of respecting the rights of foreign workers and protecting them against abuse. The authorities are also looking into a law that criminalises human-trafficking. In 2004, Bahrain acceded to the UN Convention Against Trans-national Organised Crime and the Protocol Against Trafficking in Persons, reflecting its international recognition of the issue and its belief in combating it.

Click 38 COUNTRIES IN ATHENS FOR THE 2006 EUROVISION CONTEST
Date : January 17, 2006
Author : Sietse Bakker
As expected, 38 countries will participate in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place in Athens, Greece. The European Broadcasting Union confirmed that moments ago. Armenia joins the big family, while Austria and Hungary will stay home. <BR><BR> The semifinal (24 countries) on 18th May; <li>Albania (RTVSH) <li>Andorra (RTVA) <li>Armenia (PTV) <li>Belarus (BT) <li>Belgium (VRT) <li>Bosnia & Herzegovina (PBSBiH) <li>Bulgaria (BNT) <li>Croatia (HRT) <li>Cyprus (CyBC) <li>Estonia (ETV) <li>Finland (YLE) <li>FYR Macedonia (MKRTV) <li>Iceland (RUV) <li>Ireland (RTÉ) <li>Lithuania (LRT) <li>Monaco (TMC) <li>The Netherlands (NOS) <li>Poland (TVP) <li>Portugal (RTP) <li>Russia (C1R) <li>Slovenia (RTVSLO) <li>Sweden (SVT) <li>Turkey (TRT) <li>Ukraine (NTU) <br> <br> The following 10 countries already qualified for the final on 20th May; <li>Denmark (DR) <li>France (France 3) <li>Germany (ARD) <li>Greece (ERT) <li>Israel (IBA) <li>Latvia (LTV) <li>Malta (PBSMT) <li>Moldova (TRM) <li>Norway (NRK) <li>Romania (TVR) <li>Serbia & Montenegro (UJRT) <li>Spain (TVE) <li>Switzerland (SRG SSR idée suisse) <li>United Kingdom (BBC) <br><br> The best 10 songs of the semifinal will qualify for the final. <br><br> The running order of the songs will be determined by a draw to be held during the Heads of Delegation meeting in Athens, on 20th and 21st March.

Click Experts prepare excavation on Greek island
Date : January 10, 2006
Author : NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
British and Greek archaeologists are preparing a major excavation on a tiny Greek island to try to explain why it produced history's largest collection of Cycladic flat-faced marble figurines. Artwork from barren Keros inspired such artists as Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore but also attracted ruthless looters. Now experts are seeking insight into the island's possible role as a major religious center of the enigmatic Cycladic civilization some 4,500 years ago. Excavations will run April through June. <br><br> Keros is one of the riddles of prehistoric archaeology, said Peggy Sotirakopoulou, curator of the Cycladic collection at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens. Of the more than 1,400 Cycladic figurines that have survived, only 40 percent are of known origin, as looters destroyed all evidence on the rest. But more than half the documented artifacts are from Keros. What is particularly impressive is not just the bulk of the finds, which is larger than the total from the rest of the Cyclades, but also that they were intentionally broken during ancient times, Sotirakopoulou said. Therefore, this is a very important, a unique site. <br><br> The Cycladic culture - a network of small, sometimes fortified farming and fishing settlements that traded with mainland Greece, Crete and Asia Minor - is best known for its elegant artwork: mostly naked, elongated figures with their arms folded under their chest. The seafaring civilization was eclipsed in the second millennium B.C. by Crete and Mycenaean Greece. <br><br> Currently inhabited by a goatherd and his flock, Keros lies near the eastern rim of the Cyclades island chain - which includes the humming resorts of Mykonos and Santorini - between the larger islands of Naxos and Amorgos. <br><br> Keros was extensively pillaged during the 1950s and 1960s for its marble figurines, hundreds of which were illegally exported to fill museums and private collections in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan. <br><br> Evidence from excavations in the '60s and 1980s failed to explain why the barren islet was so much more important in the 3rd millennium B.C. than its bigger, more hospitable neighbors. <br><br> The prevailing explanation is that this was a sacred repository, a sort of pan-Cycladic sanctuary where people left objects within the framework of rituals which included their intentional smashing, said Sotirakopoulou. <br><br> She will participate in the summer's excavation together with Cambridge University professor Colin Renfrew and other experts. <br><br> Past digs - legitimate or otherwise - were carried out on the islet of Dhaskalio, just off Keros, and the Kavos area opposite. This year's work will focus on virgin ground. <br><br> We hope the forthcoming excavations will clarify further the nature of the occupation and activities at Dhaskalio and Kavos, Renfrew said. <br><br> It is clear Kavos was an important site where high prestige artifacts were deliberately broken and left. It is possible, but not yet certain, these were ritual actions relating to ceremonies in honor of the dead. <br><br> Experts agree that the elegant marble figurines were highly prized in the early bronze age Cyclades but still don't understand for what purpose they were made. The figurines have been variously interpreted as depicting gods or venerated ancestors, serving as replacements for human sacrifice - or children's toys. One thing is certain: They were not abstract works of art pared down to the barest representational essentials. <br><br> Visitors say, 'Oh how pure, how white the figurines are,' Sotirakopoulou said. But in fact they had details_ hair, eyes, eyebrows, jewelry - painted on. In most cases, the paint has vanished. <br><br> More by <a href=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/gossip/13585806.htm target=_blank>Associated Press</a>

Click 4,000 years of life in Athens
Date : January 9, 2006
Author : www.Greece-Athens.com
Until the end of the summer, an exhibition is running at the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, displaying the fruits of 20 years of systematic excavation at Eleutherna, a Cretan site located near Mount Psiloritis. <br><br> The excavations which have been carried out over two decades by the University of Crete, have revealed human activity which dates back to the third century BC and extends as far as the Middle Ages. <br><br> Split into three major sections, the Polis (the city), the Acropolis (people's private lives) and Necropolis (the afterlife), the exhibition holds some of the items selected from the hundreds of thousands of artefacts which have been recovered by the archaeological team. <br><br> The exhibition will be on at the museum in Athens until the beginning of September.

Click The Acropolis voted first worthy rival to the seven wonders of the ancient world
Date : January 2, 2006
Author : The Guardian
The Acropolis in Athens made it, as did Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, China's Great Wall, the Colosseum in Rome, the Inca temple of Machu Picchu in Peru, Stonehenge and the Moai - the Easter Island statues. Less immediately obvious choices in a final shortlist of 21 contenders for the New Seven Wonders of the World, announced in Switzerland yesterday, included the Kremlin in Moscow, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. <br><br> More than 19 million voters have so far taken part in what its organisers call the world's first global voting campaign, nominating hundreds of sites they consider worthy rivals to the seven wonders of the ancient world named by Antipater of Sidon and Philon of Byzantium in 200 BC. The original selection was a must-see travel guide for well-heeled Athenians of the day: the monuments, including the Colossus of Rhodes and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, were all in the Mediterranean basin. Only the Pyramids of Giza remain. While they also made it safely on to yesterday's shortlist, many more recent wonders failed, among them the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building in Hong Kong, the Opera House and National Congress in Brazil, and Stari Most, the bridge in Mostar, Bosnia Herzegovina.<br><br> The New Seven Wonders initiative was launched in 2000 by the Swiss film producer, author and aviator Bernard Weber. Half of the profits from the project, which has secured lucrative TV deals, will go to restoring and preserving monuments and buildings around the world, including a plan to restore the giant Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. <br><br> Yesterday's shortlist was drawn up from the 77 most popular sites by a panel of seven expert judges chaired by the former Unesco secretary general Federico Mayor, and including leading international architects such as Britain's Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando from Japan and Cesar Pelli from America. <br><br> After a series of TV specials on each of the sites and a year of public voting the winners will be announced on January 1, 2007, at an Olympic-style ceremony in a host city which has yet to be selected. <br><br> The project is not the first to attempt to come up with modern-day equivalents for the wonders of the ancient world. The American Society of Civil Engineers named the monuments that best demonstrate modern society's ability to achieve unachievable feats and reach unreachable heights - the Channel Tunnel, the CN Tower in Toronto, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Itaipu Dam in Brazil, the Panama Canal and Holland's North Sea protection works. None appeared on yesterday's shortlist.

Click JORDAN'S KING ABDULLAH IN ATHENS
Date : December 21, 2005
Author : MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY
Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias met at noon today at the Presidential Building in Athens with King Abdullah II of Jordan who is on a working visit to Greece accompanied by his wife, Queen Rania in the picture. <br><br> The talks held concerned the strengthening of bilateral economic relations and were sealed with the signing of two agreements on tourism and investments.

Click Iberia launches new flight from Athens to Madrid
Date : December 21, 2005
Author : www.Greece-Athens.com
Five additional non-stop weekly services connecting Athens and Madrid. <br><br> Athens International Airport welcomes Iberia’s new scheduled flight 3885, which, as of January 9th, 2006, will connect directly Athens and Madrid, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. Iberia operates already two daily services from Athens, to Madrid and Barcelona. <br><br> The new services will provide Iberia’s passengers the opportunity to optimise their connections with 34 destinations in Spain, 21 in America, and 8 in Africa, enjoying the benefits offered by the airline’s broad network. At the same time, within the framework of providing an excellent travelling experience, Iberia provides its overseas passengers the choice of the new ?Business Plus? class, offering new levels of comfort and luxury. <br><br> Welcoming Iberia’s new flight, the CEO of Athens International Airport, Mr. Alfred van der Meer, stated: ?We have the pleasure to welcome to ?Eleftherios Venizelos? the new flight to be launched by Iberia, the leading airline for Spain and Latin America. These five additional frequencies connecting Athens and the Spanish capital, reflect the dynamic development of the Spanish market, which is one of the fastest growing for our airport in the European region?.

Click Parthenon safe from soggy ground, says culture minister
Date : December 12, 2005
Author : The Canadian Press
Athens' ancient Parthenon is not under threat from water seeping into rock beneath it despite successive days of torrential rainfall this week, Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis said Friday. <br><br> There is absolutely no danger, Tatoulis said in a statement. He said no water was escaping through a temporary floor installed inside the Parthenon for restoration work. <br><br> Architect Manolis Korres, a key figure in a massive restoration project at the 2,500-year-old monument on top of the Acropolis Hill, warned on Wednesday that rainwater was gradually draining into rock underneath the Parthenon and could eventually weaken the monument's foundations. <br><br> Athens and other parts of Greece have been battered by storms and heavy rainfall this week, which caused flooding, limited power cuts, disrupted transport services and caused the death of one woman in southern Greece.

Click Final preparations being made ahead of festive events in Athens
Date : December 12, 2005
Author : e-Kathimerini

Click Athens mayor wins World Mayor Award
Date : December 3, 2005
Author : China View
Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis, widely praised for helping tidy up Greece's crowded capital before the 2004 Olympic Games, won this year's World Mayor Award, organizer of the competition announced Monday. <br><br> The 51-year-old Bakoyannis, the city's first female mayor and daughter of Greece's former prime minister, was named winner in anannual competition by the London-based City Mayors Organization. <br><br> She was short-listed among 65 of her counterparts from across the globe, including Mayors Veltroni of Rome, Livingstone of London, Delanoe of Paris, and Wowereit of Berlin after over 550 mayors from Asia, Africa, Europe and the US were nominated for World Mayor 2005, the Athens municipality said in a statement. <br><br> More than 87,000 people from across the globe cast their votes via the Internet between June and October 2005 for this year's World Mayor Award in accordance with the nominees' contribution tothe welfare of the city and their dedication and efficiency to meet the needs of the citizens. <br><br> Bakoyannis won the support of over 7,500 voters, the statement said. <br><br> This annual competition aims to raise the profile of mayors worldwide and back demands to give municipal governments increased power and authority, it added. <br><br> The City Mayors project has become a comprehensive Internet (non-commercial and independent) platform dealing with the issues facing the world's cities. It examines how city mayors develop innovative solutions to long-standing urban problems such as housing, transport, education and employment, but also how they meet the latest environmental, technological, social and security challenges which affect the well-being of their citizens. <br><br> Greater Athens has a population of about 4 million people, while the City of Athens has fewer than 1 million residents.

Click Athens metro grows
Date : December 2, 2005
Author : Kathimerini
Expanded train system to offer city much-needed traffic relief. <br> <br> The government unveiled plans yesterday to extend the reach of the capital’s popular metro system as serious traffic problems continue to plague Athens. <br> <br> Environment Minister Giorgos Souflias said yesterday that a fourth line will be added to the train network and that existing routes will be extended by 2009. <br><br> The new line, which is expected to transport some 400,000 commuters per day, will run through the capital’s northern districts. It will serve many of Athens’s new densely populated areas and important facilities, such as hospitals and the university campus. It will also help ease the passenger traffic at existing metro train stations, the minister said. <br><br> More on <a href=http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100004_02/12/2005_63664 target=_blank>Kathimerini</a>

Click Athens Airport to Cut Landing Charges
Date : December 2, 2005
Author : Associated Press
Athens International Airport said Friday it was cutting landing charges for airlines that introduce new or additional cargo services at the airport. <br><br> Under a three-year incentive policy, the airport said it would reduce landing and parking charges for the first year of operations by 50 percent, by 37.5 percent in the second year and by 25 percent for the third year. <br> <br> The move is designed to boost profitable cargo traffic flows, the airport said. It introduced a similar incentive policy in September for passenger flights. <br><br> More on <a href=http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20051202&ID=5324513 target=_blank>MSN Money</a>