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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-03-24Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Criticism on housing development at Ag. KosmasPASOK MP Costas Kartalis, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the environment that discussed the draft bill for developing the site of the former airport at Elliniko, on Wednesday strongly criticised an amendment attached to the bill by Environment Minister George Papaconstantinou that would allow 300,000 square metres of private housing to be built along the Agios Kosmas coastal zone.Kartalis slammed the amendment as a "major mistake" and asked Papaconstantinou to explain what had changed since the draft bill was discussed by the committee the previous Friday, requiring that he bring the amendment to Parliament. "You are adding 300,000 square metres of [housing development] on the coast of Agios Kosmas or, in other words, 400 apartment buildings or 1,000 two-storey houses," Kartalis said, noting that this new approach was "very mistaken and entirely different from that discussed at the Committee". [02] Visitors in museums up, revenues down in Nov. 2011AMNA--The number of visitors to museums throughout Greece rose by 3.4 percent in November 2011, however revenues fell by 6.4 percent, compared with the same month in 2010, the independent Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday.A similar picture appears in the archaeological sites around the country in November 2011, with an 26.8 percent rise in visitors and 6.9 percent decline in revenues during the same period. ELSTAT also said that in the first eleven months of 2011, the number of visitors to museums fell 1.9 percent and revenues were down 5.2 percent against the same period in 2010, while visitors to archaeological sites rose by 17.6 percent and revenues were up by 7.4 percent. [03] Getty Museum returns two ancient artifacts to GreeceAMNA--Two ancient artifacts, believed to have been the product of the illicit antiquities trade, were returned to Greece on Friday from the California-based Getty Museum.The repatriated items were sections of a carved relief depicting two female forms - a prime example of sculpture produced by 5th-century-B.C. workshops in Attica - and a tablet dated to 430-420 B.C. with an inscription recording the religious calender of Thorikos, a small town in southeast Attica, describing the sacrifices and festivals celebrated in honor of local deities and heroes. Both antiquities will briefly remain at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The carved relief will then be rejoined and returned to the Pavlos and Alexandra Kanellopoulos Museum in Athens, where it will be placed on display, and the tablet will be transferred to the Epigraphic Museum. The repatriation was carried out following a memorandum of cooperation signed in September by Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos and the CEO of the J. Paul Getty Museum James Cuno on promoting scientific research, promoting Greece's cultural heritage and preventing the illegal trade in antiquities. [04] Developments in Proton Bank caseAMNA--First-instance court prosecutor Yiannis Dragatsis on Wednesday barred six of the 28 suspects accused in connection with the unsecured loans issued by Proton Bank from leaving the country pending trial.The move came after Financial Prosecutor Grigoris Peponis asked that charges be filed against 28 people and the necessary action taken to ensure they would stand trial. The ban has been issued for businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis, four senior executives of the bank at the time the loans were issued and Lavrentiadis' business associate Petros Kyriakidis. [05] 1.5 mln Greeks 'interested' in return to farmingAMNA-- More than 1.5 million Greeks living in the major urban centres of Athens and Thessaloniki have expressed an "interest" in returning to the countryside and taking up farming as a way of making a living, Deputy Agricultural Development and Foods Minister Yiannis Drivelegas said on Monday.In statements during the signature of the first contracts for the lease of public land in Central Macedonia for use by farmers and livestock breeders, he said this was discovered in a survey conducted that the ministry that is due to be presented in the next few days.amna Other officials noted that the process to lease state land for farming began 20 weeks ago and that every Thursday there would be new posts of land available for lease on the website of the agency in charge of payment, control and providing information on Community aid OPEKEPE. The same officials said they had already received 4,000 applications for leases and hoped to have leased up to 10,000 plots of agricultural land amounting to 10,000 hectares by the summer. [06] Women violence helpline receives 5,089 callsAMNA--The SOS 15900 national helpline for women victims of violence received more than 5,000 calls and 37 e-mails asking for help during its first year of operation, according to figures released by the General Secretariat for Gender Equality that set up the support service on Thursday.Of the 5,089 calls received, 76 percent concerned cases of violence between members of the opposite sex (3,955 calls). amna Of these 3,955 calls, approximately three quarters were made by the abused women themselves and another 997 by third parties, such as friends, parents, siblings, other relations, neighbours and others. The majority of calls made by abused women (83 percent) were reports of domestic violence at the hands of a spouse, 87 calls were for sexual harassment, 46 calls were reports of rape, four concerned cases of prostitution and one a case of trafficking. There were also 272 calls (9 percent) that concerned other forms of violence not listed above. Of the 2,958 women that called the helpline, 1,897 or 64 percent were mothers. [07] Dodoni Ancient Theatre restoration planAMNA--One of the largest ancient theatres is that of Dodoni, the restoration of which has been mulled by the Culture Ministry for many decades. It is a fact that the Dodoni Theatre, near Ioannina in northwestern Greece, which was built in the 3rd century B.C., has suffered a large number of alterations as well as natural damages that have altered its initial form, with the main contributors being the extreme weather conditions prevailing in the area and changes made to the monument during the Roman era, in which the theatre was converted into an arena, as well as restorations made in 1960 which gave shape once again to the devastated monument, but not always in the best way. Moreover its opening to public and operation for approximately three decades added extra problems to the already existing ones.[08] "Antikythera Wreck" exhibitionAMNA--An exhibition entitled "The wreck of Antikythera - The ship, the treasures, the Mechanism", will open at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens on April 5 and will run for a yearThis is the first time that all the findings from the Antikythera wreck, dated between 60-50 BC, will be displayed together, while some of the items have never been displayed before. Sometime before Easter 1900, Elias Stadiatis, a Greek sponge diver, discovered the wreck of an ancient cargo ship off Antikythera Island at a depth of 42 m (138 ft). Sponge divers retrieved several statues and other artifacts from the site. The Mechanism itself was discovered on May 17, 1901, when archaeologist Valerios Stais noticed that a piece of rock recovered from the site had a gear wheel embedded in it. Examination revealed that the "rock" was in fact a heavily encrusted and corroded mechanism that had survived the shipwreck in three main parts and dozens of smaller fragments. The device itself was surprisingly thin, about 33 cm (13 in) high, 17 cm (6.7 in) wide, and 9 cm (3.5 in) thick, made of bronze and originally mounted in a wooden frame. It was inscribed with a text of over 2,000 characters, many of which have only just recently been deciphered. amna The Antikythera Mechanism is believed to be an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as a "mechanical computer") designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to about 150-100 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity appeared a thousand years later. [09] Greek pianist wins European distinctionAMNA--Greek pianist Constantinos Destounis received the second prize at the European Piano Contest, which took place in Bremen from Feb. 26 to March 7. Fifty-two pianists from western Europe, Turkey, Israel and the former Soviet countries participated in the event.[10] Archaeologists initiative to protect monumentsAMNA--The Association of Greek Archaeologists (SEA) are making an international appeal directed to their colleagues and people in Europe and worldwide to defend cultural heritage and historical memory through a global campaign with the slogan "monuments have no voice, they have us".The public awareness campaign, focusing on the threats with which monuments are faced as a result of the cuts imposed within the framework of the austerity measures into effect, will be formally launched with a press conference to domestic and foreign media scheduled to take place in Athens on Wed., March 14. The archaeologists, in an urgent appeal, underlined that "the peoples of Europe share the same destiny," adding that "the same austerity packages and authoritarian measures, that now tear Greece and its monuments apart, are going to be imposed across Europe". [11] Athens Newspaper HeadlinesThe Tuesday edition of Athens' dailies at a glanceThe changes in salaries and labour agreements, the expensiveness of household products and the plan for development to be met, dominated the headlines on Tuesday in Athens' newspapers. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Upside down everything in salaries, labour contracts, lump sums, benefits..". AVGHI: "The Left claims the authority". AVRIANI: "30 percent reductions in retirement benefit with the aim of full abolition". DIMOKRATIA: "Shock and awe over the salaries". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Forced haircut for 11,000 small investors". ESTIA: "Populism dissolved the country". ETHNOS: "Salaries: The huge massacre in the private sector begins". IMERISSIA: "Triple plan for progress". KATHIMERINI: "Small bond-holders to be left without compensation". LOGOS: "Salaries 'pocket money' in private sector". NAFTEMPORIKI: "New Greek bonds were badly received by markets". RIZOSPASTIS: "PASOK-New Democracy co-governance puts a gravestone on the collective labour agreements". TA NEA: "The changes in salaries and labour agreements in the private sector". VRADYNI: "End to tenure in public sector and salaries' reduction in private sector". [12] Athens Newspaper HeadlinesThe Friday edition of Athens' dailies at a glanceThe success of the voluntary bond swap (PSI) with 85.8 percent participation and the sharp rise in unemployment mainly dominated the front pages of Athens' newspapers on Friday. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Salary increases of 400-700 euros for 500 elite members of the party system that serve in deputy ministers' and ministry general secretaries' offices, as they make haircuts to the 300-euro pensions". AVRIANI: "Provocative amendment to settle the debts of the political parties". AVGHI: "Barren country in the Middle Ages of the Memorandum - Unemployment among youth up to 24 years of age at 51.1 percent - 1,000 layoffs per day". DIMOKRATIA: "Threat for deposits above 2,000 euros". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Amnesty to Siemens in exchange for a few euros and an...apology". ESTIA: "Not now elections - They could lead to an impasse". ETHNOS: "Debt haircut: bond swap nears 97 percent participation". IMERISSIA: "Greece at a new starting point - The high PSI acceptance a national success". KATHIMERINI: "The biggest state debt write-off". LOGOS: "New historic record: Unemployment shoots to 21 percent". NAFTEMPORIKI: "Voluntary participation in the 'haircut' a success". NIKI: "Increase your revenues with 'smart' deposits". RIZOSPASTIS: "The government is bankrupting the people and financing the banks". TA NEA: "We've had a haircut - The success of the PSI brings a new page". VRADYNI: "Samaras (New Democracy leader) calls for haircut of loans (of overindebted citizens)". Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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