The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-04-18

The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Meeting with PM Kostas Karamanlis Baroso at Maximos Mansion

By Anna Kourti

The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Baroso, is in Athens today. The Portuguese politician is currently visiting Maximos Mansion, where he has a meeting with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis. High up on the agenda of the two mens discussion are European Constitution and the IV CSF. Following this, Mr Baroso will be received by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias. Later on, he will meet with the Speaker of Parliament Anna Psarouda Benaki, as tomorrow the Greek Parliament is to ratify the treaty to adopt the European Constitution. Mr Barosos will also meet with the leader of the Opposition, George Papandreou.

Speaker at 9th Economist Convention

This morning, Mr Baroso was briefed by Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas on the research being conducted by various centres and organisations, aiming to develop Greek competitiveness. Mr Sioufas guided the President of the European Commission around the exhibition "Technology on land and at sea.", organised by the Ministry at Zappeion Mansion.

Mr Baroso said that he was impressed with the investment made by Greece in the sector of research and technology. He stressed that in the context of the Lisbon strategy, the EU puts great emphasis on investment in research, science and technology, in order to strengthen competitiveness. In a short statement, Mr Sioufas underlined the efforts being made by Greece to connect research efforts to production.

This afternoon, the President of the Commission will speak to a special convention of parliamentary committees on the topic: "Europes Odyssey: Searching for reform and the role of Greece." He will also speak at the 9th convention of the Economist magazine.

Translated by Millie Williams

[02] Chocolate Artist

By Vagelis Theodorou

Until today, we were aware that a painting could be devoured by the eyes. What would you do, however, if you find yourself before a painting entirely made out of chocolate? No, this is not a dream, but the works of Australian artist Sid Chidiac, who exhibits under the inspired and discouraging title "No touching, No tasting". The 36-year-old painter decided to avoid using chocolate-coloured paint and instead to use Belgian chocolate and food dye. "People stop and stare at my work, as if they have seen something truly different, something new," says the proud artist. However, he admits that his art harbours dangers: "They cant believe it is really chocolate and want to reach out and taste, just like when you look at chocolate sitting on a table," he adds. And while he does not let the public taste the exhibits, he admits that he often licks his brushes himself!

Translated by Millie Williams

[03] Successful treatment of dogs Hopes Against Paralysis

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: BBC, New Scientist

Optimistic news for all those who suffer from paralysis comes from British researchers t the University of Cambridge. The scientists successfully used a form of treatment on dogs which had not moved for three months after becoming paralysed in a car accident or suffering spinal injury. The treatment used is based on glia (OEG) cells, which produce myelin and surround the nostrils, as they are the only nerve cells that are capable of constant regeneration. Apart from the fact that the animals regained some part of their mobility, they also regained some feeling under the area of the injury. The researchers stress that there is no evidence that the dogs can again feel the sensation of pain, while it also appears that they do not feel pain from an injured nerve, which is a probable side-effect of the treatment. Now, both British and Australian specialists are researching how far the treatment could prove an effective means of creating cells, and if it can be used on human beings.

New Method of Creating Cells?

OEG cells are located at the back of the nose, and scientists opened dogs sculls in order to collect them. Following this, they multiplied them in the laboratory and connected them to the ruined part of the spinal cord.

Apart from regaining mobility, three dogs are now able to communicate to their owners when they want to urinate, although they have not regained control of the bladder.

Despite the success of the treatment, three of the dogs suffered seizures as a result of the operation. For this reason, researchers are trying to find an alternative source for harvesting OEG cells. In fact, they have discovered a form of stem cell found in mucosa - the cellular lining - of the nose, which it might be possible to turn into OEGs in the lab. This is easy to harvest, by introducing a small sponge into the nasal cavity.

Nick Jeffery, who worked on the University of Cambridge research, said "It is exceedingly improbable that one simple intervention alone will permit full recovery of locomotor activity [movement] after this type of extremely severe spinal injury."

Geoffrey Raisman, of the British Institute of Neurology, said: "These findings in dogs are directly relevant to the human situation. Of course, we cant know for sure without doing the work, but it is a very good indicator that we can expect the same effects. We are hoping to start similar trials in humans within a couple of years."

Translated by Millie Williams

[04] Under examination at Ministry of Education Changes to Education System

By Athina Saloustrou

Sources: NET 105.8

According to statements from Education Minister Marietta Giannakou on NET 105.8, the Ministry of Education is examining the merging of schools under the Kapodistrias system, an increase in teaching hours regarding ancient Greek or a second foreign language from primary school, as well as the founding of an international University, for foreign students to study. "We have to move towards a completely different method of teaching ancient Greek, by educating the teachers and with better books," stressed Mrs Giannakou, adding that the educational community is deeply concerned over the Panhellenic exams for admission into higher education. "Less material is needed, which will, however, give an essentially knowledge base," claimed Mrs Giannakou, noting that schoolchildren spend a large amount of time with dubious results, while there are no suitable books.

Translated by Millie Williams

[05] Giving explanations as suspects Three Justices in the High Court

By Athina Saloustrou

High Court Deputy Public Prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas is continuing his investigation into the extrajudicial gang centred around Archimandrite Iakovos Giosakis that set up court cases and released drug dealers with testimony from justices and lawyers. Called today to give explanations as suspects of having committed an offence are First Instance former interrogator Antonia Ilia and First Instance judges Nikos Potamianos and Georgia Lambropoulou. During the week, at least two further justices as well as lawyers Sakis Kehagioglou, Giorgos Nikolakopoulos and Nikos Emanouilidis have been called to testify.

Translated by Millie Williams

Related News:

It Is Time for the Lawyers

[06] Problems at airports Sand Cloud in Retreat

By Anna Kourti

The cloud of sand that has covered Attica, the Peloponnese, Crete and Aegean islands since Sunday afternoon is in retreat. According to the National Hellenic Meteorological Service (EMY) this is not an unusual phenomenon during this season, since strong southern winds bring the cloud of sand from northern Africa. The sand cloud has caused serious problems to air and sea transport. Furthermore, all passenger and vehicle carriers are now permitted to depart from the ports of Piraeus and Rafina.

Translated by Millie Williams

Related News:

Cloud of Sand Covers Greece

[07] New papal election begins in the Vatican Conclave Meets for First Time

By Anna Kourti

Sources: BBC, ANA

Behind closed doors today the process whereby the Conclave of Catholic Cardinals elect the successor to John Paul II and the 265th Pope in the history of the Catholic Church begins. The princes of the Church spent their first night at Domus Sanctae Marthae hotel. They celebrated Mass in St Peters Basilica at 11:00 Greek time for the election of a new Pope. At 17:30, the 115 Cardinals from 52 countries will participate in the procession from the Hall of Blessings to the Sistine Chapel, where they will take an oath of secrecy regarding what they experience during the Conclave. The master of ceremonies will declare "extra omnes" (everyone out) and following this the doors will close in order to isolate the Cardinals. The Cardinals only visible action will be the smoke that will rise twice a day from the roof of the chapel, black if there is no positive result and white when a successor has been elected.

Fisher's Ring Destroyed

To elect a new pope, a two thirds majority is necessary, at least for the first 33 ballots (four per day).

This evening the Cardinals will decide whether to immediately organize a first round or whether to wait or tomorrow evening to start the voting process.

The first public act of the newly-elected Pope is always the blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and to the world) from the balcony of the Vatican Basilica.

According to information, 78-year-old German Cardinal Josef Ratzinger is the favourite candidate of the conservative wing of the Cardinals.

Among the progressives, who would like to see wider cooperation between the Pope and his bishops, the name of 70-year-old Italian Cardinal Dionigi Tetamanzi, Bishop of Milan is voiced most strongly.

The Conclave is expected to be influenced by the future ole of Opus Dei, the strong, conservative Catholic organisation which numbers 80,000 members. It has great influence in Latin America, and many people believe that the new Pope will be a Spanish speaker.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls refused to make any comment on the identity of the new leader of the Catholic Church.

"When we have a Pope, along with the white smoke from the chimney, for the first time the bells of the Sistine Chapel will peal," said Valls.

According to tradition, on Saturday John Pauls Fisher Ring, the gold seal that was a symbol of his power, which was kissed my countless followers throughout his papacy, was destroyed. On the election of each Pontiff, a new ring is made, bearing his name in Latin and an engraving of St Peter (the fisher disciple of Christ, who is considered to have been the first Pope).

French Want European Pope

40% of the French would like the new Pope to be European, according to an opinion poll by TNS-Sofres, published in Catholic newspaper Pelerin. 22% of the interviewees answer that the pope should be Italian, 18% from another European country (a total of 40% for Europe), 26% from Latin America, 18% from Africa and 1% from Asia.

What is considered to be his most important task is to permit married priests (47%). This is followed by initiatives for peace (45%), reshaping the churchs principles (34%), reconciliation of all Christians (26%) and dialogue with Islam (23%).

For the French, the next pope should be a person who is open to international reality (38%) and communication (25%). 13% want a reformer, 11% a man of prayer, 6% a defender of the dogma of faith, and 4% an intellectual.

The Australian Press is reporting news from Italian newspaper Il Giornale that Australian Cardinal George Pall is one of the 18 most likely candidates to be elected Pope today at the Vatican. The 63-year-old conservative Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, is a well-travelled man, with excellent communication skills, with a first-class resume, who "enjoys great respect" among bishops from around the world.

The Archbishop of Sydney was jubilantly acquitted in 2002 ollowing allegations that he had sexually abused a boy 20 years previously.

Dr Pell temporarily resigned from office until his name had been cleared by n independent Church Committee. Australians believe that Dr Pell will not be elected Pope, but that he is one of the strongest cardinals of the new era. In statement, the Australian cardinal called for the Catholic Church to change and "adapt to the modern world."

Translated by Millie Williams

[08] Tokyo Requests Public Apology

By Anna Kourti

Japan continues to demand that China express a public apology for the violent anti-Japanese demonstrations that have been taking place all around China for the past three weeks, as announced today by the spokesman for the Japanese government. The first secretary to the Cabinet Hyoryuki Hoshonda stated that it is "very sad" that China did not apologise during the meeting on Sunday between the Foreign Ministers of China Li Zhao Zing and of Japan Nobutaka Machimura in Beijing. "The violent anti-Japanese incidents can under no circumstances be forgiven. There is no change in our basic policy of requesting a public apology," stressed Hoshonda.

Translated by Millie Williams

Related News:

Conflict between Japan and China

[09] Lance Armstrong to Retire

By Ilias Papaioannou

American champion Lance Armstrong is a hairs breadth away from retiring from the tracks. The 33-year-old top Texan cyclist of the century will more than likely officially bid farewell to the pedals, at least at a professional level, this summer, following the Tours de France bike race, which he hopes to win for the seventh time running. Apart from his world records, Armstrong is also known around the world as he had to quit cycling a few years ago to combat cancer. However, after beating the disease, he returned to the tracks to win the French bike race six times.

Livestrong, Fight Cancer

The American athlete has worked hard on and off the tracks. He founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which is dedicated to combating cancer. Last year, the foundation launched a programme called Livestrong, aimed at supporting people suffering from cancer.

The foundation sells yellow wristbands with the inscription Livestrong on them, worn by famous athletes (Michailovic, Belami), actors (Tom Cruise, Gerard Depardieu, Robbie Williams, Liv Tyler, Cameron Diaz), politicians (Bush), as well as another 40 million people across the world. Anyone who is interested can assist in this effort and contribute to the fight against cancer by purchasing a wristband at the price of $1. Orders can be made through Lance Armstrongs official site, or they can be bought at Nike sports shops.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[10] A Sequel to the Suspense

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

The top of the A Division has not changed after the end of the 26th round of matches. Panathinaikos, AEK and Olympiacos received valuable wins that keep them in the game for the title. Yesterday, the "greens" with Gonzalez being the top player, won Ergotelis 1-3, while today AEK won Xanthi and received a valuable win which holds it at a near distance from PAO. Olympiacos did just as well and won Apollon 0-2 thanks to goals by Castillo and Rivaldo. The bottom of the standings has not changed, by the defeats of Kalamaria, Ergotelis, Aris, Kerkira and Kallithea. Speaking of Takis Lemonis team, it seems that it will continue playing in the A Division, as well as Ionikos that in the Nikaia derby received a great win against Chalkidona. The positive points of the round of matches were the good performances that the A Division has lacked this year.

Party in Samba Rhythm

As we said, yesterday Panathinaikos in a great game managed to leave unscathed from Pankreition Stadium and to remain alone at the top of the standing. Alberto Malezanis team played open and defensively for the first time since the Italian has taken up the team, and did not leave any limits to the Cretans to cut its points and its course towards its second consecutive title.

Ergotelis, even if it chased points, also played defensively without receiving something more. We will say it one more time. It is unfair for the team to fall in B Division. Herakleions "yellow and blacks" were one of the few teams that did not play anti-football in order to receive points and to remain in A Division. It will pay for that by being relegated.

Next week it plays with Apollon Kalamaria in Thessalonica that lost today from Olympiacos and hopes for to stay. The game is expected to be interesting, since a win is a one-way street for the two teams. For the Cretans, it may be their last chance.

From its side, AEK continued its party in OAKA against Xanthi, even if it needed it in the end. Today, it moved with samba rhythms, since the two goals were scored by Brazilians Soares and Cesar. The second goal of Cesar was the highlight of the game as he passed by all his opponents and with a strong kick scored. This is the kind of goals that the fans expect in the stadium.

Olympiacos Passes Through Kalamaria

From the other hand, Xanthi besides the fact that it awakened late, managed to show in the last 15 minutes why it is so high in the standings but also why it will fight for the Greek Cup. If Matzourakis did not play defensively for 75 minutes and made the substitutions earlier then we would be talking about a fair tie.

Olympiacos in Kalamaria presented the usual goal problem. Even if it put two with Castillo and Rivaldo, it lost many opportunities once again. Thankfully, this time they were not fatal, as in past games. Next week it will play against Aigaleo in Karaiskakis Stadium, a seemingly easy game for its impenetrable home. If it doesnt turn the easy into hard then it will remain in the title game hoping on the other two teams negative results.

PAOK continues its ascension with Nikos Karageorgious directions. The Greek coach seems that he has found the players button and PAOK presents a fit for battle team that gets what it wants in the stadium. Today, playing good, quick and offensive football received an easy win against OFI, making the game a walk-through. In the fourth position and after Xanthis defeat, it has ensured a position in the next UEFA Cup.

Aigaleo and Iraklis are on the chase for a position in the UEFA event.

Aigaleo overcame Aris obstacle and caused the bitterness of its former coach Giorgos Chatzaras, who is seeking points to avoid any relegation adventures.

A day before Iraklis, in the presence of its new owner Dimitris Choulis, won in Nea Smirni which brings it a breath away from the positions that lead to the UEFA Cup. Surely, next Sunday playing against Xanthi we will watch a good match.

Chalkidona lost valuable ground after its defeat by Ionikos, which after this win we believe it has sealed its position in A Division.

Kallithea, which in the 90 received a great win, has also done the same and Kerkira is starting to make its program for the coming year that will find it in B Division.

Sad Incidents

The negative side of the round of matches was the incidents that occurred away from the stadiums by brainless fans.

The serious incidents took place a little after eight o clock at Vasillisis Sofias Avenue and resulted to two young men to be injured and taken to the Athens General Hospital, three burned motorcycles and a fourth one that was stolen.

As it was made known by the police, a group of AEK fans that were riding on motorcycles and passing through Vasillisis Sofias Avenue were attacked by other fans that were hidden in the park of Ippokrateion Hospital.

The police forces immediately intervened but the culprits managed to run away.

Results, Scorers, Next Matches

Results

Ergotelis-Panathinaikos 1-3 44 Schilla/25 Gekas, 55 Konstantinou, 75 Gonzalez

Panionios-Iraklis 1-2 24 Breshka/14 Lagos, 36 Epalle (penalty)

Kerkira-Kalithea 0-1 90 Koutsospiros

Chalkidona-Ionikos 0-1 31 Coimbra

Aigaleo-Aris 2-1 29 Barkoglou, 82 Manousakis/67 Abelas

AEK-Xanthi 2-1 19 Soares, 46 Cesar/39 Luciano (penalty)

Kalamaria-Olympiacos 0-2 64 Castillo, 89 Rivaldo

PAOK-OFI 4-1 29 Mietchell, Salpigidis 35, 59, Theodoridis 49/Deyanov 5

Top Scorers

16 goals: Gekas (Panathinaikos/Kallithea) 15 goals: Luciano (Xanthi) 12 goals: Konstantinou (Panathinaikos) 11 goals: Soares (AEK), Ogunsuto (Ergotelis), Machlas (OFI), Salpigidis (PAOK) 10 goals: Katsouranis (AEK), Barkoglou (Aigaleo) 9 goals: Giovanni, Rivaldo (Olympiacos), Iliopoulos (Chalkidona) 7 goals: Lymboropoulos (AEK), Makor (Ionikos), Zacharopoulos (Chalkidona)

Next Round of Matches

SKODA Xanthi-Iraklis OFI-AEK Kallithea-Panionios Aris-Kerkira Panathinaikos-Chalkidona Olympiacos-Aigaleo Apollon Kalamaria-Ergotelis

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[11] Read using infrared light "Eureka" for Lost Tragedies

By Vagelis Theodorou

Sources: Nea, Ethnos, The Independent

The road to discovering lost treasures of ancient Greek writing has been opened by scientists at Oxford University, who managed to read carbonized papyruses with verses by Sophocles, Euripides, Archilogue and Hesiod. These are the well-known papyruses of Oxford, which were discovered about a century ago and which have been read using a revolutionary photographic method. The scientists read excerpts from Sophocles tragedy "Epigone" (a work on the fate of the children of the "Seven of Thebes"), thirty verses from the "Elegies" by Archilochus from the 7th century BC, excerpts from a lost novel by Lucius from the second century, a mythological poem by Parthenius from the 1st century BC, and fragments of works by Hesiod from the 7th century BC. Another notable find is an ode by Pindarus and an excerpt of the Book of Revelations, where the Beast peaks. The first findings are expected to be published next month, with works following mainly by Ovid and Aeschylus.

The Chart of Knowledge Changes

The method used is based on infrared light. More specifically, by using rays, faded ink comes clearly into view, while at the same time, the texts are photographed, based on technology developed from satellite photography.

Over 400,000 pieces of faded papyrus, found in 1897 in the mud of the ancient town of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, and kept in 800 containers at the University of Oxford, can now be read using this method.

As the scientists state, this discovery could lead to a 20% increase in readable material from ancient texts, bringing lost works to light and filling in many gaps. In fact, the researchers expect to use this method to read a total of 5,000,000 words.

It has been estimated that it will take about ten years to read and publish all the treasure of Oxyrhynchus, as the manuscripts are in fragments. Most of the papyruses are written in Greek, while there are also texts in Latin, Hebrew, Coptic, Syrian, Aramaic, Nubian and proto-Persian.

This is an enormous find, if we consider that of the works of Aeschylus and Sophocles only seven tragedies have been saved, of a total of dozens, while only 500 verses by Archilochus are known. At the same time, the researchers aim to read Roman works, as well as unknown Gospels, which have been lost for the past 2000 years.

Translated by Millie Williams

The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article