The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 06-03-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece Celebrates the First Day of Lent Celebrating Ash Monday

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

Sources: NET - NET 105.8

The Greeks are celebrating Ash Monday with events organised throughout the country by local clubs and societies, while traditional customs come to life in many parts of Greece. In Athens, thousands of people gathered at Filopappou and Skouze hills, as well as Veikou Park, to fly the traditional multi-coloured kites and taste the Lenten delicacies. In Thessaloniki, most of the celebrations are taking place in the forest of Seih-Sou. The bakeries, mini markets and open-air markets are operating as normal, so that consumers can purchase the traditional lagana (a type of unleavened bread) and other Lenten foods. The Varvakios fish market opened at 1:30am for last-minute buys. However, Ash Monday will be accompanied by adverse weather conditions, as the Hellenic National Meteorological Service forecast rainfalls and strong southern winds.

The Cost of Lenten Foods

Many consumers rushed practically at the last moment to buy the necessary Lenten delicacies.

Seafood, olives and halva (a sweet dish made from ground sesame seeds) are at the top of most shopping lists.

At the Varvakios fish market, which opened at 1:30am, the price of mussels is at 4 euros per kg, squids at 8 euros per kg, cuttlefish at 8.50 euros per kg, crabs at 6 euros per kg and clams at 13 euros per kg.

Finally, laganas are sold for 2.50 euros.

The Great Return

The citizens of the major urban centres who spent the three-day weekend away from the cities are expected to start returning as of Monday afternoon.

The Traffic Police is on alert, while traffic restrictions will apply for all trucks over 1.5 tonnes on the inbound lanes as of 3pm.

The ports, train stations and bus depots are also quite busy.

In the meantime, the airport security personnel announced a new 24-hour strike as of 11pm Monday.

The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority has filed an appeal, asking that the strike be deemed illegal and excessive. According to information, the court is expected to pass a ruling sometime in the afternoon.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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[02] NASA Designs Lunar Homesteads Returning to the Moon

By Vagelis Theodorou

It has been nearly 40 years since Neil Armstrong first stepped of the surface of the Moon and NASA is once again focusing its interests on the Earths sole satellite. Scientists at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston are working around the clock on designing and building lunar homesteads on the Moon in the next 12 years. The ambitious plan aims at revealing the secrets of out planets satellite, as well as acquiring the technical know-how for a manned mission to Mars. Initially, astronauts will not spend more than a week on the Moon, but gradually, their stay will be extended to six months. "We can go to the Moon and figure out what happened in the early history of planet Earth," declared veteran astronaut and lunar project member Don Pettit.

Sights Set on Mars

The first mission is expected to depart for the Moon in 2018, while the first homestead will probably be in place sometime in the early 2020s.

The preparations at the Johnson Space Centre are feverish, while the lunar homes will include living quarters, a kitchen and crew exercise facilities, as well as room for scientific instruments and collection storage areas. In addition, they are designing vehicles for short distances.

The spaceship will resemble very much the one used in 1969.

NASA is aiming to use the homesteads in order to collect valuable information on how to realise its ambitious plan for the first manned mission to Mars.

At the same time, however, NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite is approaching the last and most critical part of its seven-month journey towards the Red Planet. On 10 March, it will point its main thrusters forward and then fire them to slow itself enough for the planets gravity to grab it into orbit. It is a manoeuvre that requires precision, since many craft have failed up to now.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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[03] Paul Haggis' Film Won Best Picture "Crash" at the Oscars

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

Against the odds, Paul Haggis "Crash" received the Oscar for Best Picture at the 78th Annual Academy Awards. On the other hand, Taiwanese Ang Lees "Brokeback Mountain", which was considered the favourite, won three out of the eight Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Directing. In addition, "Crash", "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "King Kong" also received three Oscars a piece. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who starred as Truman Capote in the film "Capote", walked away with the Academy Award for Best Actor, while the respective award for Best Actress went to Reese Witherspoon for the performance in "Walk the Line". Finally, George Clooney received the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in "Syriana", while Rachel Weisz was voted Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in "The Constant Gardener".

The Academy Awards

Best Motion Picture of the Year: CRASH (Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman)

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Philip Seymour Hoffman (CAPOTE)

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Reese Witherspoon (WALK THE LINE)

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: George Clooney (SYRIANA)

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Rachel Weisz (THE CONSTANT GARDENER)

Achievement in Directing: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (Ang Lee)

Original Screenplay: CRASH (Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco; Story by Paul Haggis)

Adapted Screenplay: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (Nick Park and Steve Box)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: TSOTSI (South Africa)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score): BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (Gustavo Santaolalla)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song): "ITS HARD OUT HERE FOR A PIMP" FROM HUSTLE & FLOW (Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard)

Achievement in Art Direction: MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA [John Myhre (Art Direction); Gretchen Rau (Set Decoration)]

Achievement in Cinematography: MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (Dion Beebe)

Achievement in Costume Design: MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (Colleen Atwood)

Achievement in Makeup: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (Howard Berger and Tami Lane)

Achievement in Sound Mixing: KING KONG (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek)

Achievement in Visual Effects: KING KONG (Joe Letteri, Brian Vant Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor)

Achievement in Sound Editing: KING KONG (Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn)

Achievement in Film Editing: CRASH (Hughes Winborne)

Best Live Action Short Film: SIX SHOOTER (Martin McDonagh)

Best Animated Short Film: THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION (John Canemaker and Peggy Stern)

Best Documentary Short Subject: A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN (Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson)

Best Documentary Feature: MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau)

Honorary Academy Award: Robert Altman, aged 81, Director

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

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