Within a very emotionally tense atmosphere due to the recent loss of Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Austria and Exarch of Hungary Michael, Greeks residing in Budapest celebrated the national “Oxi” Day Anniversary with laurel wreaths, ecclesiastic blessings and a gala.
Tributes were paid at the Monument of Hellenism in front of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Dormition of Virgin Mary in Budapest downtown. This church has been in the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church ever since the end of World War II, but the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been taking actions on reclaiming it over the past years.
The celebrations were attended by the Ambassadors of Greece and Cyprus in Hungary, Mr. Spyridon Georgiles and Mr. Vassos Chiamberlen, the representative of the Orthodox Exarchy archpriest Joseph Calota, the president of the Görög Országos Önkormányzat, a powerful Greek association in Budapest Mr. Georgios Tzitzis, the president of the Intercultural Association Macedonia Mr. Dimitris Ladas, the president of the Greek-Cypriot-Hungarian Friendship Association and the president of the Greek Orthodox Ecclesiastic Community of Budapest Mrs. Martha Politidou.
After the ecclesiastic blessing, the Community was able to wine and dine at the gala organized by the Greek Orthodox Religious Community and the Macedonian Association.
The Monument of Hellenism was unveiled 5 years ago in a central square of the capital city and symbolizes the creative presence of Hellenism in Hungary over the centuries.
Greek real estate company Star Imob managed to buy back the City Mall shopping center in capital city of Romania for 17.3 million euros, after having bought the mall in 2005 for 46 million euros and sold it to Australian APN Fund a year after for 103 million euros.
Ioannis Papalekas is the head of the real estate company spreading its activities in Romania. The shopping centre was under bankruptcy for quite a time now before the investor bought it for a 6 times lower price than the initial one.
Financial problems concerning the exposures of several banks on the mall and those of the previous owners on the banks have not yet been sorted out but it is expected that by the end of the year Mr. Papalekas will have paid all the necessary acquisition money for the shopping centre.
Mr. Papalekas has also invested in the UpGround mixed project in Pipera area and is involved in recent office bulding transactions with Eurobank Properties REIC in Bucharest estimated at 40 million Euros.
A presentation of Spyros Paloukis photo book Daydreaming: One Hundred Greeks of Belgium Dream of Greece was held in the European Parliament in Brussels, under the initiative of the MEP Michalis Tremopoulos and the Minister in Belgium Christos Doulkeridis.
Many people attended the presentation that took place under the auspices of the Federation of Greek Communities in Belgium at Yehudi Menuhin.
“Beyond the geographical borders of our country, lies another Greece. A second homeland, unknown to many. A low profile, but very vivid Greece at the same time. A Greece based in Belgium and its epicenter, Brussels”, is mentioned on the publication’s preface, among other things.
Daydreaming features the photographs of one hundred Greeks based in Belgium with their eyes shut. The projects vision focuses on recording people, their stories, homes and dreams, captured on photographic material.
Mikkey Dee celebrates his forty-eighth birthday tomorrow. Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou is drummer/songwriter for the heavy metal band Motorhead. A Swede of Greek descent, he has been known for his speed and precision since his mid-80s stint with King Diamond. Delaoglou began his musical career with local bands Nadir and Geisha. His favorite drummer is Ian Paice. Other influences include Brian Downey, Neil Peart and Steve Smith. Dee also gives credit to Buddy Rich.
He is famous for his long drum solos during concerts, often lasting between five and fifteen minutes and filling between songs. Dee currently plays a drum solo halfway through the song In The Name Of Tragedy; previously it was during Sacrifice. “Their vocals sound really nasty have more of a in your face sound. Sinful and amazing to say the least. They get along with the guitar riffs so well,” said Abigail Pinto, a metal-head from Bangalore.
Lemmy had been repeatedly asking Dee to join Motorhead since 1985, and in 1992, when asked once again, Dee accepted the offer, replacing Phil Philthy Animal Taylor. Commenting on his replacement of a longstanding member of the band, Dee said in a 2006 interview: Phil Taylor was great when he was good… so I could never have filled that space. It’s like when you get married and have kids, no one can take my father’s place. Of course, some other guy could have taken his place, but he wouldn’t have been my father; so I could never be Phil Taylor, so I had to introduce Mikkey Dee into Motorhead.
Dee’s first gig with the band was on 30 August 1992 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, but he did not have much input on that year’s release, March or Die, as this had been recorded with Tommy Aldridge prior to Dee joining the group. Another fan further commented, “Motorhead has played a huge role in establishing an entirely different rock scene. According to me, they are one of the best musicians ever.”
The outgoing head of the European Central Bank, Jean Claude Trichet, has warned that there should be no repeat of last week’s deal to reduce Greek debt.
He also said that Greece should have come under greater scrutiny before it joined the euro.
Mr Trichet, who steps down today, told the BBC that the agreement was a one off and other countries should honour their debts in full.
As the head of the European Financial Stability Facility Klaus Regling meets with Chinese officials in an effort to boost the bailout fund, Mr Trichet denied that eurozone countries are going “cap in hand” to China and said the move was “absolutely normal”.
As ECB President he has overseen some of the most turbulent years of the euro zone.
Mr Trichet hands over the reins of the ECB to the Italian central banker, Mario Draghi, tomorrow. (source: rte)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon instituted substantive discussions on four core issues of the Cyprus talks, namely governance and power-sharing, the issue of property, the issue of territory and the issue of citizenship during a meeting he had on Sunday with Cyprus President Demetris Chritofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu at Greentree Estate, in Manhasset, New York on Long Island, UN Secretary General Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer has said.
After the meeting, which lasted two hours, Downer, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe and other UN officials met with the leaders of the two communities and had extensive discussions concerning the four issues. Downer said that the UN have not been submitting bridging proposals but have been talking to the two sides extensively about the positions they have as well as discussing the other side’s positions so there is a full understanding of the positions, noting that it is the two sides that have to make their own convergences. “The United Nations cannot impose anything on them and we have no intention of doing so,” he stressed.
“I think it is fair to say, and I am quoting the two sides here, rather than using my own words, but it certainly reflects the United Nations’ own view, that these discussions have been positive, productive and vigorous — appropriately vigorous and certainly positive and productive,“ Donwer noted.
He added that “from our point of view, the United Nations is pleased with the way it is going. We like the venue very much. It is a nice place for the leaders to come to and their teams. I hope they are being appropriately looked after here and I think they are,” he noted.
Downer noted that the Secretary-General instituted substantive discussions on four core issues of the Cyprus talks. First of all, on governance and power-sharing, in particular focusing on the issue of the executive, that is, the presidency. Secondly, on the issue of property. Thirdly, on the issue of territory. Fourthly, on the issue of citizenship.
Discussions continued over dinner on Sunday evening. Donwer said that on Monday the Secretary General will return. “Our expectation is the Secretary-General will be here for about six hours. He will arrive at about three-o-clock in the afternoon which is when the session will begin with the Secretary-General and the leaders. And the Secretary-General will later host a dinner that will be a working dinner. And that will bring the meeting here to a conclusion,” he noted, adding that the Secretary General will talk to the media on Tuesday morning.
Asked if the UN submitted proposals to bridge the gaps between the sides, Downer said they have not.
“We are not going to be arbitrators in this process. We have repeatedly said that. We have said all along we won’t be arbitrators or mediators in this process. But we are happy to be as helpful as we possibly can be,” he noted.
Asked why proximity talks are taking place now, Downer said that “we have done both things. In a joint meeting with the Secretary-General in the course of the morning we got to spend something like six hours with the Secretary-General. We have also mixed that up with separate meetings of Mr. Pascoe and me with the two sides. And I think there is a mix that seems to be working pretty well. We are always trying to think of something different. We are always thinking of creative and constructive ways of pushing a process forward. We need to fulfill our obligations to the Security Council.”
Asked if proximity talks imply that the UN is making bridging proposals, Downer said that “we are listening to what they are saying and discussing with them their thoughts. We are having extensive discussions with them. That is not the same thing as making bridging proposals.”
Responding to a question if there is any progress on governance and power-sharing and whether the give-and-take started, Downer said that “it is a sort of semantic issue. Obviously, the leaders look at the different positions. The two sides have tried to work out ways of navigating through those positions,” he said.
He noted that “we would try to avoid getting into a semantic debate” noting that he cannot go into details of what they have been discussing.
“I did say that the discussions have been positive, productive and vigorous. They are not just my words, but they are the words used by the sides themselves. I think they have found it very positive and useful during the course of today and there is still tomorrow ahead of us. And part of that discussion has been on the question of the executive,” Donwer added.
Asked if the UN expect any roadmap after these talks, Downer said that the Secretary General will announce what will happen at the end of the discussions.
Asked if the discussions have been promising, Downer stated that “it has been positive and productive so far. It has been very good.”
Regarding the format of the talks, Downer said that the Secretary-General began his meetings with them around the breakfast table. Afterwards the meeting continued in a more formal setting. The Secretary-General had a discussion with them, with the two leaders sitting side by side and the Secretary-General and his team sitting opposite them. The leaders had with them their representatives Kudret Ozersay and George Iacovou were in the room, note takers and so on.
“After the Secretary-General left, Mr. Pascoe and I and our people have gone to see the leaders. We spent a good deal of time with Mr. Christofias, talking about the issues with him. We then spent time in the afternoon with Mr. Eroglu and his team. And also our United Nations officials, the experts have been going and talking to the Greek Cypriot and also to the Turkish Cypriot experts. It has been a good exchange of views throughout the course of the day,” Donwer said.
Responding to another question, the UN official said that the Secretary General has many issues to focus on and the two leaders have a lot of issues and a lot of work to do.
“They are away from home and they obviously don’t want to spend too much time away from home. So the point I make is, I think it is giving the whole Cyprus question a pretty good airing spending the two days here, two days here entirely focused on this issue, not focused on other things,” he said, adding that “the atmosphere has been very positive. The discussions have been productive. It is vigorous discussion, and that is what you need in this type of negotiations”.
According to information, speaking at the beginning of the talks, UN Secretary General asked the two leaders to make a genuine effort to overcome substantive obstacles on fundamental chapters, while President Christofias noted that intensive talks in Cyprus have not yielded the expected results. On his part Eroglu insisted that meetings between the two leaders can be concluded by the end of the year and then hold a give and take process during a five-party conference.
A Greek Cypriot source has said that the Greek Cypriot side has explicitly outlined its positions and assessments as regards the course of the talks. (source: cna)
The Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) program at Livonia Churchill High School will present two Greek tragedies in repertory.
The plays are Phaedra by Jean Racine (1677) from the Greek play Hippolytus written by Euripides (428 B.C.) and translated by Colin John Holcombe (2008) and The Burial at Thebes, originally written by Sophocles as Antigone (442 B.C.) and adapted by Seamus Heaney (2004).
Phaedra will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, 5 and 11 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 12.
The Burial at Thebes will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4, 10 and 12 and at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5.
The shows are directed by Rolfe Bergsman of the CAPA Theatre Department and Kyle Grant, a CAPA alum and London stage actor.
All performances will take place in the Carli Auditorium at Winston Churchill High School, 8900 Newburgh Road, Livonia. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors.
Greek flagged vessel Tanker M/V Elka Apollon with 24 crew on board (10 Greeks and 14 internationals) collided with Panama flagged vessel M/V “MSC NEDERLAND” in the Houston Ship Channel on Saturday, causing damage to both and a small hydraulic fuel leak.
The Coast Guard responded to the collision around 9:45am Saturday. They say a container ship and chemical tanker ran into one another at the Bayport Ship Channel and Houston Ship Channel intersection near light 75. Due to the collision, three containers fell from motor vessel MSC Nederland — a 782-foot cargo ship — onto the deck of the Elka Apollon, a 799-foot chemical tanker. One of the containers, containing tractor equipment, leaked a small amount of hydraulic fluid onto the deck.
No injuries were reported and the ship channels remain open to traffic. The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident and working with vessel owners to come up with a salvage plan.
New York College's General Manager Dimitrios Andreou
With Greek universities locked in interminable gridlock over reforms, and some United Kingdom colleges set to triple tuition, the Athens-based New York College seems set to pick up even more students keen to take advantage of its relatively low costs, seasoned faculty, and a chance to go to school in one of Europe’s most exciting and ancient cities, where the very idea of education was founded.
“The innovations we have made through the years is paying off … we have the quality,” the school’s General Manager and Associate Dean in the Department of Business, Dr. Dimitrios Andreou, a scholar with Doctorate and Master’s Degrees in Information Systems from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, and an MBA from San Jose State University in California, as well as a degree in physics from the University of Athens, explained in an interview with greekreporter.com.
He said the school, which has its flagship campus in the heart of downtown Athens and has campuses in Thessaloniki, with the University of New York in Prague, Tirana, Belgrade, and Georgia, has worked to position itself as one of the country’s premier universities by offering Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D degrees in a variety of disciplines in collaboration with distinguished colleges in the U.S. and Europe, with many programs taught by the teaching staff. There are practical benefits, besides the value of the quality education students receive at the college. A survey found that graduates of the Prague school earn the highest average gross monthly wage.
New York College has at its heart a core of Greek students, but also draws from throughout Europe and Africa, and is attracting more students from the United States, especially a fertile audience of young Greek Americans with a predilection to come to Greece and get a quality education at a far lower cost than most private colleges in America, with the advantage of being in the homeland of their families. One of the great advantages, Andreou said, is the collaboration with noted schools elsewhere, particularly in the U.S., partnering with schools such as LaSalle in Philadelphia, Nova Southeastern University, National American University, and European colleges including Unviersite de Toulouse and Ecole Superieure de Gestion Paris Graduate School of Management, University of Greenwich and University of Bolton, both in the U.K., and Institute Universitaire Kurt Bosch in Switzerland.
With such a diversified grouping, the college, which is affiliated with the State University of New York Empire State College, is able to offer a wide range of degrees, including in Business Administration, Finance, Marketing, Management, International Business, Communications and Journalism, Business Communications, Computer Science, Information Systems, International Relations, and Psychology, while its European affiliates bring in fields such as a Professional MBA, Marketing, Human Resources, Tourism and Health Care Management, and even Film Studies. It’s a selection that has brought in students from as many as 70 countries. Andreou said a key market now is the U.S.
“We have had a presence there but we are going to do more now,” he said. The school offers English-language teaching, although there are some key programs that include Greek, and also has Graduate degree programs. “We want to expand collaboration with American schools and offer more varieties of academic disciplines,” said Andreou, who brings an impressive background to bear, including degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and a varied career, including at the noted Foxboro Company in Massachusetts, as well as working in his fields in the U.S. before coming back to Greece, where he established himself further before joining New York College, where he still teaches as well.
His work experience includes teaching at Drexel University, as well as Director of Business Development and Internal Audit, at the Agricultural Bank of Greece Group; IT Manager at Deloitte & Touche; Senior Technology Consultant and Senior Application Engineer at companies in Silicon Valley in California. Even with Greece’s difficult economic times, he said, “The school is doing well.” With rising costs in colleges in other parts of Europe, particularly the U.K., he said New York College is a perfect alternative. “It makes it much more attractive for students who are thinking of going to the U.K. to get a degree to stay here, “he said.
One of the most sought after courses now, he said, is Psychology. “We see interest not just from the traditional 18-year-old student but professionals with degree who want to supplement their education,” he said. An offshoot of that is interest in teaching Special Needs students, especially as Greek society overcomes it anathema to a problem that had been hidden. “It’s becoming more popular for Greek educations to handle these cases that used to be in the closet. Parents wouldn’t talk about kids with problems like dyslexia. Now they can,” he said, and because of that, teachers in the field are going to be in demand and he said the college is perfectly positioned to fill that special need.
The college has seen an increase in enrollment of 10-15 percent, he said, because it has attuned itself to courses that prepare students for real-world careers. A burgeoning field, he said, is in courses aligned with the nation’s famed shipping industry. “There is the expectation for finding something in this job market easier than other fields,” he said, but it’s competitive and demanding and he said the college has prepared course studies to make students ready to step into the industry.
Greek shipping dominates the world and is a bulwark of the country’s economy, and New York College graduates can find themselves as desired as Ivy League law school graduates are in the U.S., Europe and throughout the world. Anticipating needs in the job market has helped the school too, he added, such as courses in fields such as Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Policy Security and Risk Management, especially in Europe, where energy is interconnected between countries and where energy policy is a mainstay of the European Union’s trade strategy. There are critical energy and pipelines deals between the E.U. and countries such as Russia, Ukraine, and others in Eastern Europe, especially Turkey, a key transit country.
These are the kind of 21st Century professions for which New York College is preparing students, he said. The school offers high quality multicultural education and was established in 1989, founded by Elias Foutsis, who is still its President, who noted that that while the economic crisis has rocked the world: “History has proved, as older people can assure you, that well-qualified, hard-working and optimistic individuals can turn the crisis into an opportunity.” It’s easier with a the kind of quality education they can obtain at New York College, which is licensed by the Greek Ministry of Education and the British Accreditation Council.
In his position, Andreou said he’s been able to draw on the experiences of his education and career and said when he came back to Greece in 1996 from the U.S. that, “There were a lot of opportunities,” with Greece’s elevation in the E.U. and as it rose to become the most influential country in the Balkans and Southeast Europe. He said the college has a prominent faculty of teachers who are experienced professionals in their field as well as having academic credentials. Admission standards are high as well, and require proficiency in English. As President Foutsis makes clear in his message to students: “We are proud of our commitment to education, to prepare students to become scholars and thinkers of a new century in which technology will continue to transform the way we advance the boundaries of knowledge. Our aim is to provide our students with prestigious degrees and more importantly, with the values and ethics necessary to excel in society in general.”
Within a very emotionally tense atmosphere due to the recent loss of Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Austria and Exarch of Hungary Michael, Greeks residing in Budapest celebrated the national “Oxi” Day Anniversary with laurel wreaths, ecclesiastic blessings and a gala.
