Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey On British ITV1

British actress and green issues campaigner Joanna Lumley travelled to Greece to explore both the ancient and modern aspects of the country for a British ITV1 programme.

Her report on the places she visited makes a terrific travel guide, since she is fascinated by all she meets and sees.

65-year-old Lumley begins her journey at the Parthenon in Athens and then travels around the Southern region of the country to the Peloponnese, visiting internationally known historic sites.

Although she pointed out that Athens is not as it used to be, Lumley fervently believes that things can easily change, using the following example to support her opinion: “Not every city can remain as bright as day all the time. Thirty-five years ago when I first went to New York, you couldn’t go to Times Square, it was so dangerous and filthy and frightening, with so many pickpockets. And now you can take the whole family there. So things do change. From the shining glory of Greece, it’s become dark and strange for a bit. But it’ll come back again.”

Her 4 episode series does not revolve around Greece’s economic miseries. On the contrary, it is a thrilled gaze at its history, geography and landscape.

During her trip she meets villagers who communicate by whistling, a fisherman who takes her to the gates of the underworld, and marble-cutters who use the same tools as their ancestors. Finally Lumley watches singer Nana Mouskouri rehearse at the amphitheatre of Epidavrus overlooking the Saronic Gulf.

Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey is on ITV1 today, 13 October, at 9.00pm

Fule Warns Turkey Against Use of Military Force Due to Cyprus' Drilling

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Stefan Fule

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule has stressed that the Republic of Cyprus – like all EU member states – has the right to conclude bilateral agreements for drilling in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Speaking Wednesday at a press conference, the EU Commissioner warned against threats or the use of military force which contradict the spirit of peaceful resolution of disputes. The EU Commissioner was referring to Turkey, which following a decision by Nicosia to begin natural gas and oil exploration in its EEZ, has deployed warships in the Eastern Mediterranean and has signed an illegal agreement with the Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus to delineate what it calls continental shelf.
Replying to questions, the Commissioner recalled that the government of the Republic of Cyprus began some weeks ago drilling for hydrocarbon reserves in its EEZ, stressing the sovereign rights of all EU Member States to enter into bilateral agreements in accordance with the EU acquis and international law. He underscored that there is no room for threats, sources of tension or actions, which contradict the spirit of peaceful resolution of disputes, adding “there is no room for threats to use military force”.
(source: cna)

Protests Seek to Hit Collection of Property Tax

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Greek protesters tried to disrupt collection of an unpopular new property tax on Thursday and transport workers went on strike in a growing wave of protests against harsh new austerity measures.
Unionists of GENOP, which represents workers at the Public Power Corporation (PPC), continued their occupation of the company’s billing department to stop it from sending bills containing the emergency property tax to homeowners. Environment and Energy Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou on Wednesday appealed to GENOP to end its protest and said that he would order a prosecutor to intervene if the sit-in continues. The property tax, which will see homeowners charged between 0.5 and 20 euros per square meter, was designed to raise some 2 billion euros by the end of the year.
The action at power company PPC underlines the challenge faced by the government, which has included the property tax in electricity bills to ensure it will be paid in a country where tax evasion is endemic.
PPC’s management said the bills would be printed anyway, in another venue and at a greater cost but protesters said they would continue their protest.
“We came to stay … we are here to give a fight” said Nikos Fotopoulos, president of PPC’s union GENOP-DEH, on Skai TV.
With the socialist government of Prime Minister George Papandreou trying to push new cuts through parliament to meet demands from international lenders, opposition has strengthened ahead of a planned general strike on Oct. 19 which is expected to shut down much of the country.

Greek Debt Talks In Paris Thursday

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Talks between Greece’s official creditors and international banks on a new private sector debt deal for the country are expected to be held in Paris Thursday, a local newspaper reports, following a first round of negotiations earlier this week in Rome.
According to the Kathimerini newspaper Thursday, the talks will focus on proposals that foresee banks taking a roughly 40% loss on their holdings of Greek government bonds.
The talks Thursday will include representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank–known as the troika–who are jointly responsible for overseeing Greece’s reform program. The meeting will be held at the headquarters of French bank BNP Paribas SA, the newspaper said without citing sources.
(source: Dow Jones)

Cooks and Chefs Needed in Many Australian States

Many Australian states will sponsor cooks and chefs under State Sponsored skilled migration routes.
If you are skilled in the culinary arts and want to live and work in Australia, it is possible for you to obtain a work and residence visa through a State Sponsored skilled migration route under the General Skilled Migration program.
It is important to act quickly if you want to immigrate to Australia as quotas generally apply.
For more information on immigrating to Australia, see our Australian immigration section.

Turkish TV Series Prevails During Greek Crisis

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People spend their nights before the television screen even more during times of economic crisis in search of an escape. However, in Greece there is a huge decrease in advertisement revenues, and only a handful of new Greek series have been produced. Thus Greek stations are looking for cheaper solutions such as foreign movies, foreign television series, and live panel discussions.
Yasemin and War in “Love and Punishment” (Aşk ve Ceza) on Greek channel Mega and Bihter and Behlül in “Forbidden Love” (Aşk-ı Memnu) on Antena have been audiences’ favorites. The two series are racing head to head, according to national surveys.
When asked why the two big Greek TV channels compete with each other through Turkish series, the reason is the economic crisis. Each episode of a Greek series costs around 70,000 to 80,000 euros, whereas each episode of a Turkish series can be bought for about 7,000 to 8,000 euros.
Moreover, Greeks like Turkish TV series because they do not sound so foreign to their ears anymore. Another factor is that Greek society is familiar with the scenarios of Turkish series.Lastly, high-budget Turkish series are also of good quality.

Presentation of 1st Greek Ballast Water Treatment System

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A very successful forum was held on Tuesday the 27th of September by Greek Manufacturer, ERMA FIRST ESK Engineering Solutions S.A., who designed, certified, and manufactured an integrated Ballast Water Management System.
More than 250 people, executives from the largest Greek Shipping companies attended the forum, supporting a major effort made by a Greek company. ERMA FIRST consisted of young scientists, managed to create a high standards Ballast Water Treatment System.
During the forum, the regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for the Ballast Water and Sediment Control Convention 2004, were presented and analyzed while attendants were thoroughly informed about the latest developments in the legislative context, testing, and sampling board, issues of great concern for the shipping and managing companies.
Participants had the chance to understand the particular features of ERMA FIRST as a solution.

Ministers of Unrecognized Turkish-Cypriot Government Use Republic of Cyprus Passports

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Turkish-Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen reports that ministers of North Cyprus possess passports of the Republic of Cyprus despite their public rejection of the Republic of Cyprus.
The paper states, “Minister of Foreign Affairs Huseyin Ozgurgun stated at the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s (TBMM) committee on Foreign Affairs that 100 thousand Turkish-Cypriots are holders of passports of the Republic of Cyprus.  Turkish-Cypriots use the passport of the Republic of Cyprus to go to Europe with no border controls, otherwise a visa would be essential.”
It was made officially known that Huseyin Ozgurgun is a holder of Cyprus passport, himself. Other documents have shown that four more “ministers of North Cyprus” have passports of the Republic of Cyprus including Minister of Finance Ersiusn Tatar, Minister of Economics, Sunat Atun, Minister of Education Kemal Durust, and Minister of Health Ahmet Kasif.
The nationalist newspaper Volkan, comments the unique situation of the internationally unrecognized ministers and their passports, emphasizing that Asim Akansoy, General Secretary of the Republican Turkish political party, who has been director af Mehmet Ali Talat’s office, seeped documents to the press.

Eleftherios Venizelos Airport Ranks 2nd Best in Europe

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The biggest international meeting of airports and airports companies, ‘Routes 2011′ (from the 2nd to the 4th of October) in Berlin, rank Greece second amongst major European airports.
The position of Athens’ International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos in the European arena was secured after the voting of airport companies worldwide. Athens’ International Airport was rated top for its continuous support of the developmental attempts and plans of airports companies, even under bad domestic economic circumstances.
The top voted airport in Europe is the Marketing Airport in Budapest.

Greek Foreign Minister and Arab League Secretary Meet in Cairo

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Greece’s agreement to play an important role in Middle East was the main outcome of a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday between Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis and Arab League General Secretary Nabil El Araby.
Lambrinidis underlined the need for stronger relations between Greece and the Arab League, adding that Athens seeks to forge “strategic cooperation” with the Arab League.
Arab League General Secretary praised Greece’s understanding of the region’s problems and the government’s willingness to play an important role.
They also discussed regional developments, including the Palestinian issue, developments in Libya, and the gradual democratization of the country.
The Arab League General Secretary is scheduled to visit Greece in the near future.