An extraordinary plenary session was convened in Parliament on Thursday to discuss and vote on a proposal — tabled by ruling PASOK MPs — to set up a Parliamentary preliminary examination committee to investigate former defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos’ involvement in alleged illegalities concerning the purchase of four German-made submarines by the Hellenic Navy.
Deputies voted 226-9 for the probe into the 2000 contract, awarded to Greece’s Hellenic Shipyards and Germany’s Howaldswerke-Deutsche Werft and Ferrostaal. Another 15 of the 250 lawmakers present cast blank or invalid ballots, or did not vote.
Following Thursday’s vote, a parliamentary committee will hold a preliminary investigation into whether Akis Tsochadzopoulos bears criminal responsibility for possible bribery and money-laundering over the deal for the three Type 214 submarines.
Tsochadzopoulos was defence minister from 1996-2001, and was a Socialist party secretary in the 1990s. He denies wrongdoing.
Parliament to Investigate Former Defence Minister over German Sub Contract
Papoulias to Inaugurate Nebojsa Tower in Belgrade
Greece’s President Karolos Papoulias and Serbian President Boris Tadic will jointly inaugurate the landmark Nebojsa Tower in Belgrade on Friday. The recently renovated tower was the prison in which Greek independence struggle hero Rigas Velestinlis (also known as Ferraios) was put to death by Ottoman Turkish authorities in 1798.
Following the inauguration ceremony, Papoulias will be shown around all four levels of the new museum and then have a private meeting with his Serb counterpart, after which there will be a dinner in honour of the Greek delegation.
Papoulias will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis. His itinerary during his stay in Belgrade will include a visit to the Serbian Patriarch.
The renovation of Nebojsa Tower was funded by Greece and the municipality of Belgrade and carried out over two years, at a cost of 1.8 million euros. The Greek state, via the Greek Foreign Ministry international developmental aid service ‘Hellenic Aid’ has paid 1.38 million euros toward the project.
The tower will serve as a museum exhibit site featuring exhibits related to the life and work of Rigas Feraios and also to the Serbs’ own struggle for independence from Ottoman rule. The second story of the four-story tower will be devoted to Feraios and the Greek revolution.
Other exhibits will focus the tower’s use as a prison at the end of the 18th and the start of the 19th centuries.
Nejbosa Tower is a medieval structure built by Hungarians on the ruins of an older Roman tower dating from the 1st century A.D. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times in its history. Rigas Feraios was imprisoned there for roughly seven months before he was put to death by Turks, becoming one of the first martyrs of Greece’s struggle for independence.
ECHR Vice President: Turkey cannot interfere in Cyprus' zone
Vice President of the European Court of Human Rights Christos Rozakis said on Wednesday that Turkey cannot interfere in issues concerning Cyprus` exclusive economic zone in its southern seas, adding that Turkey has never claimed to have rights in the zone which has been delimitated with Egypt and Israel.
Addressing journalists at a meeting in Nicosia, Rozakis said Turkey`s main argument was that the delimitation has taken place without the involvement of the Turkish Cypriots and that it was legally impossible for Turkey to block the exploration of minerals in the southern seas of Cyprus.
He added that Turkey was not able to intervene as it was cut off by the zones of Lebanon and Syria.
“Cyprus has the advantage of having between Turkey zones with Lebanon and Syria, which have their own zones. There is no way Turkey could come and say that the area you have delimitated with Egypt and Israel is an area that belongs to us,“ he pointed out, adding the Cyprus` difference with Greece was that it had zones free from Turkish influence.
(source: cna)
Tourist Arrivals To Increase By More Than 10%
Greek tourist arrivals are expected to rise by more than 10% in 2011, said the country’s tourism workers’ union in a statement.
While Greece suffers an economic crisis, tourism arrivals will increase by a double-digit amount, revenues will also increase, helped by the unrest in North African tourist destinations, said the union (POEE-YTE).
Greece is one of the world’s top 20 tourist destinations, attracting about 15 million visitors annually.
Moreover, tourist sector contributes about 18% in Greece’s Gross Domestic Product, said POEE-YTE, while it urged for an upgrading of services.
(source: capital)
Maria Menounos Signs Books in Chicago
Reporter, TV host, producer, actress and author Maria Menounos was in Chicago yesterday to sign copies of her new book, The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life.
A positive role model for young girls to follow, her book shares wisdom she’s learned over the years from experts, and from her mom.
The engaging personality spoke about her Greek roots (Messinia) and upbringing. “I’m a product of Greek School, Sunday School and GOYA.” Menounos shared her love of Greek music, especially that of Stelios Kazantzidis. “If I could raise him from the dead, and sing a duet with him, I’d be thrilled.”
She added, “I love Chicago. It’s my second favorite city, next to Boston, of course.” The author explained, “Anything is possible. If a poor Greek girl from Medford (Mass.) can end up on The New York Times Best Seller List, then anything can happen.”
Menounos encouraged everyone to stay positive and open to the possibilities. “Get your stuff together, be organized and you’ll be much happier.” Check out her tips on Bing.
Norwegian Companies To Research For Oil In Greece
The new law bill for the establishment of an authority for hydrocarbon exploration has not yet been introduced before the Parliament, but Greek Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy is having a series of meetings in Oslo, starting with the Norwegian Oil and Energy Ministry State Secretary in Oslo.
Greek Deputy Minister Yiannis Maniatis will be informed by Per Rune Henriksen about the Norwegian model of oil exploitation, which is considered innovative. Besides political talks, Yiannis Maniatis will also have meetings of critical importance.
Deputy Minister will meet with representatives of Statoil, one of the largest oil companies in the world (ranking 27th in Platts list), with annual turnover of $77b and profits of $3b. Newspaper Kefaleo published on March 23, 2010, that Statoil has expressed its interest to conduct a research in specific areas in Ionian Sea.
Yiannis Maniatis will also meet representatives of Petroleum Geo Services, the company that carried out researches with the method of multi client surveys. During its research in Cyprus, the Norwegian company adopted the new system of new geostreamer to perform two- and three-dimensional seismic.
Finally, the Deputy will meet representatives of TGS – Nopec Geophysical Company, which also specializes in geophysical surveys.
The forthcoming bill includes a specific reference for the opening of market research, enabling research by specialized companies such as PGS and TGS. Research data, only accessible to the state and companies, will be available in the international oil market generating revenues to cover the high cost of research. A procedure, known as non exclusive survey-data, will be provided by the new legislation.
(source: capital)
Greek Bonds Spread while CDS Hit New Highs
The premium demanded by investors to hold Greek 10-year bonds continued to rise on Wednesday, reaching a peak of 16.17 percent and driving spreads with benchmark German bunds up by 1292 basis points.
The yield for shorter-term two-year Greek bonds was driven even higher to 23.9 percent.
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) insuring Greek debt against default reached an all-time high of 14.89 percent.
(source: ana-mpa)
Dead Body Found in Ano Liossia Landfill
Tuesday afternoon employees of the Ano Liossia landfill found the dead body of a 30-year-old woman of Asian descent. The body was found inside a plastic bag. Police are carrying out an investigation on the incident and believe that it was a murder motivated by personal differences between immigrants and that the body was then left at the landfill so that all evidence could be eliminated. Over the last months, a lot of dead bodies of foreign people have been found in the Ano Liossia landfill.
Lady Gaga Plans Spinalonga Island Villa Purchase
Lady Gaga is rather impressed by the renowned Greek TV series “The Island”, its main roles Captain Giorgis and Eleni, and by the shocking background of the small island “Spinalonga” as a leper colony in northeastern Crete.
The eccentric pop singer intends to buy a very luxurious and expensive villa with a view of the island at a price of about 3.5 million €.
Last October, Lady Gaga visited Greece and her destination was Spinalonga, where residents of Plaka, the region where the most of the series was shot, showed and explained everything to her in detail.
Athens Fringe Festival Scheduled June 20th to 26th
Athens Fringe Festival 2011, the Greek capital’s annual international arts festival, will take place from June 20th-26th, at the municipality’s Technopolis events center and other locations around the city, with the 2011 theme being “Smile in the Mind”.
The third annual Festival is organised by the Synthesis Media Company in collaboration with the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the biggest off-Festival on the planet.
Adopting the successful Fringe format, the Festival aims to present the work of young, upcoming Greek and European artists representing all art forms.
Athens Fringe Festival is an open-to-all celebration of the arts, a true off-Athens Festival.
The organisers invite artists, visitors and volunteers alike to think about what makes them happy and be to be inspired by these images.
All forms of art have a place in the Athens Fringe Festival, from music, dance and theater to literature, crafts, video art and installations.
Fringe is much more than a festival, it is a social network, but unlike the Internet social networks, it is not virtual but living, with live actions and interventions in the everday life of the city.
A novelty this year will be a double-decker bus that will take artists around the cities of Athens for “lightning” performances, bringing the Festival to the public itself.
(source: ana-mpa)