Hollywood’s favorite superstar couple Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson will once again serve as honorary chairs and celebrity guest hosts of this year’s L.A. Greek Fest “12th Annual Festival Extravaganza” – highlighted by the exciting “Passport to a Grecian Holiday” & presented on September 10th – 12th on the Grand Plaza grounds of Saint Sophia Cathedral. This year’s featured promotional theme is “Celebrating a Taste of Greece.” “This is our twelfth annual festival and we are going to celebrate the event in spectacular style” enthuses Fest director Ted Pastras. “In addition to Tom & Rita, we’ll have a lot of show biz celebrities from Hollywood and people from all over Southern California coming to the Byzantine Latino Quarter to enjoy all the atmosphere & fun. Tom and Rita are great friends, and part of the Cathedral family, and they are lending their star power to our festival so that the people of the Southland can appreciate all the fun & excitement of the Greek Islands’ right here in the City of the Angels.”
Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson Host LA Greek Festival this Weekend
Greek public transport workers walk on strike against planned job cuts
Greek workers in the railway transport and other types of public transport will suspend their work for five hours on Wednesday as a sign of a protest against planed job cuts in the financed by the state public transport.
The strike will block completely the intercity transport and all forms of public transport in Athens.
Railway transport workers will also suspend their activity on Thursday as well. The strike will not affect the air transport in Greece.
New Greek Foreign Minister invited to FYROM
The foreign minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) conveyed today his congratulations to the newly appointed Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas — who previously held the alternate FM’s portfolio — while also extending an invitation to the latter to visit Skopje.
“I would like, on this opportunity, to underline my conviction that during the upcoming period we will make joint efforts to upgrade relations between our two countries in the spirit of European values, mutual cooperation and understanding,” fYRoM Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said. Mr. Milosoki invited the Greek Minister on a date to be decided via diplomatic channels and underlined, that this visit is going to be a bilateral effort to establish mutual trust and good relationship status between the two neighbors.
According to information, Mr. Droutsas accepted the invitation and is going to continue the talks concerning the name issue and the Skopje’s proposal to set up embassies in the two countries.
(source: ana-mpa)
Bloomberg: Europe’s Banks ‘Tied’ To Greek Debt
Even after the EUR110 bil. bailout scheme for Greece, and the massive EUR750 bil package for endangered EU member states, investors are wary about Europe’s sovereign paper skittish about the banks that hold the region’s debt, Bloomberg says in a special report.
A default by Greece could lead the collapse of banks with large sovereign-bond holdings, Konrad Becker, a financial analyst at Merck Finck & Co. in Munich, told the news agency.
“A default by one EU country would lead to an evaporation of trust in banks,” he said.
“If investors aren’t willing to invest in banks anymore, then many banks will go bust in months, not years.”
These jitters have led to the interbank market freezing, since banks are nervous on lending each other.
“The amount banks have parked at the ECB is just outrageous,” says Florian Esterer, a fund manager at Zurich- based Swisscanto Asset Management AG.
On the other hand, bankers seem to have the upper hand vs governments.
“Bankers have got Europe’s governments in their pockets, primarily because politicians cannot change the way lenders do business without undermining confidence in sovereign debt,” says Chris Skinner, chief executive officer of Balatro Ltd.
Furthermore, investors do not seem convinced on the severity of the stress test exercise that tested 91 European Banks last July.
“The stress tests weren’t severe enough,” says Julian Chillingworth, who helps manage $21 billion at Rathbone Brothers Plc, an investment firm in London.
“Many bond investors aren’t convinced the Greeks are out of the woods.” And if the Greeks haven’t emerged from their crisis yet, then neither have the European banks that hold their debt.
Greek & Roman Antiquities Damaged in New Zealand Quake
The strong earthquake in New Zealand caused serious damage in the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. It severly affected the Greek and Roman antiquities of the James Logie Memorial Collection.
The collection that was created in 1950 includes 250 objects and its worth is estimated at million of dollars. The head of the classical studies program, Dr. Alison Griffith expressed her regret for the damage.
According to ABC: “100,000 houses were damaged, hundreds of families are hosted in community accommodations and 3,500 people have no electricity in their houses. There are cases of gastric flu and worries about the contamination of the water supply. The reconstruction of the city will be accomplished in ten years and the cost will be about 1,6 billion Australian dollars.
Greek Australian Kotsis Elected into Labor Party of New South Wales
Sophie Kotsis is the new face of the Labor Party of New South Wales. She will now become a member of the Parliament of the big Australian state.
Mrs. Kotsis replaces Mr. John Della Bosca in the Legislative Council of the of New South Wales Parliament. She has worked in the past for the government as consultant of the former minister Michel Costa. She has also worked in the private sector.
Coca Cola Australia’s President: “The Greeks Changed Australia”
Coca Cola Australia’s President Terry Davis spoke about the importance of the presence of the Greek and Italian immigrants in the country.
Mr. Davis underlined that: “the Greek and Italian immigrants were very important for the progress of the Australian community, they changed Australia”. He also said that Australia should remain an open society.
He was for more flexibility of the visa program and for the facilitation of the naturalization of foreigners who graduate from Australian Universities. This also ensures for Australian companies to have the opportunity to employee talented people of the world.
Coach Costas Spanidis Dies Tragically in Auto Accident
Coach Costas Spanidis was killed in a highway accident in the northern region of the country on Monday reported Thessaloniki police. AFP stated that Spanidis who is 51 died after his car collided with a van parked on the safety lane on the Thessaloniki-Moudania highway.
Police said that the ambulance crew that reached the scene found no visible injuries, leading to suspicions that he may have suffered a fatal heart attack.A coach to former discus champion Tassoula Kelesidou, Spanidis had been appointed to the post last year after a previous stint between 2005 and 2008.
George Papaconstantinou Remains Finance Minister in Government Reshuffle
George Papandreou retained Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou in the cabinet reshuffle announced early today but changed other key officials involved in the effort to reform the country’s troubled economy. Under the changes announced early this morning the Ministers of Development, Labour and Health were replaced.
Greece’s governing socialists face regional elections in November that will test tolerance for harsh imposed austerity measures. Ministries related to the economy are facing major reforms and are subjected to frequent inspections by budget enforcers from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
The changes were seen as boosting the role of the Finance Ministry’s control over economic reforms. Several older party members who served in previous socialist governments returned to the cabinet in an apparent effort to woo traditional party supporters who are less likely to back the economic austerity.
The new government will be sworn in later today.
New Deputy of Foreign Affairs Dollis’ Statement
The new Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitris Dollis stated that the decision of Prime Minister George Papandreou’s desicion to include him in the new cabinet is a: “great honor and a great challenge” to Neo Kosmos.
He said that his appointment as one of the two Deputy Prime Ministers is an: “honor for the Greeks of Australia but also for the Greek Diaspora in general”.
Dollis made a commitment that he will do: “the best possible for the Greek Diaspora”from his current position as well, within the framework of the government’s policy.
Dimitris Dollis was born in Kastoria. He developed his political activities in the state of Victoria, Australia where his family emigrated when he was 15 years old. Within the 29 years he spent in Australia he served as City Councilor, Member of the Parliament, Shadow Minister and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party. When he returned to Greece he was appointed as the General Secretary for Greeks Abroad of the Greek Government.
He made a close connection with George Papandreou and supported him during his course. As the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou appointed him as Ambassador-at-Large and Special Envoy of the PM for the release of the Greek teacher Thanassis Lerounis, who had been abducted by the Taliban.