President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias departs Saturday for New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly and also meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The President will also have bilateral meetings with heads of state and government including Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and President of Serbia Boris Tadic.
According to an official press release, the President will address the UN General Assembly on September 24th, while his meeting with the UN chief is expected to take place on Tuesday, September 21st.
The Cypriot President will also make a speech at the Center of Archaeological Studies of the New York University and receive the leadership of the Cyprus Federation of America.
During his stay there, he will attend a reception hosted by US President Barack Obama as well as a luncheon with the leadership of the American Jewish Committee.
On September 24th he will give a press conference at the UN headquarters.
The President will be accompanied by first lady Elsi Christofia, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcos Kyprianou, Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou and other officials.
Cyprus, the eastern-most island in the Mediterranean Sea, situated at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, has been a meeting point for many of the world’s great civilizations. From its 11,000-year history, Cyprus has woven its own distinctive history and culture.
“Cyprus: Crossroads of Civilizations” will be on view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History from Sept. 29 through May 1, 2011. The exhibition is presented on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Cyprus. The formal opening of the exhibition will take place on September 28, by President of the Republic of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias.
The exhibition will feature more than 200 artifacts—covering nearly 11,000 years of history—which range from items from the earliest villages to masterpieces of medieval religious art, and give an overview of the island’s unique culture. Among the objects on display will be for the first time in this country:
* A pygmy hippopotamus skull (10,000 to 8,500 B.C.)
* Gold jewelry and sphinx sculptures from the Cypro-Archaic period (750 to 480 B.C.)
* Vases, bowls and sculptures, including an Aphrodite marble, from the Hellenistic (325 to 50 B.C.) and Roman (50 B.C. to A.D. 330) periods
* Bronze and copper items, including lamps and jugs, from the Byzantine period (330 to 1191)
* Religious icons, paintings and vases from the medieval period (13th to 16th century)
The exhibition also will feature nearly 100 coins from different eras in Cypriot history, starting from the Hellenistic period through the Venetian period.
“Cyprus: Crossroads of Civilizations” was made possible by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, the Cultural Foundation of the Bank of Cyprus, the Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation, the Holy Bishopric of Morfou, the Pierides Marfin Bank Museum, the Thalassa Museum of the Municipality of Agia Napa and the National Museum of Natural History.
At a formal ceremony that was held yesterday at the Whitehouse, Mr Pavlos Anastasiades presented his credentials to the President of the United States of America Mr Barak Obama, as the new Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the USA.
In his written address, the Ambassador referred to the excellent bilateral relations between Cyprus and the United States of America on a wide spectrum of sectors and the importance of strengthening and further enlarging cooperation between the two countries on the bilateral level, as well as on regional and international issues. In this framework the Ambassador underlined the commitment of Cyprus to the preservation and promotion of mutual democratic principles and values, stressing that Cyprus will continue to constitute a trustworthy partner in this effort.
Regarding the Cyprus problem Mr Anastasiades reiterated the President of the Republic’s commitment to achieving a solution on the basis of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and the High Level Agreements, which provide for a solution of bizonal, bicommunal federation, with a single sovereignty, a single citizenship and a single international personality. He also stressed that the process of the direct negotiations must remain under Cypriot ownership and without the imposition of timeframes or arbitration and underlined that the President of the Republic demonstrated again, with the set of proposals he recently submitted, his good will and his resoluteness in speeding up the process of the solution of the Cyprus problem, in the framework of the direct negotiations. He also pointed out the very important role of Turkey and called on the United States of America to exercise their influence on it, so that a solution can be achieved, the soonest possible, which is mutually beneficial and serves the best interests of all.
In his written reply, President Obama referred to the historic, as he described them, bonds between the USA and Cyprus, and expressed the wish to work for the enlargement and enhancement of the two countries’ bilateral relations and for the promotion of the common values that govern them. He stated at the same time that the arrival of the new Ambassador coincides with the “special milestone” of the 50 year anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus and 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cyprus and the USA. Also referring to the multi-faceted cooperation between the USA and Cyprus, the US President described the Republic of Cyprus as “valued partner” of the USA on a plethora of issues.
With regard to the Cyprus issue, President Obama expressed the United States’ support for the Cyprus ownership, as he called them, negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus, noting that the island’s division has lasted for too long. In this framework, the US President praised the President of the Republic for his courageous and resolute efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem and expressed the wish for the achievement of a just and viable solution, which will reunite the island on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation.
I don’t remember ever looking at a co-worker, student or managing director, for that matter, in the U.S. and thinking ‘Wow! Isn’t she what designer fantasies are made of?’ It was more like ‘Those shoes(!) with that skirt(!)?Really?!’ And despite the fact that my fashion sense is, for Greek standards, pretty basic, in Washington I was the Lady Gaga of dress code in the work place, the epitome of well-put-together meets the perfectly outrageous amount of madness. I wore just the right skirt but my earrings were too shiny and even if the dress was grey, the multicolor fluorescent pink and turquoise necklace made it clear I was either oblivious or absolutely indifferent to the unspoken rule of ‘dress as badly as humanly possible, so long as one of your garments resembles a jacket or a tailored pant’.
Seriously, just one ‘business like’ piece of clothing qualifies you for safe entrance in the workplace and guarantees you fit in with the rest of the crowd, whose only worry is that someone one day may step up their game and force them to buy another pair of tailored pants from the local business clothes outlet chain or charity thrift store.
Walking around in Athens, on the other hand, may bring about symptoms of a mild inferiority complex outbursts. Be advised: In a city where recent Asian immigrants wear Armani t-shirts on their way to work at the Pireus loading docks at 5:30 AM, carrying around anything less than a louis vuiton purse may disqualify you from getting the elderly lady at the metro to tell you the time because before you even open your mouth, she has already assumed you are a beggar asking for money to buy drugs while you should be asking for money to buy the fake Cartier watch you are clearly in need of. Athens gives new meaning to designer branding.
Marketeers around the globe should study the Greek case to discover what triggered such outstanding results. In a culture where consumerism is shunned, name branding is glorified thus bringing about a great big oxymoron. Greeks don’t need the stuff, they are starving for the attention and the image the stuff provide.
In the East Coast, on the other hand the approval comes from dressing sloppily enough to show you don’t care, but not a whole lot sloppier than the guy selling hot-dogs at the bus stop. Unless it’s Friday. In that case, what the heck, anything goes.
It’s not an accident that Greek fashion magazines never advertize special yearly subscription offers, as U.S. fashion magazines do. Cosmetic companies gladly offer free products to be given away with fashion magazines, cause they know the magazines sell crazy. Especially when there’s a change in season and Greek women are overcome by the need to be the first insiders, the pioneers of international fashion victims who undoubtedly maxed out their credit cards before anyone else in the world got a chance and got the new ‘it’ bag which is now in ‘backorder’ while the Italians struggle to gather enough leather to cater to such a market.
The joy of consumerism, though, seems to ooze out of people’s mind and into different directions in each society. In the U.S. it shoots towards aquiring. It’s all about collecting all the weath one can and locking it up in a huge house. As huge as it can be. If it’s not huge enough, no worries, there’s always house remodeling. In Greece, it goes towards flaunting all the clothes and fashions accessories one has, or borrowed, at everyone they can possibly reach. It’s all out there. The brand names, the boobs, the trendy designs and impossible cuts, the big sparkly jewellry, the outrageously high heels. The house, though, hasn’t gotten to be such an obsession. Yet. Sure, anyone would like a house with a swimming pool in this weather. However, coffee culture and moving around in different groups of friends offers a lot more chances for exposure and glitter than hosting the occasional dinner party. Plus one doesn’t get to carry a new Miss Sicily handbag when hosting a dinner in one’s own house. Cause that would be lame now, wouldn’t it?
The statue of Sappho at the village of Eressos on Lesbos island
Does it really take more than being named Lesbos to make your island getaway a destination for gay tourists? Yes but the branding helps. This year’s 10th annual International Women’s Festival is located in the island’s Eressos village. German, British, Dutch and Scandinavian sapphic ladies are traveling to Lesbos for the celebration. It includeds: “women-only walks and sunset cruises, breathing and drumming workshops, Greek dance classes and lesbian film screenings.” This is no small accomplishment. When the event launched in 2000, Eressos’ mayor of the heavily Greek Orthodox community, threatened to sue organizers and cast out the lesbians. Now us dykes have our run of the place.
Lesbian holidaymakers have been coming to Lesbos since the 1970s. Thet have been attracted by the island’s association with
Sappho. Sappho is the seventh century Greek poet who wrote about her love for women and was born in Eressos.
According to the Sappho Travel Agency, lesbians now make up 60% of visitors to the village and rises to 90% in September when the festival takes place.
“My rooms are full for the next two weeks. We’d usually be dead in September, but now it’s booming,” says Andreas, who runs the Sappho cafe bar and rents rooms on the village seafront.
As the economic crisis continues to pinch he says Greek holidaymakers spent less this summer and he is grateful for the extended season brought by lesbian tourism.
Truck owners continue mobilizations in protest against the draft bill providing for liberation of commercial road transport. Tens of trucks and tanker trucks are parked at several national roads’ junctions without interrupting traffic. On Thursday the draft bill received majority vote at the standing Committee on Economics while debate by the Parliament Plenum begins next Tuesday. Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki police authorities said about 227 trucks are parked on both shoulders of ring roads. The trucks are mainly in the west part of the city without creating any problems to traffic. (source: net, ana-mpa)
Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou is traveling to New York City on Saturday to attend the UN General Assembly and participate at “Millenium Development Goals’. This is according to the official announcement made by government spokesman Petalotis today.
Papandreou is scheduled to meet with numerous important Greek American figures along with contacts in the diplomatic corps. According to the official schedule, the Greek premier is going to take part in a debate hosted by the Economic Club of New York concerning the Greek economy.
Petalotis underlined that Papandreou’s visit to the United States is within the framework of international level initiatives and stated: “initiatives consistent with our principles which, at the same time, serve our national interest.”
(source: ana-mpa)
Main opposition leader Antonis Samaras visited today Thessaloniki to meet with production sector representatives. A few hours earlier Samaras had a meeting with his party’s candidates who are going to run in November’s local Government’s elections. At the moment the ND leader is attending the meeting of the party’s committee.
Later on today he will visit the local economic chamber and attend numerous events hosted by the party’s youth movement. Tommorrow morning Samaras is going to visit TIF pavilions and will meet with local authorities. In the evening he will address again the production sector representatives. On Sunday a press conference is scheduled in order to brief the ND leader’s visit in Thessaloniki.
(source:ana-mpa)
The Honourable Jim Karygiannis, Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt, together with Dr. Zaki Ahmed of Thunder Bay landed in Pakistan today. Dr. Ahmed will join doctors Dr. Shahnaz Dar of Scarborough and Dr. Muzmuzna Ahmed of Markham. They will be deployed to various internally displaced persons camps to offer medical assistance to the victims of the floods which have ravaged Pakistan. “These doctors have taken time away from their busy practices and their families to help people who are in desperate need.” said Mr. Karygiannis. “I applaud each of them for their willingness to help their fellow man.”
The floods are a result of the torrential rains which began on July 22, 2010. The rains have washed out roads and destroyed homes and businesses. It has killed over 1,600 people and affected over 18 million people; approximately 4.5 million of whom are children. It is estimated that 4 million homes have been destroyed. Officials from various NGOs have indicated that the total number of victims is worse than the numbers of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the recent earthquake in Haiti combined.
“The doctors have agreed to periodically write about their experiences on the ground – what they are doing and what they are seeing.” Mr. Karygiannis stated. “I will be posting their words on ‘DOCTORS BLOG FROM PAKISTAN’. I want everyone to know what they are doing. They are the heroes. They are making a difference.” (source: emphasis world)
Two US nationals were arrested two days ago at the Athens International Airport. The arrest was made after more than six skulls were found in their luggage. The Americans were released on Friday after authorities accepted their explanation that they had bought the skulls at a shop on the popular holiday island for Halloween.
The two men aged 25 and 28, were arrested at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport on Wednesday. The skulls were taken to a police lab where it was confirmed that the remains were human.
In their testimony the men said that while on holiday on the Cyclades island of Mykonos they saw the skulls in a shop and bought them for 25 euros each with the intent of making use of them on Halloween. The holiday is celebrated annually in North America on Oct. 31st.
The two were released and police are expected to locate the shop where the skulls were bought. (source: ana-mpa)
President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias departs Saturday for New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly and also meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
