A year after University of Alabama sorority racial discrimination controversy, media access to rush ...

Spurred by a student call to action, University officials admitted they were aware the school's Greek system was segregated, and had been for years.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.al.com

New Greek Restaurant Mamakas Now Open on Ossington

IMG_20140813_200124 We now have Greek food on Ossington! Mamakas Taverna is now open at 80 Ossington, and is serving traditional Greek ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT ossingtonvillage.com

ZZ Top at the Greek: 5 thoughts on the band's show

They had riffs, and as always, they knew how to use them.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT ri.search.yahoo.com

3 die from carbon monoxide poisoning in Greece

ATHENS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Three men died from carbon monoxide poisoning at a distillery tank on the Ionian Sea island of Lefkada on Thursday, ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.globalpost.com

Greece's GDP dips by slowest rate since '08

"Whether the confidence can be strong enough to push Greece back into strong growth just yet is open to question. I think Greece will probably this ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businesstimes.com.sg

Bombing the Caliphate

The last Islamic caliphate ended in 1924. Claimed by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, the caliphate saw its fortunes rise and fall with those of its imperial protectors. When the Ottoman Empire expired at the end of World War I, the caliphate's days were numbered. Never recognized in far-flung areas like Somalia or Malaysia or by the Shi'a and other minority communities, the Sunni caliphate didn't represent the entire Muslim world any more than the Vatican spoke for all Christians. But it had great symbolic value, promising a kind of universal Muslim order that fused the religious and political spheres. The weakened caliphate was no match for the modernizing nationalism of Kemal Ataturk, who built Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. Ataturk drove a stake through the caliphate as one more proof that he intended to banish religion to the periphery of Turkish society. In 1924, The Economist declared the end of the caliphate with typical Eurocentric triumphalism. "The repudiation of the Caliphate by the Turks marks an epoch in the expansion of Western ideas over the non-Western world, for our Western principles of national sovereignty and self-government are the real forces to which the unfortunate 'Abdu'l Mejid Efendi has fallen a victim," the magazine editorialized. "Both by tradition and by theory, the Caliph is an absolute monarch over a united Islamic world, and it is therefore almost impossible to find a place for him in a national state (whether it be called a republic or a constitutional monarchy) in which the sovereignty is vested in the parliamentary representatives of the people." The Economist spoke too soon. True, Turkey managed to hold together as a nation-state in the ensuing decades, preserving its territorial integrity by using considerable military force against its perceived enemies at home and abroad (including the "dirty war" against the Kurds and the battle with Greece over Cyprus). But the rest of what was once the Ottoman Empire continues to struggle to maintain traditional nation-states. Syria is trapped in a devastating civil war. Iraq has effectively broken into three or four parts. Israel and Palestine have fought for decades over borders and sovereignty. Western colonialism, followed by a counter-surge of Arab nationalism, failed to turn the Middle East into a durable patchwork of Westphalian states. Meanwhile, the caliphate has returned with a vengeance. In what seems an impossibly short time, the Islamic State (IS) has challenged the borders of three nation-states--Syria, Iraq, and now Lebanon--and established its own caliphate in this territory. It has no patience for "our Western principles of national sovereignty and self-government" that The Economist proclaimed victorious 90 years ago.  It doesn't even subscribe to the de facto multiculturalism that intermittently held sway during the previous Ottoman caliphate, under which Shi'ites, Christians, Jews, and members of other faiths lived in some approximation of tolerance for long stretches of time. Even al-Qaeda, which shares IS's contempt for existing governments in the Middle East, hesitated to declare a caliphate because it hadn't yet prepared the necessary groundwork. IS is nothing if not presumptuous. IS doesn't care what al-Qaeda thinks. Nor does it give a fig for the opinions of prominent Sunni scholars like the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which declared its caliphate "null and void." And it certainly doesn't pay attention to the blathering of infidels, a rather large category of humanity that includes Muslim apostates, all non-Muslims, and, naturally, that inheritor of "our Western principles," the United States. Now, if the United States doesn't do something stupid--like bombing this newly declared caliphate and its army--IS will likely be consumed by the fires of its own extremism. All manner of groups fought alongside IS in order to defeat their common enemy--the woefully corrupt and dangerously sectarian leader of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki. But IS signaled its inability to maintain a popular front of Maliki haters by recently rounding up former Baathists that had been fighting on their side and forcing them to swear allegiance to the new entity or risk execution. With Maliki finally on the way out, further splits will take place within IS. Again, if the United States doesn't do something stupid like... Oh. The United States did something stupid. The Obama administration's newly restated doctrine--don't do stupid shit--has just gone up in smoke. I'm not sure why Hillary Clinton has just chosen just this moment to observe that not doing stupid shit doesn't constitute a foreign policy strategy. After all, what's her alternative? The Hippocratic oath--first, do not harm--is a more politely stated version of the Obama doctrine. So, Clinton's anti-Hippocratic approach logically amounts to: first, do some stupid shit. Now, with bombs falling again on Iraq, Clinton and Obama can be on the same page. Let me be clear. I have zero sympathy for IS. I'd love to read its obituary and that of its cardboard caliphate as well. I also value what remains of the confessional diversity in the Middle East and do not doubt the genocidal urge of IS to wipe out anyone and anything that challenges its totalitarian views. But a campaign of U.S. aerial strikes to save one such pocket of diversity, in this case the Yazidis, is just the kind of outside force that will keep ISIS strong and unified in the absence of an obvious focus of hatred, as Maliki was. I understand the pressure the Obama administration is under to do something to help the beleaguered Yazidis, not to mention the anemic Kurdish army to the north and all the Shi'ites and Sunnis in Iraq that want to push IS back into the Syrian petri dish that spawned it. The Republican opposition, of course, would like the Pentagon to apply even more force since it believes that IS, as John McCain opined, "is a threat to America." (Has anyone commented on the irony of McCain making this statement from Vietnam, which for more than a decade was deemed a threat to America only to evolve, after years of senseless U.S. bombing, into a semi-ally in the cordon sanitaire against China?) IS, like al-Qaeda before it, would love to be considered an actual threat to the United States. Such posturing, backed up by the use of unilateral force, elevates IS's status to legitimate combatant. It changes the tagline of Uncle Sam's terrorist recruitment poster into: I Want You to Join IS! It draws the U.S. government even further into a tangle of political and sectarian disputes that it only dimly understands. Did Obama have a choice in the matter? Politically, he could have resisted Republican calls for the use of force by reiterating that the solution to Iraq's problems cannot be military. He could have relied on the polls suggesting deep-seated American aversion to putting boots back on the ground in Iraq (though Americans seem to support air strikes). He could have ignored the near-unanimous consensus among Beltway pundits--i.e., the Washington Post's editorial pages--that he was not providing sufficiently strong leadership on foreign policy issues. He could have swatted away the concerns of oil companies and their "national security" enablers worried about restricted U.S. access to Iraqi oil, particularly in the Kurdish north. Well, it's tough to imagine Obama pushing against this tide. Even more difficult to imagine would be the president taking real leadership by spearheading a UN effort to provide humanitarian relief to the trapped Yazidis and all the others who have been dispossessed by IS. The United States, like other wealthy powerful countries, has a responsibility to act on behalf of civilians in perilous conditions. I don't agree with those who point to all the other victims around the world to undercut any argument to extend assistance to some subset of sufferers. Internationalists have to come up with something better than such dilute relativism. How about this: every time the United States allocates $1 in emergency aid for a specific group of people, another $1 goes to the overall foreign assistance pot until we finally get up to the 0.7 percent of GDP level adopted as the Millennium Development Goal for the industrialized world (currently, the United States spends less than half that amount). Be realistic, you might object. What's the point of dropping food and blankets into what could very well be merely a holding tank for those about to be executed? What about the use of force? But even the generals are cautious about the use of unilateral force. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently stated that IS will ultimately be defeated "because pressure is placed on it from multiple directions and with multiple partners.  So this isn't about us deciding that ISIL is the latest in a series of threats and taking it on unilaterally." But surely the atrocities committed by IS offer one of the strongest cases for the use of multilateral force for humanitarian purposes. Virtually no one is willing to go to bat for IS, and Iraq is welcoming outside intervention. If the Obama administration really wants to prove its leadership chops, it would help create a truly international mechanism, like a UN standing army, that can apply force to protect civilians. To get the support of all those concerned about anything that would compromise sovereignty, this mechanism would have to be explicitly stripped of any "regime change" aspirations. But even if the option were available to use multilateral force to save civilian lives, the problem ISIS poses is not, as the administration previously insisted, a military one. The underlying problem is political: the blatant Shi'ite favoritism of the government in Baghdad and the long simmering Sunni grievances. It's not the U.S. role to pick and choose governments for the Iraqis. But putting pressure on the new government to maintain a confessional balance in the distribution of political offices and public goods is something Obama can usefully do. At this point, with the bombs already falling on the caliphate, it's best to remind the administration that ISIS is like one of those creatures in a horror movie that only grows stronger the more drone strikes or artillery shells that it absorbs. The IS blob thrives in an environment of violence and conflict. Unless we remove the sources of that conflict--political and sectarian grievances--IS will only grow larger. And we will face that inevitability of the horror movie genre: an unfortunate series of endless, bloody sequels. Crossposted with Foreign Policy In Focus.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com

“Flavours of Greece” Festival in Melbourne

For the third consecutive year, “Flavours of Greece” festival will present to residents of Melbourne the unique flavors that have made Greek cuisine so ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT au.greekreporter.com

Inter draw blank in Greece

Inter have played out a goalless draw with Greek side PAOK as they continue their pre-season preparations. Coach Walter Mazzarri named a strong ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.football-italia.net

Loverdos Back to Pasok, Papandreou Back to Politics

Greek Education Minister Andreas Loverdos confirmed on Thursday that he will soon be returning to PASOK party. “It is a given that I will return to PASOK’s parliamentary group,” said the Minister, who quit the socialists in 2012 to form his own party, Pact for a New Greece. Loverdos said that he has agreed on his return to PASOK with party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos. Loverdos’ party united with PASOK as part of the Olive Tree alliance for the European Parliament elections in May. The group received just over 8% of the votes. Loverdos suggested that Democratic Left (DIMAR) should be included in any attempt to revive the center-left. The political re-activation of Papandreou In the meantime, it was announced that former Prime Minister and PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou will also be making a “political comeback” this autumn. He has planned to deliver a speech at Zapeion Hall, on September 3. The day picked is symbolic, since it marks the anniversary of the 40 years of the PASOK party. In his speech, organized by the “Andreas Papandreou” Foundation, under the title “From the Unyielding to Change” will mark “the beginning of a productive dialogue that will contribute productively to the creation of a new coalition of personalities and politicians that will give their own fight for Democracy and Socialism”, the announcement says.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Bombing the Caliphate

The last Islamic caliphate ended in 1924. Claimed by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, the caliphate saw its fortunes rise and fall with those of its imperial protectors. When the Ottoman Empire expired at the end of World War I, the caliphate's days were numbered. Never recognized in far-flung areas like Somalia or Malaysia or by the Shi'a and other minority communities, the Sunni caliphate didn't represent the entire Muslim world any more than the Vatican spoke for all Christians. But it had great symbolic value, promising a kind of universal Muslim order that fused the religious and political spheres. The weakened caliphate was no match for the modernizing nationalism of Kemal Ataturk, who built Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. Ataturk drove a stake through the caliphate as one more proof that he intended to banish religion to the periphery of Turkish society. In 1924, The Economist declared the end of the caliphate with typical Eurocentric triumphalism. "The repudiation of the Caliphate by the Turks marks an epoch in the expansion of Western ideas over the non-Western world, for our Western principles of national sovereignty and self-government are the real forces to which the unfortunate 'Abdu'l Mejid Efendi has fallen a victim," the magazine editorialized. "Both by tradition and by theory, the Caliph is an absolute monarch over a united Islamic world, and it is therefore almost impossible to find a place for him in a national state (whether it be called a republic or a constitutional monarchy) in which the sovereignty is vested in the parliamentary representatives of the people." The Economist spoke too soon. True, Turkey managed to hold together as a nation-state in the ensuing decades, preserving its territorial integrity by using considerable military force against its perceived enemies at home and abroad (including the "dirty war" against the Kurds and the battle with Greece over Cyprus). But the rest of what was once the Ottoman Empire continues to struggle to maintain traditional nation-states. Syria is trapped in a devastating civil war. Iraq has effectively broken into three or four parts. Israel and Palestine have fought for decades over borders and sovereignty. Western colonialism, followed by a counter-surge of Arab nationalism, failed to turn the Middle East into a durable patchwork of Westphalian states. Meanwhile, the caliphate has returned with a vengeance. In what seems an impossibly short time, the Islamic State (IS) has challenged the borders of three nation-states--Syria, Iraq, and now Lebanon--and established its own caliphate in this territory. It has no patience for "our Western principles of national sovereignty and self-government" that The Economist proclaimed victorious 90 years ago.  It doesn't even subscribe to the de facto multiculturalism that intermittently held sway during the previous Ottoman caliphate, under which Shi'ites, Christians, Jews, and members of other faiths lived in some approximation of tolerance for long stretches of time. Even al-Qaeda, which shares IS's contempt for existing governments in the Middle East, hesitated to declare a caliphate because it hadn't yet prepared the necessary groundwork. IS is nothing if not presumptuous. IS doesn't care what al-Qaeda thinks. Nor does it give a fig for the opinions of prominent Sunni scholars like the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which declared its caliphate "null and void." And it certainly doesn't pay attention to the blathering of infidels, a rather large category of humanity that includes Muslim apostates, all non-Muslims, and, naturally, that inheritor of "our Western principles," the United States. Now, if the United States doesn't do something stupid--like bombing this newly declared caliphate and its army--IS will likely be consumed by the fires of its own extremism. All manner of groups fought alongside IS in order to defeat their common enemy--the woefully corrupt and dangerously sectarian leader of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki. But IS signaled its inability to maintain a popular front of Maliki haters by recently rounding up former Baathists that had been fighting on their side and forcing them to swear allegiance to the new entity or risk execution. With Maliki finally on the way out, further splits will take place within IS. Again, if the United States doesn't do something stupid like... Oh. The United States did something stupid. The Obama administration's newly restated doctrine--don't do stupid shit--has just gone up in smoke. I'm not sure why Hillary Clinton has just chosen just this moment to observe that not doing stupid shit doesn't constitute a foreign policy strategy. After all, what's her alternative? The Hippocratic oath--first, do not harm--is a more politely stated version of the Obama doctrine. So, Clinton's anti-Hippocratic approach logically amounts to: first, do some stupid shit. Now, with bombs falling again on Iraq, Clinton and Obama can be on the same page. Let me be clear. I have zero sympathy for IS. I'd love to read its obituary and that of its cardboard caliphate as well. I also value what remains of the confessional diversity in the Middle East and do not doubt the genocidal urge of IS to wipe out anyone and anything that challenges its totalitarian views. But a campaign of U.S. aerial strikes to save one such pocket of diversity, in this case the Yazidis, is just the kind of outside force that will keep ISIS strong and unified in the absence of an obvious focus of hatred, as Maliki was. I understand the pressure the Obama administration is under to do something to help the beleaguered Yazidis, not to mention the anemic Kurdish army to the north and all the Shi'ites and Sunnis in Iraq that want to push IS back into the Syrian petri dish that spawned it. The Republican opposition, of course, would like the Pentagon to apply even more force since it believes that IS, as John McCain opined, "is a threat to America." (Has anyone commented on the irony of McCain making this statement from Vietnam, which for more than a decade was deemed a threat to America only to evolve, after years of senseless U.S. bombing, into a semi-ally in the cordon sanitaire against China?) IS, like al-Qaeda before it, would love to be considered an actual threat to the United States. Such posturing, backed up by the use of unilateral force, elevates IS's status to legitimate combatant. It changes the tagline of Uncle Sam's terrorist recruitment poster into: I Want You to Join IS! It draws the U.S. government even further into a tangle of political and sectarian disputes that it only dimly understands. Did Obama have a choice in the matter? Politically, he could have resisted Republican calls for the use of force by reiterating that the solution to Iraq's problems cannot be military. He could have relied on the polls suggesting deep-seated American aversion to putting boots back on the ground in Iraq (though Americans seem to support air strikes). He could have ignored the near-unanimous consensus among Beltway pundits--i.e., the Washington Post's editorial pages--that he was not providing sufficiently strong leadership on foreign policy issues. He could have swatted away the concerns of oil companies and their "national security" enablers worried about restricted U.S. access to Iraqi oil, particularly in the Kurdish north. Well, it's tough to imagine Obama pushing against this tide. Even more difficult to imagine would be the president taking real leadership by spearheading a UN effort to provide humanitarian relief to the trapped Yazidis and all the others who have been dispossessed by IS. The United States, like other wealthy powerful countries, has a responsibility to act on behalf of civilians in perilous conditions. I don't agree with those who point to all the other victims around the world to undercut any argument to extend assistance to some subset of sufferers. Internationalists have to come up with something better than such dilute relativism. How about this: every time the United States allocates $1 in emergency aid for a specific group of people, another $1 goes to the overall foreign assistance pot until we finally get up to the 0.7 percent of GDP level adopted as the Millennium Development Goal for the industrialized world (currently, the United States spends less than half that amount). Be realistic, you might object. What's the point of dropping food and blankets into what could very well be merely a holding tank for those about to be executed? What about the use of force? But even the generals are cautious about the use of unilateral force. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently stated that IS will ultimately be defeated "because pressure is placed on it from multiple directions and with multiple partners.  So this isn't about us deciding that ISIL is the latest in a series of threats and taking it on unilaterally." But surely the atrocities committed by IS offer one of the strongest cases for the use of multilateral force for humanitarian purposes. Virtually no one is willing to go to bat for IS, and Iraq is welcoming outside intervention. If the Obama administration really wants to prove its leadership chops, it would help create a truly international mechanism, like a UN standing army, that can apply force to protect civilians. To get the support of all those concerned about anything that would compromise sovereignty, this mechanism would have to be explicitly stripped of any "regime change" aspirations. But even if the option were available to use multilateral force to save civilian lives, the problem ISIS poses is not, as the administration previously insisted, a military one. The underlying problem is political: the blatant Shi'ite favoritism of the government in Baghdad and the long simmering Sunni grievances. It's not the U.S. role to pick and choose governments for the Iraqis. But putting pressure on the new government to maintain a confessional balance in the distribution of political offices and public goods is something Obama can usefully do. At this point, with the bombs already falling on the caliphate, it's best to remind the administration that ISIS is like one of those creatures in a horror movie that only grows stronger the more drone strikes or artillery shells that it absorbs. The IS blob thrives in an environment of violence and conflict. Unless we remove the sources of that conflict--political and sectarian grievances--IS will only grow larger. And we will face that inevitability of the horror movie genre: an unfortunate series of endless, bloody sequels. Crossposted with Foreign Policy In Focus.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com

51st annual Greek Food Festival will load the tables

It wouldn't be the Labor Day weekend without the annual Greek Festival (the 51st), and it wouldn't be the festival without the food. The dishes are ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sacbee.com

Greek Fire and Rescue Service Purchase 105 New Thermal Imaging Cameras

This order is the biggest single investment in new fire equipment the Greek authorities have made this year. “Our E380 cameras will provide Greek ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.firefighternation.com

Tragedy With Three Dead in Lefkada

A tragic incident took place on Thursday noon in the village of Karya, in Lefkada, Greece, spreading sorrow to all residents. The building which was used as a tsipouro distillery became a death trap for the owner and two local men. The three men aged 57, 63 and 65, passed out after inhaling fumes coming from the distillery’s basement. They were immediately transferred in serious condition to the local hospital of Lefkada but it was too late. The director of the hospital, Yiannis Grigoropoulos, announced their death shortly afterwards. Tsipouro is a pomace brandy produced mainly in Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia and Crete, where they call it “tsikoudia”. It is a strong spirit containing 40-45% alcohol and is produced from the pomace (the residue of the wine press). Tsipouro is very popular among Greeks. Distillation in Greece is allowed only with a special permit but there are many makeshift distilleries all over the country.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Prominent CA Politician Phil Angelides Raises Awareness about Golden Dawn

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The words “Golden Dawn” do not mean nearly as much to Greeks in the United States as they do to their counterparts who live in Greece, but one prominent Greek-American in particular – former California State Treasurer and 2006 Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides – has actively sought to make Americans […] The post Prominent CA Politician Phil Angelides Raises Awareness about Golden Dawn appeared first on The National Herald.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com

Vast, ancient tomb found in northern Greece

Situated about 100 kilometers northeast of Greece's second-biggest city Thessaloniki, the Amphipolis site, the ministry official said, appeared to be the ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dailystar.com.lb

Samaras Faces Intra-party Strife Ahead of Troika Visit

With reactions against the controversial new real estate tax ENFIA increasing and, beside the opposition parties, many government officers expressing their dismay at the measure, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has decided to focus on rectifying some of the tax’s “errors.” At present, New Democracy is faced with the possibility of alienating many of its traditional party supporters, including farmers, who are also struggling with the Russian embargo, further increasing their frustration. Even PASOK officers have reported that the feedback they have received, particularly from provincial areas, is exceptionally negative. Former New Democracy minister Evripidis Stylianidis commented that the new tax is “a blow against one of the main pillars of the capitalist system, which is the right to property” and was rather scathing in his appraisal of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s response to the Russian embargo. Even active New Democracy officers, such as Maximos Harakopoulos and Iordanis Tzamtzis have adopted a more aggressive stance, demanding corrective initiatives. With the Troika meeting in Paris scheduled for September 3 and 4, Samaras wants to address many of these problems, so that he is able to negotiate a better deal with Greece’s creditors. Prior to the meeting in Paris though, he will attend the EU Summit in Brussels on August 30th to discuss the effect of the Russian embargo on the Greek economy. The agenda for the speech delivered by Samaras at the Thessaloniki International Fair, scheduled from September 6 to 14, has yet to be finalized before talks between Greek officials and the Troika in Paris on September 3 are concluded. The Greek delegation will seek to secure a basic agreement as regards to lightening Greece’s huge debt burden. They will also try to get the green light to introduce some measures to offset the impact of years of austerity, such as tax breaks and favorable repayment terms for individuals and businesses with non-performing loans. In this context, the government draws a new plan for the settlement of overdue payments towards Tax Office and Funds in order to negotiate with the Troika, which, up to now, reacts to the adjustment of overdue payments.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Greece's Piraeus Bank to sell insurance unit to Ergo Insurance

Piraeus Bank is majority owned by Greece's bank bailout fund HFSF. ... ATE Insurance is the fifth-largest property casualty insurer in Greece with ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com

Greece's Cyclades Islands Pretty Much Have It All

SANTORINI, Greece (AP) — Whitewashed houses stacked like sugar cubes on the cliffs. Colorful sunsets and black-sand beaches. Donkeys ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com

Archaeologists Find Tomb in Northern Greece

Archaeologists in northern Greece have found a tomb that they consider to be having connection with the reign of warrior-king Alexander the Great ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT austriantribune.com

Brutal Murder in Zakynthos

The local community of the island of Zakynthos, Greece, is shocked by a brutal murder that occured a few meters from the premises of the island’s landfill on Thursday morning. According to Greek Police, a 72 year-old man shot his brother three times in the abdomen. The crime was preceded by an intense conflict between the two men which resulted in fierce gunfight. Family and land disputes had separated the two brothers. The 69 year-old victim was immediately transfered to the hospital where the doctors confirmed his death. The offender surrendered to the police department of Zakynthos.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

BRIEF-Germany's Ergo buys Greek insurer ATE insurance for 90.1 million euros

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Ergo says : * Buys Greek insurer ate insurance for 90.1 million EUR. FILED UNDER: Financials ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com

Greek Opa Festival to debut in September

The event takes place at the Greek Hall, beside Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at 70 Harder Drive. Admission is $5 with the funds going to the ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.insidebelleville.com

Show Review: Sara Bareilles @ The Greek Theater

Last Monday night, I was nursing a broken heart, so I headed to The Greek Theater with my best friend, Kerry, to see my favorite pop pianist, Sara ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT lamusicblog.com

Russians will pay heavier price in sanctions war

Ban on lending to some Russian state-owned companies is beginning to biteCrates of peaches are turning to mush on the roadside. Not just Greek stone-fruit growers but farmers across Europe, the US and Asia are feeling the pinch after Russia's decision to impose tit-for-tat sanctions. Among the losers are German pig farmers, British fishing fleets and Australian kangaroo-meat exporters.Russian government officials are evidently not diehard aficionados of French brie or roo steaks. The official line is that sanctions will stimulate Russian homegrown produce, but it is a risky bet for a country that imports 40% of its food. The head of one of Russia's largest supermarket groups, X5, this week reported a 20%-36% increase in the price of some seafood supplies. Few doubt such costs will be passed onto Russian consumers, fuelling the country's inflation problem. Continue reading...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com

Archaeologists Ready to Enter Tomb in Amphipolis

Archaeologists are ready to enter the tomb in Amphipolis, northern Greece, which is considered one of the most important discoveries in the country, dated from around 300 BC – the time of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists have unearthed a 4.5-meter-wide road and 13 steps that lead to the tomb’s entrance, which is guarded by two carved sphinxes. Excavation work will continue until researchers enter the tomb. The discoveries within the tomb are of great importance as they are crucial for accurate dating. A stone wall, constructed after the burial to protect the tomb, is going to be destroyed. All the pieces of the wall will be kept by the team of archaeologists. A geophysical prospecting conducted in the monument has shown that there are three areas inside the tomb. Worst-case scenario would be the collapse of the roof which means that the tomb is filled with dirt. In that case, the area will be carefully cleaned in order to protect grave offerings. When the archaeologists enter the burial space, they will identify if the tomb is robbed. In that scenario, there is a major risk that important discoveries have been removed. If the tomb is intact, the researchers will be able to give accurate information on the identity of the dead, based on the bones, sex, skeleton’s height and grave goods. Although the tomb is dated from the era of Alexander the Great, archaeologists claim that it is highly unlikely that the Greek king was buried at ancient Amphipolis. However, they believe that an important Macedonian official was buried there.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Despite gloomy data economy has bounce

The economic news from Germany and Japan is being misinterpreted and growth in Spain, Portugal and Greece ignored

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ft.com

Archaeologists discover huge ancient tomb in Greece

Archaeologists excavating an ancient mound in northern Greece have uncovered what appears to be the entrance to an important tomb from about the end of the reign of warrior-king Alexander the Great, officials said Tuesday. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.telegraph.co.uk

Growing Winnipeg Greek community celebrates Folklorama

Greece was hit so hard by the global financial crisis four years ago that many Greeks ended up emigrating — some even chose to leave behind temperate areas of the Mediterranean to settle in Winnipeg. Enter: Lia and Stefano Boukis, musicians performing at ...

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Memorial Service for Helios Victims

Memorial services in Cyprus and Greece on Thursday marked nine years since the Helios plane crash just north of Athens, which caused the death of 121 passengers and crew heading to Prague. Around 100 relatives of the victims arrived in Greece to attend the memorial service at Grammatiko, the hillside where the accident happened and where a small chapel has been built in memory of the victims.  In Cyprus, the memorial will be held at the Ayia Paraskevi church in Mosfiloti, in the Larnaca district. Helios Airways flight ZU522 took off on August 14, 2005, from Larnaca Airport at 9.07am for a weekly scheduled flight to Prague. The night before the flight the aircraft had undergone a typical inspection. The ground engineer had turned the pressurization system from “AUTO” to “MANUAL” but neglected to reset it. The error was not discovered despite three checks by airline maintenance staff. As the plane climbed to cruising altitude, the cabin altitude warning siren sounded but the pilots thought it was just a minor problem and continued ascending. With the cabin not properly pressurizing, it wasn’t long until hypoxia set in and the crew effectively lost control of the plane. At approximately noon the engines stopped working due to fuel starvation. At 12.04pm the plane crashed and there were no survivors.  Out of the 107 victims, four crew members were Cypriots while 12 plus one crew member were Greek.

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Greece introduces temporary restrictions for heavy-freight vehicles on August 15

Sofia. Guarding Police General Directorate received a note from the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection of the Republic of Greece informing ...

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National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG): Asset Sales and the European Stress Test

NBGI Private Equity has consistently underperformed, and this might have forced National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) to consider its buyout.

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Get out! Festival celebrates culture of Greece

For the 38th year, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate the culture and flavor of Greece with its annual Grecian Festival, which opens ...

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Small Greek yogurt maker in the spotlight

DALLAS — Three Happy Cows is a small Greek yogurt brand on the brink of big growth. The company recently was selected by Taco Bell as a ...

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​Russian food ban takes huge bite out of Greek fruit growing industry

Greek farmers say the Russian food embargo has already dealt a devastating blow to the country's agricultural economy, leaving at least 3.5 million ...

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Hamilton Greek Fest

For over 30 years, Hamilton Greek Fest has hosted an annual event where we aim to promote our culture and provide a great venue for the Hamilton ...

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Karatzaferis’ Comeback in Greek Politics

Popular-Orthodox LAOS party president Giorgos Karatzaferis appeared on Greek television this morning, to respond to rumors that he is considering returning to New Democracy party. Karatzaferis clarified that his goal is to come to an agreement over a new policy, “to build a new idea for Greece and not to return to New Democracy.” The LAOS president commented that the Samaras-Venizelos government has a short life-span and that he is willing to “prevent” SYRIZA’s rise to power and “contribute towards this goal.” He even made some rather provocative comments on the recent visit of SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras to Mount Athos. When asked about the upcoming Presidential election, Karatzaferis estimated that “it will be easier for Samaras and Venizelos to find 180 [MPs], than it will be for Tsipras [to find] 120.” The LAOS president did not rule out the possibility of Samaras calling for an early election after the new President is elected. Karatzaferis was ousted from New Democracy in May 2000 after a clash with party leader Kostas Karamanlis and shortly after established LAOS. He has controversially expressed anti-Semitic views in the past and praised Golden Dawn as “a supplement to New Democracy.” Recently, Karatzaferis suffered from a serious health problem.

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Here's The Real History Behind Your Favorite Foods

Did you know that hamburgers, America's most beloved food, were actually invented in Hamburg, Germany, in the 1800s? Or that ice cream, another American favorite, was first created in Japan in 618 A.D.?  Cheapflights researched the origins of popular foods from around the world, and some of the results were quite surprising. They found that pizza, Italy's most iconic dish, was actually invented by the Greeks in 100 B.C., who created a flatbread called plakountos and topped it with meats, cheeses, and vegetables. Europe is famous for its high-end chocolate, but the sweet treat was actually invented by the ancient Mayans and Aztecs in Central America in 2000 B.C. Both groups roasted and pounded the seeds of the cacao tree to create a chocolatey drink, which was then brought to Europe by Spanish conquistadors. See the full infographic below for more history on your favorite foods.     SEE ALSO: 13 Simple Cooking Tips That Anyone Can Use Follow us! Business Insider Is On Instagram Join the conversation about this story »

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Island of Dreams: a major investment that never took off

As soon as summer started, businessman Lambros Apostolopoulos left Buffalo, New York, and headed back to Greece. Together with his children and grandchildren he plans to spend the entire season at his two-story villa on the outskirts of Eretria, on the we... ...

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Shocking Shortage of Doctors on Greek Islands

While millions of tourists are flooding the Greek islands, a shortage of doctors, nurses and technical equipment proves once again that residents and visitors are in danger of not receiving proper medical treatment in case of accident or illness. Naxos is the only island in the Cyclades where there is a pediatrician affiliated with EOPYY. As a result, private practice doctors are doing big business. According to Greek news, gynecologists, urologists and cardiologists affiliated with EOPYY are very rare in popular islands such as Ios, Mykonos, Paros, Santorini and Syros. The Greek Ministry of Health is planning to enlist retired doctors in order to staff rural clinics in Greece, while a relevant legislation that will give them the authority to prescribe medicine is underway. Their work will be voluntary and will be limited to medical examinations and prescribing, in order to help residents who do not have access to proper health units. Furthermore, in order to resolve the staffing problems in rural island clinics, the Ministry will create a “task force” composed of doctors, paramedics, nurses, psychologists, social workers and midwives, who will help resolve similar problems in the future.

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65 Illegal Immigrants Rescued in Samos and Agathonisi

The Hellenic Coast Guard rescued 65 illegal immigrants off the coast of Samos and Agathonisi islands, something that has become very common in recent months. In the first incident, 31 immigrants were aboard a vessel at the sea area of Prassos Cape in Samos. When they realized they were followed by the Coast Guard, they tried to tear their inflatable boat. They were all rescued and safely transported to Vathi port of Samos. Another 34 illegal immigrants were rescued by the Coast Guard 2.5 nautical miles northwest of Agathonisi island. Their vessel was also torn, however all of them were safely transported to the port of Agathonisi. Shops in Izmir sell life vests to immigrants Several shops in İzmir, Turkey, where illegal refugees from Iraq, Somalia and Syria reside, are selling life vests to immigrants trying to get to Greece by boat. Locals claim that people who are buying the life vests or similar equipment are refugees who mainly live in Basmane, Izmir and aim to reach Europe through Greece. According to Turkish authorities and media, some 5,789 migrants were captured in 2014 by Turkish Coast Guard in the Aegean Sea, as İzmir has become a hub for migrants wanting to illegally cross into Greece. Turkish authorities say they recently detained 38 people who were caught smuggling refugees to the Greek islands.

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Ministry sys ‘no’ to debt collection agencies

Greece is to continue to resist calls from the International Monetary Fund to have a private collection agency to chase up millions of euros in unpaid social security contributions, Kathimerini understands. The IMF suggested in its most recent report that... ...

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Treating Amphipolis with care

“Esteemed colleagues and alliance leaders, before discussing the role of Greece in current affairs, allow me to share with you my personal joy and the satisfaction generated in our country by the recent discovery of the tomb of Alexander the Great in Amph... ...

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A legacy to build on

Ten years ago today, the Athens Olympics were just getting into full swing. It was a joyous occasion for the city as people from all over the world descended on the Greek capital imbued with a unique sense of camaraderie and positivity. The Games also pro... ...

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Tourist numbers seen above target

Greece will overshoot the target of 19 million foreign visitors this year – and that’s not counting cruise passengers – tourism industry officials said this week. Including cruise ship visitors will bring the total to more than 21 million. The projection ... ...

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Powerful Yogurt preparing to launch high-protein Greek yogurt drink

Powerful Yogurt is preparing to launch a high-protein yogurt drink that it says harnesses continuing demand for both Greek yogurt and high-protein ...

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Quake in 99 helped soothe tense Greek-Turkish relations

A Greek rescue team was among the first onsite after northwestern Turkey was hit by a massive earthquake, which, in effect, sparked a rapprochement ...

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Athens museums – a haven in a holiday heat wave

On the August 15 public holiday, a major feast day in the Greek Orthodox calendar marking the Dormition of the Virgin, Athens may be a bit empty and many restaurants and cafes will be closed, but some museums will be staying open for locals and tourists. ... ...

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Greek coast guard rescues 2 groups of migrants

Two rescues by Greek coast guard officers early on Thursday led to 65 irregular migrants being pulled from the sea. A total of 31 migrants were rescued off Samos in the eastern Aegean after they sank the rubber dinghy they had been traveling in. Another 3... ...

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Project to map Greece’s seagrass meadows gets go-ahead

The first ever attempt to map Greece’s seagrass meadows has been given the go-ahead after Agricultural Development Minister Giorgos Karasmanis signed a decision to launch an invitation for bids for the 850,000-euro project. The charting of the Posidonia o... ...

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Portugal, Greece and Spain slide towards deflationary spiral

Prices in Greece fell by an average of 0.8pc in July, according to Eurostat, while prices in Portugal and Spain fell by 0.7pc and 0.4pc respectively.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.telegraph.co.uk