Monthly Archives: January 2015

If the takeover goes ahead and the lease gets renewed, Palace Cinemas has said it will keep the theatre’s staff and continue operating the single screen cinema with new releases and classic films.

The soon-to-be-closed Astor Theatre might be given a reprieve as current owners of the theatre enter into talks with Palace Cinemas management.

Broadsheet revealed that Palace Cinemas CEO Benjamin Zeccola is in discussions with owner George Florence and building owner Ralph Taranto to take custodianship of the independent cinema.

In Greek hands for a long period of time thanks to the late Stathis Raftopoulos, the last screening for the cinema is scheduled for April 2015, after which bulldozers will tear up the art deco building to make way for apartments.

If the takeover goes ahead and the lease gets renewed, Palace Cinemas has said it will keep the theatre’s staff and continue operating the single screen cinema with new releases and classic films. The Astor Theatre, built in 1936, was at the heart of the cultural life of the Greek community of Melbourne, from the 1960s until the early 1980s. Current owner Mr Florence is actually a nephew of Stathis Raftopoulos and remembers seeing the Astor screen Greek movies and stage Greek concerts and theatre productions.

The Raftopoulos family used to own 12 cinemas around the state, and welcomed legendary Greek artists such as Dimitris Mitropanos, Vicki Mosholiou, Bessy Argiraki and Dimitris Kollatos at the Astor.

source: Neos Kosmos

Police on Tuesday found equipment that could be used to construct 100 bombs at a second hideout allegedly used by Christodoulos Xeros, the November 17 terrorist who was arrested on Saturday after 12 months on the run from authorities.

Sources told Kathimerini that the detonating mechanisms for 100 devices were discovered in a plastic container at the property in Loutraki, west of Athens. Police believe that the bombs were being prepared for members of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire group, who Christodoulos was allegedly preparing to help break out from Korydallos Prison in Athens.

Police also found a stolen van and a sports utility vehicle at the Loutraki property. They believe that the November 17 man was planning to use the van as a car bomb to blow a hole in the perimeter wall at Korydallos Prison so the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire members, with whom the aging terrorist was in contact before disappearing while on furlough in January 2014, could escape.

Ten members of the urban guerrilla group, which conducted a bloodless bombing campaign, issued a statement from prison on Monday in which they refused to confirm the police’s claims but made it clear that they believe it is their duty to attempt to escape from custody.

Explosives were also found at the property in Anavyssos, southeast of Athens, where Xeros was arrested on Saturday. Officers discovered a hand-drawn diagram apparently showing how weapons would be arranged in a second van to be used in the alleged prison bust.

Police conducted ballistic tests on a handgun Xeros was carrying at the time of his arrest, as well as three more found at the Anavyssos house along with eight AK-47 assault rifles. The results showed that none of the firearms had been used in terrorist or criminal activities before.

The house in Loutraki had been rented in September by a young woman using a stolen identification card with the name Eleni Melani. The ID card was found at the Anavyssos property. Police are looking for a young woman who assisted Xeros but did not give any details about her identity. A young man was also seen at the Loutraki property by neighbors.

Appearing before a magistrate on Monday, Xeros refused to answer any questions, saying that he did not recognize the judge’s authority.

source: ekathimerini.com

As some European officials sought to dampen talk of a possible Greek exit from the euro, New Democracy and SYRIZA on Tuesday broadened the scope of the debate ahead of the January 25 elections.

Several officials in Brussels rejected mounting speculation about Greece leaving the single currency if SYRIZA is elected to government later this month. “The euro is here to stay,” said European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt when questioned about the subject on Monday.

“There is absolutely no reason to discuss this subject,” said European Parliament President Martin Schulz in an interview with German TV station ZDF. “Greece is a member of the eurozone and I believe it will remain one.” The German social democrat added that if SYRIZA wins the election it will have to govern with other parties and be forced to water down its demands of the eurozone.

“Instead of talking about a possible Grexit, we should focus on solving the investment problem Greece and other countries are facing,” Guy Verhofstadt, the head of the Liberal group in the European Parliament, told the New York Times.

In Greece, meanwhile, SYRIZA hit back at New Democracy’s claims that a leftist government would force depositors to buy Greek T-bills by submitting 11 questions to the government referencing recent measures that have damaged depositors’ interests.

On Monday, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited the Greek-Turkish border in Evros and accused SYRIZA of having a soft stance on immigration issues. The comments provoked an angry reaction from coalition partner PASOK, which said that Greece had a “legal and moral” obligation to provide asylum to refugees.

source: ekathimerini.com

Νέο κύμα κακοκαιρίας πλήττει πολλές περιοχές της χώρας.

Νέο κύμα κακοκαιρίας πλήττει πολλές περιοχές της χώρας. Το βράδυ της Δευτέρας χιόνισε στα βόρεια προάστια της Αθήνας, προκαλώντας προβλήματα στους δρόμους.  Χιονοπτώσεις, κατά τόπους ιδιαίτερα έντονες, σημειώθηκαν τη νύχτα της Δευτέρας σε αρκετές περιοχές της χώρας και θα συνεχιστούν κατά περιόδους την Τρίτη, ενώ από το απόγευμα της Τετάρτης σταδιακά θα ασθενήσουν.

Την Τρίτη, οι χιονοπτώσεις θα είναι κατά διαστήματα ιδιαίτερα έντονες κυρίως στη βόρεια και ανατολική Αττική. Τοπικές χιονοπτώσεις θα σημειωθούν στα βόρεια προάστια και πιθανόν πρόσκαιρα μέσα στην Αθήνα, ενώ από το απόγευμα της Τετάρτης σταδιακά θα ασθενήσουν.

Οι θερμοκρασίες θα είναι ιδιαίτερα χαμηλές κυρίως στην κεντρική και βόρεια χώρα. Παγετός θα σημειωθεί ιδιαιτέρα ισχυρός και κατά τόπους ολικός (ενδεικτικές ελάχιστες τιμές από μείον 25 (-25) ως μείον 10 (-10) βαθμούς κελσίου).

Δεν αποκλείεται σήμερα να χιονίσει και στο κέντρο της Αθήνας.

Σε ετοιμότητα έχουν τεθεί το προσωπικό και τα μέσα των Ενόπλων Δυνάμεων. Τη σχετική εντολή έδωσε ο υπουργός Εθνικής Άμυνας Νίκος Δένδιας έπειτα από εισήγηση του αρχηγού ΓΕΕΘΑ Στρατηγού Μιχαήλ Κωσταράκου.

Η Γενική Γραμματεία Πολιτικής Προστασίας συνιστά στους πολίτες να είναι προσεκτικοί μεριμνώντας για τη λήψη μέτρων αυτοπροστασίας. Σε περιοχές όπου προβλέπεται η εκδήλωση χιονοπτώσεων και παγετού, οι οδηγοί θα πρέπει να χρησιμοποιούν αντιολισθητικές αλυσίδες όπου απαιτείται, να κινούνται με χαμηλή ταχύτητα και να κρατούν τις προβλεπόμενες αποστάσεις από τα προπορευόμενα οχήματα.

Επίσης, όσοι πρόκειται να μετακινηθούν θα πρέπει να ενημερώνονται διαρκώς για τον καιρό και την κατάσταση του οδικού δικτύου.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Από την αγορά ναρκωτικών.

Ανησυχητικές διαστάσεις έχει αρχίσει να παίρνει και στην Βικτώρια η συνεχιζόμενη αύξηση της χρήσης της επικίνδυνης ναρκωτικής ουσίας ice από τους ναρκομανείς της Πολιτείας μας.

Σύμφωνα με τα τελευταία στοιχεία που δόθηκαν στη δημοσιότητα, η χημική ουσία ice έχει φτάσει στο σημείο να εκτοπίσει την ηρωίνη στη διακίνηση και πώληση ναρκωτικών ουσιών, γεγονός που ανησυχεί σοβαρά τις διωκτικές Αρχές.

Η αστυνομία υποστηρίζει ότι τον τελευταίο καιρό αυξάνονται σημαντικά οι ποσότητες του ice που πωλούνται στο Victoria Street του Richmond που θεωρείται ο κατ’ εξοχήν δρόμος της Μελβούρνης στην διακίνηση ναρκωτικών ουσιών.

Η αστυνομία της περιοχής κάνει ό,τι μπορεί για να θέσει την κατάσταση υπό έλεγχο, αλλά παρά τις προσπάθειες που καταβάλλονται και την αύξηση κατά 38% των συλλήψεων και τις απαγγελίες κατηγοριών σε λαθρέμπορους ναρκωτικών, η εξάπλωση του ice συνεχίζει να κερδίζει έδαφος.

Τα τελευταία στοιχεία που έδωσε στη δημοσιότητα η αστυνομία της Βικτώριας δείχνουν ότι η εγκληματικότητα που σχετίζεται με τα ναρκωτικά στην περιοχή του Richmond έχει αυξηθεί κατά 42%, ενώ κατά 39% αυξήθηκαν οι κλοπές αυτοκινήτων και κατά 17% οι διαρρήξεις σε σπίτια.

Παράλληλα, το ίδιο χρονικό διάστημα έχουν αυξηθεί σημαντικά τα βίαια επεισόδια που σχετίζονται με την κατανάλωση αλκοόλ, την οικογενειακή βία και τις τροχαίες παραβάσεις.

Η αστυνομία επίσης ισχυρίζεται ότι οι ναρκομανείς που χρησιμοποιούν ice είναι πιο επιθετικοί και πιο αδίστακτοι και ως εκ τούτου δυσκολεύουν περισσότερο τις προσπάθειες της αστυνομίας να ελέγξει την κατάσταση.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

The Araevo, owned by Athens-based Aegean Shipping Management, was carrying 12,600 tons of crude oil and had 26 crew members on board.

The Greek government condemned on Monday the bombing of a Greek-owned tanker at the Libyan port of Derna that left two sailors, a Greek and a Romanian, dead.

“The Greek government will proceed to all of the necessary representations to the Libyan authorities – in spite of the volatility of the prevailing situation – to make possible the clarification of the conditions under which the tragic incident occurred, the identification and punishment of the perpetrators of the attack, and the payment of compensation to the families of the victims,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement a day after the bombing by an unidentified fighter jet.

“To this end, the Greek government is already in contact with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Libya, Bernadino Leon, and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini.”

The Araevo, owned by Athens-based Aegean Shipping Management, was carrying 12,600 tons of crude oil and had 26 crew members on board. Two other crew members were injured.

“According to information from the company that owns the Araevo, the vessel was under lease to Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) and for a number of years traveled between the Libyan ports of Marsa al-Brega and Derna without any problems,” the ministry added.

Source: Kathimerini

Meteorologists believe it could snow overnight in Athens’s northern suburbs.

Defense Minister Nikos Dendias has ordered the armed forces to be on standby as a new wave of bad weather hits Greece.

The Civil Protection Authority in central and northern Greece is also on standby for potential problems caused by the cold weather and strong winds expected in many parts of the country.

The temperature is expected to reach as low as -11 in Florina, West Macedonia. Meteorologists believe it could snow overnight in Athens’s northern suburbs.

Source: Kathimerini

The shared currency slid as much as 1.2 percent today after President Mario Draghi last week gave his clearest signal the ECB will start quantitative easing.

The euro fell to the weakest in almost nine years against the dollar amid speculation the European Central Bank is moving closer to large-scale bond purchases.

The shared currency slid as much as 1.2 percent today after President Mario Draghi last week gave his clearest signal the ECB will start quantitative easing. The euro also weakened as Greece began an election campaign that may see victory by an anti-austerity party. A gauge of the dollar headed for its highest ever close as the Federal Reserve moves toward raising interest rates. New Zealand’s dollar and South Africa’s rand fell along commodity currencies

“The reasons to be selling the euro were pretty clear over the weekend: Draghi being a step closer to QE and deepening concerns about the Greek political situation,” said Sean Callow, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “The euro was so close to such a keenly watched round number as $1.20 that we didn’t need any fresh news to tip us over the cliff.”

The euro dropped 0.5 percent to $1.1945 as of 6:58 a.m. in London after sliding to $1.1864, the weakest level since March 2006. The shared currency fell 0.6 percent to 143.82 yen after declining to 143.16, the lowest since Nov. 11. The dollar was little changed at 120.33 yen.

Draghi said policy makers were ready to act if needed to counter deflation, in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt published Jan. 2. The ECB next meets Jan. 22.

“The risk that we don’t fulfill our mandate of price stability is higher than it was six months ago,” Draghi said. “We are in technical preparations to alter the size, speed and composition of our measures at the beginning of 2015, should this become necessary.”

Euro’s Slide
The euro has fallen 0.3 percent in the past week, the third worst performer of 10-developed nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The dollar gained 1.6 percent and the yen rose 1.9 percent.

Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said his Syriza party would end German-led austerity if it wins the Jan. 25 vote. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is ready to accept a Greek exit, a development Berlin sees as inevitable and manageable if Syriza wins, Der Spiegel magazine reported.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 major peers, rose for a second day. The gauge climbed 0.3 percent to 1,144.17, set for the highest close since its inception date of Dec. 31, 2004.

‘Nailed Down’
“The euro remained firmly out of favor as markets bank on details of upcoming ECB quantitative easing being nailed down as soon as Jan. 22,” Sharon Zollner, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd., wrote in a note to clients. The dollar is poised to extend gains as “roadblocks are expected to be few and far between on a journey towards a higher Fed Funds rate,” she said.

The yen rose to an eight-week high against the euro as a slide in Asian stocks boosted demand for haven assets.

“There are concerns for risk-off trades” and that is driving the yen higher, said Daisaku Ueno, chief currency strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. in Tokyo. Germany is starting to suggest that Greece may leave the euro, and “those sort of uncertainties are behind the trades,” he said.

The kiwi fell 0.8 percent to 76.37 U.S. cents and the rand slid 0.4 percent to 11.7309 per dollar. Oil declined for a third day after the Bloomberg Commodity Index slumped 17 percent last year, the worst performance since 2008.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Global FX Volatility Index climbed to the highest since September 2013. The gauge rose 19 basis points to 10.23 percent after climbing to 10.27 percent. It has increased from a record-low 5.28 percent set in July.

The South Korean won dropped for a third day as BNP Paribas said disinflationary pressure were keeping alive the possibility the Bank of Korea will cut interest rates in the first quarter.

The won declined 0.6 percent to 1,109.69 per dollar after depreciating to 1,110.70, the weakest level since Dec. 9.

*By Garfield Reynolds & Kevin Buckland- Bloomberg
Source: Kathimerini

Anastasiades, who leads a Greek Cypriot government, pulled out of peace talks in October, viewing the presence of the research ship as a challenge to Cyprus’s offshore rights.

Cyprus’s president vowed on Monday to stay away from peace talks with Turkey as long as Turkish ships remained off the island, threatening its right to explore for natural gas offshore.

Turkey dispatched a research vessel to the south of the island late last year while companies commissioned by the internationally recognised government explored offshore.

“My participation in a dialogue for a solution to the Cyprus problem is not possible for as long as the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus are being violated,» Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in a written statement.

Anastasiades, who leads a Greek Cypriot government, pulled out of peace talks in October, viewing the presence of the research ship as a challenge to Cyprus’s offshore rights.

Local media reports said the Turkish vessel, which specialises in collecting seismic data, was now docked in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, awaiting fresh instructions from the Turkish government.

Cyprus and its partner, U.S. energy company Noble, made the first offshore natural gas find in late 2011. A consortium of Italy’s ENI Spa and South Korea’s KoGas is now exploring other areas south of the island.

Turkey says Cyprus has no rights over natural gas and any finds should be equitably shared with Turkish Cypriots. Cyprus says both sides can reap the benefits of gas discoveries once the island is reunited.

source: Neos Kosmos