Daily Archives: April 21, 2016

Με Ξαρχάκο και «Ψίθυρους Καρδιάς» το αντίο στο φετινό Φεστιβάλ του Σίδνεϊ

Με δύο πράξεις που φέρουν την υπογραφή του Δημήτρη Μπάση και οι οποίες ανεβάζουν ποιοτικά την πολιτιστική στάθμη των παροικιακών εκδηλώσεων, ολοκληρώθηκε το 34ο Ελληνικό Φεστιβάλ Σίδνεϊ, που διοργάνωσε η Ελληνική Ορθόδοξη Κοινότητα Ν.Ν.Ουαλίας.

Ο Έλληνας τραγουδιστής είχε την ευκαιρία να δείξει την ερμηνευτική του δεινότητα, αποδίδοντας εξαιρετικά διάφορα τραγούδια του Σταύρου Ξαρχάκου από τη μεγάλη διαδρομή του μουσικοσυνθέτη, στη συναυλία που έδωσε στο City Recital Hall, στο κέντρο του Σίδνεϊ.

Είναι χαρακτηριστικό ότι το κοινό τρεις φορές επανέφερε στη σκηνή τον Μπάση, ο οποίος, έχοντας ολοκληρώσει τον «ξαρχακικό» κύκλο, αποχαιρέτισε το κοινό με ένα τραγούδι από το «Άξιον Εστί» του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη. Είπε, μάλιστα, ότι δύο ημέρες πριν έρθει στην Αυστραλία, είχε επικοινωνήσει με τον Μίκη Θεοδωράκη, ο οποίος του μίλησε με τα καλύτερα λόγια για τις συναυλίες που είχε δώσει εδώ και του ζήτησε να μεταφέρει θερμούς χαιρετισμούς στην ομογένεια.

Το πρώτο μέρος της συναυλίας περιελάμβανε το εμβληματικό έργο της ελληνικής μουσικής δημιουργίας, «Το Χαμόγελο της Τζοκόντας», του Μάνου Χατζιδάκι.

Η ορχήστρα, τα περισσότερα μέλη της οποίας ήταν μη ελληνικής καταγωγής, απέδωσε με ακρίβεια το πολυαγαπημένο αυτό έργο, και ανήκουν εύσημα στον ομογενή μαέστρο George Ellis, που επέλεξε και προετοίμασε κατάλληλα τους μουσικούς.

Να σημειωθεί ότι φέτος ήταν η δεύτερη χρονιά της σύμπραξης της Ελληνικής Κοινότητας με το City Recital Hall, οι υπεύθυνοι του οποίου δήλωσαν εντυπωσιασμένοι με τη συνεργασία και όλα προδίδουν ότι θα υπάρξει συνέχεια (πέρυσι είχε παρουσιαστεί το «Άξιον Εστί του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη).

Η δεύτερη και αποχαιρετιστήρια πράξη του Δημήτρη Μπάση, ήταν την Κυριακή το βράδυ, όταν για σχεδόν τέσσερις ώρες προσέφερε καλό ελληνικό μουσικό γλέντι σε πάνω από 250 άτομα, που είχαν γεμίσει το ομογενειακό κέντρο Grand Roxy, στο Brighton Le Sands.

Η εκδήλωση είχε χαρακτήρα οικονομικής ενίσχυσης του Φεστιβάλ, αλλά και πανηγυρικού εορτασμού για το τέλος της φετινής διοργάνωσης.

Ο Μπάσης είπε δικές του επιτυχίες, αλλά και τραγούδια άλλων ερμηνευτών που αγαπήσαμε. Ιδιαίτερη μνεία έκανε στον Δημήτρη Μητροπάνο, την ορχήστρα του οποίου «κληρονόμησε», όπως ανέφερε από μικροφώνου, καθώς ήταν ο τελευταίος που συνεργάστηκε με τον μεγάλο λαϊκό τραγουδιστή πριν τον θάνατό του την άνοιξη του 2012.

Στην ίδια εκδήλωση τραγούδησε η συμπάροικος ταλαντούχα τραγουδίστρια, Διονυσία Βερτζάγια, η οποία έχει θητεύσει μουσικά και στην Ελλάδα. Εκτιμήθηκε ιδιαίτερα η προσήλωσή της στο έντεχνο ελληνικό τραγούδι.

Πηγή:Νέος  Κόσμος

Στην 6η θέση η Αυστραλία και στην 29η η Ελλάδα, σύμφωνα με τον κατάλογο της “Telegraph”

Την 29η θέση στην κατάταξη των 50 δημοφιλέστερων χωρών στον κόσμο για ταξίδια, όπως τις ανέδειξαν οι αναγνώστες της βρετανικής εφημερίδας «Telegraph», καταλαμβάνει φέτος όπως και πέρυσι, η Ελλάδα.

Σύμφωνα με την κατάταξη, η Ελλάδα παραμένει ο δεύτερος πιο περιζήτητος προορισμός στη Μεσόγειο για τους Βρετανούς.

Στην ψηφοφορία για τα Telegraph Travel Awards 2015-16, τα οποία ανακοινώθηκαν πρόσφατα, συμμετείχαν περισσότεροι από 75.000 αναγνώστες.

ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

Παρά τα προβλήματα που αντιμετωπίζει τα τελευταία χρόνια, συνεχίζουμε να αγαπάμε την Ελλάδα, η οποία παραμένει ο δεύτερος πιο αγαπημένος προορισμός των αναγνωστών στη Μεσόγειο. Είναι αλήθεια ότι μόλις φτάσετε σε ένα από τα ελληνικά ειδυλλιακά νησιά, με τα κάτασπρα χωριά τους να κάνουν αντίθεση με τον βαθύ μπλε ουρανό και την καταγάλανη θάλασσα, τα προβλήματα του κόσμου μοιάζουν να εξαφανίζονται.

ΟΙ 50 ΧΩΡΕΣ, ΟΠΩΣ ΤΙΣ ΑΝΕΔΕΙΞΑΝ ΟΙ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΤΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑΣ

50. Γαλλία (μια θέση πιο χαμηλά από πέρυσι)
51. Βολιβία (+22 θέσεις από πέρυσι)
52. Πορτογαλία
53. Αυστρία
54. Ομάν
55. Ισπανία
56. Ιορδανία
57. Βρετανικές Παρθένες Νήσοι
58. Φιλιππίνες
59. Κολομβία
60. St. Lucia
61. Νορβηγία
62. Βραζιλία
63. Καμπότζη
64. Μεξικό
65. Ζάμπια
66. Γροιλανδία
67. Ινδονησία
68. Χιλή
69. Λάος
70. Κροατία
71. Ελλάδα
72. Ισραήλ
73. Κένυα
74. Ινδία
75. Βερμούδες
76. Ταϊλάνδη
77. Εκουαδόρ
78. Μπαρμπάντος
79. Ισλανδία
80. Κόστα Ρίκα
81. Κούβα
82. Βιετνάμ
83. Μαυρίκιος
84. Καναδάς
85. Περού
86. Ιταλία
87. ΗΠΑ
88. Νεπάλ
89. Σρι Λάνκα
90. Μποτσουάνα
91. Ναμίμπια
92. Τανζανία
93. Σεϊχέλες
94. Αυστραλία
95. Βιρμανία
96. Ιαπωνία
97. Ν. Αφρική
98. Μαλδίβες
99. Νέα Ζηλανδία.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Jenny Theologidis and Wayne Simmons, the duo performing as Polyxeni.

One of the best offerings of Greek music is that of the mixed musical marriage of Jenny Theologidis and Wayne Simmons.

It is telling of Melbourne’s status as one of the multicultural capitals of the world that one of the best offerings of Greek music is that of a mixed musical marriage.

Jenny Theologidis and Wayne Simmons have long been performing under the moniker Polyxeni, thoroughly exploring the tradition of rebetiko and urban Greek folk laika songs, a period spanning from the turn of the 20th century to the 1950s, but also their offspring, the roots-based work of composers and songwriters such as Nikos Papazoglou, Nikos Xydakis, Orfeas Peridis, Thanassis Papakonstantino and so on – those labeled as entechno artists.

The duet is often augmented by other musicians and it is this extended group that will be performing at The Boîte (1 Mark Street, North Fitzroy) on Saturday. The paradox, of course, is that, apart from Jacob Papadopoulos (one of the best bouzouki players in Melbourne), Polyxeni will be joined by fiddler Sally Taylor and bassist Adrian Close. A Greek band in which Greeks are a minority? Talk about a paradox that could only happen in Melbourne.
Jenny Theologidis herself suggests that we should not read too much into it.

“It is very hard to find a traditional fiddle player in Melbourne,” she says, praising the artistry of Sally Taylor, who’s a classically-trained violinist with a deep knowledge of English folk music, used to playing music more than 150 years old. That she has been indicted to Greek traditional music by an Australian such as Wayne Simmons is also a paradox.

“He is the one writing the charts and doing the arrangements,” says Jenny, describing how he became fascinated by the treasure of Greek music, working as a teacher at Alphington Grammar. “He can understand this music, because he has been through a lot himself,” she explains.

As for herself, she admits that she could never be interested in singing contemporary pop music. With a voice and phrasing that evokes some of the greatest voices in the history of rebetiko (Marika Ninou, Roza Eskenazy, Stella Haskil) and brings to mind the early days of Eleftheria Arvanitaki, she seems to have been born to sing this material.

“I can’t explain it, but I have been very moved by this music ever since I was a little girl; when I was going to church with my family, all I cared for was the Byzantine chants, I didn’t pay attention to anything else,” she remembers. “Maybe because my father’s origins are from Asia Minor.”

The songs of this area will be the focus of Saturday’s performance. “Very few groups in Melbourne play the music of Asia Minor,” says the singer, explaining the group’s decision to present a night of music dedicated to the musical tradition that formed Greek urban music, after the war that resulted in the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the destruction of Smyrna and the uprooting of a population that became refugees to the mainland of Greece.

Apart from that, the group will also focus on the music of Manolis Chiotis, the man who revolutionized the bouzouki, incorporating the western and Latin sounds of swing and mambo.

“We will not play these songs, though,” she’s quick to point out, “but his earlier songs, from 1945 to 1952, which were more traditional rebetika.”

Talking about the interest of an eclectic, mixed audience to discover this vast and somewhat ignored musical tradition, she also offers some insight into what drives people like herself, Wayne Simmons and the other musicians that work with Polyxeni.

“We are all looking for what does not exist any more, what is long-gone and that we feel the need to keep present”.

source:Neos Kosmos

IT was a special day for black rhino Dafari on Wednesday, with the calf celebrating his first birthday at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Dafari is the second calf to mother Bakhita, and the 12th black rhino to be born at the zoo.

Rhino keeper Nerida Taylor said a special cake was made for Dafari, on what she called a “great occasion”.

“It’s part of the hay ration and we put some bottle brush flowers in it to act as candles,” she said.

“He was a bit playful when he first came out and it was great to see him enjoying it.”

The birthday boy now weighs 10 times his birth weight.

“He was weighed probably a month ago and I think he was just under 500 kilograms so easily now he’d be well and truly over the 500 kilogram mark,” Ms Taylor said.

“As we have been watching him grow I think we estimated at early stages he was putting on at least 10 kilos a week.”

Greater one-horned rhino calf Rajah will reach the six-month mark on April 25.

Rajah was the first of his kind to be born in Australia and his birth was the result of more than 15 years of planning.

NSW Environmental Minister Mark Speakman said it was an outstanding achievement to have two healthy calves progressing well at the zoo.

He said the zoo was now operating successful breeding programs for three of the five surviving rhino species.

source:theherald.com.au

The Australian Tax Office is close to striking a deal with the Federal Court to fast-track large corporate tax cases that have dragged on for years.

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan said the ATO had “hardened its approach” to corporate tax avoidance and was refusing to be “stooged and gamed” by companies that do not deal in good faith.

He said the court was receptive to making changes that would speed up significant cases – some worth hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes to the public purse – through the system.

The ATO believes the public is being short-changed by about $2 billion a year by corporate Australia.

“We are in discussions – it started last year – with the Federal Court to see how we can get some of these more strategically important cases up into their list in a quicker way,” Mr Jordan told the Senate’s corporate tax avoidance inquiry on Thursday.

“They are very co-operative and interested in how we can appropriately identify and work with them to get things up quicker.”

The aim would be to prosecute “strategically important” cases to establish principles to then expedite a backlog of similar cases and potentially reduce the need for expensive courtroom showdowns.

Mr Jordan used the example of the ATO’s case against Chevron, the owner of Australia’s biggest ever resources project, the Gorgon liquefied natural gas plant off the coast of Western Australia.

The Federal Court last year ordered the company to pay $300 million in back taxes. The case had cost the ATO $10 million in legal fees and took more than 11 years from start to finish.

Mr Jordan fronted the inquiry having returned this week from Paris, where he chaired a meeting of 35 countries wanting to respond to the Panama Papers leak.

According to the ATO’s knowledge of the leak, there are bikies and drug dealers among the Australian clients of Panamanian-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, which created tax-shielding shell companies on an industrial scale.

Mr Jordan said 80 of the 800 Australians so far implicated are on the Australian Crime Commission’s list of “serious and organised crime holdings”. They range from “bikies to promoters of tax schemes”, according to ATO Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston.

Mr Cranston confirmed that the Cayman Islands was a tax haven, but said it was generally considered a “US route” or destination for money from the United States.

Last year Labor senator Sam Dastyari called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to sell out of his $1 million investments in the Caymans through two Wall Street hedge funds that use Grand Cayman as their business address.

On Thursday, Fairfax Media revealed that 40 prominent Australians had written an open letter in response to the Panama Papers calling on Mr Turnbull to act to prevent wealthy Australians hiding money offshore and out of reach of the ATO.

Mr Turnbull responded by saying Australia was “leading the charge” since the Panama leak.

“We have a very strong taxation regime and we believe that everybody must pay their tax, must pay their fair share of tax in accordance with Australian law; no exceptions, no ifs or buts,” he said.

The government is expected to unveil new measures in the budget to net more tax from multinational companies operating in Australia.

source:theheraldcom.au

60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown Brown, centre, and her TV crew, including David Ballment, left, and Sally Faulkner have had the charges dropped and have been released from a Beirut jail. Photo: Nine Network

The child recovery agent who remains in jail over the bungled Beirut child snatch involving 60 Minutes has blamed rivals for tipping off authorities to the plot.

The allegations appeared on the Facebook page of Child Abduction Recovery International, the business run by former Australian soldier Adam Whittington who remains in custody in Lebanon over the failed operation.

Mr Whittington was arrested along with Cyprus based tattooist Craig Michael, two Lebanese men, four members of an Australian 60 Minutes crew and the children’s mother Sally Faulkner after the failed operation.

He was attempting to snatch the two children from the care of their father Ali Elamine and return them to Ms Faulkner.

“It has come to our attention that one of our competitors has actively undermined this operation by passing on confidential information,” the post read.

“These malevolent actions have resulted in the detention of all those involved.

“All parties are aware of this individual’s self serving actions which are nothing short of despicable and were purely designed to bring down one of the most trustworthy reliable and honest organisations operating in this difficult area.”

The post refutes claims his organisation had faked success stories on its website.

In the months before the bungled recovery, Mr Whittington’s website had been aggressively insulting and attacking some of his British-based rivals.

Under a “Warning” heading, the web page named two recovery agents as “con artists” and urged parents not to use them.

One of the named competitors has told Fairfax Media he is suing Mr Whittington for defamation over the claims.

Both have vigorously disputed the claims.

The CARI post also says its operatives left behind in Beirut “are strong and well”.

Mr Whittington’s wife, who did not give her name, also posted on the page attacking critics of her husband and saying he was “an honourable and brave” man and called for authorities to be lenient in their treatment of him.

“Adam is receiving some bad press at the moment and he is being accused of being a liar and a fraudster,” she wrote.

“Adam is a former military man and police officer. He is honourable and brave and a man who stands up for what he believes in.

“He feels passionately that it is wrong for one parent to take unilateral action and remove children from their custodial parent and from their home. That is exactly what this father did in this case.

“Adam is a good hearted family man who was trying to help a desperate mother.”

She said leniency should have been shown to her husband.

“I cannot comment on the details of the case but if the outcome is that Adam has committed a crime he will accept that and respect the Lebanese legal system and their right to punish him,” she said.

“For my part I hope that any punishment is as lenient as possible. He has not committed a crime against humanity.”

Earlier, Mr Whittington’s and Mr Michael’s lawyer, Joe Karam, claimed bank records showed the Nine Network directly paid for the botched child operation and hit out at the media company’s “unethical” decision to exclude those who carried out the plot from a deal that secured the television crew’s freedom.

While the Australians have gone free, Mr Elamine will pursue personal charges against Mr Whittington and Mr Michael and two Lebanese men who assisted with the plot.

“Ethically it wasn’t appropriate for Channel Nine to arrange for a deal and not include the man they asked to execute for them something,” Mr Karam told reporters outside the Palace of Justice.

Mr Karam said bank records would show Nine directly paid CARI $69,000 in one of two expected instalments.

“That shows that they did ask him to provide an investigation in a missing child which is not buying a story; they asked for what happened.

“They were all a team; they came altogether and I think they should leave altogether,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said she was pleased the civil proceedings had been settled and that Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew were on their way home.

She emphasised that, in situations such as these, Australia would “do what we can” on behalf of citizens, but ultimately they were in the hands of foreign laws and courts.

“Australian governments cannot become involved in the sovereign legal proceedings of other countries,” she said.

“You have to abide by the law of the other country in which you are a visitor.”

Mr Karam has called on the Australian government to do more to assist Mr Whittington, who is a dual British-Australian citizen.

Ms Bishop said that, while Australia had provided consular assistance to Mr Whittington, Lebanon would liaise with British authorities as he was travelling on his British passport.

“Custody cases are always difficult. They rarely have a win-win situation for all,” she said.

source:smh.com.au

Stage, film and TV actor Yiannis Voglis has died at the age of 79. Voglis started his theater character in 1961 under legendary director Karolos Koun. Voglis worked alongside a number of Greece’s star actors, such as Elli Lambeti and Manos Katrakis.

His film career also began in the 1960s and he subsequently had parts in numerous TV series over the last few decades.

Voglis died at the Ippokrateio Hospital in Athens, where he was being treated for serious health problems.

source:ekathimerini.com

Fire spurted from a concave mirror Wednesday as a priestess, kneeling in her long, pleated dress before a ruined Greek temple, focused the blazing sun’s rays on her metal torch.

Come rain or shine on Thursday’s official lighting ceremony, Rio de Janeiro has now secured its Olympic flame, which will burn in the Brazilian host city throughout the Aug. 5-21 games.

About 2,500 people attended Wednesday’s dress rehearsal for the meticulously-choreographed ceremony in Ancient Olympia, southern Greece, where the Olympics of antiquity were held for more than 1,000 years.

The flame lit before the Temple of Hera will be kept as a backup, in case cloudy skies derail Thursday’s ceremony, which will be attended by top International Olympic Committee officials and Rio organizers.

The buildup to the Olympics has been clouded by a series of non-games linked setbacks in Brazil, which is facing a major political corruption crisis, a sharp economic recession and the Zika virus outbreak.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is facing an impeachment process, canceled a scheduled appearance at Thursday’s ceremony.

But IOC officials and Rio organizers maintain that preparations remain on track and the games will be a success.

The modern revival of the ancient games, which were the most important of their kind in antiquity and lasted from 776 BC to 393 AD, started in Athens in 1896. But the flame-lighting ceremony, a key part of the pageantry, dates to one of the more awkward moments of the modern games, the 1936 Berlin Olympics conducted by Nazi Germany.

Wednesday’s ceremony started with three beats of a drum held by an actress playing the part of an ancient priestess. Greek actress Katerina Lehou, in the role of a high priestess, lit the torch after offering a mock prayer to Apollo, the old Greek god of light and music, and the ceremony continued in the ancient stadium — which was used at the 2004 Athens Games as the shot put venue.

On Thursday, Lehou will deliver the flame to Greek world gymnastics champion Eleftherios Petrounias, the first runner in a torch relay that will culminate at the opening ceremony in Rios Maracana Stadium on Aug. 5.

Over the next six days, hundreds of runners — including a Syrian refugee who has claimed asylum in Greece — will carry the torch for 1,388 miles (2,234 kms) through Greece. Stops will include a refugee camp in Athens and the ancient Acropolis, and it will be handed over to Brazilian officials in the venue for the 1896 Games, a rebuilt ancient marble stadium.

The flame will be handed over to Rio officials on April 27. Carried in a lantern, the flame will then travel to Switzerland for ceremonies at the United Nations office in Geneva and Olympic Museum in Lausanne on April 29.

The flame will then be flown to the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, where the relay across the country kicks off on May 3. The Brazilian relay will include 12,000 torchbearers and visit 329 cities and towns, reaching 90 percent of Brazil’s 200 million people.

source:ekathimerini.com

The question of whether Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his close aides are actually in favor of Greece exiting the eurozone has gained fresh attention as of late. Don’t forget that no one was quite sure of Tsipras’s real intentions last year.

Up until the infamous about-face became official strategy following the referendum, all scenarios appeared to be on the table, including a return to the drachma and playing the Russian card.

Very few people are in any position to say what Tsipras’s exact wishes were on the day he was sworn in as premier for the first time. Surely a lot has changed since then. The charm of being glorified as the rock star of the European left has now been replaced by the sweetness of power and hanging out with the world’s elite.

Beneath it all, however, lies a deeper, cultural issue. It is obvious that a portion of the leading team surrounding Tsipras would feel much more at ease if the administration was governing in a clearly drachma environment. That is because they would like to see a repeat of Greece in the 1980s, a time when a phone call sufficed to make appointments and pay favors through public utility companies, banks and the public sector. In other words, given enough cash, their manner of government would be that of a country outside the EU.

But there is also another issue. Europe is a vast melting pot, a place of exchange, comprise and keeping balances. Even when someone takes a tough negotiating stance on behalf of their country’s interests, there are certain lines that cannot be crossed. When pushed too far, Tsipras and a number of his aides tend to react in ways that go beyond the European norm. At that point they believe the sit-ins they took part in during their youth could be repeated on a European, even global level. Experience, however, shows that this behavior is never productive. On the contrary, it places a country in the corner and increases the final bill.

Personally, I very much doubt the existence of a hidden plan that would see the country return to the drachma. In moments of despair, previous bailout-era Greek PMs thought of this, but saw they were running the risk of a national disaster upon a closer inspection. Nevertheless, we might reach the drachma point, even if no one wants that to happen – on the face of it. This could result from an admirable synergy of the tough guys, both in Greece and abroad.

Locally, the tough ones could push for unilateral actions as pressure from the negotiations increases. Meanwhile, the tough players among the country’s lenders would carry on reassuring everyone else that a Grexit is unthinkable, while in private they would be content to think that Tsipras’s mistakes could lead to Greece asking for a time-out. History is made of accidents which were not the result of some secret plan, but a string of errors, human weaknesses and obsessions. Let’s hope we will avoid that.

source:ekathimerini.com