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Το μήνυμα της Τζολί μετά την επίσκεψή της στην Ελλάδα

Ολοκληρώθηκε η διήμερη επίσκεψη στην Ελλάδα της δημοφιλούς ηθοποιού και ειδικής απεσταλμένης της Ύπατης Αρμοστείας του ΟΗΕ για τους Πρόσφυγες Αντζελίνα Τζολί.

Η δημοφιλής ηθοποιός βρέθηκε σε Αθήνα και Λέσβο και συνάντησε τον πρωθυπουργό, τις τοπικές αρχές, εθελοντές, Μη Κυβερνητικές Οργανώσεις και πρόσφυγες.

Όπως αναφέρεται σε σχετική ανακοίνωση της Ύπατης Αρμοστείας του ΟΗΕ για τους Πρόσφυγες, στο τέλος της επίσκεψής της, η Αντζελίνα Τζολί ευχαρίστησε «τον ελληνικό λαό για την κατανόηση και γενναιοδωρία του σε αυτές τις δύσκολες συνθήκες» και έκανε ειδική μνεία στις προσπάθειες «των εθελοντών και των τοπικών οργανώσεων που συνάντησα κατά τη διάρκεια της επίσκεψής μου. Αυτοί και πολλοί άλλοι εργάζονται όλο το εικοσιτετράωρο για την υποδοχή και την παροχή φροντίδας στους πρόσφυγες που φτάνουν στην Ελλάδα».

«Αυτό πρέπει να συνδυαστεί με μια διεθνή ανταπόκριση ίσης κλίμακας με την παγκόσμια προσφυγική κρίση, η οποία θα περιλαμβάνει τον τερματισμό της σύγκρουσης στη Συρία, αλλά θα πηγαίνει και πολύ πέρα από αυτόν» πρόσθεσε.

Χθες κατά την επίσκεψή της στο Μέγαρο Μαξίμου, η ειδική απεσταλμένη του ΟΗΕ συζήτησε με τον πρωθυπουργό, Αλέξη Τσίπρα, για τη διάσκεψη που θα φιλοξενήσει η Ύπατη Αρμοστεία στη Γενεύη στις 30 Μαρτίου, η οποία θα επικεντρωθεί στην επέκταση των νόμιμων οδών για τους πρόσφυγες από τη Συρία.

Επίσης, επανέλαβε την προσφορά της Ύπατης Αρμοστείας για την παροχή υποστήριξης, προκειμένου να ενισχυθούν η προστασία και η βοήθεια στους πρόσφυγες, το σύστημα υποδοχής και η πρόσβαση στο άσυλο και στο πρόγραμμα μετεγκατάστασης.

Πηγή: in.gr

Olga Yiannopoulos sheds light to the rock ‘n’ roll legend’s mystery Greek recording, providing a missing piece of the puzzle.

A few weeks ago, Neos Kosmos reported on a mystery recording by Johnny O’Keefe. Unearthed by the curator of an online exhibition for the National Film and Sound Archives, recounting the work and legacy of the Australian rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, the recording – a private pressing on a (lacquered) record – is a rarity among the singer’s work, as it features him singing in Greek.

Given that it is the only recording of O’Keefe in any language other than English and that it is obviously a live recording, it has triggered theories and speculation, as researchers and archivists thoroughly seek any information available to shed light to the mystery.

Enter Olga Yiannopoulos, daughter of a prominent member of the Greek community of Sydney and Melbourne, George Yiannopoulos (Young). The restless businessman had been deeply involved in the music industry, importing records from EMI Greece, under an exclusive contract, before launching his own label Apollo.

“I was born in music and grew up surrounded by Greek records,” remembers his daughter. “My father used to work with every Greek record company and he had managed to record the biggest stars of Greek song, such as Stelios Kazantzidis and Nikos Gounaris. As a teenager, I wasn’t very interested in all this, I was into rock ‘n’ roll, as were my friends and schoolmates, so I was urging him to put out more records like the ones Johnny O’Keefe was doing.”

Apparently, George Yiannopoulos did listen to his daughter and was in a position to make things happen. After all, his store, Stanley Young, an emporium that was a hub for the Sydney Greek community, selling everything Greek, was next to R.M. O’Keefe & Co, a furniture store, owned by Raymond O’ Keefe, Johnny’s father. The two men were on very good terms, so George asked Raymond to tell his son to pass by Stanley Young next time he would be in the neighbourhood.

“When Johnny O’ Keefe entered our store, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” remembers Olga, but the real surprise came when she heard her father urging the singer, who was at the height of his popularity at the time, to sing in Greek. The two of them started toying around with the idea, with the Greek businessman improvising Greek lyrics to one of the pop hits of the day, Starlight Starbright, renaming it Astrofeggia, much to popstar’s amusement.
“He was very well-mannered and good spirited and very respectful of my father.”

The meeting ended in mirth, but the seed was planted. Apparently, Australia’s rock’n’roll pioneer followed the businessman’s advice, and came up with a version of To Love in Greek, in order to sing it at his many Greek friends’ functions.

As for the specific recording featured in the NFSA online exhibition, it is still surrounded in mystery.

Anyone interested in listening to it can find it at http://www.nfsa.gov.au/visit-us/exhibitions-presentations/JOK/

source:Neos Kosmos

Greece is a very safe government and Canberra’s latest travel advice for those travelling to Athens is not reflective of that, according to the CEO for Greeks Abroad, Mihalis Kokkinos, who is currently touring Australia.

According to travel advice on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website, petty crime is a serious issue in Greece and is on the increase in tourist areas.

Mr Kokkinos says every tourist that has visited Greece knows it’s a safe country and that they do not feel threatened or intimated.

The travel advice tells Australians to exercise particular caution around tourist attractions in central Athens and the islands and to be “extremely cautious on bus and train as pickpocketing, bag snatching and even the slashing of luggage resulting in theft of personal belongings are regular occurrences”.

It also says that Australians should be vigilant when walking alone in isolated areas after dark, especially in the Athens suburb of Omonia and the two railway/bus stations of Larrissa and Peloponissos.

According to the travel advice tourists have been the victims of serious physical and sexual assaults in Greece, including in Athens and on Greek islands.

It advises Australians to be aware that racially-motivated and homophobic attacks have also been reported in Greece.

Mr Kokkinos says that Australia has every right to advise its citizens but pointed out that Greece is a very safe country and attracts many millions of tourists every year.

The travel advice reminds Australians that capital controls exist in Greece and that they should have sufficient cash in various denominations to cover emergencies and unexpected delays.

It also warns them that protests and demonstrations can occur in cities across Greece with little warning and Australians are advised to avoid all protests and demonstrations as they may turn violent.

source:Neos Kosmos

The prime minister faces a backroom insurrection over the Safe Schools program, but any action other than to stare it down could cripple the leader.

Here’s a curious thing.

February was not the first time Coalition parliamentarians raised objections to the Safe Schools program in their party room. But when Nationals Barry O’Sullivan and George Christensen and Liberal Cory Bernardi previously waved Safe Schools material around in the closed-door meeting and said they couldn’t believe it was being federally-funded, Tony Abbott was prime minister. The then education minister, Christopher Pyne, dismissed the call, saying the government didn’t as a rule trash funding agreements already in place. And nothing more was said.

But now Abbott has signed the petition against the program and publicly called for its defunding. (Christensen and Bernardi say it has resurfaced now because “more information has come to light” which is a neatly circular argument since it is them and their fellow conservative objectors who have been spruiking the new “information”.)

When Turnbull was first confronted by objections to the program he tried to assess and consider the alternative views. He commissioned a review of the program’s content by a respected academic. It has not yet been released but has been discussed with backbenchers.

It largely endorsed the program’s content and it is also understood to have recommended clearer advice for parents, which most people would probably welcome.

But this has not appeased the opponents, even though the disempowering of parents was their first line of attack against the program.

And that is not surprising because their objections run far deeper than that. They see it as “indoctrination” (unlike, apparently, the $240m school chaplaincy scheme), as “social engineering” and being somehow linked to paedophilia, and also to a “Marxist agenda” and “the sexual liberation of young people”, which is, in their view, also a very bad thing. They want it defunded, because apparently if students are not taught tolerance and understanding regarding gender issues, they’ll go away. Or, as Christensen suggests, gay teenagers could just choose to ignore their sexuality.

Consulting and bridge building and considering alternative views are all good things for a leader to do, to a point.

But when a leader is confronted by a rebellion motivated by an ideological agenda apparently incompatible with their own, a blatant and wilful misinterpretation of facts and an obvious parallel agenda of undermining their authority, they really have no choice but to take a stand.

Alongside these ideological objections to the program is an obvious political aim. To undermine Turnbull. To cripple his leadership authority. To stop him governing in his own voice. Turnbull’s political capacity has already been drained by concessions to the right on issues such as marriage equality and climate change.

The conservative MPs’ views are obviously contrary to the prime minister’s and to those of his education minister, Simon Birmingham. If they succeed in forcing Turnbull to back down once again – using a “petition” to convince him to set up a parliamentary inquiry to give every critic a platform to broadcast their inflammatory claims – the prime minister will appear compromised and weak. If they don’t succeed, they’ll keep running the insurgency campaign, backed by the christian lobby and conservative columnists, leaving his government looking divided and chaotic.

Of course Turnbull has faced this dilemma before, in 2009, when many of the same Coalition conservatives took aim at his policy on climate change. He stood up to them then famously saying he was not prepared to lead a party that wasn’t as committed to tackling climate change as he was. He lost his job.

But his greatest weapon in regaining the leadership was his popularity, as measured in opinion polls. And his popularity was based on a perception that he was a centrist, a different kind of politician, a man true to his convictions.

It is still unclear how he will deal with the rightwing push this time. The strongest thing he was prepared to say on Thursday was that “every member” of the parliament should “choose their words carefully” when discussing it.

Caving in to the right this time would further undermine what was at the outset the prime minister’s greatest asset. It would set a terrible precedent for the conduct of the marriage equality plebiscite, another conservative-inspired policy forced upon Turnbull despite his previous public objections. And if Turnbull has to govern at the whim of the conservative wing of his party, the religious right and the opinions of News Corp columnists, what would be the point of it?

source:theguardian.com

Κύκλοι του Φιλελεύθερου Κόμματος θεωρούν σίγουρη την αποχώρησή του.

Η πρώτη θητεία του ομογενή ομοσπονδιακού βουλευτή, Νίκου Βαρβαρή, που εκλέχθηκε στην έδρα Barton Νέας Νότιας Ουαλίας, εικάζεται ότι θα είναι και η τελευταία του – προς το παρόν τουλάχιστον. Ο κ. Βαρβαρής, το 2013 κατάφερε να κερδίσει την έδρα, με προβάδισμα 0,3%, κάτι που, όμως, εκτιμάται ότι δεν πρόκειται να συμβεί στις επόμενες εκλογές. Η ανακατανομή των εδρών από την Εκλογική Επιτροπή καθιστά πλέον την έδρα του Barton ως έδρα που θα περάσει στα χέρια του Εργατικού Κόμματος.

Υψηλόβαθμα στελέχη του Φιλελεύθερου Κόμματος σε δηλώσεις τους στο κρατικό δίκτυο ABC ανέφεραν προχθές ότι πιστεύουν ότι ο κ. Βαρβαρής δεν πρόκειται να διεκδικήσει την έδρα στις επόμενες εκλογές. Ανέφεραν, επίσης, ότι ο κ. Βαρβαρής συζητά με το κόμμα του, αν υπάρχει η πιθανότητα να λάβει το χρίσμα για κάποια άλλη έδρα, ή αν μπορεί να παίξει κάποιον άλλο ρόλο στις επόμενες εκλογές.

Τέλος να αναφέρουμε ότι το Εργατικό όμμα ανακοίνωσε την υποψήφια που θα κατεβάσει στην έδρα Barton, η οποία είναι η υπαρχηγός του Εργατικού κόμματος στη Ν.Ν. Ουαλία Linda Burney. Να σημειωθεί ότι αν τελικά η κ. Burney καταφέρει να κερδίσει την έδρα Barton θα είναι η πρώτη ιθαγενικής καταγωγής γυναίκα που εκλέγεται στο ομοσπονδιακό κοινοβούλιο.

Αξίζει να σημειωθεί, ότι αν τελικά ο κ. Βαρβαρής αποφασίσει να μην διεκδικήσει την συγκεκριμένη έδρα στις επόμενες εκλογές, θα είναι το 24 μέλος της κυβέρνησης του Συνασπισμού που αποχωρεί από τον πολιτικό στίβο κατά την τελευταία τριετία.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Όσοι μπαίνουν ως εγγυητές για χορήγηση βίζας σε σύντροφο και δεν τηρούν τις υποχρεώσεις τους θα τιμωρούνται αυστηρά.

Με στόχο την τιμωρία θυτών οικογενειακής βίας και άλλων αυστραλών πολιτών που μπαίνουν εγγυητές για χορήγηση βίζας σε συντρόφους τους και δεν τηρούν τις υποχρεώσεις τους προς αυτούς, η ομοσπονδιακή κυβέρνηση εισήγαγε χθες στο Κοινοβούλιο μεταρρυθμίσεις στη σχετική νομοθεσία.

Οι σχετικές τροποποιήσεις προβλέπουν αυστηρά πρόστιμα αλλά και την δίωξη των συγκεκριμένων πολιτών. Σύμφωνα με τον υπουργό Μετανάστευσης Peter Dutton αυτή τη στιγμή αν κάποιος μπει εγγυητής για την χορήγηση βίζας σε σύντροφο, δεν γίνεται κάποιος έλεγχος για το παρελθόν του και για το αν ο συγκεκριμένος πολίτης έχει διαπράξει στο παρελθόν αδικήματα που σχετίζονται με την ενδοοικογενειακή βία. Το νέο νομοσχέδιο μεταξύ άλλων θα προβλέπει τον έλεγχο του εγγυητή και στην περίπτωση που διαπιστωθεί ότι έχει βεβαρημένο παρελθόν δεν θα έχει το δικαίωμα να μπει ως εγγυητής.

Εν τω μεταξύ όσοι αυστραλοί πολίτες έχουν ήδη μπει εγγυητές για χορήγηση βίζας στον σύντροφό τους ή κάποιο άλλο μέλος της οικογένειάς τους και δεν τηρούν την βασικότερη των υποχρεώσεών τους, που είναι αυτή της «παροχής στήριξης», προς αυτό θα τιμωρούνται αυστηρά από το νόμο.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

The UN goodwill ambassador will reportedly visit the refugee camps in Moria and Kara Tepe.

The famous Hollywood actress and activist is expected to arrive in Lesvos today to review the refugee situation on the island.

The former UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador was appointed as Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012 and has been conducting more than 40 field visits yearly addressing the issue of people displaced by conflict around the world.

Angelina Jolie Pitt’s itinerary following her arrival at the Odysseas Elytis airport in Lesvos has not yet been revealed, however, she is expected to visit two main camps in Kara Tepe and Moria according to ANA-MPA.

“We cannot manage the world through aid relief in the place of diplomacy and political solutions,” Jolie said whilst in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley prior to her departure for Greece.

Lebanon alone hosts well over a million Syrian refugees, who now account for nearly a fifth of its population. The Hollywood actress, visited refugee camps tormented by the heavy rain in the area stressing that “the international community must address the root causes of the global refugee crisis.”

source:neos kosmos

Denmark overtook Switzerland to reclaim the mantle of the world’s happiest place, according to a report released on Wednesday, with Australia also finishing in the top 10.

The World Happiness Report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live. Burundi came in last.

The report found that inequality was strongly associated with unhappiness – a stark finding for rich countries like the United States, where rising disparities in income, wealth, health and wellbeing have fuelled political discontent.

Denmark topped the list in the first report, in 2012, and again in 2013, but it was displaced by Switzerland last year. In this year’s ranking, Denmark was followed by Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. Most are fairly homogeneous nations with strong social safety nets.

At the bottom of the list of more than 150 countries was Burundi, where a violent political crisis broke out last year. Burundi was preceded by Syria, Togo, Afghanistan, Benin, Rwanda, Guinea, Liberia, Tanzania and Madagascar. All of those nations are poor, and many have been destabilised by war, disease or both.

The US came in at 13, Britain at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50.

“There is a very strong message for my country, the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier,” Professor Jeffrey Sachs, head of the SDSN, said.

“The message for the United States is clear. For a society that just chases money, we are chasing the wrong things. Our social fabric is deteriorating, social trust is deteriorating, faith in government is deteriorating,” he said.

Of the world’s most populous nations, China was 83rd, ahead of India at 118th.

The report, now in its fourth edition, ranks 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product and healthy years of life expectancy.

It also rates “having someone to count on in times of trouble” and freedom from corruption in government and business.

The survey showed that three countries in particular, Ireland, Iceland and Japan, were able to maintain their happiness levels despite external shocks such as the post-2007 economic crisis and the 2011 earthquake because of social support and solidarity.

Professor Sachs pointed to Costa Rica, which came in 14th and ahead of many wealthier countries, as an example of a healthy, happy society although it is not an economic powerhouse.
source:smh.com.au

Η Δανία υποσκέλισε την Ελβετία από την πρώτη θέση της κατάταξης με τις ευτυχέστερες χώρες στον κόσμο, σύμφωνα με έκθεση που κατατάσσει στις τελευταίες θέσεις τη Συρία, το Αφγανιστάν και οκτώ χώρες της υποσαχάριας Αφρικής.

Τις δέκα πρώτες θέσεις καταλαμβάνουν η Δανία, η Ελβετία, η Ισλανδία, η Νορβηγία, η Φινλανδία, ο Καναδάς, η Ολλανδία, η Νέα Ζηλανδία, η Αυστραλία και η Σουηδία.

Τις τελευταίες δέκα θέσεις καταλαμβάνουν η Μαδαγασκάρη, η Τανζανία, η Λιβερία, η Γουινέα, η Ρουάντα, το Μπενίν, το Αφγανιστάν, το Τόγκο, η Συρία και το Μπουρούντι.

Οι ΗΠΑ βρίσκονται στην 13η θέση, η Βρετανία στην 23η, η Γαλλία στην 32η, η Ιταλία στην 50ή και η Ελλάδα στην 99η θέση σε έναν κατάλογο 157 χωρών.

Η έρευνα πραγματοποιήθηκε από το Sustainable Development Solutions Network και το Earth Institute του Πανεπιστημίου Columbia.

«Η χώρα μου, οι ΗΠΑ, στέλνει ένα πολύ ισχυρό μήνυμα: είναι μία πολύ πλούσια χώρα, και έχει γίνει πολύ πλουσιότερη τα τελευταία 50 χρόνια, αλλά δεν έχει γίνει ευτυχέστερη» δηλώνει ο καθηγητής Τζέφρι Σακς, επικεφαλής του Sustainable Development Solutions Network, εκ των συντακτών της έκθεσης που παρουσιάσθηκε στη Ρώμη.

Η έκθεση, που δημοσιεύεται για τέταρτη χρονιά και έχει ως στόχο να ερευνήσει τις επιστημονικές βάσεις μέτρησης και κατανόησης της υποκειμενικότητας στην ευημερία, κατατάσσει 157 χώρες βάσει του επιπέδου ευτυχίας χρησιμοποιώντας παράγοντες όπως το ΑΕΠ και το προσδόκιμο υγιούς ζωής, αλλά και το να έχει κανείς κάποιον για να στηριχθεί, καθώς και τον βαθμό της διαφθοράς στη διακυβέρνηση και την επιχειρηματικότητα.

Η πρώτη έκθεση δημοσιεύθηκε το 2012 για να υποστηρίξει διάσκεψη του ΟΗΕ για την Ευτυχία και την Ευημερία.

Πέντε χώρες και περιοχές -το Μπουτάν, το Εκουαδόρ, η Σκωτία, τα Ηνωμένα Αραβικά Εμιράτα και η Βενεζουέλα- έχουν πλέον ορίσει υπουργούς Ευτυχίας επιφορτισμένους με την προώθησή της ως στόχο πολιτικής.

Η έκθεση του 2016 δείχνει ότι τρεις χώρες ιδιαίτερα, η Ιρλανδία, η Ισλανδία και η Ιαπωνία, κατόρθωσαν να διατηρήσουν τις θέσεις τους παρά τους κραδασμούς από τις συνέπειες της παγκόσμιας χρηματοπιστωτικής κρίσης και τον σεισμό του 2011, χάρη στην κοινωνική υποστήριξη και αλληλεγγύη.

Ο καθηγητής Σακς χρησιμοποιεί ως παράδειγμα την Κόστα Ρίκα, η οποία βρίσκεται στην 14η θέση, πριν από πολλές πλούσιες χώρες, ως παράδειγμα υγιούς, ευτυχισμένης κοινωνίας, αν και δεν είναι ισχυρή οικονομική δύναμη.

Πηγή:in.gr

Police sources on Greece’s northern frontier with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Tuesday told Kathimerini that some 1,000 migrants and refugees who managed to breach the sealed border on Monday were being returned without formal consent from the Greek government.

Greece’s deputy defense minister said on Tuesday he could not confirm nor deny whether hundreds of migrants who left a Greek transit camp and crossed into FYROM on Monday had been returned back to Greece.

“What I know is that any procedure will take place via the usual diplomatic means,” Dimitris Vitsas told Greek TV when asked about a Reuters report citing police sources in FYROM saying 500 migrants were returned to Greece.

Police sources at the transit camp in Idomeni on Greece’s northern border said on Tuesday that FYROM authorities have been returning migrants back into Greece via unofficial routes.

“They take them by car through paths in forested areas where there is no fence and dump them back onto Greek territory,” a source who declined to be named told Kathimerini.

According to migration rules, FYROM has the right to return refugees and migrants crossing its borders illegally, but diplomatic sources stress that this needs to be done through official channels.

source:ekathimerini.com