Παρασκευή 10 Ιουνίου 2011

A Flame of Hope Lights Up

A Flame of Hope Lights Up

Link to GREEK NEWS AGENDA

A Flame of Hope Lights Up

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:22 AM PDT


The lighting ceremony for the Special Olympics World Summer Games ATHENS 2011 was held at the archeological site of Pnyx Hill west of the Acropolis yesterday.

At the place where the Assembly of Athenians held its meetings, in ancient times, Greek Special Olympics athlete Iliana Simeonidou in the role of High Priestess lit the flame out of a concave mirror using the sun's rays.

Following the ritual of the lighting ceremony traditionally held at Olympia, the High Priestess lit the torch with the Flame of Hope and handed it over to the President of the Organizing Committee Special Olympics Athens 2011, Joanna Despotopoulou.

The latter passed it on to the first torchbearers, George Papadopoulos and Georgia Yerakari, kicking off a torch relay that will travel across Greece and abroad before returning to Athens for the opening ceremony on June 25 at Panathenaic Stadium. The Athens 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games kick off on June 25 and will last until July 4.

Greek News Agenda: Special Issue – Special Olympics Athens 2011

Medium-term Fiscal Plan Draft Bill Tabled

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:22 AM PDT


A medium-term fiscal plan for 2011-2015 was approved by the Cabinet yesterday and submitted to Parliament.

Debate on the draft bill is expected to begin next week and the vote is scheduled for June 28.

With the plan, the government seeks to raise - via tax hikes and public spending cuts - close to € 6.5 billion this year and to have saved about €30 billion by 2015.

The Med: The Next "Miami" of Cruises?

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:22 AM PDT


The Mediterranean, as a cruise destination, is acquiring an increasing share of the global market in the sector, which is marked by a shift of interest from the mature market of the Caribbean to the wider region of the Mediterranean, Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Minister Yiannis Diamantidis said on June 2, opening the general assembly of Mediterranean and Black Sea Ports taking place in Piraeus.

A total of 108 representatives of Mediterranean ports and international cruise companies from all countries of the Mediterranean as well as from the Black Sea and Red Sea countries, took part in the assembly

Diamantidis noted that cruise operators from Miami, the center of global cruises, estimate that by 2014 the Mediterranean will be the top cruise destination. The minister said that a big boost in home porting (boarding and disembarkation of a passenger in the same port) will begin for Greece in 2012, given that major companies make their plans on a 2-3 year basis.

He added that there has been a 10% increase in cruise ship arrivals in Greece with a simultaneous increase in tourist arrivals of more than 20%.

Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries ministry: Press Release (in Greek); Cruiseindustrynews.com: MedCruise Supports Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum;

Runciman Award 2011

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:22 AM PDT


Molly Greene's Catholic Pirates and Greek Merchants: A Maritime History of the Early Modern Mediterranean (by Princeton University Press) and Emily Greenwood's Afro-Greeks: Dialogues Between Anglophone Caribbean Literature and Classics in the 20th Century (by Oxford University Press) are the joint winners of this year's Runciman Award, which was presented at a special ceremony, organized by the Anglo-Hellenic League at London's Hellenic Centre on June 8.

In announcing the winners on May 20, Karim Arafat, chairman of the jury, said that the judges were "unanimously enthusiastic" about Molly Greene's Catholic Pirates and Greek Merchants, "seeing it as very scholarly and well-documented, with new thinking on Orthodoxy, Ottomans and Rome and opening up many new areas for future research."

Emily Greenwood's Afro-Greeks he described as "a highly original book, thoroughly academic but appealing also to the general reader, not least through its consideration of familiar writers such as James, Walcott and Naipaul."

The Runciman Award, first conceived in 1983 during Lord Jellicoe's chairmanship of the Anglo-Hellenic League, was presented for the first time in 1986 and named in honour of Sir Steven Runciman, the eminent Byzantine scholar and the League's longest serving Chairman.

It is given each year for a work wholly or mainly about some aspect of Greece or the world of Hellenism, published in English in its first edition in the previous year.

The Legend of Rhodes…in a Medieval Festival

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:29 AM PDT


The International Medieval Festival of Rhodes 2011 is currently taking place on the island every Saturday and/or Sunday from May 28 until July 3.

During the festival, the history, traditions and legends of Medieval Rhodes are being revived through workshops and games.

The festival features events such as an art exhibition titled Dodecanesian Artists portray the Middle Ages of Rhodes, a horseback riding knights' show and the Chase of the Dragon, a fascinating team-game for the quest of the legendary dragon of Rhodes.

On June 18, the Estonian ensemble Hortus Musicus directed by maestro Andres Mustonen will give a concert of Medieval and Baroque music at the Sound & Light garden.

Organised by the non-governmental and non-profit cultural organisation The Medieval Rose, the festival, by taking advantage of the magnificent scenery of the Medieval City of Rhodes - one of UNESCO's World Heritage monuments- aims to carry the visitors on a cultural journey back to the dreamy world of the Middle Ages.

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