Greece may allow same-sex marriages March 31, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Gay Life, Greece News.Tags: Church of Greece, Gay Life, Greece, news, Politics, Religion, Same Sex Marriages
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Greek authorities are considering adopting a law that would allow same-sex couples to marry in a civil ceremony, the country’s NET TV said on Monday.
The Greek Justice Ministry pledged to establish a working group on the rights of gay couples living together, which would “analyze all aspects of the issue, international practice and the existing domestic legal and social framework.”
The move follows a request by the country’s National Commission for Human Rights that proposed a civil union registry that would allow both same-sex couples to marry. Parliament could approve the law in a few months, national media said.
The current 1982 marriage law does not specify the gender of the groom and the bride. However, civil authorities refuse to marry same-sex couples. They say the move could result in a number of further legal difficulties, including the issue of adoption by gay couples.
The Greek Orthodox Church, which strongly opposes same-sex marriages, called the possibility a “catastrophic bomb” and “a prostitution” which threatened Greek society.
Modern Greece is a largely conservative society, strongly influenced by the dominant church. Civil marriages became legal just 15 years ago, while most Greeks still prefer a traditional Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony. The first Gay Pride parade in Greece was held in 2005.
Cyprus had its first official fashion week March 30, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Fashion & Style.Tags: Cyprus, Cyprus Fashion Week, Fashion, Nicosia
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Joining in with other regional and national markets, Cyprus organized its first official fashion week.
The new fashion week saw no less than 23 designers and emerging fashion houses presenting their new collections for Fall Winter 2008/09. The Paris-based, Greek Cypriot Erotokritos officially opened the fashion week. He was joined by others including Kika Ioannidou, Pandelis Pandeli, Elena Strogyliotou, Marios Grigoriadis, Elena Antoniades and Adreas Georgiou. Afroditi Hera, Mi-Ro, Ramona Filip and Yannis Xenis, who recently unveiled their collections in Athens during the Hellenic Fashion Week, also presented their collections.
Cyprus Fashion Week is organized by DIAS and is held at the Cyprus State Fairs Authority premises in Nicosia. It run from March 27 to March 30.
This coming Tuesday don’t be an April fool > March 30, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Health & Fitness.Tags: Anti-Smoking Campaign, April Fool's Day, Greece, Health, news
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> stop smoking > “Cigarette? No Thanks!” is the title of this anti-smoking CD-ROM for teenagers that will be presented at the Grande Bretagne Hotel on Tuesday.
This April 1, when according to custom we can make April fools of each other, is dedicated to spreading the message that smoking is harmful to one’s health and that these effects begin at an early age – even primary school children are now smoking.
According to the Thorax Foundation, founded by Professor Haralambos Roussos, 90 percent of smokers took up the habit in their early teenage years or even in their childhood, so the problem is one of education, both at school and in the home environment. It’s easier to prevent than cure, it seems, seeing how hard it is for adults to stop smoking.
This Tuesday the foundation is holding an event at the Hotel Grande Bretagne to launch its campaign “Close to Children and Teenagers” and to honor its sponsors for health, education and research. The main aim of the program is to talk to young people in their own language, to get across the message that smoking is not in, but definitely out, that it is not an indication of manhood or sophistication.
“Let’s talk to kids in their own language so that they will listen and understand the problem before it is too late,” said Roussos, who will be giving an address at the event. Afterward will follow a presentation of the CD-ROM “Cigarette? No Thanks!” by schoolgirl Theodora Francis and an address by children’s psychologist Katerina Laskaridou on an interdisciplinary center for the prevention of smoking as well as health education for children and teenagers.
The CD-ROM was sponsored by the Bodosakis Foundation with the cooperation of Athens University, the Evangelismos, Sotiria, Sismanogleio, Eugenideio, Attikon and Attica Children’s Psychiatric hospitals as well as Greek Radio and TV (ERT). The music group Imiskoubria sing on the CD-ROM. The event will be attended by President Karolos Papoulias and Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos.
Gay rights for Greeks March 29, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Gay Life, Greece News.Tags: Gay Life, Greece, Human Rights, National Commission for Human Rights, news
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Justice Ministry looking at law for homosexual couples in Greece
The Justice Ministry has pledged to establish a working group on the rights of gay couples living together, following a request by the National Commission for Human Rights.
The Ministry said it would set up a working group, with the help of the Commission, “to analyze all aspects of the issue, international practice and the existing domestic legal and social framework.”
Greece lies high on EU list of poor March 28, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Living, Shows & Conferences.Tags: athens, Conferences, Greece, Living, Poverty, WACAP, World Alliance of Cities Against Poverty
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One in three Greeks does not have access to basic food and clothing, as Greece is home to the second-largest population of poor people in the European Union, on a relative basis.
Nearly 23 percent of Greeks live below the poverty line, ranking Greece in second place on the EU’s list of poorest populations. Portugal has top spot. The minimum monthly salary paid for unskilled work in Greece is 626 euros versus an EU average of 1,160 euros.
Meanwhile, the sixth forum of the World Alliance of Cities against Poverty (WACAP), being held in Athens, entered its second day yesterday.
“The forum… signals the transfer of responsibility for poverty eradication from central to local government, establishing municipalities as determinant factors of development, on both a local and national level,” said Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis.
Participants in the forum, which winds up today, exchanged views on the role of local government and its increased responsibility in the development of initiatives for getting rid of poverty.
Illegal drug trade flourishing in Greece March 28, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Crime, Health & Fitness.Tags: Crime, Drugs, Drugs Dealers, Drugs Pusher, Greece, Health, Illegal Drug Trade, news
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The illegal drug trade is flourishing in Greece, thanks to a “pyramid” system of dealers and middlemen that is perpetuated and protected by a network of friends and associates, a new study has shown.
One of the most shocking findings of the study – a collaboration between drug addicts, support organization staff, policemen, lawyers and journalists – is that the average dealers are family men. Most of these dealers push about 1 to 2 kilos at a time to mediators who then sell smaller quantities to users. The study also found that the average middlemen are foreigners with low incomes.
The most fertile ground for drug-dealing networks are industrial areas with ample storage and logistics facilities, it was revealed. As for the trade in drugs, busy urban areas are the most promising for would-be dealers. In Athens, central Omonia Square is like a “department store” for drugs, with different groups of pushers offering various narcotics at different times of day, the study said. Many Athens nightclubs also tolerate the illegal drug trade on their premises, the study found. According to Sofia Vidali, a criminology professor who led the study, drug dealing is not only flourishing in clubs but also in schools and offices in certain neighborhoods where dealers have a heightened presence.
As for prevention, police efforts have not been particularly effective, according to the study, which noted that only 10 to 20 percent of drugs circulating on the market actually fall into police hands. According to Nikos Paraskevopoulos, a lecturer on criminal law at Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University, new legislation is not needed. It would be enough if existing legislation was enforced, he said.
Forum on poverty in Athens March 27, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Living, Shows & Conferences.Tags: athens, Conferences, Greece, Living, WACAP, World Alliance of Cities Against Poverty
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Six in 10 Greeks feel they could slip below the poverty line in the years to come, according to figures made public yesterday at a ceremony held to launch an international forum in Athens on fighting poverty.
The sixth forum of the World Alliance of Cities against Poverty (WACAP) was launched with more than 1,000 delegates attending from 300 cities in 100 countries.
“We can no longer continue to feign ignorance,” said Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis. “We know very well that next to the world of progress, development and affluence, there exists a world that is almost totally unprotected and trapped in a deadlock. It is a world of intolerance, poverty and misery,” added the Athens Mayor.
The forum, which lasts until tomorrow, aims at fighting poverty, protecting children and providing basic services to citizens, such as clean water and a decent standard of living.
The theme of the WACAP forum in Athens is the reinforcement of local democratic government.
grhomeboy
