The National Council of Radio and Television (NCRTV) on Wednesday announced and published the names of the final holders of a nationwide general content television broadcasting licence, selected through a tender process.

The five licence holders are the television channels Epsilon TV, SKAI, ANT1, Alpha TV, and Star. They must immediately pay the first of 10 installments, each amounting to 3.5 million euros, to the state.

Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media Minister Nikos Pappas said that the historic MEGA channel will therefore go off air soon.

A government-organized auction for TV licenses in 2016 was revoked by a top Greek court which ruled that NCRTV must oversee such a competition.

The Greek government says that Friday’s meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross highlights the important role of Greek-American relations in the country’s exit from the crisis.

Tsipras and Ross will meet on Friday afternoon in Thessaloniki, on the eve of the opening of the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), where the U.S. is the honorary country.

The Athens News Agency quotes a government source as saying that the extensive presence of American businesses and commerce officials at the fair sends an indisputable message of support to the Greek economy and its prospects.

The same source added: “It is clear that the U.S. did not rest on the symbolism of being an honorary country at TIF, but they see it as a starting point for further bolstering economic collaboration between the two countries.”

The source revealed that the agenda of the Tsipras’ meeting with the American commerce secretary will include Greece’s growth potential and an exploration of those sectors in which American investors are most interested in investing.

The Greek premier will also meet with top-level officials and CEOs of large American companies attending TIF. The sectors represented at the fair include energy, financial services, pharmaceuticals, foods, shipyard repairs, and recycling.

Greece’s state-owned subway operator, Attiko Metro, has short-listed three interested groups of contractors in a tender for a 1.5 billion euro ($1.8 billion) expansion project.

The bidders are Greek contractor GEK Terna with France’s Vinci and Germany’s Siemens; J&P Avax with Italy’s Ghella and France’s Alstom Transport; and Greek construction firm Aktor with Spain’s Ansaldo and Hitachi Rail Italy.

The three suitors have been asked to table their financial and technical offers by December 10 so that the selection process can begin.

The construction period for the project is eight years.

The Athens metro’s planned Line 4, known also as the U line due to its shape on the map, will start from Galatsi, head south to the city center and then northeast to Goudi.

It includes 15 stations and 12.8 kilometers of tunnels, while the concession project will also include the construction of two more buildings at Sepolia.

Greek social media users went into overdrive with anger and mockery over the size of premier’s Alexis Tsipras motorcade which arrived late on Thursday night in Thessaloniki.

Tsipras brought forward his arrival to the second largest Greek city to avoid demonstrations planned for Friday, on the eve of the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair.

“Not even President Trump has such a huge motorcade,” commented a twitter user, who was of course wrong as the President’s convoy consists of between 20-30 vehicles.

There were 11 cars, including an ambulance, in the motorcade from the Thessaloniki airport to the hotel in the center of the city.

Thousands of security personnel including FBI agents, snipers and 5,500 Greek police officers are in Thessaloniki for the 83rd International Fair in which the U.S. is honored this year.

Authorities are concerned about a mass protest rally against the Prespa agreement for the use of the term “Macedonia” in the name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia that is scheduled on Saturday.

At the same time, anarchists and extreme leftist groups have announced that they will hold their own rally in the city.

Two Bulgarian-Roma women sought by Greek authorities for vandalizing museum exhibits with an oily substance were arrested at the National Museum of History on Sunday.

The two women allegedly told police that they daubed the works with oil and myrrh “because the Holy Scripture says it is miraculous,” the authorities said.

A guard at the National History Museum in the Old Parliament building recognized the women following the release of photographs distributed by police to all museums and sites from the CCTV footage of their previous “oil attacks”.

Police were called and the two women were subsequently arrested while touching one of the exhibits and holding a bottle of oil, which they were intending to use.

They will appear before prosecutors on Monday.

In July, two middle-aged women left oil marks on dozens of items at the Byzantine and Christian Museum, which is home to the country’s most extensive collection of religious relics.

USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the United States Sixth Fleet, has sailed to Thessaloniki for the ongoing International Trade Fair, where the United States is the honored country.

Reported to be the most sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence (C4I) ship ever commissioned, Mount Whitney incorporates various elements of the most advanced C4I equipment.

She is also the command and control ship for the Commander Joint Command Lisbon and the Commander Striking Force NATO.

Superyacht Cloudbreak has become the latest attraction in the cosmopolitan island of Mykonos.

The 238-foot vessel, designed by Espen Oeino and boasting a luxury interior by Christian Liagre, has been the talk of the island since it docked on the weekend.

Cloudbreak, described as an adventure yacht, has been spotted recently in off-the-beaten-track locations such as Iceland, Greenland and Alaska since her delivery in 2016.

She features an 8,750-mile range and has accommodations for 12 guests and a 22-member crew.

Cloudbreak also features a large swimming pool, several sundecks, and a beach club replete with a gym, sauna, and massage room.

The fitness area, which is connected to guest staterooms by a specially designed hallway, has spin bikes, treadmills, a ballet barre, weights, kettlebells, and punching bags.

Arguably the most impressive feature is Cloudbreak’s RYA-certified (Royal Yachting Association) water-sports center; which is said to be more extensive than any other yacht’s.

The center includes equipment for myriad sports–from scuba diving to windsurfing to fishing–as well as gear for exploring on dry land.

For all music lovers fortunate enough to be in Athens next weekend, the upcoming concert by Italian musician and singer Salvatore Adamo and his Greek counterpart Vasilis Lekkas is promising to be one of September’s highlights in the Greek capital.

Adamo, known for his romantic ballads, has sold more than 80 million albums and 20 million singles, making him one of the most commercially successful musicians in the world.

He mainly performs in French but has also sung in Dutch, English, German, Italian and Spanish. “Tombe la neige”, “La nuit”, and “Inch’Allah” remain his best known songs.

Vasilis Lekkas is one of the most successful Greek singers.

The concert will take place on Saturday, September 15th at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the famous stone theatre located on the southwestern slope of the Acropolis.

ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling warned the Greek government not to abandon its commitments in the post-bailout era saying that if Athens reneges, creditors may stop debt relief measures.

In an interview with Austrian Die Presse newspaper, Regling stressed that Greece needs to continue the reforms in order to become a success story.

Replying to the journalist’s question regarding what makes him optimistic that Greece will be successful, and that some ministers of Alexis Tsipras’s government want to roll back reforms, the ESM chief said:

“Greece needs to continue the reforms. We are a very patient creditor. But we can stop debt relief measures that have been decided for Greece if the adjustment programs are not continued as agreed.”

Regling added, “I am optimistic after my most recent conversations with Prime Minister Tsipras. The debt level appears to be frighteningly elevated. But Greece can live with that as the loan maturities are very long and the interest rates on the loans are much lower than in most other countries.”

On Saturday, Tsipras announced a raft of relief measures “to mend wounds” created during Greece’s prolonged economic crisis.

“Higher wages, labor market regulation and respect for labor rights…are a prerequisite for growth,” he told delegates attending the Thessaloniki International Fair where annual economic policy goals are traditionally laid out.

Greece completed its fiscal adjustment program successfully, and the next step is for the economy to enter a trajectory of real growth, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says in an interview to national broadcaster ERT.

The most important thing that Greece can achieve in the next phase, he says, is to change the psychology of businesses.

Ross advocates the reduction of restrictions so that businesses could grow, and says the American government’s plans for the economy did not include layoffs of civil servants, as they were actually needed with the start of more programs.

Speaking of the close and important ties between the two countries, Ross says that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and U.S. President Donald Trump agree on many issues; a prerequisite of the American president before economic talks could take place between the two sides.

In terms of energy in Europe, the U.S. commerce secretary said that it was “a dangerous policy” to have Europe relying on Russian hydrocarbons, therefore the diversification of energy resources would be a sign of good policy.

The United States strongly supports the use of the Alexandroupoli port as a refueling hub in the Balkans and even North Europe; the port city could turn Greece into a large energy hub for central Europe, Ross notes.

Ross came to Greece to attend the opening of the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday, where the United States is the honoured country.

Source: AMNA

As part of the celebrations for the U.S. being the Honoured Country at the Thessaloniki International Fair 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Greece is presenting the American Art Everywhere exhibition.

Since September 7th, Greece’s second city has been filled with artwork by prominent and diverse American artists.

The pieces are seen all over town, from the airport to the port to the City Hall and even on the buses crisscrossing the city.

US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt opened the exhibition in Thessaloniki.

.@USAmbPyatt celebrates the Public art exhibition #AmericanArtEverywhere at @USATIF_2018 showcasing iconic American works of art across Thessaloniki! App with map available in Apple store: USA TIF 2018 pic.twitter.com/2FifK8TxBP

— U.S. Embassy Athens (@USEmbassyAthens) September 10, 2018

The American Art Everywhere program is designed to showcase iconic works of American art in public spaces across the city.

People from around the world who are participating in the fair can enjoy American works of art that span time and artistic styles, from Mary Cassatt’s The Child’s Bath to Roy Lichtenstein’s I Love Liberty.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on Tuesday to the European Parliament on his vision of the future of Europe and the “success story” of the country that came out of the bailout era.

“Greece has made it. Three years later, it is part of the solution and not the problem. This is a success of the Greek people,” Tsipras said.

The Greek prime minister stressed that the country has now exited the bailouts, restored its economic sovereignty and achieved the position it deserves. “Now we are looking to the future with optimism,” he continued.

He stressed that “Greece’s exit from the last fiscal adjustment programme does not mean a return to the past.”

He also took a swipe against Greece’s creditors that championed austerity saying that “The institutions’ insistence on strict fiscal adjustment led Greece to suffocation.”

“The failure of the European Union to find democratic solutions to this type of crisis is what feeds chauvinism and nationalism,” he told the European Parliament.

“Europe has become more technocratic, with decisions taken behind closed doors by informal bodies that are not accountable to citizens,” he said, referring to the Troika. He regretted that the European Parliament played a secondary role during the Greek crisis in the face of the Eurogroup and the “IMF and other technocratic groups”.

Conservative MEP: You have changed a great deal

Speaking on behalf of the European People’s Party (EPP) group at the European parliament on Tuesday, Esteban Gonzalez Pons said to Tsipras that “I see you have changed a great deal; in 2015 Greece was a country on the brink of a cliff when everyone else had turned their back on you,” and he praised both the current government and the previous Greek government led by Antonis Samaras.

“We must congratulate the Greek citizens who voted to stay in Europe,” for the rescue and exit from the memoranda, said Pons, adding that “we must not forget what the citizens have done.”

Commenting on Tsipras’ reference to technocrats, Pons stressed that the whole of Europe had pitched in to save Greece, showing values and principles based on solidarity.

“At the start of your term we lost valuable time, 100 billion euros were lost due to Varoufakis (Yanis, former Finance Minister). I see you have changed, you are making positive steps but more steps are needed,” he added, addressing Tsipras.

He also expressed his concern over the fact that “approximately 500,000 young Greeks have left the country” and concluded “we are concerned that populism may return. It is in your hands, you made a mistake in 2015. Populism is neither right- nor left-wing”.

EP in Strasbourg kicking off with Feel Good Program. Greek PM Tsipras and Commission telling everyone how great Greece is doing now.

That will change this afternoon when Viktor Orban makes an appearance. EP could vote in favor of Art. 7 procedure against Hungary tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/l0BmAjf4pN

— Maximilian Hofmann (@maxhofmann) September 11, 2018

Greece lost to Hungary 2-1 on Tuesday night in the Groupama Arena in the UEFA Nations League Group 2.

The Magyars took a 15th-minute lead through Roland Sallai after a superbly-worked passing move, but Greece’s Roma centre back Kostas Manolas headed an equalizer three minutes later.

The Hungarians moved back in front with another clinical piece of play just before half-time, however, with Laszlo Kleinheisler curling home a sumptuous strike after the hosts had piled the pressure on Vassilis Barkas’ goal.

In the second half, the Greek team quickened the pace, and tried to overwhelm the Hungarians but in vain. Two yellow cards were handed out, one to Hungarian Sallai in the 50th minute, and one to the Greek Ikonomu in the 77th.

Although the Greeks dominated the game, and kept the ball for the most part of the game, its lack of firepower was evident and its sole goal came from a central defender.

The next game for Greece in the tournament will be at home against Hungary on October 12.

Hollywood actor James Franco was spotted cooling down with girlfriend Isabel Pakzad on a beach on the Cycladic island of Mykonos

The 40-year-old, who has been laying low after sexual harassment allegations surfaced earlier this year, looked carefree when he was seen taking a dip.

The couple was also seen holidaying in Santorini recently.

Franco was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 2010 film 127 Hours.

He is known for his roles in live-action films such The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Aside from film, he is also known for his work on television; his first prominent acting role was the character Daniel Desario on the short-lived ensemble comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), which developed a cult following.

He portrayed the title character in the television biographical film James Dean (2001), for which he won a Golden Globe Award.

While Greeks may have a bad reputation as drivers, recent statistics show that things are gradually improving.

The facts:
Although the country still has one of the highest rates of traffic-related deaths proportionate to its population in the European Union, fatalities on Greek roads have dropped significantly.

In Greece, last year road deaths came to 69 fatalities for every 1 million inhabitants compared to a European Union average of 49 deaths per 1 million inhabitants, according to EU data.

However, road deaths dropped by 10 percent last year, compared to an EU average drop of 2 percent, and by 41 percent between 2010 and 2017.

13 tips to follow when driving in Greece:
When driving in Greece as a tourist there are several tips one should heed to be on the safe side and enjoy the beautiful landscape and the ancient treasures the country has to offer. Here are our top 13 tips:

1. We drive on the right in Greece — meaning, right-hand traffic (RHT) laws apply.

2. Do not assume that when a traffic light turns amber from green, cars will slow down as the opposite may happen.

3. Zebra (pedestrian) crossings usually don’t mean anything in Greece, and people cross the street where ever they wish.

4. Those on motorbikes more often than not don’t obey any lanes or rules, whizzing through traffic and in between cars.

5. Road signs are mostly in Greek and English but that does not mean you will always see them, especially in central Athens as some might be behind a tree or covered in graffiti.

6. As is the case with most major cities, traffic congestion can be a problem in Athens, so plan accordingly and expect the motorbikes to whiz by as you are in wait.

7. Tailgating is common in Greece.

8. Always use your hazard lights as a ‘warning’ – like the locals do – to show intention of parking.

9. Be cautious at roundabouts: a car entering the roundabout has a right-of-way, but in Greece that doesn’t mean much.

10. 30 km/hr zones in populated areas seem to be viewed by most drivers as the minimum speed.

11. Unless otherwise stated, speed limits are 50 km/h (or 32 mph) on residential streets, 90 km/h (56 mph) out of town and 110-120 km/h (69-75 mph) on most motorways — (and don’t expect those speeding to go around you, as you are expected to move and yield the lane to the “speeder” in Greece).

12. To rent a car in Greece you only need a valid licence from your home country. But according to Greek law you need a valid U.S. licence as well as an International Driving Permit. The U.S. Department of State has authorised two organizations to issue international permits to those who hold valid U.S. driver’s licences: AAA and the American Automobile Touring Alliance.

13. Fines are strict for breaking traffic laws in Greece. Running a red light or ignoring a stop sign is 700 euros. Not using a seatbelt in a car or wearing a helmet on a motorbike is a fine of 350 euros. Talking on a mobile phone without a hands-free kit is 100 euros. Driving under the influence depends on how you score on the breathalyser and can be from 200 to 1200 euros. Most of these fines also come with a loss of license for 10 days to 6 months.

Further info:
For roadside assistance call ELPA at 10400 – typically there is someone who can assist you in English.

The Emergency telephone line for visitors to Greece is 112 for information in English, French and Greek regarding ambulance services, fire brigade, police and the coast guard.

If you are using a rental car, be sure to have a 24-hour line or cell phone number for the rental company so you can contact them in an emergency if needed.

Pulitzer Laureate, Jeffrey Eugenides, an American of Greek descent, is visiting Athens to participate in panel discussions at the Athens 2018 World Book Capital.

Eugenides will appear at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on September 27th, where he will be part of a panel discussion with author Kallia Papadaki and journalist and book critic Mikela Chartoulari.

The discussion centres around the mixed nature of identities in modern Western societies; on whether it is biological or social factors that shape personalities.

Eugenides has written numerous short stories and essays, as well as three novels: The Virgin Suicides (1993), Middlesex (2002), and The Marriage Plot (2011).

The Virgin Suicides served as the basis of a feature film, while Middlesex received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in addition to being a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, and France’s Prix Médicis.

The World Book Capital is an annual event founded in 1996. Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates will host next year’s event.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has praised Greece’s “Herculean efforts” during his annual state of the union address to the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Juncker stated that Greece has succeeded in concluding the stability program and can stand on its own feet again. “We must hail the Greek people’s Herculean efforts; efforts that some Europeans still continue to underestimate,” he said.

“I always supported Greece — its dignity and its role in Europe, and specifically its remaining in the eurozone. I am proud of all these things,” he added.

Juncker also revealed that the EU plans to send 10,000 more border guards to tackle unlawful immigration into Greece by 2020.

Furthermore, Juncker criticised the apparent surge in nationalism and populism that has been gathering pace among some member states. “We should embrace the kind of patriotism that is used for good, and never against others,” he said.

“We should reject the kind of exaggerated nationalism that projects hate and destroys all in its path. The kind of nationalism that points the finger at others instead of searching for ways to better live together.”

During the Civil War, on September 12th 1948, the first reported hijacking in Greece occurred when 6 pro-communist students, who wanted passage to Yugoslavia, hijacked a plane which was travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki.

Alexandros Koufoudakis, 21, Dimitrios Koufoudakis, 23, Achilleas Ketimlidis, 19, Antonis Voyazos, 18, Giorgos Kelas, 17, and Spiros Helmiadis, 18, were on the run and accused by the police for sabotage. They boarded a civilian TAE midday flight from Athens to Thessaloniki to make their escape.

A few minutes after take off, and while the plane was flying over northern Evia, four of the six young men entered the flight deck, held the pilot Athanassios Igoumenakis at knife-point, and ordered him to fly towards Yugoslavia.

The co-pilot and the radio operator were injured by the hijackers. The plane landed near Skopje, in today’s FYROM. The six hijackers disembarked and fled.

The six hijackers were tried in absentia by the Extraordinary Military Tribunal of Thessaloniki and sentenced to death.

Two of them, Spiros Helmiades and Achilleas Ketimlidis, returned illegally to Greece and were killed in the battles of the Civil War.

The remaining four lived in Eastern European countries for many years.

Greek director, Kostas Koutsomytis’ 1987 film Kloios was based on the hijacking.

A criminal court in Piraeus has found eight people guilty of involvement in a drug operation last April that smuggled nearly 1.5 tons of cannabis into Italy by speed boat.

The men were each handed jail sentences of up to 24 years and fines that reached 250,000 euros.

Among the people sentenced is a well-known lawyer from Piraeus area and five Albanian nationals.

The lawyer was sentenced to 14 years in jail and handed a 70,000 euro fine while also having his license revoked for five years. Two of the Albanian nationals involved were considered to have masterminded the operation.

One of them was handed a 24 year sentence and a 250,000 euro fine, while the second man was given a 23 year jail sentence and a fine of 100,000 euros.

The gang started off the operation by sending a speed boat at the start of April from Greece to Albania to pick up the cannabis.

After it had been loaded with the illegal shipment in Albania, the boat then left for Italy where it was spotted by Italian authorities acting on a tip off.

The three people on board the speed boat tried to get away from Italian authorities by travelling back into Greek waters but where eventually apprehended by the Greek Coast Guard off the coast of Mani, southern Greece.

Source: AMNA

A tourist was injured on Thursday following a landslide at the world-renowned beach of Navagio in the Greek island of Zakynthos.

He was transferred to the Zakynthos General Hospital, while an emergency team from the local Fire Brigade (EMAK) is searching under fallen rocks for other possible victims.

According to owners of private boats in the area, there were three boats with passengers in the area during the landslide.

“We heard a sound and a small part of the rock fell, then a second one, and finally a third and large piece dropped in the sea, creating turbulence that overturned the boats,” a witness told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

There were many tourists with children at the beach who were evacuated on boats.

Navagio Beach, or Shipwreck Beach, was named after a shipping vessel known as the Panagiotis crashed on the scenic shore in 1983.

It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Zakynthos and Greece.