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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-12Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Pleionis: Greek space agency 'absolutely necessary' and should have happened 'years ago'A Greek space agency is absolutely necessary and should have been created years ago, the new head of the Athens National Observatory Professor Manolis Pleionis said, in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency published on Sunday. He noted, however, that this should be preceded by a wide-ranging consultation process between the various ministries involved, with a coordinating committee answerable to the prime minister undertaking to promote the project.He also unveiled plans to make the Observatory even more open to society, through events that combined science and culture - including another visit by refugee children - while also developing new domestic and international research projects. Among his complaints, Prof. Pleionis noted a need for state support in order to resolve a chronic shortage of specialised staff to cover the 24-hour shifts at the Geodynamic Institute monitoring earthquake activity, or the National Tsunami Centre, as well as a shortage of space at the existing facilities due to an ever-expanding range of activities. He also noted that the Observatory's services were not fully exploitated by state services and other bodies while expressing support for the creation of spin-off companies by Observatory scientists in order to increase its revenues. Pleionis said that the criticism levelled against the government for lowering standards at Greek universities were "excessive" and noted that "in matters of research and universities, this government has done very well." He appeared confident that Greek scientists will gradually start to return from abroad thanks to the initiatives of the education ministry. Professor Pleionis has been a professor of Observational Astronomy at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) Physics Department since 2012. He carried out research for several years in Italy at the SISSA and ICTP centres and was a guest researcher at the INAOE research centre in Mexico from 2002-2015. He was also a researcher, director of research and deputy director of the Athens Observatory from 1995-2012 with more than 200 papers on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology published in scientific journals. [02] Visit to Armenia, Georgia launched cooperation on all levels, Kotzias saysHis visit to the Georgia and Armenia was an opportunity to examine the problems in the Caucasus, evaluate the geostrategic situation and determine that there was a large degree of convergence in views and interests with the two countries, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency published on Sunday.Kotzias made the statements during a stopover in Istanbul airport on Saturday, where Kotzias and his aides were due to catch a plane for the United States. The minister appeared satisfied with the results of his visit to the Caucasus, saying it had launched high-level strategic cooperation on all levels with two countries that are traditionally friendly to Greece. Noting that a number of previous agreements with Armenia and George had remained "inert," Kotzias said the two sides had now agreed to form special committees to monitor the progress in their implementation. "I also presented my counterparts with invitations to visit Greece and presented invitations from the prime minister and president for mutual visits," he added. [03] MEP Kouloglou talks to ANA about flare-up of tension between EU, TurkeyThe flare-up of tension between Turkey and the Netherlands has led to some "historically unprecedented practices," Greek MEP for SYRIZA Stelios Kouloglou commented in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on Sunday. These included the decision by Dutch authorities to forbid Turkish ministers from visiting the country but also Ankara's response, which described German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch politicians as "Nazis," Kouloglou said.According to the MEP, the tension between the two sides has an "expiration date," which in the case of the Netherlands is the March 15 general election in the country and for Turkey the April 16 referendum. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was "in a very difficult position" and might even trigger a new crisis or postpone or even cancel the referendum if he was uncertain about winning, Kouloglou added. Among others, and prompted by an event on the issue organised in Brussels, Kouloglou commented on the phenomenon of 'fake news'. He noted that fake news had been circulated by the U.S. President Donald Trump via Twitter during the pre-election campaign in the United States, and was now also seen in the campaign run by the Dutch far-right candidate Geert Wilders. The way to protect against it was to get information from multiple sources and not from 'friends' in social media platforms like Facebook, whose main purpose was not to supply news, Kouloglou said. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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