Greek Communists unfurled banners on Acropolis.. [ 1159 ]

Greek protesters drape banners on Acropolis

Greek protesters spread banners on Acropolis amid strikes against austerity

Derek Gatopoulos, Associated Press Writer, On Tuesday May 4, 2010, 7:14 am

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greek protesters unfurled banners Tuesday over the defensive walls of the ancient Acropolis, the country's most famous monument, to protest harsh new austerity measures as strikes began across the country.

Greece's cash-strapped government announced sweeping spending cuts worth euro30 billion ($40 billion) through 2012 on Sunday, in order to secure a vital rescue package of loans from the International Monetary Fund and the other 15 European Union countries using the euro as their currency.

Greek protesters unfurl banners over the defensive walls of the ancient Acropolis, the country's most famous monument, to protest harsh new austerity measures as strikes began on Tuesday May 4, 2010 across the country. 
About 100 protesters from the Greek Communist Party cut through locks on the gates of the major tourist attraction shortly after dawn and unfurled the banners in Greek, right, and English reading:"Peoples of Europe - Rise Up." (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

About 100 protesters from the Greek Communist Party cut through locks on the gates of the major tourist attraction shortly after dawn Tuesday and hung banners in Greek and English reading: "Peoples of Europe - Rise Up."

Police did not intervene as the protesters carrying red flags stood beside the ancient Parthenon, next to the two large banners. The demonstrators did not attempt to prevent tourists from visiting the site.

"This is a message to the people of Europe," said Communist Party official Panagiotis Papageorgopoulos, who was among the protesters. "People have the same problems everywhere. We can take control of our fate with organized protests, so that our lives are not run by the EU and the IMF."

The new measures, which are being submitted in a draft bill to Parliament Tuesday and are to be voted on by the end of the week, will result in deeper cuts in pensions and public servants' pay, and a new hike in consumer taxes.

Public servants, including state school teachers and hospital workers, began a 48-hour strike Tuesday, with protest marches planned later in the day.

The strike led to several domestic flights by Greece's Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines being canceled, while all flights to and from the country were to be grounded for 24 hours Wednesday as air traffic controllers join in a nationwide general strike.

Wednesday's strike is expected to shut down services across the country. Public transport will halt in the morning and evening, government offices will remain closed throughout the day and state hospitals will function with emergency staff.

The Athens Traders Association said it was recommending that stores in the capital remain open during the strike, but shut down during demonstrations planned in the center as a show of solidarity for the strikers.

About 200-300 pensioners marched through central Athens to protest pension cuts and consumer tax hikes, chanting "Stealing our pensions is not the answer."

"We won't let them steal our livelihoods, they are cheating us," said Dimos Koumbouris, head of a pensioners' union. "Tomorrow everything will close, factories, shops, everything -- they will hear our voice very clearly."

Union leaders say the cuts target low-income Greeks.

"There are other things the (government) can do, before taking money from a pensioner who earns euro500 ($660) a month," Spyros Papaspyros, leader of the public servants' union ADEDY, told private Mega television.

Late Monday, protesting school teachers forced their way into Greece's state television building, disrupting programming.

With debts of euro300 billion and a budget deficit of 13.6 percent of gross domestic product, Greece has been struggling to pull its finances in order and was less than three weeks away from default when the eurozone finance ministers agreed on Sunday to activate the three-year euro110 billion eurozone and IMF rescue. 

Athens needs to see the first installment of funds before May 19, when it has euro8.5 billion worth of 10-year bonds maturing.

On Tuesday morning, France's lower house of parliament adopted a budget amendment allowing the government to release French funds for Greece's bailout. The text must still go before the Senate, its final step in parliament. France has committed to providing up to euro16.8 billion in its share of the three-year plan.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde had urged lawmakers to adopt the amendment, calling it a "moral imperative" and saying that providing funds for Greece would be a way of "stabilizing the euro."

Afghanistan: bomber has struck a CIA base .. ,[ 1158 ]

CIA base targeted by suicide bomber      

Al Jazeera and agencies., Monday, May 03, 2010
12:54 Mecca time, 09:54 GMT

Civilian deaths caused by fighting have sparked  widespread protests in Afghanistan [AFP]

A suicide bomber has struck a CIA base in eastern Afghanistan, the same location where the US intelligence agency suffered the deadliest attack in its history several months ago.

Civilian deaths caused  widespread protests in Afghanistan [AFP]

The blast happened outside Camp Chapman, in Khost province, where seven CIA agents were killed in a suicide bombing in December.

One civilian was killed and two security guards were wounded on Monday when a car laden with explosives exploded outside the base, Afghan authorities said.

"The explosion was very strong and thick smoke covered the sky afterward," Wali Mohammad, 17, who was working at a construction site nearby told the AP news agency.

The Taliban issued a claim of responsibility for the attack shortly afterwards.

Bus blast fatalities
The blast comes a day after eight Afghan civilians were killed by a roadside bomb that hit their minibus in the eastern province of Paktia.

The explosion occurred in a Taliban-held area late on Sunday, killing women and children who were travelling on the bus, witnesses said.

Police sources told Al Jazeera that eight people were killed in the blast and 14 others wounded. Survivors were taken to the provincial hospital for treatment.

Hours earlier Afghanistan's interior ministry had warned that civilian deaths were on the rise in the country. New figures showed that there were 173 civilian deaths between March 21 and April 21 this year, a 33 per cent increase on the same period in 2009.

The statistics did not record who was responsible for the deaths but the UN has said that the Taliban are responsible for most civilian deaths in Afghanistan.

Anger over deaths
Deaths caused by international troops the country have caused widespread anger in the country.

The US revised its rules on using air attacks and other weaponry last year after facing criticism for accidently killing civilians during operations against the Taliban.

Last week, the French military admitted responsibility for the deaths of four civilians who were killed during a clash with Taliban fighters on April 6.

The attack was followed by a controversial incident on April 20 in which Nato troops fired on a vehicle that approached their convoy, killing four civilians.

A recent US report confirmed the jump in civilian deaths in recent months.
 Source:   Al Jazeera and agencies.

Whom to blame" the Parents or their Children" ?.[ 1157 ]

When the Ties That Bind Unravel

By TARA PARKER-POPE

May 3, 2010, 4:57 pm

 

Stuart Bradford

Therapists for years have listened to patients blame parents for their problems. 

Now there is growing interest in the other side of the story: What about the suffering of parents who are estranged from their adult children?

While there are no official tallies of parents whose adult children have cut them off, there is no shortage of headlines. The Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn reportedly hasn’t spoken to her father in at least four years. The actor Jon Voight and his daughter, Angelina Jolie, were photographed together in February for the first time since they were estranged in 2002.
A number of Web sites and online chat rooms are devoted to the issue, with heartbreaking tales of children who refuse their parents’ phone calls and e-mail and won’t let them see grandchildren. Some parents seek grief counseling, while others fall into depression and even contemplate suicide.
Joshua Coleman, a San Francisco psychologist who is an expert on parental estrangement, says it appears to be growing more and more common, even in families who haven’t experienced obvious cruelty or traumas like abuse and addiction. Instead, parents often report that a once-close relationship has deteriorated after a conflict over money, a boyfriend or built-up resentments about a parent’s divorce or remarriage.
“We live in a culture that assumes if there is an estrangement, the parents must have done something really terrible,” said Dr. Coleman, whose book “When Parents Hurt” (William Morrow, 2007) focuses on estrangement. “But this is not a story of adult children cutting off parents who made egregious mistakes. It’s about parents who were good parents, who made mistakes that were certainly within normal limits.”
Dr. Coleman himself experienced several years of estrangement with his adult daughter, with whom he has reconciled. Mending the relationship took time and a persistent effort by Dr. Coleman to stay in contact. It also meant listening to his daughter’s complaints and accepting responsibility for his mistakes. “I tried to really get what her feelings were and tried to make amends and repair,” he said. “Over the course of several years, it came back slowly.”
Not every parent is so successful. Debby Kintner of Somerville, Tenn., sought grief counseling after her adult daughter, and only child, ended their relationship. “It hit me like a freight train,” she said. “I sit down and comb through my memories and try to figure out which day was it that it went wrong. I don’t know.”
Ms. Kintner talks of life as a single parent, raising an honor student who insisted her mother accompany her on a class trip to London, a college student who made frequent calls and visits home. Things changed after her daughter began an on-again, off-again relationship with a boyfriend and moved back home after becoming pregnant. Arguments about her daughter’s decision to move in with the man and Ms. Kintner’s refusal to give her daughter a car eventually led to estrangement. She now has no contact with her daughter or three grandchildren.
“I knew parents and children had fights, but there was enough love to come back together,” Ms. Kintner said. “This is your mother who gave you a nice life and loved you.’ “
Judith, a mother in Augusta, Ga., who asked that her last name not be used, tells of a loving, creative daughter who experienced a turbulent adolescence. At college graduation, the parents were shocked when their daughter unleashed an angry tirade about her childhood. Later, the daughter asked for financial help paying for an Ivy League graduate school. The parents agreed, but a visit to see her on the East Coast was marred by another round of harsh words and accusations. They withdrew their financial support and returned home.
“I’ve done a lot of crying,” said Judith, who has sought therapy to cope. “I’m very depressed. All the holidays are sad, and we don’t have any closure on this. She was so wanted. She was so loved. She still is loved. We want her in our life.”

Dr. Coleman says he believes parental estrangement is a “silent epidemic,” because many parents are ashamed to admit they’ve lost contact with their children.
Often, he said, parents in these situations give up too soon. He advises them to continue weekly letters, e-mail messages or phone calls even when they are rejected, and to be generous in taking responsibility for their mistakes — even if they did not seem like mistakes at the time.

After all, he went on, parents and children have very different perspectives. “It’s possible for a parent to feel like they were doing something out of love,” he said, “but it didn’t feel like love to that child.”
Friends, other family members and therapists can often help a parent cope with the loss of an estranged child. So can patience: reconciliation usually takes many conversations, not just one.
“When I was going through this, it was a gray cloud, a nightmare,” Dr. Coleman said. “Don’t just assume if your child is rejecting you that that’s the end of the conversation. Parents have to be on a campaign to let the child know that they’re in it for the long haul.”

Σύλληψη για την βόμβα στη Ν.Υόρκη....[ 1156 ]

Σύλληψη για την απόπειρα επίθεσης στη Νέα Υόρκη

ΑΝΤ1-πρίν 2 ώρες, ανανέωση: πριν 19′

Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες, ΝΕΑ ΥΟΡΚΗ —

Οι αμερικανικές αρχές συνέλαβαν τον Φαϊζάλ Σαχζάντ, Αμερικανό πολίτη πακιστανικής καταγωγής, σε σχέση με την αποτυχημένη βομβιστική επίθεση στην Times Square το βράδυ του Σαββάτου, όπως ανακοίνωσε ο Αμερικανός υπουργός Δικαιοσύνης Ερικ Χόντερ.

Ο Σαχζάντ συνελήφθη στο διεθνές αεροδρόμιο Τζον Κένεντι της Νέας Υόρκης την ώρα που προσπαθούσε να επιβιβαστεί σε πτήση προς το Ντουμπάι, διευκρίνισε ο Χόντερ.

«Οι έρευνες συνεχίζονται και προσπαθούμε να συλλέξουμε χρήσιμες πληροφορίες. Συνεχίζουμε να εξετάζουμε μια σειρά από ενδείξεις», πρόσθεσε ο ίδιος, επισημαίνοντας πως «είναι σαφές ότι η πρόθεση πίσω από την τρομοκρατική αυτή πράξη ήταν να σκοτωθούν Αμερικανοί».

Νωρίτερα, αμερικανικά ΜΜΕ ανέφεραν ότι ο ύποπτος αναγνωρίστηκε ως ο αγοραστής του οχήματος που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην αποτυχημένη επίθεση.

Οι New York Times αναφέρουν στην ηλεκτρονική τους έκδοση ότι ο άνδρας αυτός, που έχει αποκτήσει την αμερικανική υπηκοότητα, επέστρεψε πρόσφατα από ένα ταξίδι στο Πακιστάν . Ο συλληφθείς ζει στο Κονέκτικατ και πριν από περίπου τρεις εβδομάδες αγόρασε τοις μετρητοίς το όχημα που βρέθηκε παγιδευμένο με εκρηκτικά, ένα Nissan του 1993.

Παράλληλα, η εφημερίδα Washington Post επικαλείται αξιωματούχο, ο οποίος επικαλούμενος συζήτηση με στέλεχος των υπηρεσιών ασφαλείας, τόνισε πως «δεν θα πρέπει να εκπλαγείτε εάν βρεθεί κάποιος ξένος σύνδεσμος. Εκείνοι κοιτάζουν προς κάποια διαφωτιστικά στοιχεία και τονίζουν πως όλα υποδεικνύουν προς εκείνη την κατεύθυνση».

Ταυρος, Τραυματίστηκε υπάλληλος του Praktiker..[ 1155 ]

Συνελήφθησαν οι δράστες της αιματηρής ληστείας στον Ταύρο

NAFTEMPORIKI.GR Δευτέρα, 3 Μαϊου 2010 22:55
Τελευταία Ενημέρωση : 03/05/2010 23:24

Συνελήφθησαν, μετά από καταδίωξη, οι δύο δράστες της αιματηρής ληστείας στο Praktiker επί της οδού Πειραιώς στον Ταύρο. Ένας εξ αυτών τραυματίστηκε στο πόδι και μεταφέρθηκε στο νοσοκομείο.

 Αιματηρή ληστεία στο Praktiker Ταύρου

Στην κατοχή τους βρέθηκαν δύο πιστόλια και μια χειροβομβίδα με τα οποία απείλησαν τους αστυνομικούς.

Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες που μεταδίδει το ΑΠΕ - ΜΠΕ ο τραυματίας είναι ένας από τους καταζητούμενους με ένταλμα σύλληψης για την υπόθεση της Συνωμοσίας Πυρήνων της Φωτιάς.

Υπενθυμίζεται ότι οι δύο δράστες με απειλή-χρήση όπλου αφαίρεσαν άγνωστο χρηματικό ποσό.

Όπως έγινε γνωστό, ο υπάλληλος δέχθηκε πυροβολισμό στο θώρακα και διακομίστηκε στο νοσοκομείο «Ερυθρός Σταυρός».