The historical and cultural heritage of Greece continues to resonate throughout the modern Western world - in its literature, art, philosophy and politics. Many philosophers today concede that Greek philosophy has influenced much of Western thought since its inception. Philosophy as we understand it is a Greek creation. Ancient Greek culture, symbolised by the Parthenon in Athens, continues to influence Western thought.
Under Greece's constitution, parliament has three tries to elect a president--the first and second ballots have failed to elect a president, the last is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 29--and if it fails, parliament will be dissolved and snap General Elections called within a month. In the first two rounds, the president must be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 300 lawmakers in parliament, but that threshold falls to 180 votes in the third and final round.
Stavros Dimas, the governing coalition’s candidate, won 168 votes, in the second-round ballot, eight more…Read
500 million consumers - Europe’s single market brought down trade barriers and ensures freedom of movement – 2.8 percent of Europeans now live and work in other EU countries. Most of them are of working age; only a small minority are students and retired people.
Euronews’ correspondent in Athens, Stamatis Giannisis, said: “The 160 votes the ruling coalition’s candidate managed in the first round are still 20 fewer than needed to avoid a general election. The government is optimistic that before a third round, several independent and smaller opposition party MPs will change their minds.”
A second presidential vote - in which the winner will also require 200 votes for a victory - will now be held on Tuesday 23 December 2014.
The result raises the chance of a general election, and there is a distinct possibility that the…Read
With many Greeks exhausted by five years of recession, tax hikes and record unemployment rates, Syriza and its firebrand leader Alexis Tsipras are tipped to win the early elections that must be called, according to the Greek constitution, if parliament fails to elect a new head of state by 29 December.
Nikos Samanidis emphasises that the prospect of power has not blunted the radical nature of the party, despite its meteoric rise from relative obscurity to frontrunner in little over two years.
"The rich, the elites, the markets, the super-rich, the top 10%, yes, they obviously…Read
A Local Government Commission has recommended that the Wellington's nine councils should unite into one council named Greater Wellington Council, similar to the creation of the super city in Auckland
Key points of the proposed model are:
* One mayor to be elected heading a council made up of 21 members from eight wards – Rongotai, Lambton, Ohariu, Porirua-Tawa, Kapiti Coast, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Wairarapa.
That council would be responsible for high-level, region-wide matters.
* Each ward would then also have a local board with between six to 10 elected members which would be responsible…Read
Are we free to live our lives as we want? We might think so, but philosopher Slavoj Žižek argues that this apparent freedom is actually governed by a complex series of conditions. For Žižek, a 'pathetic, old romantic', the highest form of freedom is in fact love.