Ioannidis

Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state who passed away on Thursday, took with him the secrets that pursued him like ghosts, making him steer clear of the Cyprus issue. Based on personal experiences linked to an obsession with the events of 1974, I can attest that this historic episode greatly perturbed him. In reality, Greece and Cyprus became victims of his cynical realism.

According to the conventional interpretation of the events that transpired in 1973-1974, it was not the Polytechnic Uprising that actually precipitated the military dictatorship's downfall but the Turkish invasion of Cyprus eight months later, which was prompted by the overthrow of the Cypriot government of Archbishop Makarios III by Dimitrios Ioannidis' regime in Athens.

In one of the most exciting bits of news on the local arthouse music scene this year, singer-songwriter Alkinoos Ioannidis has got back together with his band after a break of almost two decades to revisit old classics and write new work. The act is on stage every Thursday and Friday through the end of the month at the Vox music stage (16 Iera Odos, Kerameikos, tel 210.347.5900).

A Parliament committee on Tuesday approved the government's nominees to head Greece's Competition Commission. However, their approval was opposed by leftist SYRIZA lawmakers who walked out before the vote on the matter.

The Greek National Opera presents two movie suites by Manos Hadjidakis at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on March 1 and 2. The first is the "The Martlet's Tale," a soundtrack penned by the great Greek composer for the 1970 film of the same title directed by John Crowther, which received such poor reviews at its San Francisco preview that it was never released.

The head of the Athens Lower Court Prosecutor's Office, Vangelis Ioannidis, today ordered an investigation regarding the publication by a media outlet of a telephone conversation between Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis and Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras.

The head of the Athens prosecutor's office, Evangelos Ioannidis, on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the alleged taping by Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis of a private phone conversation with Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras.

Accompanied by singers Alkinoos Ioannidis and Dimitra Selemidou, the Greek National Opera orchestra and choir present Manos Hadjidakis's emblematic "Gioconda's Smile" and "Magnus Eroticus" song cycles in a tribute to the celebrated Greek composer at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) on September 28, 29 and 30. Shows start at 8 p.m.

The Greek Parliament building will be lit up in orange on Saturday night to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The first top tier Greek celebrity to pose naked for Playboy was late Zoe Laskari back in 1985 in a very artistic photo-shoot beside the ancient ruins on the island of Delos. She was 41 at the time and was reportedly paid 15 million drachmas to take her clothes off.