A 23-year-old man arrested on Friday for allegedly carrying out a double murder in Aigio causing dangerous bodily harm and illegal use of a weapon An investigative magistrate and a prosecutor gave him time until April 15 to testify and ordered a psychiatric evaluation at the University Hospital in Rio the suspect barged into the home of his 64-year-old uncle and beat him and a 44-year-old friend who was visiting with an iron table leg The 23-year-old had previous run-ins with the law over two incidents of domestic violence The incidents occurred in 2022 and criminal cases had been filed against him he was released by a prosecutor who had ordered a psychiatric assessment he appeared before a prosecutor who set a court date Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox This city prospered during early historical periods and played a role in colonization This year’s detailed excavation on the Trapeza plateau located eight kilometres southwest of Aigio and completed in early October The Ministry of Culture identified this site as Rypes a historic Achaia city involved in the colonization process that established Croton in Greater Greece this year’s excavation concentrated on investigating Building C integral to the city’s public activities was buried beneath the rubble of its limestone and conglomerate superstructure the southern long side of the building was fully uncovered revealing a 16.80-meter kerb with a stylobate Features such as the H and Z-shaped joints and superstructure elements suggest the building dates back to 300 BC The facade is thought to have supported Corinthian semi-columns topped with an unstructured cornice featuring an epistyle strip with a Doric beak profile Among the impressive discoveries was a large marble lion captured in a photograph released by the Ministry of Culture noted for having the smallest proportions documented feature Peloponnesian-style sigmoid bases reminiscent of those at the temple of Apollo at Bassae The excavation has reconstructed a towering three-meter structure Photographic evidence shows a large lion and a smaller marble lion the areas between the Corinthian columns were filled with orthostatic plate braces The capital of the Corinthian columns features delicate drawing comparisons to early examples from the temple of Apollo at Bassae This is recognized as the earliest known complete Corinthian composition within a monument as described in Vitruvius’s anecdotal accounts The rubble contained architectural pieces unrelated to the Corinthian structure from a distinct Ionic structure featuring friezes and dentils are likely from a nearby building yet to be discovered Unique findings include a lion-shaped clay gutter and a detailed Corinthian capital Research into Building C suggests it might be the Hero’s monument of the ancient city Beneath its facade were sculptures like a marble lion crouching alongside a marble stele of a youthful male figure Photographs further reveal gold discoveries intact burials in cist tombs and a sarcophagus yielded precious artifacts such as a pair of gold earrings with lion-head motifs and numerous other items that proclaim the wealth and high status of the individuals interred uncovered architectural remnants and ceramics dating back to the 8th century BC The exploration of the Hero’s Tomb will proceed with a newly approved five-year excavation program Vordos leads the systematic excavation of Trapeza Aigio and ancient Rypes Situated 30 stadia west of the bustling Achaean city-state (polis) of Aigion Rhypes likely benefited from its strategic coastal location and harbour Ongoing excavations promise further revelations about this once-prosperous seaside town Conservation work inside a monastery near the town of Aigio in the Peloponnese has revealed a mural of Constantine XI Palaiologos (1405-1453) that an expert says is the only known living portrait of the last Byzantine emperor The find was made in the catholicon of the Old Monastery of Taxiarches in Aigialeia where there are two layers of mural paintings of high artistic quality from the late Byzantine period a statement from the Culture Ministry said Constantine reigned from 1449 until his death in battle at the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 director of the Achaia Ephorate of Antiquities identified the image on the inside mural as that of the last Byzantine emperor and dated it to the mid-15th century the portrait is linked to the last Byzantine emperor and involves his only living portrait The painter must have rendered the portrait features … from his own perception meaning that his model was not an official imperial portrait but the emperor himself,” the statement quoted Culture Minister Lida Mendoni as saying The statement added the mural depicts the figure of a mature man wearing imperial insignia and holding a cruciform scepter “His gold-embroidered purple cloak is decorated with medals on which are inscribed double-headed eagles with a crown between their heads a distinctive feature of the members of the Palaiologos family The presence of the double-headed eagles on the figure’s clothing constituted an illustrated message that allowed the viewer to unequivocally identify the man with the emperor.” The ministry said that Constantine’s connection with the monastery was through his brothers Demetrios and Thomas would have known Constantine from his own time as despot in the region A despot was the holder of a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors and initially denoted the heir-apparent of the Byzantine emperor LBV Magazine English Edition the systematic archaeological excavation season concluded on the Trapezá plateau located eight kilometers southwest of Aigio This site is identified with the ancient city of Ripes, a prosperous city in the Achaea region during the early historical period, known for its role in founding the colony of Croton in Magna Graecia This year’s campaign focused on studying the building known as “Building Γ” (Gamma) located southeast of the temple terrace and associated with the city’s public functions previously buried under a ruined construction made of limestone and conglomerate blocks revealed a crepidoma 16.80 meters long and a stylobate dating to before 300 BCE The architectural elements found suggest a monumental construction in Corinthian style characterized by uniquely proportioned columns and capitals with intricate decorations resembling those of the Temple of Apollo at Bassae Among the most notable finds were lions sculpted in Pentelic marble originally integrated into independent stone bases Fragments of a large funerary stele depicting a young man were also uncovered These discoveries confirm that Building Γ was a heroon a funerary monument dedicated to honoring significant figures of ancient Ripes Among the recovered objects were gold earrings decorated with lion heads and historically significant funerary coins These findings attest to the wealth and high social status of those interred A small excavation around the monument uncovered architectural remains and pottery dating back to the 8th century BCE demonstrating the site’s long history of occupation Bordos of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaea will continue as part of a new five-year program financially supported by the A.G These discoveries shed light on the architecture and funerary practices of ancient Achaea establishing Trapezá as a key site for understanding the region’s history Ministry of Culture of Greece Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email Archaeologists from universities in the United States and Denmark found deep within the Actun Uayazba Kab cave in Belize two small stone tools dated between 250 and 900 AD that… men and women gathered to play a game called Cuju A team of researchers has succeeded in recreating for the first time in a laboratory experiment a phenomenon that until now only existed as a theory in the realm of… the Cantonal Archaeology of Aargau carried out a rescue excavation between early May 2024 and the end of March 2025 The Egyptian archaeological mission affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced the discovery of a group of defensive structures and a system of moats that could indicate… In the southeastern area of the city of Rome archaeologists excavating inside the Triton Baths within the monumental complex of the Villa di Sette… Why did some animals from ancient eras become fossils while others simply disappeared without a trace A recent study on the cave paintings of the Altamira Cave in Santillana del Mar Cantabria (Spain) has concluded that some of the artworks it contains could be much older… A team of paleontologists from the University of Leicester has managed to decipher one of the many enigmas of the dinosaur era—the exact moment when pterosaurs Rome achieved numerous military victories that allowed it to grow and dominate nearly the entire known world in Antiquity Receive our news and articles in your email for free You can also support us with a monthly subscription and receive exclusive content A 23-year-old man was arrested on Friday after a police chase suspected of carrying out a double murder in Aigio the victims were the suspect’s uncle and a friend of the uncle with the killings believed to have taken place inside the suspect’s home Authorities are examining the possibility that the two men were attacked with a wooden object found at the scene who has reportedly received psychiatric treatment in the past is currently being held at the local police station Greece’s first electric ferry has been commissioned  to service the 10km run across the Gulf of Corinth between the port of Aigio on the Peloponnese side and the village of Agios (Saint) Nikolaos on the mainland’s Dorida region This follows on the heels of last week’s announcement of the first electric ferry in China With almost 14,000km /  8,500 miles of coastline for visitors and locals going from island to island and from mainland port to mainland port The aim of the new pilot program is to extend it to all of the country’s short ferry routes The Agios-Nikolaos pilot is part of a much larger project that includes an offshore power plant to provide the electricity The plant includes a hybrid power generating system that combines solar Surplus power will be provided free of charge to residents of the two municipalities who are in financial distress or belong to vulnerable social groups The ferry aspect is a collaboration between the municipalities and DNV-GL which is best known as an international classification and registering body for ships but also provides services like due diligence The electric ferry will be a conversion from an existing diesel ship, and the entire project, with power plant, is budgeted at 4M – 5M Euros (US $4.5 5.5M). The EU will provide 50% of the funding. The world’s largest electric ferry – also an EU project, was went into service  in Denmark this past August.  All of the Greek ferry lines will be watching the pilot with great interest. Fuel prices have already been rising in Greece over the past two years and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) global sulphur cap  starts January 1 Estimates are the cost of lower sulphur fossil fuels could be as much as 20% higher with consumer ticket prices going up 7-10% of course is one of the world’s great maritime nations but it has been slow to take up electric ferries in large part because many of the routes in the country are long overnight journeys to the islands that tax today’s electric-only capabilities The technology is literally changing by the day, though, and 2019 has seen a number of important milestones in switching ferries from fossil fuels to battery electric or hybrid. The largest capacity batteries for an electric ship – 6,100 kWh – were installed on an arctic cruise ship and are twice the size on any other boat.  Norway is definitely the leader in electric ferries, but the other Scandinavian countries are also making the switch, as well as Canada and the US. There is even an a solar powered ferry in India Norwegian Startup Pascal Technologies has announced that two new electric vessels the NABCREW Zero AirBlue 1240 and the Hugin DC We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorised as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaigns when the Great Vespers service was celebrated by Metropolitan Ambrosios of Kalavrita and Aigialia while the Divine Word was proclaimed by Archim which was attended by many faithful and was completed at about 2:30 in the morning Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras officiated the Archieratic Divine Liturgy accompanied by Metropolitan Ieremias of Gortys and Megalopolis and Metropolitan Ambrosios of Kalavrita and Aigialia The Divine Word was proclaimed by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras the Patriarchate of Jerusalem solemnly celebrated the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women... Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Theotokos.. it was announced that two Roman Catholic institutions in Bavaria have decided to jointly.. A car once used by Pope Francis during his 2014 visit to Bethlehem is being transformed into a mobile.. the Monastery of Saint Vlash in Albania hosted a festal Divine Liturgy on the.. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece presided over the festal Great Vespers at the historic.. (function() { window.mc4wp = window.mc4wp || { listeners: [] cb) { window.mc4wp.listeners.push( { event : evt callback: cb } ); } } }})(); © 2023 OrthodoxTimes.com - All rights reserved Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website These cookies do not store any personal information Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website The city of Aigio in western Greece is enjoying an upturn in fortune since the re-building of its broad which received backing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) offers improved amenities for local people and is helping to bring more tourists to the area with the connecting lateral access roads to the interior part of the city and the underground installation of the electrical power network is proving popular with residents and tourists alike Visitor numbers are already increasing and the scheme has added to the quality of life for local people Work to improve the seafront aimed to make it more attractive and improve links with the upper part of the city The changes give people the opportunity to walk and cycle along the seaside The renovation programme included the tiling or bituminous lining of roads high-tech lighting was installed in certain areas to showcase the seafront’s aesthetic qualities old overhead power lines were replaced with an underground power supply Improvements were also made to public areas to make them more accessible and to encourage people to use them At the same time new park areas were created on the seafront.  Aigio suffered de-industrialisation in the 1980s and was hit hard by the recent economic crisis a lot local infrastructure had fallen into disrepair due to lack of investment The only financial activity promoting growth in recent times has been tourism The renovation of the seafront was seen as an opportunity to leverage that asset while improving quality of life for locals There is also synergy with other EU-supported projects including the building of a new port at the west edge of the seafront which was completed in September 2016 also thanks to ERDF funding The city authority also has plans to build a marina for visitors at the eastern edge of the new port The plan has already been designed and looks set to be incorporated into the ERDF 2014-2020 operational programme a new highway was opened in 2017 that connects Athens to the nearby city of Patras which has also improved access to Aigio and its surroundings Total investment for the project “Integrated intervention of urban development of Aigio city of Aigialeia municipality” is EUR 2 870 660 with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 2 296 528 through the “Western Greece” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period The investment falls under Thematic Objective 6 “Preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency” Investment Priority 6e “Taking action to improve the urban environment regenerate and decontaminate brownfield sites (including conversion areas) reduce air pollution and promote noise-reduction measures” Specific Objective 6.e.1 “Support for integrated urban development” ΕΝΔΙΑΜΕΣΗ ΔΙΑΧΕΙΡΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΑΡΧΗ ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑΣ ΔΥΤΙΚΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ the waters in the Gulf of Corinth shimmer seductively the mountains that rise out of it appear almost to float But along the winding road into the town – past piles of uprooted train tracks empty shopfronts and shuttered factories – beauty gives way to ruin stony-faced men say the country is heading for catastrophe "The only thing we know is economic crisis," sighs Apostolos Karafotias who has served as mayor of the Peloponnesian town for the past four years fearful and – let me find the right word for it – yes with politicians they believe are firmly to blame for our awful financial situation." Aigio's anger is being echoed across Greece as the nation prepares to vote in critical local elections today The poll is the government's first test at the ballot box since being swept to power 13 months ago but it might not be making so many waves had it not been cast as a referendum on the draconian austerity measures enacted in the debt-stricken country in exchange for €110bn (£95.4bn) in emergency aid from the EU and IMF But in a week that has seen tensions heightened by a parcel bombing campaign he has threatened to call snap elections if his socialist Pasok party suffers a "debilitating" defeat in today's vote that is a prospect that has sparked heady debate Polls suggest a socialist victory is far from assured are so disgusted with our politicians that at least half of them are definitely going to abstain from the vote," says Karafotias even if it means collecting the garbage." The decline in employment has come alongside tax rises and spending cuts that have seen the average wage and pension reduced by almost a fifth The lack of prospects has prompted a growing number to contemplate fleeing "Greece is not a place for young people," says Nella Ioannou who at 32 has to hold down two jobs to make ends meet locals in Aigio earn less than €10,000 a year In the absence of a thriving tourist trade residents depend on three heavily guarded buildings in the hills outside town where workers produce rifles as the government seeks to trim military spending the threat of that closure hangs over Aigio like a cloud "The workforce has already been scaled back from 1,000 to 300 employees and if they lose their jobs it will have a huge knock-on effect," he says "It's not fair that pensioners and low-income workers should have to carry the burden of paying for it… Why hasn't the government cracked down on tax evasion Greece is a boiling cauldron and at some point it is going to overheat Few governments have attempted to modernise the country as much as the current administration labour laws rewritten and policy decisions put online for the first time The tradition of patronage has also begun to wither as politicians gradually abandon the practice of dispensing jobs for votes But the country still has a long way to go I would say that we have covered about 5% of the ground we need to travel," says the Pasok MP Costas Spiliopoulos "If Greece weren't so beautiful – if we had a different climate and lived in a different environment without our nature light and sea – this country would be a very depressing place take in the sun and somehow feel they can keep going." This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media the water supply and sewage administration of Aigio has set up a remote monitoring and control system to modernise its water supply network This project is dedicated to saving potable water resources It is estimated that the project will achieve long-term savings of approximately 1 000 000 m3 of potable water per year significant energy savings will be achieved in the processes of pumping and transporting the above quantity of water Every year the town wasted almost 1 million cubic metres of water – the result of undetected leaks in the municipal water supply system Not only was this a major waste of resources it also meant an unreliable service for citizens at an increased cost remote-control/remote-detection system for monitoring the water supply network.  The system consists of a central control station installed in the offices of the municipality’s technical services connected to water supply network facilities such as pumping stations This allows for the collection of data on factors like the cost of piping the water level of tanks and the pressure in pipelines This allows Aigio’s technical services to continuously know the operating status of the entire system and respond if problems are detected The new system required numerous installations and upgrades including the supply and installation of all electronic monitoring equipment for the central control station Following the installation of the necessary software and remote communication hardware The project provided training to the municipality’s technical staff Within just the first three months of operation the volume of wasted drinking water has been reduced by more than 1 050 000 m3 per year Thanks to the ability to quickly detect damage the time the network is shut down for repairs has decreased Total investment for the project “Procurement installation and start-up of a remote monitoring and control system for the detection of leakages of the external and internal water supply network of Aigion Municipal Enterprise of Water Supply and Sewage” is EUR 1 188 082 with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 950 465 through the “Western Greece” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period The investment is under the priority “Environment protection and resource efficiency” Municipal Enterprise of Water Supply and Sewage of Aigialeia Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission the celebrated director mines the comedy in being tiny — while supersizing his own artistic ambitions Alexander Payne makes movies that are big for their size, somehow both wildly eventful and perfectly pedestrian. You could describe the autumn he’s just had in much the same way. Between the completion and the release of Downsizing his most ambitious and expensive film to date the 56-year-old director spent three months in the town of Aigio living with his young Greek wife and gregarious in-laws and watching the birth of his first child A third-generation Greek-American from Omaha Nebraska (where many of his movies are set) Payne likes to call Aigio the Omaha of Greece marched clumsily down Mitropoleos Street as a stern woman shouted into a microphone that on this day in 1940 Greece had said “Ohi!” (“No!”) to an ultimatum from Mussolini The parade reminded Payne of “a Saturday back in Nebraska when the Huskers are playing but without Republicans.” Pacing the route in mustard-colored pants and a stripe-sleeved track jacket the punctilious director couldn’t resist giving a note One of Payne’s favorite words is banality, which he considers not an insult but a goal. In six improbably crowd-pleasing dark comedies, including The Descendants and Sideways he has done the opposite of what Hollywood likes to do making the exotic and the picturesque look almost plainer than reality financing his projects has always been a struggle even as he’s consistently exceeded box-office expectations But Downsizing is another story: a movie in which scientists figure out how to shrink people down to five inches tall Notwithstanding Payne’s directive that “the visual effects be so real as to be banal,” his big concept required a big budget — at least for a movie about climate change and the chemistry between a Nebraskan sad sack (Matt Damon’s schlumpy Paul Safranek) and a Vietnamese refugee with a strong accent and a missing leg (Hong Chau as Ngoc Lan Tran) Payne’s movie about little humans is only medium-size by studio standards but it’s the biggest gamble the filmmaker has ever made the same year Paramount green-lit what Payne calls “the Vietnam of scripts,” he also married Maria Kontou “That was all sweet and slightly irritating,” he said recalling their very Paynean meet-cute on a scenic tour of Aigio His grandfather (originally Papadopoulos) was born here Payne had planned a short visit to his ancestral town “My cousin — whose house we just passed — I think he blabbed.” By the time Payne arrived Aigio’s mayor had arranged a press conference “They hadn’t had the guts to tell me about it,” he said “I wouldn’t have come!” Payne felt better when he met a 27-year-old teacher named Maria has chiseled features and a fierce commitment to local standards of hospitality “I studied the history of cinema in Crete,” she said explaining her presence at Payne’s press conference His own features have become a little less chiseled in middle age a little more like those of his protagonists Kontou took dozens of iPhone snapshots as we climbed a cobblestoned stairway with postcard views of the Gulf of Corinth “Everyone knows Alex,” said the obstetrician Mussolini-style gestures toward the town square I asked Kontou what she loved most about Payne from the moment he wakes up in the morning.” But what is he serious about He was being self-mocking but not inaccurate But it’s unique among his films for being explicitly about something both serious and big: how a global crisis can trigger small acts of kindness and colossal acts of greed Not long after a Norwegian scientist masters downsizing as a way of reducing consumption corporations are selling micro-McMansions to middle-class saps like Paul Safranek while repressive governments are shrinking dissidents like Ngoc Lan Tran Paul and Ngoc Lan team up on do-gooder missions and then well … the plot turns are blind and hairpin-sharp the beginning and ending lines are ‘How do we live?’ How do we live?” Over lunch in an immaculate taverna owned by Kontou’s oldest friend’s family Payne thought aloud about why so many Greek immigrants run restaurants (His mother taught college French and Spanish.) Payne thought he might be a foreign correspondent he covered the 1980 Democratic convention as a stringer After studying Latin American literature and history as an undergrad Payne got into the Columbia School of Journalism but wound up pursuing a deeper passion defying his parents to go to film school at UCLA But the deal money sustained him for five years setting a pattern for his studio relationships: hugs and kisses It was so new and different; what do you want to do next?’ And you show them a script and they go Miramax made Payne’s debut, Citizen Ruth, co-written with Jim Taylor, in which a paint-huffing Laura Dern becomes a pawn in the abortion wars. Before Harvey Weinstein became notorious for greater evils he was infamous for ruthlessly recutting films in accordance with his own version of best marketing practices “I never particularly wanted to make another movie with him,” said Payne and though some critics found it too downbeat he thinks the movie was “not ferocious enough.” It grossed far less than its $2.2 million budget But Payne persisted with Taylor’s help as his newfound writing partner featuring Reese Witherspoon’s now-iconic high-school pol Tracy Flick is “still the movie I get the most compliments on,” said Payne the classic-anointing Criterion Collection will rerelease it along with a remastered Passion of Martin as an extra Never mind that Paramount botched Election’s marketing after talking Payne into a lighter ending “I think the movie was close to getting dumped because it tested so badly,” says Tom Perrotta if not necessarily his attitude toward the source material Perrotta remembers introducing himself to the movie’s star Matthew Broderick on set ‘There’s a novel?’ ” Payne struck Perrotta as a little superior “I think Election is a classic satire where the filmmaker is a little bit above his characters He has gotten softer and sweeter and more emotional over the course of his career.” Taylor believes the “softening” was just Payne becoming more himself “He’s a softy but doesn’t want to be seen as a softy,” says Taylor and people can get the wrong impression at first and it takes a while to understand what’s behind all that.” was smuggled almost wholesale into their third movie a very loose adaptation of Louis Begley’s novel About Schmidt That film cost $32 million— almost half of it for Jack Nicholson’s salary — and again it was rejected by the studio that developed it but it has Jack Nicholson,’ ” Payne recalled you mean an expensive depressing movie.’ ” New Line picked it up Sideways in 2004 followed a similar trajectory After Payne cast Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church (turning down George Clooney) “They said it was only worth $12 million,” said Payne The movie went on to gross $160 million worldwide So they lost all that because” — he paused Sideways made many best-of-the-year lists and earned Payne a Best Screenplay Oscar “I never thought it was a serious movie,” he said He and Taylor doctored a few lucrative scripts — Jurassic Park III I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry — the last two of which Payne never saw He spent seven years navigating the torments and temptations of Hollywood lost at sea for almost as long as his mythic countryman Odysseus home was not a place but a movie: Downsizing which allowed him to stretch in other ways (mastering the subtleties of Hawaiian culture; making a film in black and white) “I found myself more interested in stories where the climax was not a climax of violence but a climax of kindness.” One of Fox’s issues was Payne’s initial cast His idea for our Everyman Virgil in this brave little new world was Paul Giamatti “We had a fantastic time with him on Sideways,” said Payne who dreams of having someone like Giamatti as his movie alter ego middle-class schnooks” deserve their own avatar “If you took all 6 billion faces on earth and put them all together,” said Payne Payne needed a smaller budget and a bigger star “financiers made it clear to us that we needed someone from this very short list of movie stars with huge-budget credits to their name the only one who I believe can pass as an Everyman today is Matt Damon You could have seen Jack Lemmon or Dustin Hoffman or James Stewart in the old days but nowadays all you have is these muscle-bound goyim named Chris.” Even Damon had to wear a prosthetic belly having just hulked out for Jason Bourne — though he shed it later in filming as he let himself go Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures funded casting and scouting but ultimately backed out Payne took his start-up money and went shopping “is when [then–Paramount CEO] Brad Grey said Payne never worried that a movie about climate change would grow stale — it’s only gotten warmer after all — but he couldn’t have foreseen how well Downsizing would fit the mood of a country and a world in political crisis “But all politics is local,” and Paul Safranek’s personal mandate is ours: “To realize that it all can end and we must accept that Only when we accept those things are we empowered to combat them He finished these thoughts in the aftermath of our meat-and-wine-heavy lunch in Aigio His wife brought over their 5-week-old daughter I told Payne it must have felt odd to confront our collective demise while deciding to have a child She’s so peaceful I think she’ll be the new Dalai Lama.” Despina was a leap of faith into the unknown and so was Downsizing.“It was this whole different way of doing a movie,” says Taylor but this is what I want.’ ” The relative Luddite became the taskmaster of the special-effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic “I’ve learned that doing a visual-effects film is a lot like having contractors in your house,” said Payne “It’s all hugs and kisses for quite a while and then you get down to the deadline and they have other jobs that they’re moving on to and you have to say The result is a sui generis alloy of computer effects and lo-fi sight gags The downsizing machine looks and sounds like a microwave emitting a final “Ding!” The most striking Big Reveals are of an oversize Norwegian sunset and a downsized shantytown built into a construction trailer That’s not to suggest that Payne skimped on the requisite world-building of science fiction But the exuberance was in the ideas rather than the effects “It’s a bit of a kitchen-sink movie,” said Payne Taylor felt himself pushing back against Payne’s desire of trying for something bigger,” says Taylor I just felt like I wasn’t sure this needed to be so … It’s funny Downsizing feels both big and small — sweeping in its scope and its beautiful landscapes even as it traffics in miniatures posing weighty questions even as it lands on one midwestern schnook’s little problems “There’s really no studio film like this,” says Payne’s cinematographer “Somebody did a big visual-effects film that cost a lot of money and is not following a Hollywood formula because it will help all of the studios make different choices.” That’s a lot of responsibility to put on a movie He quotes from Caesar crossing the Rubicon: “Alea jacta est My fortune has been foretold.” As for what’s next Payne would like to make a movie in Greece (in Greek) what a departure Downsizing is,’ and I say it’s actually disappointingly similar,” he said “These first seven movies I’ve made are just child’s play I’m often haunted by something I read by Pedro Almodóvar years ago: ‘I’ve made so many feature films but somehow I feel I haven’t yet made the film I wanted to.’ You can feel like there’s some depth you want to hit and express well and leave the world knowing It’s something you know within yourself: In this one Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York A new railway line that connects the towns of Kiato Diakofto and Aigio in the northern Peloponese went into operation on Thursday the Ministry of Development & Investments announced The line includes three railway stations at Xylokastro undertaken by ErgOSE SA with a budget total of 848 million euros and co-financed by the EU's Cohesion Fund 2000-2006 and NSRF resources includes the construction of the second Corinth-Kiato railway line of 22.3 km as well as the construction of the new 70 km Kiato-Aigio line along with the construction of the railway stations and the relevant telecommunications infrastructures Angeliki Papathanasopoulou died when Marfin Egnatia Bank was firebombed during protests against Greece's first bail-out while bank employees accused of neglecting safety duties are going to trial Greece is in political negotiations after elections were held on May 6 the first since the financial crisis exploded The first bailout was meant to save the country but instead it has spiraled further into economic despair '+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+" \n '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+" A group of unidentified individuals clashed with police forces shortly after midnight in the Exarchia district of central Athens the violence erupted when the group allegedly attacked the local police precinct with Molotov cocktails and stones police deployed tear gas and flashbang grenades to disperse the assailants during which several cars were set on fire while damage was also reported to a house and a store The project for the electrification of the railway segment linking the towns of Kiato and Aigio in the northern Peloponnese is expected to be canceled and re-tendered The project is considered very important for the upgrade of the Athens-Patra link is the most important port of embarkation for passengers and cargo for various ports in Italy trains will run on a double line at speeds reaching up to 200 kilometers per hour The already electrified Athens-Kiato segment is part of the Athens suburban railway the new Metropolitan referred to the close ties linking him to the city He made a commitment in his speech to ensure unity He also called for the intercession of Panagia of Mega Spilaio and asked from his flock to pray and Theoklitos of Vresthena attended the enthronement ceremony of the new Metropolitan of Kalavryta This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page A double homicide has shocked the community of Aigio as it became known that a man killed two people on Friday According to information from protothema.gr the perpetrator is a man who suffers from psychological issues and who killed his uncle and a friend of his uncle Following a report, the Hellenic Police were mobilized and was eventually taken to the Aigio Police Department and has previously been hospitalized in psychiatric clinics where he found the two men and killed them using a wooden object The object has been found by the police at the scene and is covered in blood Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr Family, friends, and PASOK members who worked alongside her throughout the years gathered on Saturday afternoon to say their final goodbye to Vasso Papandreou who passed away on Thursday at the age of 80 The funeral took place at the Church of Saint Basil in Valimitika delivered the eulogy during the funeral service “One day after the historic anniversary of October 18 1981—43 years after the first government of the PASOK ‘Change’ led by Andreas Papandreou—we say farewell today in her birthplace to our beloved Vasso Papandreou We bid farewell with deep respect to the co-founder of PASOK a remarkable woman who left her mark during the post-dictatorship years having a decisive influence during important moments for both the Movement and the country’s political life Vasso was our ‘Iron Lady’:With sensitivity and faith in a more humane and just society who walked proudly throughout her life without asking for anything in return for her great contributions and struggles for democracy and social change just as she had proudly withdrawn from politics combining intellectual sharpness with social sensitivity first in Greece and then in the United Kingdom It was there that she met Andreas [Papandreou] and decided to engage actively in politics when she was first elected to parliament and joined the government she embarked on an impressive career of service and contribution that remains indelible to this day A key moment in her journey was in 1989 when Andreas Papandreou appointed her as Greece’s representative to the European Commission She became the first female Commissioner in the history of the European Union ‘No one falls in love with a single market.’ In the effort for a progressive Europe of the people With the collaboration of the socialist Delors she promoted dozens of actions and policies that improved living and working conditions in all member states she unwaveringly defended the principles and values of democratic socialism against the conservative and neoliberal forces of the time Her clashes with Margaret Thatcher highlighted her as the ‘Iron Lady’ of the progressives and as a ‘Caryatid of democracy,’ as she was described by the international press her popularity broke every record in Athens’ Second Constituency She implemented groundbreaking social policies Many major public works in the country bear her mark along with iconic social and political reforms such as legislating gender quotas in public offices she shaped policies that contributed to the reconstruction of the country’s productive capacity As Minister of Environment and Public Works she successfully accelerated and completed major projects and was instrumental in preparing for the Olympic Games Vasso Papandreou fought with knowledge and vision for the genuine modernization of the country and Greece’s entry into the core of Europe Politicians of Vasso Papandreou’s caliber are rare Her legacy is significant in the history of our country and PASOK She will always hold a special place in our hearts My deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.” In the Catholicon of the Old Monastery of Taxiarches in Aigialeia, just 15 kilometers from Aigio, two layers of frescoes of high artistic quality from the late Byzantine period are preserved. These reflect the aesthetic trends of Constantinople During their restoration, Dr. Anastasia Koumousi, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia, identified in the second layer of frescoes—dated securely to the mid-15th century based on stylistic criteria—the unique portrait of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos “The work carried out by the Ephorates of Antiquities under the Ministry of Culture,” stated Minister Lina Mendoni “proves once again to be exceptionally significant as it uncovers unique archaeological testimonies connected to historical figures The scientific staff of the Ministry’s Ephorates and comprehensive knowledge of both historical events and archaeological data is capable of thoroughly documenting every finding that comes to light.” the portrait is linked to the last emperor of Byzantium and represents the only known portrait of him created during his lifetime The artist likely rendered the features of Constantine XI Palaiologos based on direct observation meaning the model was not an official imperial portrait but the emperor himself,” added Mendoni The fresco depicts the figure of a mature man wearing imperial regalia (a luxurious loros over a light-colored sakkos and a jeweled crown) and holding a cross-topped scepter His gold-embroidered purple mantle is adorned with medallions featuring double-headed eagles with a crown between their heads a distinctive symbol of the Palaiologos family The presence of double-headed eagles on the garment formed an illustrated message allowing viewers to identify the man as an emperor The emperor depicted is a historical figure identified as Constantine XI Palaiologos the brother of the donors who renovated the monastery It is the last chronologically preserved portrait of an emperor in Byzantine monumental painting and the only portrait of Constantine Palaiologos contemporary with his brief reign (January 6 The portrait is neither idealized nor standardized accurately capturing the facial features of the last Byzantine emperor The figure is earthy and realistic—a mature man with a slender face and individualized characteristics where the artist of the Catholicon’s second layer likely originated Constantine Palaiologos had lived for five years as a despot before being crowned emperor The imperial portrait is linked to the known generous donation of his brothers to the monastery following the resolution of their first civil war (1449–1450) achieved through Constantine’s “arbitration,” as noted by Laonikos Chalkokondyles Aigio has a very high level of seismic activity Based on data from the past 55 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900 there are about 5,400 quakes on average per year in or near Aigio Aigio has had at least 16 quakes above magnitude 6 since 1900 which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently probably on average approximately every 5 to 10 years The quake had a very shallow depth of 25 km (16 mi) and was too small to be felt by people Aigio has had 8 quakes of magnitude 2.0 or above There were also 36 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel The quake had a very shallow depth of 17 km (11 mi) and was not felt (or at least not reported so) Former PASOK Minister Vasso Papandreou has passed away at the age of 80 She had been facing serious health issues in recent years Vasso Papandreou was a prominent figure in PASOK and the first female Commissioner of Greece in the then European Economic Community (EEC) from 1989 to 1993 during which time she clashed with conservative leaders she established Citizen Service Centers (KEP) and was instrumental in legislating a 33% participation rate for women in the candidate lists for the 2002 Regional and Municipal elections Vasso Papandreou studied Economics at the then ASOEE (Athens University of Economics and Business) and continued her education in England where she earned a master’s degree from the University of London and a doctorate from the University of Reading Deputy Minister of Commerce for issues related to the Greek Presidency in the Community (1988-1989) and Public Works (2001-2004) in PASOK governments It was love at the first sight between famous director Alexander Payne and young philologist Maria Kontos They met last spring when the Greek-origin director visited Aigio they had a civil wedding and now the couple is preparing for a religious wedding their birthplace and the place where they met each other where the young philologist accompanied him giving him a tour to Acropolis Museum when they realized that they were meant to be together they continued to talk and after a month young Maria decided to leave everything behind her and begin a new life next to her love The couple has already been married with Maria Kontos changing her profile status in social networks to married the couple is planning to perform a religious wedding in November at Aigio