Spokesman Books

Based in Athens, The Paragraph offers an informed and humorous perspective on Greek and Global affairs, born of a longstanding relationship with the Russell Foundation (the 'Northern Garrison'). Here we re-blog an abridged version of Theo Iliadis' latest bulletin, published on the 70th anniversary of VE DAY. *** Dear friends, hello! We hope you are all doing as well as possible in the 'interesting times' we are living in, on a global scale. As you know, The Paragraph has been out of circulation for some time, but today we thought that we should not let this joyful and thought-provoking anniversary pass without sending you all a Special Issue, together with our heartfelt wishes for all that is good in life. Hence we congratulate our dear Paragraph friends and readers of all nationalities, on the 70th Anniversary of the Allied Victory against Nazism. The anniversary of what is known the West as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), and in Russia simply as Vict...

Leaked EU nuclear stress tests reveal hundreds of defects By Nikolaj Nielsen for EUobserver Hundreds of defects have been found throughout Europe’s nuclear reactors and mostly in France, according to an EU stress test report. The stress tests assess whether any of Europe’s 143 licensed nuclear power plants can withstand extreme events such as earthquakes and terrorists attacks. The tests were introduced after the nuclear accident in Japan's Fukushima some 18 months ago. EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger is to present the final report and recommendations in the upcoming EU summit on 18 and 19 October. “ We have reassessed all the nuclear power plants in Europe in the light of Fukushima ,” said commission energy spokesperson Marlene Holzner on Monday (1 October). Oettinger is also scheduled to present his findings to his fellow EU commissioners on Wednesday. The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (Ensreg), a group of senior officials from the national nuc...