Greece

Panagiotis Sgouridis felt right at home in Baltimore yesterday, despite being an ocean away from his native Greece. A former prime minister and current member of the Greek parliament, Sgouridis marched in the Greek Independence Day Mid-Atlantic Parade that wound through Baltimore's Greektown neighborhood. "It just like in Greece," Sgouridis said of the event, "except this is more authentic. In Greece, the military marches and it's very official. Here, it comes from the people." Greek Independence Day is a celebration of Greece's gaining of independence after 400 years of rule by the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish state that at one point controlled much of southeastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

ATHENS, Greece -- Orioles owner Peter Angelos took another step forward in his desire to help field a Greek baseball team for the 2004 Athens Olympics yesterday, when he was in Athens meeting with members of the Hellenic Amateur Baseball Federation.A reception for Angelos was held at the residence of U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who is a baseball fanatic and avid follower of the Boston Red Sox. Joining Angelos was Orioles director of player development Syd Thrift and president of the Greek federation, Panos Mitsiopoulos.

Evangelos Orfanos, 70, founded contracting firmEvangelos Michael "Van" Orfanos, who emigrated from Greece to build a successful contracting and bridge painting business, died Saturday of unknown causes at his home in the Nottingham Village neighborhood near White Marsh. He was 70.Mr. Orfanos was founder of Orfanos Contractors Inc. in Baltimore, a general contractor that worked on the Bay Bridge and the Key Bridge, among other projects.Mr. Orfanos was born on the island of Chios, Greece, and at a young age joined his father's commercial fishing business.

Standing by the side of a winding, two-lane road in northern Baltimore County, George Perdikakis looks over miles of nature's green cathedral known as Worthington Valley.Such a vista could be transplanted from Perdikakis' native Greece, where as a youth he learned to love the land and its bounty while pruning and harvesting in the small olive grove owned by his yia yia on Crete.For nearly four years as head of Baltimore County's Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, he has drawn upon those roots as he walks the often delicate line between land preservation and development.

NOW that it will try the terrorist Abdullah Ocalan, Turkey should have the confidence and strength to end the oppression that drove so many of its 8 million Kurds into the arms of Mr. Ocalan's violent Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).The foreign ministers of the 15-member European Union said the EU expects Mr. Ocalan to receive "fair and correct treatment and an open trial according to the rule of law before an independent court, with access to legal counsel of his choice and with international observers admitted to the trial."

Greece is part of the solution in the BalkansThe various scenarios mentioned in Sun articles that suggest the possibility of Greece's military involvement in the Balkan conflict ("Clinton suggests U.S. goal is elusive," April 3) are for several reasons overcooked.Greece has no territorial claims against Macedonia and opposes any change of borders in the Balkans, which would have catastrophic consequences for stability in the area. Greece supports the existence, territorial integrity, security and welfare of Macedonia and contributes substantially to its economic viability through trade and investments.

ATHENS, Greece -- The bureaucratic notice came by mail, reminding the family that its three-year lease on the burial plot was expiring. The family was advised to contact the Athens First Cemetery to arrange for exhumation of the deceased.Lucas Zamanos, a retired banker, answered the summons expecting something more dignified for his late father-in-law than the scene that ensued -- a scene still etched in his mind seven years later.A cemetery worker wearing a surgical mask dug up the grave and, finding the body not fully decomposed, stood on it and pried it from the coffin piece by piece.

U.S. intelligence hunting the elusive terrorist Osama bin Laden will eat its heart out at Turkey's pursuit of the Kurdish rebel Abdullah Ocalan from Syria to the Greek embassy in Kenya. His capture and return to stand trial for terror he organized from exile the past 15 years is a great feat of counter-terrorism.It will help the center-left prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, politically in Turkey. It raises the confidence of the armed forces, who host the U.S. air base at Incirlik, which has generated a veiled threat against Turkey by Iraq.

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- With Greece and Turkey suddenly seeming ready to end generations of hostility, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey is due in Washington today for talks this week with President Clinton and congressional leaders.Clinton is expected to raise a series of issues with his guest, from trade to human rights. But the prospect of finally bringing peace to the volatile eastern Mediterranean will be at the top of his agenda.Ecevit was prime minister when Turkey sent troops to Cyprus in 1974 and has been a hero to nationalists.

The Air Force may be approaching the end of its appetite for new F-16 fighter planes, but Bethesda's Lockheed Martin Corp. continues to develop markets worldwide for the versatile jet.The company's latest target is Greece, which is shopping for about 60 military aircraft of that type.Lockheed Martin treated Greek Defense Minister Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos to a Fourth of July tour of the Texas plant where F-16s are made and made a pitch for selling his country the latest version of the plane, which has extra-powerful computers.

Easter has come and gone for some, but Athens marks the celebration of Pascha, Easter in the Greek Orthodox Church, Sunday. One of Greece's most important holidays, the event is celebrated with lamb markets, red-dyed eggs, flowers, candle lighting and church services. Visitors to Greece during this time will find a festive atmosphere, but large cities like Athens may be deserted as people return to villages to celebrate with family. Here are five things to do in and around Athens any time.

Chicago schools chief to be education secretary WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan to serve as education secretary, according to sources with knowledge of the decision. Duncan has run the country's third-biggest school district for the past seven years. He has focused on improving struggling schools, closing those that fail and getting better teachers. Obama has not indicated how he will try to fix the country's ailing schools. A transition official for Obama also says Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar will be named interior secretary later this week.

Poly sweeper Nick Halkias said his love for soccer emerges from his Greek heritage, something he is as proud of as his success on the field. Halkias, 17, helped the Engineers win the Baltimore city championship last season and has played a major role in their 4-2 start this fall. The senior also wrestles for Poly and plays basketball for the Greek Orthodox Youth Association team at his church, St. Nicholas. He hopes to play soccer in college, where the B-average student plans to major in kinesiology.

BEIJING - The U.S. men's basketball team is about to face 2004 gold medalist Argentina in this morning's semifinals, and you know what that means. Not only is it an honor to play the Argentines, they're a great team. Actually, they're not merely a great team, they're like an NBA team! Actually, they're not merely like a generic NBA team but the Boston Celtics in Bill Russell's prime! Actually, what it probably means is bad news for Argentina, which, by its record (5-1) and the way it has looked, might be only marginally better than Spain (which the U.S. squad beat by 37)

BEIJING - It's Kobe's Team, in China, anyway. The U.S. men's basketball team, composed entirely of superstars, isn't really anyone's, but Kobe Bryant stands alone, at least as far as 1.3 billion Chinese are concerned. If LeBron James is "King James" in the United States, Bryant is the new emperor of China. Bryant gets the loudest cheers in pre-game introductions. Fans chant "MVP!" when he's at the free throw line. Late in Saturday's rout of Spain as he sat on the bench, they started chanting "Kobe!

The U.S. men's basketball team is proving in Beijing what every coach from pee-wee hoops to the big guys has known all along. Defense will conquer all. The Americans have struggled with their three-point shooting and even their free throws, but their defense has been spectacular. Against Greece, which beat the United States in the world championships two years ago, the Americans helped force 25 turnovers yesterday. The U.S. had 15 steals and seven blocked shots. Greece, meanwhile, had just four steals and one blocked shot.

BEIJING - Greece, Greece, Greece ... isn't that name familiar from somewhere? Birthplace of Western civilization? The Acropolis? The Parthenon? The plays of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus? The Iliad? The Odyssey? Wait, wasn't it Greece that knocked off U.S. Coach Mike Krzyzewski's first team at the world championships in Saitama, Japan, in 2006? That's it! Let's have a big U.S. welcome for the Greeks! "First of all, we've been waiting for this game for the last two years," said Carmelo Anthony (Towson Catholic)

MYCENAE, Greece - As near as anyone can calculate, Hercules became a god in 1226 B.C. He wasn't supposed to. His original destiny was to simply become king of Mycenae. But a series of behind-the-scenes treacheries put his evil twin, Eurystheus, on the throne. Worse yet, this bad brother-king required Hercules to perform a series of seemingly impossible tasks. Greek mythology has a way of righting injustices, though, and the very labors meant to destroy Hercules served to make him a hero instead: The name of Hercules became synonymous with strength and daring.

Goucher College's Towson campus is 5,100 miles from ancient Greece, but the latest addition promises to bring it considerably closer -- at least in spirit. College leaders will break ground in the center of campus this week for a $46 million mixed-use structure called the Athenaeum -- a Greek term for an all-encompassing place of learning. In Greece, the word referred to buildings dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and in particular to one temple on the Acropolis where poets, philosophers and orators gathered to read and discuss their work.

Panagiotis Sgouridis felt right at home in Baltimore yesterday, despite being an ocean away from his native Greece. A former prime minister and current member of the Greek parliament, Sgouridis marched in the Greek Independence Day Mid-Atlantic Parade that wound through Baltimore's Greektown neighborhood. "It just like in Greece," Sgouridis said of the event, "except this is more authentic. In Greece, the military marches and it's very official. Here, it comes from the people." Greek Independence Day is a celebration of Greece's gaining of independence after 400 years of rule by the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish state that at one point controlled much of southeastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.