• 'Downton Abbey' gay kiss edited out in Greece

    Masterpiece Theater

    A kiss between Rob James-Collier, who plays Thomas on

    By Reuters

    Greek state television came under fire from the country's main opposition party and critics for editing out a gay kiss on Monday's primetime premiere of popular British period drama "Downton Abbey."

    Greeks took to social networking sites such as Twitter to complain about the NET channel's decision to axe a scene from episode one of the series showing a kiss between a visiting duke and Downton's unscrupulous footman Thomas. NET defended its move, citing parental guidance viewing rules.

    "As incredible as it may seem for a democratic country in the 21st century, officials of the NET television channel censored the scene of a kiss between men from the TV drama Downton Abbey," the SYRIZA party said in a statement.

    "This is of course an obvious case of censorship, an extreme act of homophobia and discrimination which unfortunately, after what has been happening recently, we cannot characterize as unprecedented."

    One SYRIZA lawmaker, Dimitris Papadimoulis, questioned whether the omission was due to pressure from the far-right Golden (GD) Dawn party or religious authorities with a tweet asking: "NET 'cut' a gay kiss on the premiere of a top TV series. Who decided this censorship? (Bishop) Seraphim of Piraeus and GD?"


    Greek state television said the kiss was not censored but rather edited out to comply with rules on the time slot and parental consent label given to the show, which was aired at 10:05 p.m. An unedited version will be broadcast later on Tuesday night, it said.

    "The love affair between the two men... was not censored," said Costas Spyropoulos, managing director of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. "The kiss was not shown because of the time the program was broadcast and the corresponding parental guidance warnings."

    Greece has seen an upsurge in right-wing extremism since a national election in June ushered the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party to parliament for the first time in its history.

    The latest controversy comes days after dozens of demonstrators, including Golden Dawn lawmakers, clashed with police outside an Athens theatre and forced the postponement of an American play that depicts Jesus and his apostles as gay.

    Television images showed bearded black-robed priests with crosses in their hands tearing up posters promoting the play, while one woman was shown giving a Nazi-style salute.

    Related content:

    More in The Clicker:

    Show more
    Explore related topics: ,

  • Greek politician who attacked rivals on TV sues victims for defamation

    Petros Karadjias / AP

    Greece's extreme-right Golden Dawn party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, in white, talks to media outside the prosecutor's office in Athens, June, 11, 2012.

     

    By Msnbc.com staff and wire services

    A Greek far-right politician who hit a left-wing politician in the face and threw water at another during a live television talk show sued his victims for defamation on Monday.

    Ilias Kasidiaris, spokesman of the far-right Golden Dawn party, said he would also sue private TV station Antenna for wrongful detention after he was locked in a room in the studio following the attack until he broke down the door and escaped.


    Kasidiaris shocked viewers last week with the attack on Rena Dourou, a deputy in the radical leftist Syriza party and Liana Kanelli, a veteran communist deputy, during a heated debate ahead of national elections on June 17.

    On the show, a spirited discussion spiraled out of control when Kasidiaris threw a glass of water at Dourou. Shortly afterwards, Kanelli swatted Kasidiaris with a newspaper, and he responded by punching her in the face with enough force to leave her bruised.

    The 31-year-old former army commando went into hiding after the assault but issued a statement at the weekend blaming the two middle-aged women for deliberately provoking him into the attack.

    "I have come to the prosecutor today to file a lawsuit against Mrs. Kanelli and Mrs. Dourou for unprovoked defamation, and against TV station Antenna for my illegal detention," Kasidiaris, dressed in a white shirt and dark sunglasses, told reporters outside the court.

    By lying low, Kasidiaris avoided an arrest warrant for the attack. According to Greek law, the arrest warrant for a minor crime must be carried out by midnight on the day following the incident, BBC reported.

    A politician in Greece is wanted by police for his behavior on a live TV program where he threw a glass of water on a political rival then punched another. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Golden Dawn denies being a neo-Nazi party but its image has been sullied by continuously replayed footage of the talk show incident as well as a variety of other pictures showing party members splashed with fake blood, making Nazi-style salutes or grinning next to an oven at the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.

    Greek politician who attacked rivals blames them

    Parties across the political spectrum condemned Kasidiaris and said his actions shed light on Golden Dawn.

    "This attack is an attack against every democratic citizen,” caretaker government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras said, according to Athens News.

    The leftist Syriza party, tipped as likely to get the most votes in the coming election, said the attack showed "the real face of this criminal organization," referring to Golden Dawn.

    "This young 'gentleman,' the Golden Dawn spokesman, proved today that he is a representative of a group of neo-Nazis that apart from being ultra-right are also cowards and bullies," said Fofi Gennimata, of the center-left Pasok party, according to Athens News. "We call on the people who voted for Golden Dawn to seriously rethink it."

    TV show attack shows 'real face' of far-right in Greece?

    Speaking at the opening of the party's offices in an Athens suburb on Sunday, Kasidiaris said he had been set up and was acting in self-defence after Kanelli threw a newspaper at him.

    "I never expected that I would be hit in the face on live TV," he said. "I did what millions of Greeks would have done - when you get hit in the face you have to defend yourself."

    Kasidiaris was already due to stand trial on Monday on separate charges — which he denies — of helping assailants attack an assistant university professor in 2007, but that trial was postponed until September.

    Golden Dawn, which uses an ancient Greek symbol resembling the swastika as its logo, won 7 percent in the inconclusive May 6 election, promising to rid Greece of illegal immigrants and seal its borders with landmines.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

     

  • TV show attack shows 'real face' of far-right in Greece?

    A politician in Greece is wanted by police for his behavior on a live TV program where he threw a glass of water on a political rival then punched another. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

    The far-right Greek politician who hit a female politician in the face on live television was still on the lam Friday, according to a report, as politicians from mainstream parties said the attack showed “the real face” of his extremist party.

    Ilias Kasidiaris, 31, a spokesman for the Golden Dawn party, violently slapped Communist party lawmaker Liana Kanelli three times and threw a glass of water at another politician on a Thursday morning news show.

    Kasidiaris was locked in a room at the TV studio but broke down the door and escaped. He was being sought by police for attempting to inflict dangerous bodily harm, a charge that could lead to a fine or up to 10 years in prison.

    Ekathimerini.com reported that he was still on the run Friday despite efforts by the police to find him.

    Athens News said it understood that special police units had been called in to help find him.

    Parties across the political spectrum condemned Kasidiaris and said he actions shed light on Golden Dawn, which won seven percent of the vote in elections last month that failed to produce a working government.

    "This attack is an attack against every democratic citizen,” caretaker government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras said, according to Athens News.

    'Cowards and bullies'
    The leftist Syriza party, tipped as likely to get the most votes in the coming election, said the attack showed "the real face of this criminal organization," referring to Golden Dawn.

    A new election is scheduled for June 17, as debate continues over the country's place in the euro zone. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    "This young 'gentleman,' the Golden Dawn spokesman, proved today that he is a representative of a group of neo-Nazis that apart from being ultraright are also cowards and bullies," Fofi Gennimata, of the center-left Pasok party, said, according to Athens News. “We call on the people who voted for Golden Dawn to seriously rethink it."

    Manhunt for Greek lawmaker who hit female rival on live television

    Antonis Samaras, leader of the center-right New Democracy party said that “we condemn them and we must isolate them and, chiefly, we must not allow them to divide the Greek people, particularly at a time when our country needs us united in the face of this deep crisis we are going through.”

    NYT: Greece warns of going broke as tax proceeds dry up

    Ekathimerini.com reported that Golden Dawn party leader Nikos Michaloliakos claimed Kanelli had attacked Kasidiaris first. She threw a newspaper at him before he attacked her.

    It added that Mihaloliakos, speaking at an election rally near Athens Thursday, had said “elections never did this country any good.”

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

     

  • Manhunt for Greek lawmaker who hit female rival on live television

    A politician in Greece is wanted by police for his behavior on a live TV program where he threw a glass of water on a political rival then punched another. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By ITV News and Reuters

    ATHENS – The spokesman for Greece's far-right party Golden Dawn threw a glass of water at a female leftist politician and hit another in the face on live television Thursday, causing a political uproar and leading a prosecutor to seek his arrest.

    The morning talk show on private television station Antenna was interrupted by the incident and Ilias Kasidiaris was locked in a room at the TV studio but he broke down a door and escaped, the TV host said.

    ITV News, which carried a video of the incident, reported that a warrant has been issued for his arrest.


    Kasidiaris, who is a member of parliament, is sought for attempting to inflict dangerous bodily harm, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in jail. However, the sentence can be turned into a fine.

    NYT: Greece warns of going broke as tax proceeds dry up

    What was a heated debate over the June 17 elections descended into chaos when Kasidiaris threw a glass of water at the female leftist party member, Rena Dourou, calling her a "joke".

    A new election is scheduled for June 17, as debate continues over the country's place in the euro zone. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    As other participants watched in stunned silence, Communist party deputy Liana Kanelli intervened on her behalf, throwing a newspaper at Kasidiaris, who called her a "commie", stood up, pushed her and hit her hard in the face.

    Watch the video at ITV News

    Golden Dawn won parliamentary seats in May 6 elections, riding a wave of discontent against illegal immigrants in austerity-ridden Greece. The party denies it is neo-Nazi, though its chief Nikos Mihaloliakos delivers Nazi salutes and has denied the Holocaust.

    'It is virtually impossible to find a job': Brain drain is new Greek tragedy

    Political rivals were quick to condemn the assault, and some urged Golden Dawn supporters to change their minds before the June 17 vote, which was called as no working majority emerged from the election last month.

    Golden Dawn said in a statement on its website that Kasidiaris had been provoked.

    Reuters contributed to this report. ITV News is the British partner of NBC News.

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

     

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Wikileaks founder gets talk show on Russian TV

    Andrew Winning / Reuters

    WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange shown arriving at the High Court in London on Nov. 2, 2011.

    By msnbc.com staff

    A new talk show hosted by Julian Assange, detained Internet activist and founder of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, will air next month on Russian TV.

    In a statement on his website, Assange said he will host a series of interview programs with "key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries."  The show will appear on Russia Today (RT), a Kremlin-financed English-language satellite news network.

    The program, called "The World Tomorrow," will be taped at the house north of London where Assange has been under house arrest since December 2010. He is awaiting a court decision in Britain on his extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.

    "We liked a lot of the WikiLeaks revelations. It was very much in sync with what Russia Today has been reporting about the Arab Spring, and about the duplicitous policies of the US and its allies all along," Peter Lavelle, a senior journalist with RT told the Christian Science Monitor.

    "I think the Russian government will be pleased [to see Assange working on RT]. It's a soft power coup for Russia," Lavelle said.

    More from msnbc.com and NBC News: