— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) July 4, 2023
The Antetokounbros Academy was founded by Giannis and his brothers Thanasis, Kostas and Alex “to provide children from vulnerable social groups with the opportunities they lacked when growing up, and let kids experience the power of sport to change lives.”
Giannis, who is one of the most recognised faces in the National Basketball Association (NBA), has been in Greece with his family for the off-season.
The daughter of an elderly couple alleged to have been poisoned a year apart has been charged with two counts of murder over their deaths,The Advertiser has reported.
Raelene Polymiadis, 62, was arrested in Craigmore, Adelaide, South Australia, on Tuesday morning in relation to the alleged murders of Brenda and Lynton Anderson.
A delegation of Greek Studies students from Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, Australia, are currently visiting Greece on an educational trip.
The students are getting a taste of Greece during their trip. Photo: Facebook.
The students are taking part in the University’s Greek In-Country language program which gives people over 18 years of age a chance to experience Greek culture first-hand.
The program runs from June 26 to July 14 and may include Kalymnos and other Greek islands, Athens, and a study trip in the northern mainland region of Macedonia.
Visiting the Australian Embassy in Greece. Photo: Facebook.
As part of their visit, the student delegation visited the Embassy of Australia in Greece and met with Chargé d’Affaires Andrea Biggi. The new Australian Ambassador to Greece Alison Duncan is currently on her way to the country to take over her new diplomatic post, which also includes Bulgaria and Romania.
In a post on Facebook, the Embassy wrote: “We wish the students and their professor a wonderful stay in Greece! They’re not just keeping the torch lit back in Australia – they’re building bridges of friendship.”
Meeting with Chargé d’Affaires Andrea Biggi. Photo: Facebook.
The Greek and Hellenic Studies Program at Charles Darwin University acts as a custodian of Greek language and culture, with thousands of students having enrolled for its courses over the past 20 years.
SA-Best MLC Connie Bonaros has told ABC News she believes South Australia’s parliament still has a “toxic” culture of bullying and harassment, despite a raft of changes being implemented to overhaul the workplace.
“We are supposed to set the gold standard, and we simply haven’t,” Ms Bonaros told the national broadcaster, while explaining that she is still approached “all the time” by people dealing with harassment at Parliament.
“This has been a toxic boys club for a very long time… [and] there are these cultural issues that continue to linger and go unaddressed.”
Ms Bonaros’ statements come two-and-a-half years after a damning review into SA’s Parliament by the state’s Equal Opportunity Commissioner (EOC).
Connie Bonaros MLC says SA Parliament still has ‘toxic’ workplace culture.
The review was launched after allegations former Liberal MP Sam Duluk behaved inappropriately towards Ms Bonaros at a parliamentary Christmas event. He was found not guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in August 2021.
The final report found sexual harassment to be prevalent in Parliament and made 16 recommendations – many aimed at overhauling Parliament’s workplace standards and procedures.
In May this year, a progress update about the recommendations was tabled by the clerks of both houses. It pointed to “significant advances” to address “cultural reform issues” including the Parliament’s new People and Culture Unit, and the development of a “robust anti-harassment policy.”
Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri told ABC News she believed the Parliament had done “a lot of work” and was “on the right track.”
A three-year progress update on all 16 of the EOC’s recommendations is due in early 2024.
Greece’s new Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Tuesday that Athens is ‘ready’ to start talks with Turkey to resolve a long-standing dispute over maritime borders,AP News has reported.
Gerapetritis said the Greek government wants to “take advantage of the ongoing positive climate” between Greece and Turkey in order to come to an agreement on delineating the areas in which each country has exclusive economic rights, including the right to search for offshore oil and gas.
“All that remains is to determine whether Turkey also sincerely wishes to forge a path of rapprochement, without this meaning that Greece will go back on its red lines or its national priorities,” he said.
Gerapetritis made the comments in Cyprus during his first official visit abroad as Foreign Minister.
Αγαπητέ φίλε Υπουργέ Εξωτερικών της Ελλάδος,
Ο στενός συντονισμός 🇨🇾-🇬🇷 σε όλα τα επίπεδα θα συνεχισθεί.
Αυτό οφείλουμε να κάνουμε, αυτό θα πράττουμε και η μοναδικότητα της σχέσης μας, αυτό ακριβώς επιβάλλει.
In joint statements with his Cypriot counterpart Dr Constantinos Kombos, Gerapetritis also stressed that finding a “fair, viable and mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus issue” remains a top national foreign policy priority for Greece.
“An important goal is for Cyprus and the Cypriot people – Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – to be rid of the Turkish occupation army and the anachronistic system of guarantees and rights of intervention by any party in Cypriot affairs,” Gerapetritis emphasised.
“The solution must be functional and grant the reunited Cyprus Republic the future it deserves. It must also ensure the unobstructed implementation of the European acquis throughout Cyprus’ territory.”
The Greek Foreign Minister said Greece will consistently support Cyprus in a resumption of efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Mitsotakis said Greece will be able to repay the loans by the current year’s end, in a “commitment to investors.”
“The first goal, and I think it’s a very tangible goal, is to get to investment grade before the end of the year,” he said.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tells @flacqua that Greece will repay two years of bailout loans ahead of schedule, in a confident signal to financial markets at the start of his second term in office https://t.co/mQsAoYB8Qepic.twitter.com/yuiinEkri6
The first supermoon of the year dazzled Greece on Monday night, with photos now emerging of the moon shining brightly over ancient monuments such as the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.
Unfortunately, cloudy skies and rain over a lot of Australia made it more difficult to get the perfect shot.
This month’s supermoon is called a buck supermoon because it’s around the time when male deer in the northern hemisphere grow new antlers (and male deer are called bucks).
The supermoon appears 5.8 per cent bigger and 12.8 per cent brighter than an ordinary full moon.
Some photos from around the world:
The July supermoon sets over the Statue of Liberty in New York City, US, July 3, 2023. Photo: CFP.St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, on the North East coast of England. Photo: AP / Owen Humphreys.The July supermoon near the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, July 2, 2023. Photo: Xinhua.
A taverna night organised by the Pan-Laconian Association NSW “The Spartans” on Saturday, July 1, at the Greek Orthodox Community in Lakemba, Sydney was held with great success, with fun and dancing prevailing throughout the night.
The students.More students.Attendees at the event.Everyone enjoyed themselves on the night.
There were about 200 people present, while Peter Kokkinakis successfully mastered the ceremony, welcoming the guests who showed up. Among others, the President of the Pan-Laconian Association, Mary Skalkos, gave a speech, while souvenir gifts were exchanged with the President of the Laconian Federation, Anastasios Kokkoris.
Speeches and presentation of gifts.Attendees.Tables at the event.Attendees.Attendees.
Constantinos Bombas, the team’s coach, was moved and thanked all the Laconian clubs for their financial and moral support to make the children’s dream to participate in the competition a reality.
After the official proceedings, there was plenty of dancing and live music until dawn and everyone had a great time.
Dancing on the night.Live music by Tassos Lambrou (left) and his dad.
Regional and multicultural media in Australia have been left in the lurch amid broken promises by governments and a failure to meet pre-election commitments.
Tony Kendall, the managing director of the nation’s largest regional publisher Australian Community Media (ACM), told The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) that despite extensive lobbying, the company has been “significantly impacted” by an “unprecedented reduction” in federal government advertising spend.
With rising printing costs adding to ACM’s headaches, the company closed a number of regional titles in April.
According to the SMH, federal advertising spend hit a record high of $239.6 million in 2021-22. Of that figure, $15 million, or 6 per cent, was spent in the press category.
Mr Kendall said revenue for regional media from state governments has also been drying up.
In NSW, Premier Chris Minns said a Labor government would commit $3 million annually towards regional newspaper advertising. Mr Kendall said none of that funding has “come through at this stage.”
Independent multicultural media in NSW are in a similar situation as they continue to call on the state government to meet their pre-election commitments.
In March this year, the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper announced NSW Labor would review the state government’s advertising practices to ensure the role of the independent multicultural media is elevated and supported.
The review would include things such as auditing how much has been spent on multicultural advertising and where it was spent; and reducing the use of consultants and other ‘intermediary’ agencies to increase the share of spend reaching local multicultural media.
Dimitra Skalkos, Publisher of The Greek Herald and member of Independent Multicultural Media Australia (IMMA), said they will continue to lobby the NSW government for a fair share in advertising spend and to ensure media dollars actually go towards supporting independent multicultural media.
“Our platforms continue to deliver government messages or announcements relevant to our communities using our resources with reduced support being provided in return,” Ms Skalkos said.
“For years now, government messaging has been pushed through government departments and language services – not always in a timely matter – rather than providing direct financial support to independent multicultural media to continue to provide their own in-language information.
“Whilst we welcomed the NSW Labor government’s announcement of a review into advertising spend, we now call on them to follow through with their pre-election commitment.”
In a statement to the SMH, a NSW government spokesperson said it remains committed to safeguarding regional and community media, adding it plays a critical role in its efforts to provide important information to communities across the state.
This means departments and agencies must work with the government’s contracted media buyer to book 15 per cent of their media buy with multicultural media outlets.
Independent Multicultural Media Australia (IMMA) has welcomed the policy.
“IMMA represents a media ecology that is unique, some of our members have very long legacies, while others represent new and emerging communities,” Fotis Kapetopoulos, the Secretary of IMMA, said.
“It is important that departments focus on communicating with multicultural communities effectively, instead of spending vast amounts on foreign social media companies.”
Mr Kapetopoulos added that IMMA wanted to work with the Victorian government to help departments and agencies “shift old habits.”
The Victorian government’s new policy was implemented after Premier Daniel Andrews made a pre-election commitment last year to increase the department and agency advertising expenditure allocated to multicultural media and communications from 5 percent to 15 percent.
This comes as independent multicultural media outlets in New South Wales remain at risk as they call on the state government to meet their pre-election commitments.
In March this year, the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper announced NSW Labor would review the state government’s advertising practices to ensure the role of the independent multicultural media is elevated and supported.
With NSW Labor now in government for over 100 days, no such review into advertising practices has been announced as yet.
