Greece will try to retrieve the body of a five-year-old girl who died on a river islet on the Greece-Turkey border where she had been among a group of 38 refugees stranded there for several days, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Tuesday.
The refugees said the little girl had died of a scorpion sting whilst they were stranded on the islet on the Evros river.
Minister Mitarachi said in a tweet the girl’s body was on Turkish territory before committing to be part of the retreival process.
“In collaboration with the International Red Cross & Red Crescent all steps will be taken to ensure the body is properly buried with dignity by its family,” he said.
It appears from statements that a 5year-old child died on Turkish soil. In collaboration with the International Red Cross & Red Crescent all steps will taken to ensure the body is properly buried with dignity by its family.
— Νότης Μηταράκης – Notis Mitarachi (@nmitarakis) August 16, 2022
Speaking from northeastern Greece on Tuesday, Mitarachi said the group told Greek authorities they had been taken to the river by Turkish authorities, who had forced them to attempt the crossing to Greece.
Greek police announced on Monday that they had found the 22 men, 9 women and 7 children on the Greek-Turkish border, saying: “Greek police forces and other government services have rushed to their aid, to provide healthcare, food and water and to transfer them to an area of temporary accommodation.”
The Evros land border is a frequent crossing point for those wishing to claim asylum in Europe, but many reports have documented violent Greek pushbacks in recent months, as well as incidents where people have been made to cross by Turkish authorities.
During his visit to the migrant reception center in northeastern Greece, Mitarachi said that the 35 Syrians and three Palestinians were in good health, and that one pregnant woman among them had been taken to hospital for precautionary reasons.
This morning, Tentoglou appeared calm after his record-breaking jump, saying: “I did what I dreamed of and what I thought I could do.”
As for his motivation, he has his sights set on the 2023 World Cup where he has “nine metres in mind”.
“It’s very difficult but I want half a metre more, I will always try to get closer,” he said.
WORLD LEAD 💪
Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou 🇬🇷 successfully defends his @EuroAthletics long jump title after breaking the championship record with 8.52m on his fourth attempt!#Munich2022pic.twitter.com/CExu6epemp
The 2022 Australian Bravery Decorations have been announced and they recognise the courageous acts of 26 people who selflessly put themselves in jeopardy to protect the lives or property of others.
In announcing the recipients, Governor-General David Hurley said: “The awards I am announcing today recognise people who, in a moment of peril, were selfless and brave.”
“Confronted with danger, they chose to help others,” the Governor-General added.
Receiving a Group Bravery Citation this year was Greek Australian, Andrew Pappas.
Speaking with The Greek Herald, Andrew said: “It’s a real honour to be awarded a Bravery Citation and I’m so proud that I was a part of a community effort where a lot of people stood up and took action in the way we did.”
Andrew, alongside Jeremy McLeod and Ben Russell, received the group award for their actions during a rescue of a woman being assaulted in Melbourne in 2016.
On April 24, 2016, Andrew was riding his bike home on the Upfield bike path in Brunswick at approximately 10:30pm when he heard a woman scream.
The woman, a 31-year-old heavily pregnant nurse, had been tackled off her bike by a 21-year-old man and dragged into a small alcove along the path where the man tried to rape her.
The Brunswick bike path where the attempted rape took place on April 24, 2016. Photo: Darrian Traynor/Fairfax Media
“She was 20 weeks pregnant on the night of the incident and she was being assaulted,” the father-of-two said.
“There was an innocent person being attacked and I wanted to rectify that.”
As Andrew approached, the attacker fled and after checking the woman was okay, he gave chase.
“I didn’t have time to think about what was happening. I just acted on my instinct which was to pursue and make sure the guy wouldn’t get away with what he had done,” the 60-year-old said.
Both Jeremy McLeod and Ben Russell heard the woman screaming from inside their nearby apartment and with another man, they ran downstairs where they saw Andrew in pursuit of the offender.
Joining Andrew, the men chased the attacker down, tackling him to the ground and restraining him until police arrived.
Andrew Pappas poses for a photo on the Upfield bike path in Brunswick on October 27, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Darrian Traynor/Fairfax Media
Speaking with The Age at the time, Detective Senior Constable Katherine Lavars said the men did “an amazing job.”
“There’s no doubt that without their help this investigation would have been very different,” she said.
The attacker pled guilty to attempted rape, was sentenced to 23 months in jail and received a four-year community correction order.
Some six months after the incident, Andrew met with the victim and her newborn baby.
“She was very thankful and grateful, but it was really beautiful to see that she was doing fine and that she had recovered,” he concluded.
The finalists for the 2022 Westfield Local Heroes community recognition and grants program have been announced and among the names are at least four Greek Australians from centres across New South Wales.
This year’s finalists represent community role models who create positive benefits across a range of sectors including emergency services, registered community groups, sporting clubs, not-for-profit, schools, authorities, and the local environment.
The successful hero will be awarded a $20,000 grant for the group or organisation they represent, and each finalist will receive a $5,000 grant for their group or organisation.
Here’s our list of the four Greek Australian finalists.
Chanel Contos – Teach Us Consent (Westfield Bondi Junction, NSW)
Chanel Contos.
Chanel Contos has changed the sexual consent narrative in the Eastern Suburbs and across Australia, helping sexual assault survivors find their voice and instigating education reform. Following Chanel’s Teach Us Consent petition, consent education will be mandatory in Australian schools, starting early and continuing until Year 10.
If Chanel is successful, Teach Us Consent will use its funds to work on the implementation of this consent education reform.
Jason Sotiris – SuperTee (Westfield Parramatta, NSW)
Jason Sotiris.
Devoted dad, Jason Sotiris, is bringing a little joy to children in hospital with his free superhero garments. So far, his Supertee charity has given away 8000 garments, which make life easier for hospital staff and bedside parents with their cape that transforms into a bib and openings for tubes.
If Jason is successful, SuperTee will use its funds to cover the cost of 445 Supertee Marvel edition garments for children at the Sydney Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
Karen Tsoumbaras is a beacon of hope for hundreds of young people facing long-term unemployment. In her role as the Employment Education and Training Manager at Project Youth, Karen gently guides people aged 12 to 24 through her program to help them access education that improves their employment prospects.
If Karen is successful, Project Youth will put the funds towards the operational costs of its training and education program, including the purchase of computers, work clothes and tools used by the students.
Social worker, Katrina Ikonomou, is a proud Dharug woman who goes above and beyond to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children in the Inner West. Katrina is the Dharug Clinical Manager at Gunawirra, a community-led organisation where cultural advisers and therapists work together to provide culturally appropriate healing services.
If Katrina is successful, Gunawirra will be able to fund much-needed additional clinician time and invest in training.
The voting period for Westfield Local Heroes has now opened and closes on Monday, August 22. To vote for your chosen finalist, please visit this website: westfield.com.au/local-heroes. Each Westfield centre’s successful hero will be announced on Tuesday, September 13.
*Please Note: The above finalists are those The Greek Herald could identify by their Greek name.If you believe you should be on this list please email us at greek@foreignlanguage.com.au.
Meraki Greek Taverna in the Northern Territory (NT) has won ‘Best International Cuisine’ in the 2022 Gold Plate Awards.
The Awards, which are organised by Hospitality NT, were held at the Darwin Festival’s Sunset Stage and over 500 people attended to enjoy the very best in NT’s hospitality.
Since opening on Smith Street, Darwin City in 2020, Meraki Greek Taverna serves up a range of Greek dishes including popular plates such as saganaki graviera, bakaliaros skordalia, moussaka and souvlaki.
The taverna is also a family affair with the owner, Manolis Tavlarios, working alongside his siblings, mother and head chef, Christos Makrynakis.
In a statement to The Greek Herald, Manolis said he was “very happy for the team” to have been recognised in the Gold Plate Awards.
“We really appreciate your loyal support,” Manolis said in a message to customers.
Meraki Greek Taverna was among a number of other winners on the night with the top Award of the evening, the Gold Plate for Restaurant of the Year, going to Pee Wees by the Point.
Hospitality NT CEO, Alex Bruce, said this year’s Awards “were more inclusive and it was great to see new faces and new businesses taking home prestigious Gold Plates.”
“Our local industry is chock-a-block full of passionate, driven venues and their staff ensuring we will continue to reach new heights in Territory dining and hospitality,” Mr Bruce concluded.
She has made the unthinkable seem ordinary. Vanessa Archontidou is not your typical Greek. She is one of the very few women in the world who have managed to conquer the seven highest peaks on every continent on the planet.
Climber, marketing executive, mother of two and now Ambassador of the European Climate Pact. As Ambassador, Vanessa visited Australia a few weeks ago, wanting to raise awareness of the need for immediate action to tackle climate change.
The bushfires in Australia and Greece, the devastating floods in NSW and across the country are the result of man’s devastating intervention in nature and it is not certain that we now have much time to reverse the situation.
“That’s why I went to Australia. Through the organisation ‘A woman can be,’ which I have founded with four other ladies, our goal is to highlight the challenges associated with climate change,” Vanessa tells The Greek Herald.
“We try to achieve this through missions made up of women. I also took my kids to Australia. In these missions we try, with the photos and videos we bring back, to highlight the issues of climate change in a more adventurous way.
Vanessa took her kids to Australia with her.
“To be able, through the audiovisual material displayed in workshops and events, to discuss in another way the issue of climate change.
“In Australia, we visited the Great Barrier Reef and the oldest rainforest, Daintree, which is essentially a big lung of nature.”
Vanessa arrived with her two children in Sydney and then in a small van, visited Queensland, Cairns, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation, Sydney and Mount Kosciusko in NSW, to fight climate change.
“Australia was a conscious decision. I wanted to make this trip to show the effects that exist from climate change,” she says.
“I was surprised, however, by its natural beauty, the wealth that exists in this country, even within the big cities. Let me give an example.
Vanessa was impressed by Australia’s natural beauty.
“Getting off the plane in Sydney, I expected that I would see a huge city which would be like the big European ones. But it was so green, as I saw it from above, that it made you think that it is a natural paradise.
“When I visited Australia. I was impressed by the way people respect nature. Their behaviour should be an example.”
Signs of climate change and optimism:
This long trip to Australia filled her with images. Images, in which the effect of climate change was visible.
“On the Great Barrier Reef I saw corals that had been altered. The oceans are warming and corals are turning white, which means they are dying. It’s one of Australia’s largest problems,” Vanessa explains.
“On the track of fires, we went through the areas affected in 2019. But nature regenerates and you see green. But what one cannot perceive when one goes for the first time is the lost beauty that was there before the fires.”
Still, Vanessa is not pessimistic about dealing with the effects of climate change.
“Over the last few years I have seen several steps forward which make me optimistic that we can reverse the trend of climate change or finally balance the situation,” she says.
The Greek Australian community and Antarctica:
Of course, during this journey in Australia, Vanessa met a lot of members of the Greek Australian community.
“By chance, in many places on our journey we began to hear Greek. They were expatriates and this timbre made us happy. We also met some Greek expatriates during our trip,” Vanessa explains.
“They had gone on holiday from Melbourne to Queensland. We had a conversation and they told us about how they migrated from Greece to Australia in search of better living conditions.
“This gave me the chance to talk to my children about living conditions in the past in Greece and the need for people to emigrate for a better life.”
The mother of two assures us that she could stay anywhere in Australia.
Vanessa has been impressed by Australia and its animals.
“People live like people. There are gardens in every house and they are very different from living at Zografou, where I live. The whole way they lived is much better than in Greece,” Vanessa says.
But what will she find difficult to forget about this trip?
“The animals we had only seen on television, such as koalas and kangaroos. In fact, one day a kangaroo passed in front of our van,” she says.
“I was also very impressed with Cape Tribulation, which was a piece of pure nature… Also at the Great Barrier Reef a huge, colourful fish that was the size of a pig and really posed with people.”
At the beginning of 2022 and before her trip to Australia, Vanessa also made a trip that few have managed, to Antarctica.
“I stayed for almost a month and there I saw a white planet, like Mars but in white,” she says.
Vanessa has climbed Denali as well.
“What we wanted to do in Antarctica, with the climb to the highest peak in Vincennes, but also crossing the South Poles with skis, was to convey a very important message – that we must act now on the climate.
“We saw signs of climate change. More blizzards than in the past, snowfalls.”
Vanessa also climbed the highest peak in Australia, Kosciusko, with her two children. In other words, she has conquered the seven highest peaks in the world. How did she feel up there?
Vanessa climbed Mt Kosciusko with her children.
“Every time I get to the top I don’t feel anything special because I’m still halfway there. I have to be careful on the descent because that’s where most accidents happen,” she concludes.
“Going down I cry a lot and I get a deep emotion because when you go down you understand that you made it.”
The Dead Puppet Society in Brisbane is set to put a spin on Homer’s Iliad with large-scale puppet characters and props.
Set against the epic violence of the Trojan War, Holding Achilles by David Morton will be a refreshing take on one of the ancient world’s best-known heroes, Achilles, and his relationship with Patroclus.
To make this a reality, the group is currently completing puppets and props for the new show, including a giant bear named Heracles, shields, bows, arrows and spears.
In an interview with ABC News, the Dead Puppet Society’s creative director, David Morton, detailed how it’s “been a treat” to be able to delve into Greek mythology and build puppets using laser-cut shapes of plywood, rubber and metal.
Head of fabrication, Savannah Mojidi, added that she spent weeks working on Achilles’ shield.
“It’s pretty cool, the design came from Homer’s Iliad which is a historical Greek document and once we traced it the laser cutter helped out engraving it,” she said.
“I’ve been making these props for months now; having them sitting on our tables in the workshop and then seeing them on stage coming to life will be exciting.”
The production will premiere as part of Brisbane Festival opening at QPAC on August 29.
Vicky Moscholiou was an iconic Greek folk singer who made her stage debut next to Grigoris Bithikotsis at the Triana club in Greece.
Early Life:
Vicky Moscholiou was born on May 17, 1943 in Metaxourgeio in Athens and lived her childhood years in Aigaleo.
As a 13-year-old, Vicky worked in a factory as a ribbon maker to support her family. Her strict parents, however, do not allow her to work at night.
Her first break came in 1962 through the intervention of her cousin Effie Linda. On Easter Sunday, Vicky made her stage debut next to Grigoris Bithikotsis at the Triana club.
Career:
Two years later, as Vicky was performing at the club, Stavros Xarchakos hears her by chance. He was looking for a new voice to perform the now-legendary song Hatike to feggari in the movie Lola with Nikos Kourkoulos and Jenni Karezi.
It is the beginning of a brilliant career, as countless collaborations follow with almost all the leading composers and lyricists: Stavros Xarchakos, Yiannis Spanos, Giorgos Zambetas, Apostolos Kaldaras, Mikis Theodorakis and Marko Vamvakaris.
A few of her well-known Greek folk songs include The trains that left, The evenings,The emigrants, The archontorebetika, This is how life is, and A night in Larissa.
In the early 1960s, Vicky started concerts with Stavros Xarhakos and Grigoris Bithikotsis all over Greece, while in 1968 she held the first major concert of a Greek artist in Cyprus at her own expense.
Vicky was one of the first in Greece to sing both in night clubs and concerts, and she also sang in the royal courts of Greece, Persia and Jordan.
Personal Life and Death:
In 1967, Vicky married the soccer legend Mimis Domazos, although later they divorced. They had two daughters, Evangelia and Rania.
She died in Athens in 2005 following a two-year battle with cancer, leaving a legacy of significant cultural achievements.
Greek police have found 38 refugees who had been reported stranded on an islet in the Evros River on the border between Greece and Turkey, according to AP News.
One of the female refugees is pregnant. The group told police they are from Syria.
“Since they were located, Greek police forces and other government services have rushed to their aid, to provide healthcare, food and water and to transfer them to an area of temporary accommodation,” police said in a statement.
Η @hellenicpolice βρήκε σε ελληνικό έδαφος τους 38 μετανάστες, 4χλμ νοτιότερα της νησίδας στον #Εβρο, καθώς και μία βάρκα που τους μετέφερε. Είναι σε πολύ καλή κατάσταση, δηλώνουν Σύροι και η έγκυος μεταφέρεται προληπτικά στο νοσοκομείο.
— Νότης Μηταράκης – Notis Mitarachi (@nmitarakis) August 15, 2022
Greek Migration Minister, Notis Mitarachi, added on Twitter that the refugees were in good condition and the pregnant woman was being transferred to hospital out of precaution.
The positive outcome comes after the refugees said they were forced on the islet by Turkish authorities on August 7, according to AlJazeera.
Greek authorities had been notified of their location and activists had made emergency calls on their behalf to police, but officials said in their statement at the time that the refugees were located at a point “outside Greek territory.”
The Evros land border is a frequent crossing point for those wishing to claim asylum in Europe, but many reports have documented violent Greek pushbacks in recent months, as well as incidents where people have been made to cross by Turkish authorities.
The Dormition of the Virgin Mary was celebrated across Greece and Australia on Monday with a number of church services and paniyiria.
On the Greek island of Tinos, Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, attended religious services alongside the Minister of Defence, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, and Chief of the General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros.
The Prime Minister first boarded fast attack craft “Mykonos” and threw a wreath at sea in memory of the crew of cruiser “Elli” sunk by an Italian submarine on August 15, 1940, weeks before the two countries went to war.
-Ρίψη Στεφάνου & απότιση Φόρου Τιμής στην Μνήμη των Πεσόντων του άνανδρου τορπιλισμού του Καταδρομικού ΕΛΛΗ -Αρχιερατική Θεία Λειτουργία & λιτάνευση της Εικόνας της Παναγίας pic.twitter.com/75P2agXJjT
Mitsotakis then attended the celebratory mass at the island’s cathedral.
“We celebrate today the Dormition of the Mother of God and we gather strength and faith to overcome, individually and collectively, the great difficulties…” Mitsotakis said afterwards.
“On this important day for Orthodox Christianity, the great challenge of our country is unity and dedication to the goals of the future, to stand by those with the greatest needs…we will remain faithful to the path we have chosen for a prosperous, self-assured, socially cohesive Greece.”
Από τα πιο μικρά και απομονωμένα ξωκλήσια μέχρι τα μεγάλα προσκυνήματα της εκκλησίας μας η Ελλάδα, η Ορθοδοξία, γιορτάζουμε σήμερα την Κοίμηση της Θεοτόκου. Εύχομαι από καρδιάς σε κάθε Ελληνίδα, σε κάθε Έλληνα απανταχού της γης, Χρόνια Πολλά! pic.twitter.com/zXhzi1vYFp
For her part, Greece’s President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, attended the doxology at the church of Panagia Ekatontapiliani on the Greek island of Paros.
“This year we celebrate this great day for Orthodoxy, longing for the consoling and inspiring protection of the Virgin Mary that we, the Greeks, have associated with love, care for the weak and sensitiveness. I hope these values continue to inspire us,” Sakellaropoulou said at the end of the service.
I have to say I got a bit excited to see the Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou there amongst us 🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/DOxDFz31rt
Elsewhere across Australia, Greek Orthodox people gathered at their local churches for a number of church services and later broke their fast with family gatherings.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia presided over a Divine Liturgy at the Parish of Panagia Soumela in the suburb of East Keilor, Melbourne.
During the service, Archbishop Makarios issued a message to mark the day and said the Dormition of the Theotokos “is indeed a feast and a glorious celebration and not one of mourning, sorrow and pain.”
Present among the large congregation were the Consul General of Greece in Melbourne, Emmanuel Kakavelakis, and Maria Vamvakinou MP, who received an icon from the Archbishop as a gift for her nameday, among many others.
Everyone gathered at the parish hall afterwards for a small feast.
