A 29-year-old man has been charged after he allegedly assaulted Cumberland City Council Mayor, Steve Christou, outside a polling booth at a Merrylands school on Saturday.
Video of the incident posted online shows Cr Christou, in an orange shirt, in a heated verbal and physical altercation with a man in a white shirt and grey shorts.
Cr Christou was allegedly assaulted before bystanders intervened to break up the incident.
Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou (orange shirt) was allegedly assaulted at Fowler Road School at Merrylands. Picture: The Daily Telegraph.
In a statement to The Greek Herald, Cr Christou said he was “feeling good” and thanked all the people concerned about his welfare after the incident.
“I can’t comment too much but it’s very disappointing that a candidate put up to represent the community has to be subjected to this type of behaviour,” Cr Christou said.
“I’m also disappointed that Labor continue to endorse Councillor Ola Hamed, who was standing behind the bloke recording it all and inciting the problem.”
The 29-year-old man will appear in Fairfield Local Court next month.
With an impressive sold-out dance concert held on Sunday, November 5, 2021 at the Parks Theatre in Angle Park, the Greek Lyceum of South Australia marked the 200th Anniversary from the beginning of the Greek Revolution.
The concert titled ‘Footsteps Through Time: A Celebration of Greek History and Independence through dance’ was supported by the state government and showcased ancient, traditional and contemporary Greek dances and choreography performed by the organisation’s students aged from 3 to 21 years old.
In her opening speech, Greek Lyceum of SA Chairperson, Theodora Ekonomopoulos said that the organisation’s vision is to keep strengthening and fostering the young generation’s connection to the Greek community and culture.
“We want to see our organisation grow and the students who are part of it to remain engaged and learn more about dance and culture. This is what makes us proud,” Ms Ekonomopoulos told The Greek Herald.
From L to R: Greek Lyceum of SA dance students George, Poli, Isabella and Patrick
Standing behind the scenes, beside their teachers Alexandra and Marie, dancers Isabella, Poli, George and Patrick said they feel proud for being able to bring history and independence on the stage and help keep the tradition alive.
“Being a part of the culture is great and knowing what your ancestors have been through and what they achieved and being able to show it through dance is amazing,” said George who has been part of the Greek Lyceum dance group for nearly 10 years.
“I can’t speak Greek but I started dancing and it really helped me connect with my own culture. It’s fun and a good way to make friends,” added Isabella.
The organisation currently has 40 students in three different dance groups (junior, intermediate and senior).
“Anyone who is interested in learning about the Greek culture and dance is more than welcome to be part of the Greek Lyceum,” said Ms Ekonomopoulos.
The Cretan Association of Sydney and NSW held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday, December 3 and on the agenda for the night were two topics: 104-year-old war veteran, Alf Carpenter, and a ‘permanent home’ for the Association.
On the first topic, Mr Carpenter, who is one of the the last living ANZAC veterans who fought in the Battle of Crete, was given an honorary life membership of the Cretan Association.
The award will be presented to Mr Carpenter for his service and bravery on behalf of the entire Cretan community.
“It was a really nice and symbolic gesture,” President of the Cretan Association, Terry Saviolakis, tells The Greek Herald.
Following this unanimous decision, discussions at the AGM turned to a potential ‘permanent home’ for the Association as a means of securing its future.
The Cretan Association currently rents a Council Hall in Ashbury for dance lessons and gatherings. The current Cretan House in Marrickville is also regularly used as a gathering and meeting place since it was opened two years ago.
The Cretan House in Marrickville. Photo supplied.
But Mr Saviolakis says the Cretan Association’s committee resolved to finding a more permanent residence as the current facilities “are not really fulfilling our needs as we don’t have anywhere to store our records, plaques and archives.”
“We are currently discussing different options but ultimately, we want this to be on the minds of future committees as well,” he concluded.
The Cretan Association is set to hold its elections in two weeks’ time.
The families of senior police officer, Joanne Shanahan (nee Panagiotou), and mother, Tania McNeill, who were both killed in an Adelaide car crash in April last year, have spoken out today about their grief.
Harrison Kitt, 21, was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing harm by dangerous driving, but was found not guilty by reason of mental incompetence in August.
He will serve a limiting term under mental health supervision instead of a prison sentence.
In response, the McNeill and Shanahan families have said in their victim statements they would forever struggle to come to terms with that fact.
Ms Shanahan’s daughter, Eleni, who was originally intended to travel with her mother that day, said Mr Kitt had created “many victims” with mental illnesses of their own.
“This was not a car accident, it was not an accident at all – it was a crash, and no one else is at fault except one single driver who managed to survive,” Eleni said, according to The Advertiser.
“No matter mental health, there was still a criminal act … I hope that Harrison can take responsibility for his actions.”
Ms Shanahan’s father, Nick Panagiotou, urged Mr Kitt not to seek their forgiveness saying it was “unfair to ask more of us” and “feels like a slap in the face.”
“As much as your family believe you were not to blame, we don’t agree – you were the one driving the car that killed my daughter,” he said.
Joanne’s funeral last year. Photo: Argyro Vourdoumpa.
Marcus Stoinis has opened up about his turbulent sporting career and how Australian cricket legend, Ricky Ponting, helped resurrect his international career.
In an interview with The Courier Mail, Stoinis speaks about how in January 2019 he was whisked up to Canberra to replace Matthew Renshaw in the Test squad against Sri Lanka.
Everything went downhill from there as “a baggy green… never arrived and he has rarely seen a red ball since.” Stoinis also suffered two side strains, made a second-ball duck in the semi-final loss to England and top-scored with 22.
But he says these setbacks helped him develop the ‘scar tissue’ he needed to grow.
“I’ve failed in situations,” Stoinis told the newspaper.
“I didn’t wonder if I’d played my last game (for Australia), but I was definitely wondering how long it was going to take to come back.”
It took 14 months to come back and all the while Stoinis’ good mate, Ricky Ponting, supported him behind the scenes and even purchased the young gun for $980,000 in the Indian Premier League auction.
“It sometimes helps to have that confirmation from such a legend of our game,” Stoinis said in the interview.
Marcus Stoinis shows off the T20 World Cup at the MCG.
Later, Stoinis was also in Australia’s World Cup squad and twice got the team out of jail in the United Arab Emirates — in the World Cup opener against South Africa and then in that epic semi-final against Pakistan.
“You use multiple things to spur you on,” he concluded.
“As athletes you need a bit of (a spur). Sometimes you remember the things that the journos say, you write them down and you add it to the fire in the belly just to keep you going.”
A derelict house in Erskineville, Sydney has sold at auction for $1.31 million, realestate.com.au reports.
The home on Bridge St, which is located in a strict heritage area, was understood to have been occupied by a hoarder who skimped on maintenance and it was uninhabitable.
There was initially little interest in the home as floors were rotting, supports were buckling and ceilings had collapsed in some rooms.
Agent Adrian Tsavalas.
But real estate agent, Adrian Tsavalas, said he was surprised when 16 buyers registered for the Saturday auction.
“Some of the bidders hadn’t even seen the house,” Mr Tsavalas said. “It was a knockdown, but you just couldn’t knock it down because of the conservation area.”
Mr Tsavalas believes the home requires about $500,000 in repairs but it is not yet known what the buyer will do with the property.
A coronial inquest has today heard that a woman’s last words to her family were “I got pains, I got pains” before she died as part of the St Basil’s Fawkner COVID-19 outbreak.
According to The Australian, Androula Aristudou broke down in tears when she explained to the Victorian coroners court the circumstances leading up to her mother’s death in July last year.
Ms Aristudou said the last time she spoke to her 98-year-old mother was via Facetime where she encouraged her mum to “tell the nurse where are your pains to help you.”
Later, Ms Aristudou told the court that her mother was transferred to hospital twice in the space of just one week.
Ms Aristudou’s mum was transferred to hospital twice.
The first time was on July 17 when staff at St Basil’s Fawkner told Ms Aristudou her mother had tested positive to COVID-19. Hospital staff later told Ms Aristudou her mother was “asymptomatic” and on July 19, she was returned to the aged care facility.
Ms Aristudou was told by staff at the facility her mother was “eating, drinking and walking with her frame in the hallway” but despite this improved condition, she was transferred to hospital again for “better care.”
After ringing the hospital directly to find out where he mother had been moved to, Ms Aristudou was told by a nurse over the phone that her mum “was very confused, very weak and that she couldn’t talk.”
Outside St Basil’s Fawkner.
Her mother died the next day on July 26.
In a statement, which was read out by Counsel assisting Peter Rozen QC to the court, Ms Aristudou said “not even animals should be treated like this.”
“The level of care that was received at St Basil’s was very poor and was very disturbing. Due to such an advanced country. I would never thought this would happen,” one part of the statement reads.
The five-week coronial inquest into the deaths of residents at St Basil‘s will hear from about 65 witnesses, including nurses, centre managers and family members of the loved ones who died.
The executive director of Business Sydney, Paul Nicolaou, has written to Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg calling on the government to let age pension recipients earn more.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Nicolaou believes older workers can fill the hospitality vacancies left behind by a shortage of backpackers and international students in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this is only possible if the Federal Government comes to the party.
In his letter, Mr Nicolaou wrote that “currently under Work Bonus, a pensioner can earn up to $300 of employment income a fortnight… without reducing their pension.”
“Increasing the limit would allow pensioners the opportunity to earn more money in this current climate and would help businesses who are struggling to find staff have access to a pool of potential workers,” he continued.
The idea has been backed by a number of hospitality industry leaders including the founder of Doltone House, Paul Signorelli.
Treasurer Frydenberg did not respond to requests for comment.
Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has come a long way in his NBA career. After selling anything he can on the streets of Greece just so he can buy a pair of basketball shoes, he’s now the league’s reigning MVP and one of the best players in the world.
To celebrate his birthday today, The Greek Herald shares its top three facts about the ‘Greek Freak.’
1. Love for Greece:
Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers Thanasis, Kostas and Alexis grew up in poverty in their early days in Greece, where their parents had arrived from Nigeria as immigrants.
The NBA star and his family grew up in the Athenian suburb of Sepolia. He began playing basketball for the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens.
Giannis’ mother and brother Alex gained Greek citizenship in 2021.
In 2013, he was granted Greek citizenship which allowed him to travel to the United States and join the Bucks later that year. His mother and brother Alex gained citizenship in 2021.
In his 2016/17 season for the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis became the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season in the top 20 in all five statistics of total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
Giannis won back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player Awards in 2019 and 2020, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to win two MVPs before turning 26.
Along with his MVP award, he was also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, becoming only the third player after Michael Jordan (1988) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1994) to win both awards in the same season.
In 2021, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first NBA championship since 1971 and was named Finals MVP. The same year, he was selected on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
3. Disney Film:
The Disney+ service has started developing a new feature film about the life of Giannis.
The film will focus on Giannis’ early life and current career. There will be a focus on his early life as the son of Nigerian immigrants in Greece and juggling this conflict to become a leading NBA All-Star.
It is so far unclear if the film will also feature Alex and Kostas, the other two Antetokoumpo brothers.
Casting has begin for the film with the website saying they are looking for young actors to play two versions of Giannis. The first is a 13-15 year old who will play Giannis in his early teens. The second is a slightly older Giannis, depicting The Greek Freak’s rise to stardom.
The new Director of the British Museum, George Osborne, has spoken of the possibility of returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece for a limited time in an interview published by The Times on Friday.
In the article titled, ‘It’s right to be proud of the British Museum,’ Mr Osborne discussed at length the current issues of “awakening” and the removal of monuments related to the slave trade in Britain.
“Certainly there are those who question our right to exist,” Mr Osborne wrote, adding “they did it in 1753 and they do it again in 2021.”
“Of course, there are those who demand the return of items that they think we have no right to keep. This is not new either. Lord Byron thought that the Elgin marbles should be returned to the Parthenon. Our answer is no.”
Instead, the former British finance minister suggested the museum could consider lending the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece with the corresponding guarantees for their safe preservation and their return.
“We are open to lending our items wherever they can take care of them and ensure their safe return – something we do every year, including in Greece,” he wrote.
This article comes just after the visit of Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in London last month where he spoke with his UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, about the repatriation of the Marbles. Mr Johnson said the issue was a matter for the British Museum.
