Some 150 recognised refugees have been transferred from Victoria Square in downtown Athens to reception facilities in Skaramangas and Schisto in western Attica, Greece.
Men, women and children had camped at the square after they were forced out of camps on the islands due to the recent policy of the Migration Ministry to stop providing refugees with recognised status with accommodation and food.
Men, women and children had camped at the square after they were forced out of camps on the islands. Photo: Efsyn.
The policy implemented since June 1, has created impasses as the refugees are forced to leave accommodation structures and seek a home on their own.
According to the Migration Ministry, 2,144 refugees left the island of Lesvos between June 5-29 and another 218 in the first days of July.
Migration Minister, Notis Mitarakis, posted on Twitter after the transfer operation from the square and said: “All refugees have left Victoria Square for temporary accommodation, thanks to the actions of the migration ministry’s first reception service and Greek police.”
Αποχώρησαν όλοι οι πρόσφυγες από την Πλ. Βικτώριας σε προσωρινά καταλύματα. Χάρη στις ενέργειες της Ελ. Αστυνομίας & της Υπηρεσίας Πρώτης Υποδοχής του Υπ. Μετανάστευσης & Ασύλου. Και παρά την προσπάθεια αλληλέγγυων, να εκμεταλλευτούν τον ανθρώπινο πόνο για δημιουργία εντυπώσεων. pic.twitter.com/JuKJZNuuFD
He referred to solidarity activists saying that they “have come to the square to exploit human suffering in order to create certain impressions.”
According to police, the operation of transferring the refugees’ from camps was without incidents and police had to persuade them. However, on Saturday night, tensions were high when police tried to remove the refugees from the square.
Police blamed the activists for the incidents, detained 20 of them, and later placed four under arrest.
Back in the 1950’s, Victoria’s illegal gambling industry was taking off at a time when police around the state were bribed to look the other way.
The same can’t be said for Greek Australian Nick Cecil, 90, who became Victoria’s first undercover police officer, infiltrating illegal bookmaking syndicates while masquerading as a wandering busker.
It was a job Nick actually put his hand up for willingly.
Former Chief Commissioner, Mick Miller, was lecturing new police at the St Kilda Road Depot one day about the difficulties of infiltrating the big clubs that ran huge gambling dens. Following the talk, the brash and bright Nick stepped forward to say: ‘‘I can get in.’’
Former undercover cop Nick Cecil at home. Credit: Joe Armao.
It was not an idle boast. Back then, Victoria Police was filled with taller-than-average men of Australian or British descent, which made Nick an oddity as he was of Greek heritage. His father, Harry, left Greece by sailing ship for Canada but returned to fight for his country in World War I. He eventually settled in Yarraville to run a fish shop.
Nick was immediately seconded to Miller’s squad and sent to the baccarat games posing as a punter mingling with notorious gangsters such as Normie Bradshaw, who remained blissfully unaware their fellow gambler was a policeman.
“I met with one of the guys I knew who was a gambler and we got into the clubs together,” Nick says in the Naked City podcast.
“We did a raid on Bradshaw’s house one day and I went to go out the back door and he said, ‘I’ve got a dog out there. If you shoot it, I’ll shoot you.’ There were some pretty hair-raising raids and interesting innovations that these gamblers would use.”
One such example was when Nick wanted to trace a network of bookies who received their daily odds by telephone from a Flinders Lane pricing agency. Nick took the counting device from a seized pinball machine and connected it to the solenoid in a telephone so that when it was clipped to a phone wire it recorded the numbers as dialed.
‘‘We were able to knock off at least 30 SPs because of that,’’ Nick says.
Later in his career, Nick was seconded to the Homicide Squad to work on ethnic murders, investigated arson and built up an impressive network of informers – one was a Greek man who wouldn’t talk to other police. When asked why, he said: ‘‘Nick, you are Greek. I want to see you kick on.’’
A clear message of support from the Greek community for a Greek Australian who played a vital role in bringing down corruption and crime in Victoria.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios made a historic visit to Canberra over the weekend, marking the first time in over two decades an Archbishop has served a liturgy in the local St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
“If I had known, I would have come from the first Sunday I was here in Australia,” His Eminence said in a speech during the liturgy. “Now that I learnt this, I hastened to come.”
Among the dozens of faithful who attended the church service were the Ambassador of Greece to Australia, Mr George Papacostas, the High Commissioner of Cyprus, Mrs Martha Mavrommatis, and the President of the Greek Community of Canberra, Mr John Loukadellis.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios held a church service at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Canberra.
A special luncheon was held at the Hellenic Club after the church service.
Parish priest, Father Petros, was also promoted and recognised by His Eminence during the service as ‘Protopresvytero’ or High Priest.
The historic day was concluded with a luncheon at the Hellenic Club which according to Mr Loukadellis, was a huge success.
“Thank you to everyone who attended and made this such a special day. Thank you to our beloved community for your continued love and support of the Greek Orthodox Community & Church of Canberra committee and our St Nicholas Church,” Mr Loukadellis tells The Greek Herald.
Official opening of the new ‘Meals for the Poor’ initiative in Queanbeyan, Canberra:
The official opening of the new ‘Meals for the Poor’ initiative.
During his visit, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios also visited the town of Queanbeyan and officiated a service at the Greek Orthodox Parish of Saint Dimitrios.
This was followed by the official opening of the new ‘Meals for the Poor’ initiative, which aims to support those most in need in the local community.
His Eminence urged the faithful to embrace this new charitable effort of the Church.
Services and support for tenants in the two public housing estates under lockdown in Victoria is ramping up, with thousands of meals, supplies and personal care packs delivered in the past 24 hours.
Among those offering help is CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), Kon Karapanagiotidis, who announced the Centre has partnered with Victorian Trades Hall Council to provide food for the families in lockdown.
UPDATEWe are proud to stand with Victorian Trades Hall Council at the public housing towers this afternoon to confirm…
“Our Catering Social Enterprise, ASRC Catering, will deliver thousands of meals as part of the Moving Feast network emergency response to this crisis…” Kon said in a Facebook post.
“It will be refugees we employ at the ASRC, through our Catering Social Enterprise, that will be making meals for people in the public housing towers, many who are refugees too. Food that is culturally inclusive, appropriate & nutritious, as these communities deserve.”
Last night 500 packs of essential supplies and over 3,000 meals were delivered to residents. Many thousands more will be delivered today and tomorrow with the help of ASRC.
UPDATE
Here’s an update from @ASRC1 Catering kitchen in Fitzroy North of how we are supporting the families in public housing towers & how you can help. These families are our neighbours, part of our community, they are us and we are them. pic.twitter.com/tDYsXYuGIJ
“We have our first delivery at 8am tomorrow. Right now our chefs are making a beautiful Malay, yellow vegetarian curry,” Kon said on Twitter.
“We, like you, are really worried about the families there and we’re trying to do our little bit to make this lockdown a little less traumatic for people.”
According to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, a dedicated 1800 number has also been set up and every tenant is being contacted to check in and assess their needs.
“We know this is tough on our public housing residents and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to provide support – whether that’s food, mental health support or just help paying the bills,” the Premier said at a press conference today.
So far 398 residents have been tested across the two estates, with testing to continue to be a priority over the next few days.
The Greek Community of Melbourne has launched an online course, ‘Modern Greek for Late Beginners,’ for students aged 10-18 who want to start learning Greek at a later stage in their life.
Running every Wednesday for ten weeks from July 15, 2020, the online course will provide students with the opportunity to develop their communication skills in Modern Greek, and their knowledge and understanding of the Greek language and culture.
“This elementary level will introduce the Greek alphabet, greetings and introductions, and how to describe various daily activities,” a GOCM statement reads.
Further outcomes at the end of the course include: being able to identify and use numbers and concepts of time, ask for and give directions, and identify specific grammatical expressions.
No prior knowledge of Greek is required. To attend the online sessions all you need is a link provided via email, a device with internet connection and a webcam.
Classes will be limited to 10 students and will run for 2 hours every week. Cost is $250. To enrol click here.
An Olympic Airways museum will be built inside the site of the former Athens airport at Hellinikon, housed inside the airline hangar, as part of an 8 billion euro development project.
Bulldozers have already started demolishing the airport buildings and structures inside the 2 million square metre lot that used to be the capital’s seaside airport.
The Olympic Airways hangar was saved from demolition thanks to the efforts of the Olympic Airways Aviation Employees Cultural Center, as it was named a cultural heritage monument by the Ministry of Culture.
An Olympic Airways museum will be built inside the site of the former Athens airport at Hellinikon.
The building will be housing 80 years of civil aviation history and the history of the emblematic airline that was owned by Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
There are about 23,000 historical objects that have been collected throughout the life of the former Athens airport at Ellinikon and they will be exhibited in the museum, with the vast majority of them belonging to Olympic Airways.
Artifacts in the museum will include old flight information boards.
Artifacts range from flying attendant uniforms to expensive silverware that was used to serve passengers, and old flight information boards to cockpit indicators that pilots and support staff used.
The flight attendant and pilot uniforms were creations of the greatest fashion designers of each era, such as Jean Dessès, Coco Chanel, Pierre Cardin, Giannis Tseklenis and others.
Along with them, the priceless gold-embossed desk of Aristotle Onassis, as well as that of his son Alexander, will also be exhibited.
The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his decision to fly to Greece via Bulgaria in order to “COVID-proof” his property there before he potentially rents it out.
With a towel draped over his shoulder, Stanley Johnson told reporters outside his villa on Mount Pelion that he wasn’t “100% up to speed” with the British public’s reaction since he went to Greece for “a quiet time, to organise the house.”
“I’ve just got one week to get everything organised. I’ve got a whole lot of instructions about how to make the place COVID-proof,” Mr Johnson added, noting he planned to return to the UK on July 10.
The trip has met with criticism for having violated, at the very least, the spirit of Greece’s coronavirus restrictions as well as the current travel guidance in the UK.
The Greek government, which has been lauded for the country’s comparatively low number of confirmed coronavirus cases and eager to salvage the summer tourist season, extended its ban on flights from the UK until July 15 amid concerns over Britain’s still-high infection rates.
Many also think that the elder Johnson’s trip to Greece via the Bulgarian capital of Sofia went against the overarching advice of Britain’s Foreign Office, which currently recommends avoiding ”all but essential” travel.
“All I can say is that it’s always a great joy to me, it’s such a great joy to me to arrive in Greece,” Mr Johnson concluded.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would not accept strict EU conditions on the use of coronavirus emergency aid, in a sign of the difficult negotiations ahead for the bloc’s leaders on its proposed €750 billion recovery fund.
“Greece has matured a lot since the days of its debt crisis… and we want to do our own reforms. There will be no return to the sort of EU oversight imposed during the debt crisis,” Mitsotakis said.
The former “troika” of Greece’s creditors, the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, had “forced (Greece) to do reforms” even though “there was never really any domestic buy-in.”
A six-monthly review of economic performance carried out by the European Commission was sufficient, Mitsotakis said.
“I don’t think any additional strict conditionality is necessary,” he said, adding that every southern EU member state regarded it as “politically unacceptable.”
Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands are opposed to the Commission’s plans for the recovery fund and are pushing for so-called “conditionality” to be applied to EU money to ensure it is spent to improve competitiveness. German chancellor Angela Merkel, who supports the recovery fund, has said the money must be used to “future proof” the countries’ economies.
Greece will receive a total of €32 billion out of the €750 billion fund, if the Commission proposal is enacted upon.
The Adelaide Central Market has played a big role in property mogul Theo Maras’ life since he was a youngster, Adelaide Now reports.
After migrating to Australia from Greece when he was four years old, Mr Maras would visit the market with his family to embrace his multicultural roots and source the best fresh produce.
“At the age of four-and-a-half, I have very clear, clear memories … of coming here on Saturdays and buying all the continental products,” Mr Maras says.
“Feta cheese, where else could you buy it from? Where else can you buy olives or pecorino?
“For my family it was an eclectic place … I still come here every Saturday … we buy fresh.”
Theo Maras is the new chair of the Central Market Authority. Maras, pictured with Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor. Photo: Tait Schmaal/Adelaide Now
The founder and chairman of development company the Maras Group will next month take the reins of the Adelaide Central Market Authority on a three-year contract.
His vision is to continue to transform it into one of the biggest and best markets in the world. He succeeds businessman Nick Begakis who was chairman in 2014 and elected again to the position in 2017.
Mr Maras, also past chairman of the Rundle Mall Management Authority, says his priorities include ensuring the market is easy to access and enjoy, as well as making sure traders continually boost sales.
It means supporting traders get through the construction phase of the $400 million Adelaide Central Market Arcade redevelopment, due to start in May next year.
Adelaide City Council plans to build a 35-storey residential, commercial and retail building to make the precinct “world-class fresh produce market and visitor attraction”.
Adelaide Central Market. Supplied: JP Media.
The tower will include specialty retail, food and beverage areas, a central public hall, public rooftop gardens, a 249-room hotel, 210 apartments, a supermarket, offices, 260 car parks and a childcare.
Mr Maras was the chair of the project’s Design Review Panel, using more than four decades of building and construction knowledge to get the best possible outcome for the city. The construction phase will not impact traders in the food hall, Mr Maras, who drove a major regeneration of the city’s East End during the 1980s and 1990s, says.
He has suggested dropping parking prices at the market, with support from the council, to continue to bring people to the market during the build.
“Traders are concerned, and I don’t blame them, about what is going to happen during the course of construction,” Mr Maras says.
“And my clear knowledgeable, passionate attitude is there will not be a problem.
“We will look at making is easy, accessible and appealing for people to come in to shop and stay.”
He plans to support arcade traders who had been given about four year notice that a redevelopment was on the cards.
“I’ll give you a little bit of a hint – right at the middle of the arcade as you walk through there is a bloke that says lottery tickets who only has a little stand,” Mr Maras says.
“When the demolition happens, we will put a wall up and he can go in front of it so people aren’t looking at a blank wall – we have something there.
“We will look at every opportunity, every square inch (for traders to relocate into the food hall).”
He says it is “absolutely perfect” timing for the redevelopment, with the project set to bring jobs and business opportunities to help the city recover from COVID-19.
There is set to be no delays to the project despite the pandemic.
“What happens here will be for the next 50 years, so I hope we can do something that we are proud of and that people want and love,” Mr Maras says.
Tom Hanks’ war films are some of his most critically acclaimed pieces of work, with the honorary Greek citizen looking to add ‘Greyhound’ to the list.
Written and starring in the new war drama, Greyhound is set during Second World War, bringing the Battle of the Atlantic to life on-screen like never before.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming film.
What is Greyhound about?
Set in 1942, the film tells the story of tells the story of a newly-appointed naval captain Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) heading to the front for the first time, tasked with commanding a convoy of 37 Allied ships across the treacherous North Atlantic while being hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats.
The ultimate test of endurance for Krause and his crew, the journey will require the captain to confront his personal demons as well as the enemies on the open waters.
The film is based upon the novel “The Good Shepherd” by C S Forester, written in 1955. While fictional, the film takes inspiration from real events that took place across the six-year Battle of the Atlantic, which claimed the lives of 80,000 allied servicemen.
When and where will it be released?
Intended to be released in cinemas in June 2020, the coronavirus pandemic caused the film creators to strike a $70 million deal with Apple for the films release.
Instead of appearing on the silver screen, people will be able to watch Greyhound exclusively on Apple TV+ on Friday 10th July.
Due to a temporary rule change, Greyhound will still be eligible for Academy Awards despite foregoing a theatrical release.
