Popular Greek actor Kostas Voutsas passed away on Wednesday at the age of 88 after being in the Intensive Care Unit of the Attikon University Hospital in Athens. The 88 year old was admitted into hospital on 7th February, with symptoms of a lung infection.
Kostas Voutsas, who was born on New Years Eve in 1931, was one of Greece’s best loved comedians, celebrating a brilliant career of over 65 years in the theatre, cinema, and on television. He first appeared on stage at the historic Acropol Theatre in downtown Athens at the age of 21.
He
made his screen debut in 1953 in “O Babas Ekpaidevetai” (Ο Μαμπάς Εκπαιδεύεται) produced by Finos Films. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, often referred to as the
“Golden Era of Greek Cinema”, he starred in numerous movies, mostly comedies
and musicals, and has co-starred with most of the great Greek movie icons.
During his acting career,
spanning almost seven decades, he has starred in about 70 movies, 30 of which
were produced by Finos Film, the iconic Greek film production company. Finos
Film played a major role in shaping his career and making him a household name
in Greece.
In 1984 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Kostas Voutsas has been married four
times. He has a daughter, Sandra Voutsa, from his first marriage to the actress
and singer, Erika Broyer, and two daughters from his second marriage to Theano Papaspyrou; Theodora Voutsa, who is an actress,
and Nikoleta Voutsa. He has a stepson, the actor Anthimos Ananiades,
from his third marriage to the former model, Evi Karagianni. He married his present wife, Aliki Katsavou
in 2016 and they have a three year old son, Fivo. He claims that Fivo has
gifted him with an extra 20 years of life.
His daughter Theodora posted on Facebook last Sunday that her father devotes his life to making them laugh and helping them see the happy side of life.
The Greek Herald sends their condolences to his family in this difficult time.
Specific measures, which will come into force if Greece possesses a case of the coronavirus, have been announced by government spokesman Mr Stelios Petsas.
In particular, he emphasised that the government will proceed with legislative action that will include five key articles:
The first article deals with measures to prevent, monitor and restrict the spread of the disease. These include, inter alia:
– Conducting preventive checks on entry and exit points through the country by air, sea, rail or road links with countries with high prevalence of the disease.
– Temporary restriction, in whole or in part, of air, sea, rail or road links to countries with high prevalence of the disease.
– The temporary suspension of the operation of schools and all kinds of educational establishments, places of worship, theatres, cinemas, venues for sports and arts, businesses, public services and organisations, and generally enclosed public places.
– Restricting the movement of vehicles.
The second article deals with personnel issues to counter the spread of coronavirus. These include, inter alia:
– The possibility of moving medical and nursing staff as well as EKAB staff.
– The possibility of recruiting, by way of derogation from all existing provisions, health, medical and nursing staff.
The third article deals with public procurement issues and in particular the direct market, by way of derogation from all the provisions in force, sanitary material, personal protective measures and medicines.
The fourth article deals with issues of forced disposal in the State, private clinics and clinics, Intensive Care Units (ICUs), hotels, private housing services, other public or legal entities of public law.
The fifth article relates to the Ministry of Health’s extraordinary financial grant to cover the emergency needs of medical, nursing and healthcare personnel, to purchase materials and to take protective measures.
As Mr. Petsas pointed out, “preventive measures are being taken while preparing for the possible outbreaks and the general consequences they may have. The Ministry of Health is on alert in this regard and has already taken a series of steps. 13 reference hospitals have been designated, with all hospitals, Health Centres, EKAB, EODY, the Committee for Infectious Diseases and Specialists on standby.”
Greece, as a neighbour of Libya that is directly affected by developments there and as a factor for stability in the region, also has a role and a say in the situation in Libya, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias stressed during his meeting in Geneva with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
These developments “include illegal acts that incite conflict and undermine peace and security in the region,” Dendias noted in a written statement after the meeting.
He also expressed Greece’s strong support for the efforts made to arrive at a political resolution of the Libyan crisis, led by Ghassan Salamé, Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The foreign minister also discussed with Guterres the next steps in the Cyprus issue, stressing that “we strongly support the efforts of the UN Secretary General to resume talks aimed at a just and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem, based on the relevant UN Security Council decisions and the acquis communautaire.”
In his statement posted on the website of the Foreign Ministry, Dendias did not make any mention whether he talked with Guterres about the country’s objections to the posting of the geographical coordinates of the maritime boundaries of the Turkey-Libya agreement, though.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said his government is backing Greece’s request to make emergency spending on the migrant crisis exempt from official fiscal calculations.
He also pledged Tuesday to help boost investment by French firms in energy and defense ventures in Greece.
“Greece is clearly on the right (path) and that’s good news for everybody,” Le Maire said after talks in Athens with his Greek counterpart, Christos Staikouras.
Greece emerged from eight years of international bailouts in 2018 and is scrambling to rebuild public services, its military, and major infrastructure projects after years of funding cuts.
Le Maire, whose country is credited with helping keep Greece in the 19-country eurozone during the crisis years, said France and keen to invest.
“There is cooperation and friendship — a friendship between the heads of state, at the level of ministers, and there is a friendship between out peoples,” Le Maire said.
Greece wants to redirect returned bond profits from European central banks to public investment programs and wants to make 280 million euros ($305 million) in emergency spending on the migrant crisis exempt from calculations for budget targets set by bailout lenders. Le Maire said he backed both requests.
His visit came a day after France’s minister of defense, Florence Parly, visited Athens and said the two countries were on track to finalizing a major defense cooperation agreement in June — involving an increased number of joint exercises in the Aegean Sea and assistance in upgrading French-made military equipment, including fighters, helicopters, and navy frigates.
Greece, wary of neighbour Turkey over oil-and-gas drilling rights in the region, recently concluded a similar agreement with the United States.
In unusually blunt remarks, Parly accused Turkey of “calling the stability and security of the region into question.”
President of UEFA Aleksander Ceferin says it has agreed to help Greece overhaul its professional leagues to curb violence and corruption.
Ceferin met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday and signed a seven-page agreement to provide assistance to the Greek Football Federation.
“UEFA will produce within three months from signing this declaration of intent, a holistic study for the improvement and upgrade of Greek professional football,” the document, seen by The Associated Press, said.
The study, it said, will include “tailor-made proposals” to restructure the league organization, respond to violence and “defamatory statements,” and safeguard the “integrity of the game to combat the threat of match-fixing, corruption, and doping.”
Successive governments have struggled for decades to contain violence surrounding Greece’s game, caught between the powerful influence of club owners and UEFA rules that do not allow direct government interference in the sport.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, receives a gift from UEFA President Aleskander Ceferin, during their meeting in Athens, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The recent introduction of overseas referees for major games and VAR technology has been credited with improving the quality of the league. But the changes have failed to eliminate match-related violence, attacks against referees, and ongoing allegations of corruption.
The prime minister last month warned he was willing to request expulsion of Greece’s teams from European competition and even suspend the league unless major clubs sign up to the reform plan.
“We have taken a decision to clean up Greek football for good and we are very much looking forward to your assistance in this process,” Mitsotakis told Ceferin. “Greeks are very much in love with the sport and, frankly, what we’ve seen doesn’t do justice to the product that we have.”
Ceferin, who was joined in Athens by FIFA vice president Greg Clarke, said he was glad to receive assurances that the government would provide only a supporting role in the reforms.
“We are glad that the government is joining this common effort,” Ceferin said. “I do think that football will solve (the problems) by itself — but with our help.”
With questions circulating Nick Kyrgios’ absence from two recent hardcourt tournaments in the United States, Lleyton Hewitt has revealed that the Australian has been recovering after being physically and mentally tolled from the Australian Open.
Kyrgios stunned fans across Australia when he kick-started Tennis Australia’s bushfire campaign and played out a fourth round blockbuster against Rafael Nadal at last month’s Australian Open.
Captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team, Lleyton Hewitt, believes Kyrgios needs to be cautious with how many events he participates in, making sure not to overwork himself in the lead up to a grand slam tournament.
Hewitt stressed that Kyrgios should only play when he knows he’s ready, in order to keep his physical and mental toll in check.
“He entered Delray Beach and New York before that but after how many matches and big matches he played at the Australian Open he had to withdraw from New York — he wasn’t ready to go then,” Hewitt told The Age.
“And I think that’s really important for him mentally and physically throughout the year, depending on how he is feeling. Last week in Delray Beach he went there and tried to play, he wasn’t quite ready.
“Now he is in Acapulco, I think it is going to be such an important time for him to pick and choose and the fortunate thing for him is sometimes coming into a Davis Cup tie you want guys to play a lot of matches.
“Nick, on the other hand, is a guy who the ball striking is gonna be there. It is about him being mentally and physically ready to compete and I think this is good for him.”
The comments made by Hewitt followed Kyrgios’ recent outrage over the scheduling of clay court tournaments.
“If you think having all these clay court tournaments whilst we are in the midst of the hard court season is good for the sport and the future of tennis continue to argue,” Kyrgios responding to a post from a user on Twitter.
Sydney Olympic unveiled their new jersey and sponsors, interviewing the head coach and men’s and women’s players, at their season launch held on Monday February 24 at the Canterbury Leagues Club.
MC of the event Andy Paschalidis and Management CEO John Boulous gave a mention to the ongoing support provided by the Greek media, particularly the Greek Herald, on helping to expand the national reach of the NSW NPL team.
“We would like to thank sports editor Peter Takis for his consistent support in driving Sydney Olympic and communicating that to the masses.”
“We would also like to congratulate The Greek Herald on their relaunch event that took place a few weeks ago,” John Boulous said.
Greek Herald Publishers Elaine Kintis and Dimitra Skalkos with John Boulous and Damon Hanlin
Speaking about men’s pre-season and preparation heading into the new season, head coach Terry Palapanis revealed that the men’s team hasn’t had desired pre-season results, but are readily prepared for the start of the season this Sunday.
“I said to the boys (players) last week that I just don’t like preseason, because you’re waiting and waiting for round one, but they (the coaching staff) have got a spring in their step as well as the players…. We’ll be ready, the boys will be ready for round one against Wollongong Wolves,” Terry Palapanis assured.
With a few new players signed for the first team, Palapanis hopes that they can start the season off well with a victory against last seasons champions Wollongong Wolves.
Andy Paschalidis speaking with head coach Terry Palapanis on preparation for the season start. Photo: Peter Oglos
Sydney Olympic director Damon Hanlin spoke of the clubs history in the NSW NPL, hoping to remain a strong masthead for the Australian football community.
“The longer this club survives, the better for everybody… I think that NPL football has a lot to offer the Australian football community and I’m a big advocate for it, so thank the Canterbury Leagues Club and the Board for joining us this season and for hopefully many more.
“My vision for you guys (players) is obviously always to win and win as much as we can. For the men, I’m going to set a hard task, but one that I want. Not just to go past the Round of 32 in the FFA Cup, not just past the Round of 16, but I want to be the first NSW NPL club to win it.
“I think everybody in this room has the capability to do it, so go and do it this year,” director Damon Hanlin said.
Andy Paschalidis spoke with women’s team captain Teresa Polias about her playing style and taking up a leadership role within the team.
“Everyone has responsibility and I wouldn’t say I’m above anyone at all, we all learn from each other. I learn from the others just as much as they learn from me and maybe just the fact I’ve been around a little longer I might know a couple of extra tricks but I certainly don’t see myself as the only leader.
Andy Paschalidis speaking with members of the Sydney Olympic Women’s team. Photo: Peter Oglos
“Something I’ve learnt over the years is it’s not just about the talent in the team, but I think it’s what goes on in the dynamics away from the field that really makes us a team.”
“They’ll (Wollongong Wolves) probably be strong and fit, I’ve heard they’ve been training a lot, but I think honestly on our day we will beat them anyway. We also have APIA and then Marconi afterwards, so we have a tough few weeks and the same goes, I think we’re strong enough to beat all three of them.”
John Boulous thanked returning sponsors from the previous season for their continued support, as well as introduced new partners of the club including the Canterbury Leagues Club, who will act as a sleeve sponsor for the season.
Andy Paschalidis recognised the Canterbury Leagues Club’s support in donating $2,500 to Heartbeat of Football, a not-for-profit organisation aimed at promoting healthy hearts in sport via player education, the minimisation of health risks and the installation of defibrillators on all sporting fields around the country.
Sydney Olympic’s first match of the season will be against Wollongong Wolves, taking place on Sunday March 1 at Belmore Sports Ground at 4pm.
Barbara
Arrowsmith-Young, also known as “the woman who changed her brain”, is the
founder of the ‘Arrowsmith Program’, which is being integrated into schools to
assist children with learning difficulties.
Melbourne’s
Oakleigh Grammar, in the predominantly ‘Greek area’ of Oakleigh, is one of the
schools that has implemented the program.
Entering
its 7th year of operation, the school has seen students travel from
all over Melbourne and inter-state to participate in the program, and had
students recall the program as “life changing”.
Ms
Arrowsmith-Young spoke exclusively to The Greek Herald ahead of her new book-launch
and tour around Australia, visiting the schools that have successfully
implemented her program.
What is
the Arrowsmith Program?
The Arrowsmith Program is based on the application of neuroscientific research, and for 40 years has worked to help students strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying a range of learning difficulties. The goal is to help students become effective, confident, and self-directed learners.
It was founded by Barbara Arrowsmith Youth, in 1978, who herself was born
with learning difficulties.
In 2019, research findings were assessed by a number of scientists who
determined “the results demonstrated significant positive changes in cognitive
domains such as long-term memory, visual working memory, efficiency and speed
of cognitive processing”. In addition, skills in reading fluency, word reading,
spelling, math fluency and computation were all extracted from the results of
the program.
There are 19 cognitive functions that the program targets, and each
student is assessed to understand which specific area they are below average
in. This allows them to individually complete certain cognitive tasks that will
strengthen these specific areas.
“It creates an individual learning profile. It will say for this student, these 6 areas out of 19 are the critical areas that are impacting leaning, and here’s the programs that student needs to address those difficulties. Every student is on their own individualised program…at the end of the year they do a reassessment and if something has now come up average, and it’s no longer a problem, we drop that out of the program,” said Ms Arrowsmith-Young.
“The idea is we’re building strength in these cognitive functions to get
them up to a level where they can learn like every other student.”
There is one teacher
to every ten students, and each class has an Arrowsmith educational aide.
Teachers undergo Arrowsmith Training in Brisbane, once a year. Teachers across
the globe also have the opportunity to come to Canada to train with Ms Arrowsmith-Young.
Teachers are constantly supported through an online database, which tracks the
progress of each individual student and offers guidance for teachers on how to
meet the needs of each student.
The role of the
teacher is not to teach one single lesson to a group of students, it is to
support, encourage and monitor the learning of each individual student.
“The student has to do
the work. The teacher can’t do it for them…the teacher is more of a
facilitator, a coach and they have to ensure that the student is doing the
exercise correctly,” said Ms Arrowsmith-Young.
Students jump between
computer tasks, written tasks, auditory activities, or whatever area they
specifically struggle with.
Impact of Arrowsmith Program at Oakleigh Grammar
Oakleigh Grammar is achieving “excellent results” in the Arrowsmith
Program, according to Ms Arrowsmith-Young, which constituted her visit.
“All the schools that come to this program with integrity…with a desire
to make a difference in the lives of students with learning difficulties, and
Oakleigh absolutely is committed to doing that. They have excellent teachers,
the administration…it’s really a great home for the work and they’re getting
excellent results,” said Ms Arrowsmith-Young.
Oakleigh have 109 students enrolled in the Arrowsmith Program. The
students certainly must commit and work very hard, according to Head of the
Arrowsmith Program at Oakleigh Grammar, Mr Wayne Stagg.
“Our students work
incredibly hard. For change to occur, they have to. Active engagement in each
cognitive exercise is critical to success. We expect 30-45 minutes of
concentration four times a day (more for adult students), plus homework five
nights a week, and weekend work,” said Mr Stagg.
“For our students,
this provides comfort, security and peace of mind knowing that they are in a
classroom where teachers and other students understand their learning needs. It
also creates a happy, calm, but hard-working learning environment.”
At Oakleigh Grammar,
students complete 40 cognitive lessons over a 2-week cycle. This is considered
a full-time load for the Arrowsmith Program, as students are also combined into
mainstream classes.
“I love stepping into
these classrooms because there’s hard work going on, but it’s such a positive
atmosphere,” said Ms Arrowsmith-Young.
“As they start to
master things, they start to feel good about themselves in the learning
environment. And then, usually 2 months into the program, they start to
experience cognitive change.”
Ms Arrowsmith-Young
also engages in research on the positive mental wellbeing impacts on its
students. Depression, anxiety and other mental impacts associated with learning
difficulties stem off a lack of confidence of students with learning
difficulties, which Ms Arrowsmith-Young believes can only truly be combatted
through the student truly overcoming the obstacles they face.
“You change the cognitive functioning and then the person has the experience that allows them to feel confident. Its confidence based on competence. They are competent and they can do things effectively in the world, which leads to confidence,” said Ms Arrowsmith-Young.
“Through this work,
we’re fundamentally changing the cognitive capacity of the learner, which
allows them to learn. That leads to reduction in anxiety, depression, increase
in confidence, wellbeing, sense of happiness, which is what the research is
showing.”
How did the Arrowsmith-Young Program come to be
Barbara
Arrowsmith-Young was diagnosed with learning difficulties in Grade 1, in the
late 1950s. Her teacher explained to her mother she had a “mental block”, as
learning difficulties had not been adequately researched at the time.
“My mother was told,
‘don’t have high expectations for your daughter, her education is going to be a
struggle, she’s not going to amount to much’. It felt like a life sentence,” explains
Barbara.
She never considered
school a place of joy, and developed issues with anxiety and depression as a
result.
Barbara says when students
with learning difficulties are put in a “mainstream” learning environment, they
develop methods to compensate for their learning difficulties without actually
addressing the issue. This is what she learnt to do through memory and
repetitiveness, rather than understanding and learning.
“Students with
learning difficulties, myself I was one, we learn compensation. We learn ways
to make things easier for ourselves, because things are really challenging,”
It wasn’t until she
read the book, ‘The Man That Shattered The World: The History of a Brain
Wound’, by Alexander Luria, where she deeply resonated with the protagonist
explaining the effects of his brain injury.
At this point, she was
26 and still could not tell time. Out of her desperate fear of never being
employed, due to her learning disability, she decided to investigate the
science behind brain injuries and came across research on neuroplasticity. Put
simply, when tested on rats, this research found when brains were put under
stimulation they changed functionally and physiologically.
Ms Arrowsmith-Young
was the first person to create neuroplasticity exercises for the human brain,
which in turn, created the Arrowsmith Program.
She was also the first
student of the Arrowsmith Program, and cured her own learning disabilities.
Hence the title of her book, ‘The Woman Who Changed Her Brain’.
New book
Barbara’s new book
launch is a continuation of her first book, “The Woman Who Changed Her Brain”.
This first book was a mix of inspiration and science, where she introduced the
Arrowsmith Program to the world, through her scientific research and her
personal overcoming’s of her learning difficult through the program she
invented herself.
Barbara’s new book is
an extended version of this book, which now includes the scientific research, results
and case studies of the Arrowsmith Program in all the schools it has been
implemented in.
Her work has been
presented at major conferences in North America and Europe, and they now have a
hefty amount of evidence.
While Barbara admits
there will always be critics who believe neuroplasticity cannot help learning
disabilities, and that “learning disabilities are lifelong”, she continues to
research to prove it, while she herself, stands as a case study.
Mornington Peninsula Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating a stolen Holy Icon of Panagia from a Greek Orthodox Church in Red Hill on 10 February.
It is believed that the Greek icon was stolen, along with a green wooden donation box containing money, by two males sometime between 12.10am – 12.30am, who attempted to jemmy open the front doors of the Arthurs Seat Road church.
The males eventually gained access by forcing a side door.
Made in Greece in 1974, the silver icon would cost between $5,000 to $10,000 to replace, dealing a massive blow and bringing despair to the Victorian Greek Orthodox community.
Investigators have released images and CCTV in the hope someone may recognise the males.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
EuroLeague Basketball’s Chief Operating Officer Eduard J Scott has raised the possibility of moving games away from Greece after an attack on referees prior to Friday’s game between Panathinaikos and Barcelona at the OAKA.
Referees Luigi Lamonica, Damir Javor and Emin Mogulkoc were attacked by two unknown individuals in a taxi along with the driver as they were heading to their hotel in Athens.
A window of the taxi was smashed, but three officials and the driver were not hurt in the incident. Police are still investigating the perpetrators of the attack.
“Idiots are everywhere. I am fine,” Lamonica clarified via Gazzetta dello Sport upon returning to Italy, “I’ve been injured in the chin and hand, but no problem, I’m ready to officiate the next game”.
“We have no idea who the attackers were,” he added, “There was no license plate on their motorcycle and they were wearing masks.”
After suggesting the possible move away from Greece-based matches, Scott has stated that the comments were not directed towards the people but instead the minority who choose to ruin the sport.
“To avoid any misunderstandings, the EuroLeague Basketball statement today is not directed against Greek fans, Greek clubs, Greek public authorities nor against Greece in general,” Scott said.
“It is about not allowing that a small minority performing criminal acts prevent the thousands and millions of Greek fans from enjoying games in a safe, secure and respectful manner.”
Euroleague believe that this attack should not push fans away from matches, assuring that the safety of friends, families, children is the number one priority for the EuroLeague.
“Everyone involved in sport must try their best in making sure such behaviour is punished and eradicated from sports altogether. Everyone must get together to achieve this once and for all.”
Barcelona beat Panathinaikos on Saturday 92-81, with Panathinaikos centre Georgios Papagiannis hitting 8 rebounds.
Panathinaikos lost to Spanish team Real Madrid this morning 96-78, falling to sixth place on the EuroLeague ladder.
