Greek Orthodox priest, Father Mario ‘George’ Fayjloun, has been charged with sexually touching women, The Daily Telegraphreports.
Father Fayjloun, 33, pleaded not guilty in absentia to seven charges of aggravated sexual touching without consent.
Father Fayjloun’s lawyer Phil Sim entered the not guilty pleas via email on behalf of his client at Bankstown Local Court on Thursday.
The incidents, which involved two separate complaints, allegedly occurred at a church at Mangrove on the Central Coast and at a home in Bankstown between August 2019 and February 2020, according to court documents.
In July this year, detectives from Bankstown Police Area Command started investigating Fr Fayjloun after receiving reports two women had been allegedly sexually touched by him on multiple occasions.
In another instance, police allege he kissed a woman on the mouth.
The investigation led to his arrest at his home in Mays Hill on September 1. He was taken to Bankstown Police Station and granted conditional bail to appear in court on Thursday.
A professional pilot for nearly two decades, Adoni Petrandonakis has travelled extensively as part of his work and has held various senior training and managerial positions in the aviation industry.
This was the case until government-imposed travel bans saw air passenger numbers collapse across the world and left the airline industry in limbo with thousands of air crew uncertain about their future.
“Whilst I have been stood down extensively and have seen changes to some of my duties, I feel extremely fortunate to be working for an airline that’s provided ongoing job security,” Adoni Petrandonakis told The Greek Herald.
“A large number of colleagues and friends around the world haven’t flown at all for over a year or have lost their jobs altogether – it’s heartbreaking,” he said as he went on to explain how amid all the uncertainty of the pandemic, he found an opportunity to reshape his career and use his skills in aviation to become a Finance and Mortgage broker with Australian company Crew Financial which specialises in providing home loans and financial services to airline crews and their families.
-Due to the circumstances, you chose an additional career path, this time in finance. How did you manage to overcome the mental load and move on?
There’s an unofficial military saying that resonates with me: “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome”. I have applied this throughout my life, passed it on to my students and to my children. I believe that we have control of our destiny and that we alone have the power to enable self-progress. I had a number of conversations with people in the finance industry and completed the required courses before being offered a position in a very successful team of other pilots who are also engaged in the finance business.
-How do your skills in aviation help you in finance?
There are a number of qualities that define pilots and have proven to be very advantageous in finance. We bring our professionalism, attention to detail, problem solving skills, the importance of time constraints and keeping things on schedule as well as our enthusiasm and passion for excellence. We’re used to working at all hours of the day and night which proves to be very advantageous when communicating with customers across different time zones.
-When it comes to home loans and financial services how are the needs of airline crews different to any other consumers?
Being aircrew with extensive industry understanding, we have first-hand knowledge of the variety of contracts and pay structures (base pay, overtime, allowances, bonuses etc) as well as the challenges faced by crew (being short on time, working unusual hours and being anywhere in the world etc). Over the past 18 months and despite extended stand-down periods, we have been very successful in helping a very large number of airline crew purchase a home or investment property or to gain access to better rates through refinancing.
Our personal service extends to the broader community as well and we have a large customer base from all industries and jobs.
-Would you consider a full-time career in finance in the future or would you prefer aviation?
Our structure allows for both professions to work well in parallel. I would only ever consider leaving aviation if I were medically unable to continue flying. It’s a passion and I’d do it for free – just don’t tell my boss!
-What is your message to people, who like you had to adapt and move on?
Keep moving forward, don’t look back and never give up hope. There are countless opportunities out there and all it takes is for you to take that first step.
As Margaret Thanos waited to get her first dose of a vaccine to protect her against COVID-19, she found herself crying.
The 21-year-old told ABC News she had been confronted with rife misinformation about the AstraZeneca vaccine online, which she said “caused an incredible amount of anxiety.”
“That experience was quite harrowing. You go home and you get those after-effects and you’re so scared. I think the messaging was really poor,” Ms Thanos, who is now fully vaccinated, said.
The Truth Gap report:
COVID-19 is regarded as the first pandemic of the social media age, according to a global report by girls’ equality charity Plan International, which surveyed more than 26,000 girls and young women from 26 countries and found false information was severely impacting their lives.
Plan International characterised misinformation as false or misleading content that is often shared mistakenly by people, whereas disinformation is shared deliberately to cause harm or make a profit.
COVID-19 is regarded as the first pandemic of the social media age.
In Australia, 95 per cent of the 1001 girls and young women surveyed said they were concerned about misinformation or disinformation online, while 83 per cent said they had been exposed to false or misleading information.
The majority (59 per cent) believed that Facebook was the social media platform with the most misinformation/disinformation, followed by TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.
Ms Thanos said her social media feed had been filled with people questioning what was in the vaccine and promoting alternative methods of treating the virus with vitamins.
“People were kind of perpetuating the idea that the vaccines aren’t safe or you should know what’s in your vaccine, despite the fact that I didn’t know what was in every other vaccine that I’ve had in my lifetime,” Ms Thanos, who is a Plan International Australia youth activist, said.
Impact on women’s health:
The report also found misinformation circulated around sexual and reproductive health, body image, climate change and politics.
Susanne Legena, CEO at Plan International Australia, told ABC News young people had been exposed to factual inaccuracies about vaccines and fertility.
Margaret Thanos.
Ms Thanos said widespread COVID-19 lies had opened up a broader conversation about medical misinformation on the internet.
“It’s so much bigger than COVID,” she said.
“I’m getting sponsored ads for contraceptive pills that aren’t prescription medication, which is incredibly dangerous.”
A spokesperson for Facebook told the Sydney Morning Herald that the company was working hard to combat all forms of misinformation and since the start of the pandemic had removed 20 million pieces of harmful misinformation for violating its policies.
“We recently launched a new initiative … to address the spread of misinformation by digital creators and to help young people understand what to trust and share online,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ve also displayed warnings on more than 190 million pieces of misinformation that our global network of 80 third-party fact-checking partners, including AAP and AFP in Australia, rated as false.”
The final journey of teenage car-lover Michael Barsi, tragically killed when his mate’s Nissan smashed into a power pole on King Georges Rd, Hurstville, has been revealed in court today.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the man behind the wheel of the Nissan 200SX coupe in the early hours of August 8 last year was green P-plater, Jordan Anthony Kociski of Mortdale, who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.
An agreed statement of facts tendered to the court said Kociski, now aged 20, drove the car along Terry Rd, Connells Point with Mr Barsi in the front passenger seat and friend Athan Giannakopolous in the back.
The car the day after the crash on King Georges Road, Hurstville. Picture: Tim Hunter.
When the car travelled past a “mutual acquaintance” of Kociski, who was seated in a parked car about 2am, his curiosity about where the Nissan was going led him to follow, court documents state
The two cars travelled along Connells Point Rd before turning left onto King Georges Rd, which was wet due to earlier rain, where the acquaintance “accelerated” to get in front of the Nissan.
Court documents reveal as the two vehicles travelled along King Georges Rd they overtook each other “on several occasions”, drove alongside each other and at one point, the acquaintance observed Kociski’s car “fishtail”.
Barsi family: Nicki, Michael, Bianca and Dominic with Michael, who was killed in a car accident on King Georges rd Hurstville. Photo: Daily Telegraph.
As the cars travelled uphill, the Nissan spun out and travelled across the opposite lanes before colliding head-on with a sandstone wall, before the passenger side of the car hit a power pole, the agreed facts state.
The acquaintance did a U-turn and returned to the scene, as neighbours and motorists helped the teenagers and performed CPR. Tragically, Mr Barsi died at the scene.
Court documents state no mechanical faults contributed to the accident and, based on CCTV footage, Kociski’s car was calculated to be travelling at an average speed of no less than 95km/h just before the crash. The speed limit for the stretch of road was 70km/h.
Kociski’s matter will be mentioned in Sydney District Court next month.
Two Greek brothers from Sydney have sued their parents over the rights to a grand 1906 Federation home in Strathfield which previously belonged to former Australian Prime Minister, Francis Michael (Frank) Forde.
According to court documents, the property was first bought in 1986 by the Greek couple for $300,000 but due to renovations, “there was uncontradicted evidence that the Property now has a market value of $5.5 million.”
The brothers claimed their parents told them they would each have a 40 percent interest in the property in return for their direct contributions to property renovations between 1988 – 1990 and 2001 to 2008.
Their parents denied this claim and made the case “that everyone in the family helped as they were able with the renovations (supporting the various tradespeople involved) as family members, for the benefit of the family as a whole, so that they would have a beautiful home in which to live.”
Currently, the Court stated, the brothers will receive nothing from their parent’s will “although there is some benefit to their children.” Their younger brother is the principal beneficiary of the will but was not a party to the court proceedings.
In September this year, Supreme Court of NSW Judge, Justice François Kunc, dismissed the brothers’ claim. The court found that the brothers “contributed substantially in time, effort and funds (much of which appears to have been reimbursed to them) to the renovation.”
But they did this “not on the faith of a promise of a share of the Property” but for two other reasons:
(1) “they were receiving a significant commercial benefit (with no corresponding benefit to their parents) of using the Property as security for their business ventures”; and
(2) “they had their own expectation that after their parents had enjoyed the benefit of the Property… [they], as sons, would receive a “fair” share of their parents’ estate.”
The brothers have now been order to pay their parents’ costs for the legal battle.
By Andrew Paschalidis – Heartbeat of Football Founder
I first met John Economos in 1983 in the Foreign Language Publication offices at Glebe in Sydney. It felt like a tornado had swept the room as John flew in regaling us all about the next scoop story he wanted on the front page of the popular publication Australian Soccer Weekly.
John started there in 1980. I followed him in 1983 as I started my media journey as a cadet journalist with ASW. Legendary journalist Michael Mystakidis interviewed me for the job and I was given the green light by owner Theo Skalkos.
John gave Theo the nickname “earthquake” in reference to his booming voice and no frills approach to his business. In fact, John gave countless nicknames to so many in his beloved game of football.
Ironically it would be Lee Sterrey the former National Soccer League player and coach who gave John his nickname -“scoop”. This was a fitting description about the proud Greek-Australian whose bloodlines are from the idyllic Greek island of Kythera. John loved the fact that we were almost “Greek neighbours” given that my mother is from Neapolis on the southern tip of the Peloponnese where one could see Kythera in the distance.
John was a former editor of the Australian Soccer Weekly.
John took great pride in working for ASW in two key roles as a writer as well as securing much needed advertising for the publication which was the staple diet and bible for thousands of football fans around Australia. Remember this was in the days before the internet.
Pretty much the regular routine would be for John to come storming in the office late on Monday night with another front page scoop. It meant changing the front page and altering the final production of the paper. Yes it did cause issues but John always got his way.
Typically John would wait for ASW to go into print late on Monday night where it would then be in newsagents first thing Tuesday morning. The normal routine for the first journalist to be inducted in to the Football Australia Hall of Fame was to personally deliver copies of ASW to many different friends well into the night.
It was a part of the job John loved the most – hand delivering a fresh copy of the weekly staple diet of the football fan.
There was one occasion when John was working with us late on a Sunday night as we wrote our match reports with St George and Sydney Olympic FC his favourite clubs although he took great joy in forging close ties with Marconi Fairfield and APIA Leichhardt as well as countless other NSL clubs, players, officials and fans.
John Economos with Apia Leichhardt President, Tony Raciti. Photo provided by Bill Diakos.
But let’s get back to this one Sunday night. We had finished working around midnight and made our way out of the office onto Glebe Point Road and John was stunned to find that his old Datsun car was not in the place he had parked it. It was found across the road in the man made lake at Sydney University.
John didn’t worry about the car but was more upset about the bundle of ASW papers as well as other notes which were in that flooded car!!!
There is no doubt John’s passion for football escalated from the time he met Socceroos legend Johnny Warren at Cleveland Boys High School in Sydney’s inner west. It was a lifetime friendship enhanced during John’s playing days with the famous St George Budapest FC which delivered many outstanding players into the National team highlighted by the 1974 World Cup.
Jim Fraser was another one of the St George players who would wear the green and gold of Australia and become a lifetime friend.
Andrew Paschalidis with the statue of Johnny Warren outside Sydney Football Stadium.
“You know I think back to 2004 when Johnny Warren passed away,” Fraser said: “It really felt like a part of John died when his best friend left this earth.
“I first met John in 1970. He always gave me positive write ups and served many roles with the club including team manager.”
The last social occasion I spent with John was a couple of years ago at an Asian Restaurant in Burwood not far from where John lived. Former Sydney Olympic FC captain and coach Peter Raskopoulos organised it. John, Peter, Jim and I attended. Lunch could have quite conceivably turned into dinner.
That’s how it was with John. What would start off as a short conversation would end hours later. He was a football encyclopaedia with an amazing knowledge of the game recalling key events and dates with ease.
John meeting with the great Pele.
That shouldn’t surprise when you reflect on the the caliber of football people he has interviewed like Pele, Best, Shearer, Capello, Venabkes, Venglos, Arok, Docherty, Beckenbauer., Dellas. The list is endless.
The tribute continue to pour in. He impacted so many in the world game
“John will be very sadly missed by so many people,” said former Sydney Olympic FC player Gary Phillips.
“He was very unique and touched so many people in his own special way. He lived an amazing life and will be missed by so many people who will remember the many incredible stories he would tell in his own amazing style.
“I trust the game he loved will pay a special tribute in some way..”
RIP John Economos. You were part of a golden generation of the game.
In a potentially game-changing development in Athens’ near 40-year campaign to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles, currently exhibited at the British Museum, a UNESCO committee has issued a decision urging the United Kingdom to enter into talks with Greece over the dispute.
Sources toldEkathimerinithe decision by the “Return and Restitution” intergovernmental committee, also known as ICPRCP, at its session in Paris late September “shook” British officials as it effectively elevated the dispute between Greece and the London-based institution into a government-to-government issue.
The decision marks a shift in ICPRCP policy, which had over the past 34 years issued 17 recommendations.
The Parthenon Marbles currently reside in the British Museum.
Speaking to Ekathimerini, a spokesperson for the British Museum did not directly comment on the development.
“Museums holding Greek works… are naturally united to show the importance of the legacy of ancient Greece,” the spokesperson said, adding that the institution “is committed to playing its full part in sharing the value of that legacy.”
“The trustees want to strengthen existing good relations with colleagues and institutions in Greece, and to explore collaborative ventures directly between institutions, not on a government-to-government basis,” the spokesperson said.
Another round of exploratory low-level talks between Greece and Turkey concluded on Wednesday, but Ankara has still renewed its calls for the demilitarisation of the eastern Aegean islands.
In a letter sent by its Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Feridun Sinirlioglu, to UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on September 30, Turkey accuses Greece of breaching the demilitarisation provisions of the 1923 Lausanne and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties.
“Greece’s sovereignty over the islands was and remains dependent upon demilitarisation. The contention that Greek sovereignty over the Εastern Aegean islands is not linked to the maintenance of their demilitarised status is devoid of legal basis,” the letter, which was seen by Kathimerini, says.
Sinirlioglu’s document is a response to a letter sent by his Greek counterpart, Maria Theofili, on July 27.
Turkey’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Feridun Sinirlioglu.
More specifically, it calls for the removal of Greek troops from the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria.
“As regards Lemnos and Samothrace they are subject to an even stricter regime, owing to their proximity to the Turkish mainland,” it says.
“By militarising the islands in question, Greece has forfeited its right to assert the opposability to Turkey of [a series of treaties] and the rights which it claims to derive from them.”
Analysts say the argument put forward in the letter, which essentially hinges the sovereignty of the Aegean islands to their demilitarisation, is legally unfounded.
They say that Turkish efforts to stoke tensions between the two sides reflect Ankara’s unease over Greece’s recent defense deal with France.
NSW will take its first steps towards reopening as the state passes the 70 per cent double vaccination target.
With the first vaccination milestone being reached, the NSW Government is also easing a number of restrictions as part of the Reopening NSW roadmap, which will allow fully vaccinated adults to enjoy more freedoms from next Monday, October 11.
The changes to the 70 per cent roadmap will allow up to 10 visitors (not counting children 12 and under) to a home (previously five), lift the cap on outdoor gatherings to 30 people (previously 20), and increase the cap for weddings and funerals to 100 people (previously 50).
Indoor pools will also be re-opened for swimming lessons, squad training, lap swimming, and rehab activities.
Indoor pools are set to reopn.
On the Monday after the State clears the 80 per centdouble vaccination hurdle further restrictions will be relaxed, with people able to have up to 20 visitors (excluding children 12 and under) to a home (previously 10), and up to 50 people will be allowed to gather outdoors (previously 20).
Up to 3,000 people will be allowed to attend controlled and ticketed outdoor events (previously 500), nightclubs will be permitted to reopen for seated drinking only (no dancing), and masks will no longer be required in office buildings.
All roadmap freedoms at 70 and 80 per cent will continue to be for fully vaccinated people only.
All school students will also now return to on site learning with a range of COVID-safe measures in place by October 25, with the second and third stages of the return to school plan now combined. Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 12 students will still return to face-to-face learning on October 18, with all other years now returning one week later on October 25.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the common-sense changes would help life return to normal as soon as possible.
NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet.
“Vaccinations are the key to life returning to normal and the changes today will help family and friends reconnect, get kids back to school and get businesses back up and running sooner,” Mr Perrottet said.
“NSW is putting in the hard yards and it’s important people continue to turn out in droves to be vaccinated.”
Deputy Premier Paul Toole said workers in regional areas who have received one vaccination dose will be permitted to return to their workplace from October 11 and will be given a grace period until November 1 to receive their second dose.
Regional areas are those outside Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Shellharbour and the Central Coast.
“This move ensures we get businesses in the regions re-open and local economies buzzing again. It’s about ensuring we make this a roadmap that works for everyone,” Mr Toole said.
As the stay-at-home orders will be lifted next Monday and replaced by the roadmap settings, the list of Local Government Areas of concern will also cease to exist.
The tax office has frozen more than $80 million in assets linked to Gold Coast developer, Jim Raptis, and associated companies following the largest offshore data leak in global history – the Pandora Papers.
According to The Australian Financial Review (AFR), the Australian Taxation Office has alleged that Mr Raptis, members of his immediate family and associated entities, were involved in “tax avoidance arrangements.”
Mr Raptis’ $20 million canal-front home, a Lexus 2018 LS500H and shares in ASX-listed entities, including Telstra and the Raptis Group, are among the frozen assets.
The 75-year-old told the AFR on Wednesday: “We intend to work co-operatively with the ATO (and if necessary, lodge objections) to resolve these historical matters. Although we are disappointed with aspects of the orders, we note that business as usual is part of the orders, and all our current projects are progressing as planned.”
An old-school developer of the Gold Coast, Mr Raptis portrays himself as a visionary of massive apartment complexes on the Glitter Strip such as the Hilton Hotel in Surfers Paradise.
Source: The Australian Financial Review.
In his director profile for his ASX-listed entity Raptis Group, Mr Raptis pointed out he has an Order of the British Empire and is the Greek Consul for Queensland.
But he has also had three brushes with financial disaster, including in 2009 when his Raptis Group and associated entities fell into administration in the global financial crisis owing almost $1 billion.
During this period, efforts were successfully made to resuscitate the companies via a debt restructuring deal called a deed of company arrangement.
The Samoan connection and the Pandora Papers:
Mr Raptis is the first Greek Australian to be connected to the Pandora Papers leak so far.
The AFR revealed that Mr Raptis has been a long-term beneficiary of a Samoan superannuation fund while a client of tax scheme promoter Vanda Gould. Mr Raptis’ entity was called the Queensland Builders Super Fund. He and his wife Helen, also a director of Raptis Group, were named as beneficiaries of the fund in documents.
The Pandora Papers claimed Mr Raptis’ Samoan trust had interests in a UK company called Sevinhand.
An old-school developer of the Gold Coast, Mr Raptis portrays himself as a visionary of massive apartment complexes on the Glitter Strip.
The documents also indicated Mr Raptis was unwittingly entangled in a campaign to shunt money into a war chest designed to keep other offshore funds confidential from UK authorities.
In response to questions about this fund last month, Mr Raptis said: “I have always conducted my financial affairs appropriately and legally” and his investment in an offshore fund was legally done for diversification purposes.
Then on Friday, the ATO took out a surprise action against Mr Raptis, Sevinhand and another private Australian company called Northernson Pty Ltd, seeking to freeze assets.
Mr Raptis was alleged to owe $23.8 million himself following amended tax assessments and penalties for the years 2014 to 2019, the AFR reports.
“As a result of a review-audit the [ATO] has concluded that there are significant amounts of undisclosed income and evasion by Mr Raptis,” the judgment said.
The freezing order also incorporated money in bank accounts in Mr Raptis’ name with ANZ and Suncorp, which were both lenders to Raptis entities that collapsed in the global financial crisis.
Mr Raptis was still allowed $10,000 in weekly living expenses, legal expenses and to deal with ordinary business costs.
