The Finnish crew of Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen won the Acropolis Rally, after leading most of the four-day World Rally Championship race.
Rovanpera, driving a Toyota Yaris, beat Ott Tanak of the Hyundai team by 42.1 seconds. Rovanpera’s stablemate Sebastien Ogier, the defending champion, and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia, came third, 1 minute 11.3 seconds behind.
Kalle Rovanpera, right, and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen of Finland hold their trophies after winning the WRC Acropolis Rally. Photo: Klodian Lato/Eurokinissi via AP.
Rovanpera’s victory comes less than two months after he became, at 20, the youngest winner in WRC history by winning Rally Estonia.
After nine of the WRC’s 12 rounds, Ogier leads the standings with 180 points, ahead of Elfyn Evans with 136, and Thierry Neuville on 130. Rovanpera (129 points) and Tanak (106) are in 4th and 5th place, respectively.
In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Toyota Gazoo (397 points) leads Hyundai Shell (340) and M-Sport Ford (153).
The 15-stage Acropolis Rally was held for the first time since 2013. The return was celebrated Thursday with a crowd-pleasing, if short, special stage around Athens’ main Syntagma Square, won by Ogier. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis started the race at the foot of the Acropolis.
Jourdan Serderidis of Greece and his co driver Fred Miclotte of Belgium compete in the WRC Acropolis Rally. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
The rally ended in the city of Lamia, central Greece, with most stages being held in the surrounding mountains.
Besides the often challenging terrain, the drivers had to contend with spectators standing too close to the road.
Australian infrastructure giant, Macquarie, has been declared the highest bidder to buy 49% of Greece’s national grid operator, its owner PPC announced on Friday.
DEI said Spear WTE Investments, a member of the Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Group (MIRA), was offering €2.116 billion for the stake in the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO), an offer that valued the company at 151% of its adjusted asset base.
PPC sources said it was the biggest privatisation in Greek history and noted that PPC will be able to significantly reduce its borrowing while it will also fund its investment program in renewable energy sources.
At the same time, HEDNO, with the support and know-how over an international partner and under PPC’s management, will develop an expanded modernisation and digitalisation program of its network, offering better and more quality services.
PPC said Macquarie’s offer included net debt worth €804 million.
France on Sunday confirmed that Greece had agreed to buy six more of its Rafale jets, bringing to 24 the number of French fighters sold to Athens for billions of euros.
“Excellent news: Greece has just announced its intention to acquire six additional Rafales. Together, we are working to build true European autonomy,” French Defence Minister, Florence Parly, tweeted.
Greece was the first European country to buy the combat jets made by Dassault Aviation.
Excellente nouvelle : la Grèce vient d’annoncer son intention d'acquérir 6 Rafale supplémentaires. Ensemble, nous avançons pour construire une véritable autonomie européenne.
In January, Athens placed an order for 18 of the planes, 12 of them second-hand, in a 2.5 billion euro deal aimed at boosting Greece’s defences faced with growing tensions with neighbouring Turkey.
The acquisition news was first announced by Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Saturday at the Thessaloniki International Fair.
“I announced the purchase of 18 Rafales. Soon there will be 24,” Mitsotakis said, adding that the first aircraft, a second-hand model from France’s own airforce, would be flying Greek colours “before the end of the year.”
France has struggled to find takers for its warplanes among its EU neighbours.
In May, Croatia became only the second European country to buy Rafales, opting for 12 previously used aircraft. Qatar, Egypt and India are Dassault’s biggest Rafale clients.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has promised to “break and smash” the human trafficking networks that smuggle migrants across the border from Turkey.
Mitsotakis, in a news conference on Sunday following his Saturday keynote speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair, also said, in response to a question by the Associated Press, that he does not anticipate a new wave of refugees from Afghanistan.
“Our aim is to stop any wave long before it reaches our borders. In that, our interests and Turkey’s are aligned,” he said.
Mitsotakis said Greece has adopted an active border protection strategy and migrant flows have “decreased tremendously” in 2021 compared with last year, while becoming more efficient in salvaging migrants adrift at sea.
Υλοποιούμε το προεκλογικό μας πρόγραμμα βήμα-βήμα. Πρόθεση της κυβέρνησης είναι το μέρισμα της ανάπτυξης να μοιραστεί με δίκαιο τρόπο σε όλους.
Greece has denied allegations by Turkey and non-governmental organisations that it is pushing migrants back, putting lives in danger, especially of those crossing by sea from the Turkish coast.
In spring 2020, Greece had faced off an attempt by Turkey to let tens of thousands of migrants cross the land border between the two countries. Since then, it has completed a fence along the small section of the border not formed by the Evros (Meric) river.
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During the conference, Mitsotakis also sent a strong message that his government will serve out its full, four-year term.
The Prime Minister added there is no possibility of reaching any consensus with main opposition SYRIZA, for which he blamed main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, and that he seeks consensus only with the Greek people.
Μείωση φόρου στα ακίνητα, μείωση φόρου στις επιχειρήσεις, μείωση εργοδοτικών εισφορών, κατάργηση εισφοράς αλληλεγγύης, κατάργηση γονικής παροχής, επιστρεπτέα προκαταβολή: όλα αυτά αφορούν τη μεσαία τάξη. Για αυτό και το διαθέσιμο εισόδημα της μεσαίας τάξης έχει αυξηθεί. #ΔΕΘ2021pic.twitter.com/CEU8rZRMai
“I am avoiding the terms “hand outs” and “big basket” that journalists in the past have used to describe government economic policies announced at TIF each September,” he said.
“All the measures announced are part of a comprehensive strategy to increase wealth, which must be justly distributed. Reducing inequalities is my central choice.”
Mitsotakis said that the country’s youth is at the centre of economic planning and that his government has hammered out measures to help them find jobs.
Mitsotakis was cautious in outlining the government’s management of the pandemic. He adamantly declared, however, that there will be no shut down of the economy again.
Paul and Rene Pantazis have a long and fascinating history in the Territory.
Rene arrived on the Koolinda, on Boxing Day 1946, following her father who was co-running the Rendezvous Cafe.
Paul’s Territory adventure began a few years later.
He came over from Cyprus in 1951, accompanying his sister who was engaged to a man in Darwin.
Paul’s first job was as a yardman at the Darwin hospital, he drove taxis and even made tomato sauce at the Rosella factory in Melbourne.
But the life-changing job was at the Rendezvous Cafe where he met Rene, and the rest, they say, is history!
In 1968, Rene and Paul founded Parap Fine Foods, a business that has gone from strength to strength, despite having to start from scratch after Cyclone Tracy.
Paul and Rene Pantazis spoke to the ABC’s Miranda Tetlow on Late Lunch. You can watch it on the link below.
NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Natalie Ward and NSW Health’s Dr Marianne Gale addressed multicultural media on Wednesday.
They cited recent modelling from the Burnett Institute in yet another effort to ease the community’s vaccine hesitancy.
“The institute found that Sydney’s lockdown and the vaccine rollout together have prevented almost 5000 deaths and almost half a million COVID-19 infections,” Ward said in a response to a question from the Greek Herald.
“The death toll in those hotspots could have been as high as 5,800 according to that modelling.”
“You only need to look at the modelling … which shows what would have happened if there hadn’t been that vaccination rollout and if there hadn’t been those restrictions put in place.”
Minister Natalie Ward addresses the virtual meeting (Screenshot)
Dr Gale pointed to aged care facilities to reemphasise the efficacy the COVID-19 vaccine and lockdowns have had in stopping the spread.
“As we will have seen this year, we haven’t seen as many cases and severe outcomes including death in older people in aged care facilities and a big part of that is because many people in age care facilities have been vaccinated in these months before [the Delta variant] hit us.”
“The alternative [is] if we didn’t have such good coverage of vaccination in aged care facilities, potentially what we would have seen is something far worse with this Delta outbreak.”
“The question to ask ourselves and the thing to compare [it] against is, ‘What would have happened if these things were not in place?’.”
“So, it is working the measures are working, this delta variant is just very transmissible.”
About 685 deaths have occurred in Australia’s aged care facilities due to COVID-19 and account for 75 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths, according to the Guardian, as of at least June.
Dr Gale sought to ease parents’ concerns about the staggered return to face-to-face learning from October 25.
“…a report released from the [NCIRS] … [shows] that, yes, with Delta we are seeing more cases in younger people, but the majority of young people have very mild disease or are asymptomatic.
“I think clearly the transmission in young people is a concern, however, the majority of disease is mild [sic].”
The COVID-19 press conferences are now interpreted live in Modern Greek.
Autism has been described by many as something that impedes someone’s daily life, making it difficult to go through the routines of the average person.
However, a group of young Greeks from Darwin are looking at the situation from the opposite angle, claiming that rather than keeping them from doing other things, living with autism allows them to maintain focus on their hobbies and raises their senses.
Speaking to ABC Radio, the group calling themselves the A-Team, which consists of Michali, Manoli, Niko and James, point out that autism is like their own special “superpower” and even go far as to describe it as a ‘gift’, that makes them unique and special.
One of the members of the group, Niko, who has photographic memory said that while a lot of people have different levels of autism, they still maintain their emotions, which is why they avoid stereotyping.
Another member, James, added that living with this medical condition is a very private matter and people living with it shouldn’t be asked to provide official documentation about it so often. He pointed out that every time they’re forced to do so, it adds another emotional scar, not only on themselves but also for the people around them, characterizing the application of term ‘autistic’ as haunting.
The group have been together for the last two years, learning about technology, how to communicate with the people around them, raising awareness about people with disabilities and simply enjoying each others company.
The Good Wine Club was suggested as a casual idea during a conversation between cofounders Jim Moustakas and Christopher Carter one day in lockdown.
Months later, Mr. Moustakas says he has lockdown to thank for its inception.
“[My partner Chris and I] were talking one night during the lockdown, and we thought, ‘What a good idea to get books and wine onto a platform and offer it to people’,” he tells the Greek Herald.
The Good Wine Club is an independent national wine club launched earlier this year in Sydney.
Jim Moustakas (left) and Christopher Carter (right) (Photos: Supplied)
It randomizes book and wine suggestions for customers 18 years or older while supporting Australian-made wine.
Mr. Moustakas says wine drinking has been ingrained in his Greek heritage and culture since he was a child.
He was born in the central German city of Frankfurt and made the move to Athens with his father after separating from his mother.
“Being of Greek heritage, being born in Germany, and migrating to Australia as a child, food, and wine was and always will be ingrained in my culture,” Moustakas is quoted in a press release.
“We were there for about that three years,” he tells the Greek Herald.
“[My dad] needed help looking after me and so we ended up moving here so that he can get help from my grandparents.”
He ended up moving to Sydney’s inner-city where he’s run his own media content marketing company VisionAir since 2012, but says his “exposure with wine” peaked eight years ago when he co-founded a restaurant in Newtown.
“Me and two other guys [owned Urban Bites] on the northern end of Newtown, towards the Sydney University campus,” he says.
Urban Bites caved into COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in June after 15 years but Moustakas says they “got rid of it about eight years ago now”.
He and his partner Chris combined their experience in the wine industry and their travels across Europe to bring the Good Wine Club.
Moustakas agrees it’s more “mentally stimulating” than “being glued to a TV screen all night.”
Carter says the new Good + Wine Club subscription helps de-digitize lockdown routines and manage “burnout and digital fatigue”.
“It’s almost like a nostalgic feeling when you read a book,” Carter tells the Greek Herald.
“Sometimes we do get an overload and a saturation of digital content and it gets a bit too much for us, especially at this time.”
“We were thinking that it would be a beautiful thing to just get people to just turn off, zone out for two hours with a beautiful glass of Australian wine and a nice book.”
“We wanted to give people that ritualistic thing that happens every Tuesday afternoon or every Thursday night where they just turn off their phones for two hours and tune into a nice book.”
It’s the perfect timing for the millions of Australians currently working from home in lockdown.
“Especially at this time too, we have got people you know at home basically just working off the computer and you know coming in and out of zoom calls,” he adds.
New South Wales’ Newcastle Jets football club has signed on Greek footballer Savvas Siatravanis for the upcoming A-League season.
The former Xanthi player had widely been speculated to have been in talks with the Jets for weeks.
Jets coach Arthur Papas finally confirmed that Siatravanis has the “attacking instincts” and “work ethic” to make a successful attacker in the A-League.
“Savvas is an experienced player who can play anywhere across the front third,” Papas tells Newcastle Herald.
“He is a consummate professional, and he’s a player who combines attacking instinct with a fantastic work ethic.”
Siatravanis, 28, will become the squad’s new player for a year.
He has represented Greece in football his entire career and says he is up for the “challenge”.
“This is a big challenge for me, and I will do anything possible to succeed in my career and bring that success to the Newcastle Jets,” Siatravanis says in a statement.
“I am excited to join this team, the style of play suits my own qualities and I will work hard to ensure we challenge for the title.”
Unfortunately Maria Sakkari wasn’t able to go one step further in the US Open and reach the final, as she found herself overwhelmed by the dynamic of 18-year-old rising star from England, Emma Raducanu, losing 6-1, 6-4.
The 26-year-old started the game on the back foot as she couldn’t keep up with the fast serve of her young opponent and quickly found herself chasing the score. When Raducanu gained a 5-0 advantage, the first set was all but over for Maria, who was simply able to minimize the damage (6-1.)
The aces that had previously served Maria so well were nowhere to be found in this encounter, as was only able to get four across throughout the entire game.
In the second set, the Athenian attempted to fight her way back into the match and won some important points that gave her a small psychological boost, but the young tennis player from England always found a way to respond and kept points on a short duration, which served her style of play.
The end saw Sakkari walk away proud after losing the second set 6-4, knowing she had done all she could. Emma Raducanu will go on to face Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who a few hours earlier had defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4.
This was the second consecutive participation in a Grand Slam semi-final for world no. 17 in the women’s rankings Maria Sakkari, after she made it to the last four of the Roland Garros a few months ago. She’s more than certain to rise up even further after her performances in the competition.
