A man wielding an axe and shouting “this is what you deserve” attacked employees at a tax office in northern Greece on Thursday, leaving three people seriously injured.
Authorities said the attack occurred during business hours in the northern town of Kozani, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Athens. All of the injured were tax office employees, three of whom were hospitalized in serious condition.
A fourth person suffered light injuries while trying to flee the scene and was not kept in hospital.
A 45-year-old unemployed Greek man was arrested, police said, after being restrained and disarmed by people inside the building.
Witnesses and tax office employees said the attacker was scanned for a fever at the entrance of the tax office, as part of pandemic precautions, and pulled a short ax out of a backpack after reaching the revenue department.
As he struck at members of staff the man was heard shouting “Did you enjoy that?” and “This is what you deserve,” according to witnesses, who added that at least three tax office employees were involved in restraining the attacker.
The alleged attacker, who was not named by police in accordance with Greek law, was wearing jeans and a plain black T-shirt as he was led away in handcuffs for questioning by two police officers.
“We don’t know what the motive was for this attack,” said Ilias Zoumboulis, head of the region’s tax officers’ association. “But we have been asking for better protection of our staff and been raising this issue for the past two or three years.” All three injured staff members were being transferred to the northern city of Thessaloniki to receive more specialized treatment.
“Two are in critical condition with multiple head wounds and very deep cuts, the third patient is in serious condition,” Stergios Ganatsios, director of the state-run General Hospital of Kozani, told the AP.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry said it “unequivocally condemns the heinous and violent attack against employees of the tax office.”
The ministry promised to “take all necessary measures to ensure similar incidents do not happen again.”
Greece’s main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras congratulated North Macedonia’s Zoran Zaev for his electoral win yesterday, describing it as a “message of brave progressive forces” against nationalism.
“Thanks to your efforts, the message of brave progressive forces that fight against nationalism, for social justice and peace in our region, became stronger today. A message not just for the Balkans, but for all of Europe,” he said on his official Twitter account.
The pro-western Social Democrats leader secured victory by a mere 10,000 votes. With 94% of ballots counted the Social Democrats had received 36%, less than two percentage points ahead of its close rival.
Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev takes a selfie with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras before their meeting on April 2, 2019. Robert Atanasovski – AFP/Getty Images
“You are winners, be proud. Progress has won,” Zaev told supporters, who were surrounded by party officials wearing protective masks.
The 45-year-old leader promised to impose policies to fast-track the country’s EU accession hopes. This was also the first election since the nation agreed to change its name, adding a geographical qualifier of “north” to Macedonia, in an attempt to satisfy Greek demands.
Zaev had been the architect of the Prespa accord struck with Athens’ leftist Syriza government two years ago, which ended the naming dispute.
“Zaev managed to win the elections despite changing the name of the country,” said Eva Ellereit, the resident representative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung German political foundation. “Voters clearly want to see what he can put together now and how he can continue the pro-European reform agenda.
Perth Glory has announced the signing of midfielder Yianni Perkatis, joining the club on a short-term deal this season as they look to clinch the A-League title.
The former Western Sydney Wanderers man joined on a short-term deal which runs to the end of the current Hyundai A-League campaign. The 26-year-old is a former Australia Under-17 and Under-20 representative who made eight Hyundai A-League appearances during two seasons at Wanderers under current Glory Head Coach, Tony Popovic.
Perkatis, who also enjoyed two successful spells at NPL NSW club Blacktown City, tried his luck overseas at Cypriot side Ethnikos Assia and in the Philippines with Global FC before returning to Australia in 2017 and linking up with Sydney United.
Glory Football Director Jacob Burns, himself a former Sydney United midfielder, believes that Perkatis is an excellent addition to the squad.
“Yianni has been a standout in the NPL NSW since returning from his time overseas,” he said.
“We do, of course, have strong links with Sydney United through both Head Coach Tony Popovic and myself and have been aware of Yianni’s impressive form for some time.
“He’s a talented, versatile midfielder who can play in the middle or at the back if required and he will add quality and depth to our squad during the busy period we have ahead.
“We’re confident that he will grab this opportunity with both hands and in doing so, press his claim to secure a longer-term deal with the club.”
Perkatis himself, meanwhile, is understandably relishing the prospect of returning to Hyundai A-League action.
“I was thrilled when Tony Popovic told me there was a potential opportunity for me to come and join the Glory squad,” he said.
“I’m now really excited and looking forward to coming into the squad and getting to know the other players.
“I’m aiming to develop as a player and as a person, help the club to win a trophy and explore any opportunities there might be with Perth going into next season.”
Perkatis will join fellow Greek Australian Sydney boy Chris Ikonomidis, who is still recovering from a severe knee injury.
Greek
Australian, Jake Peters, is clearly wise beyond his years. The 17-year-old is
the mastermind behind Melbourne’s biggest Greek inspired underage event, Kosmos
Events, which has been impacted by the recent lockdown in the city due to
coronavirus. But he says that hasn’t put a dampener on why he started the event
in the first place – to show people that safe underage clubbing is possible.
“As I was
growing up I noticed a lot of drug and alcohol abuse at parties and so I wanted
to create a safe space where underage kids could experience the Greek culture
and meet others like them in the area,” Jake tells The Greek Herald.
And that’s exactly what Jake ended up doing. Kosmos Events launched its first Greek night for kids aged 13 to 17 years old in May 2018 at a small hall in Coburg. The proud display of Greek music and dance was such a hit with the underage crowd that they’ve since held eight events in total.
Kosmos Events launched its first Greek night for kids aged 13 to 17 years old in May 2018. Photo supplied.
But with
growth comes extra responsibility, something Jake says he was happy to take on
as it meant he was ensuring “parents felt comfortable” with the events as well.
“We did have
to hire a lot of security. At the beginning the problem was that I, as a
17-year-old, had to call up security companies to pay $10-$15,000 and they were
laughing at me and not taking me seriously,” Jake says.
“But I was
lucky I had the support of my parents and they were able to make some phone
calls for me. At the end of the day, I was glad that we were doing it safely
and that was a huge thing that made parents comfortable as well.”
In Jake’s eyes, all the hard work was worth it as the events ended up showcasing the Greek culture and heritage he was so proud of, and also allowed him to utilise the business skills his pappou taught him.
Jake is proud that the events promote Greek culture and heritage. Photo supplied.
“My pappou
owned a seafood market so I grew up my whole life working there and helping. I
grew up with that business mindset… that if you want something in this world,
you had to do it yourself and work your hardest,” Jake explains to The Greek
Herald.
“I wanted to
utilise that and of course, my Greek heritage is such an important part of my
life. It’s made me who I am as a person.
“So to have
a lot of kids coming up to me and saying ‘you’ve motivated me to want to learn
Greek now’… because of these events, that’s amazing. I feel like it’s really
made a positive change in people’s attitude towards their Greek heritage, which
is really what I care about the most.”
A young Greek Australian who is deeply passionate about the Greek culture and most importantly, how the youth can experience that culture in a safe clubbing environment.
A player that has helped develop and brought women’s football in Australia to the high standard it deserves, Sydney FC player Teresa Polias has had a successful football career with the Sky Blues and Matildas.
A player who for a number of years has been showcased in the media limelight, she has brought joy and pride to all Greek Australians. The Greek Herald spoke exclusively with Teresa about her incredible career, both in women’s football and as a teacher.
Beyond the talent you have cultivated in training, who or what influenced you to become the top of your game?
Coach Alen Stajcic (coach of Sydney FC women’s from 2008–2014), I can say was exactly the man who helped me become a complete player. With his advice and the experience he had, he corrected my vulnerable points and gave me the appropriate knowledge to work on the field.
How much has football affected your life?
Football has had a really big impact. I could say in the thirteen years I have been playing it is part of my soul. It gave me joy and sorrows.
Teresa Polias of Sydney in action during the round two W-League match between Sydney and Newcastle at WIN Stadium on November 16, 2013 in Wollongong, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
At what age did you start playing football?
I started at the age of 6 with my twin sister Sotiria kicking the football in the yard with her and later with my older brother. When I started playing for the Mariners and 17, I would say was ‘The Dawn of Women football’. The journey had begun for many NSW players.
After two seasons I transferred to Sydney FC where I am still here. It’s a great group and it’s the place I belong. Having, of course, teammates like the year we conquered in 2012-2013, Sam Kerr, Caitlin Ford and many young talented players. We are lucky to have big names in Women’s Football at Sydney FC.
You are also the leader of the team, what does this mean for you?
I like to lead the team to victory. But the teammates help to always bring the victories.
What does it mean to you to be a teacher as well as a football player?
Being a teacher and passing on knowledge to young children is something very important for me. It is the A and the Z of a child’s course in his life and in society later. I love them very much and they love me. Always after every match, at school they ask how I did. Many times they come to the stadium with their parents to watch. It’s something fantastic.
Photo: Supplied
How do you see Australia performing in the World Cup?
Australia, especially women’s football, has risen sharply in recent years. It’s a big deal that Australia and New Zealand should give all their efforts.
A football personality who immediately wins you over with her straightforwardness and simplicity. Her students win and will learn a lot from Teresa. Ethics and knowledge. Teresa is a role model for young players but also a bright star that leads her students to knowledge and sports.
Who is Teresa Polias?
Teresa Polias was born in 1990 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales to a family of Greek descent. The origin of her father, Arthur-Thanasis, is from the beautiful Sypi and her mother, Polly-Polynia from Piraeus. Five beloved brothers enjoy Teresa’s masterpieces, Peggy, Xanthippi, Maroussa, Andoni and Teresa’s twin sister Susie-Sotiria, and of course her partner Fotis Anastasopoulos.
From a small age she showed that she has the gift for sport and she was seduced by the goddess of football. She did things that even the boys could not do.
Apart from football, Teresa works as an elementary school teacher at McCallums Hill Public School. Her story is like a fairy tale with a lot of hard work and sweat, starting from the local teams in Rockdale and then in the NSW academies. She was spotted by coaches, particularly Alen Stajcic, and was found playing in the Central Coast Mariners, making her debut against Melbourne Victory on Saturday, October 25, 2008. She then transferred to Sydney FC and, showing her talent, was named the best player of the team of the year during the 2011/2012 season.
Teresa was the key player in the Sydney FC Women’s team which won the 2012/2013 W-League Championship. During the winning season, she played every minute and every match, including the Grand Final.
Teresa scored her first W-League goal in a 3-2 win over Melbourne with a long-range effort that went straight to the top corner. Teresa was also the leader of the Sydney FC women’s team, which won the 2018/2019 W-League Championship.
She has competed in all competitions, including as a Matilda’s player in their 2015 World Cup Team, being called up to the Matilda’s more than 20 times. Teresa also represented Australia in the starting line-up of the Young Matilda on many occasions, traveling to Europe and Asia.
Read more exclusives like this in The Greek Herald Wednesday Newspaper.
Greek archaeologists have unearthed an ancient aqueduct and thousands of artifacts dating from Hellenistic and Roman times during the excavations for the expansion of the Athens metro line to Pireaus.
More than 4,000 artifacts have been preserved with 1,400 utensils and 1,300 rare wooden objects which come from houses, household items, furniture and tools.
More than 4,000 artifacts have been preserved. Photo: AMNA.
Some of the artifacts will frame the permanent exhibition that will be set up in the metro station called “Municipal Theater” in Piraeus, which is currently under construction.
The exhibition will include, in addition to ancient objects, representations of ancient tanks and wells, a model copy of the aqueduct, as well as an authentic pebble floor from the Hellenistic era that was found during the excavations.
Some of the artifacts will be part of a permanent exhibition at the metro station. Photo: AMNA.
“There is a large volume of ancient material, precisely because the excavation was the largest ever conducted in Piraeus,” archaeologist George Peppas told Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA).
“The uncovering of the aqueduct is very important,” Peppas added. “By excavating 55 meters of its central tunnel at the ‘Municipal Theater’ station, we were able to make a timeline… from its construction to its abandonment. We believe that the water came from Athens through the Long Walls and specifically from the hill of Ardittos.”
The artifacts have been temporarily moved to a Piraeus workshop, called Xylapothiki. Photo: AMNA.
The artifacts have been temporarily moved to a Piraeus workshop, called Xylapothiki, where archaeologists work to identify and classify them. Visitors can visit Xylapothiki and get an insight into the fascinating work being done there.
“It is a unique example in Greece of an exhibition that works in parallel with an open maintenance workshop. The visitor can watch the work from the lofts every day during the hours we work,” Peppas told AMNA.
Frustration has been expressed by Labor Party Federal MP, Mrs. Maria Vamvakinou, on the decision of the Turkish President to change the status of Hagia Sophia, without first consulting UNESCO.
Ms. Vamvakinou declares her full agreement and solidarity with the statement of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mrs. Audrey Azoulay:
“Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece and a unique testament to the interaction between Europe and Asia over the centuries. It’s position as a museum reflects its world heritage, making it a powerful symbol of dialogue.”
Ms, Vamvakinou has been a parliamentary observer to the Australian UNESCO Commission for many years. The Federal MP first visited Hagia Sophia in 1985, and then in its official capacity in 2012, and again in 2013 as Chairman of the Australia-Turkey Friendship Parliamentary Group.
NSW Labor has called on the Government to develop a dedicated phone app or website for COVID-19 test bookings to help tackle lengthy queues at drive-through clinics in south west Sydney.
There have been chaotic scenes across Sydney’s south west with the identification of more cases linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster. Hundreds of people have been forced to wait for more than five hours in their cars in queues stretching more than a kilometre outside pop-up testing clinics.
Labor’s proposal would see an app or website build on existing services and allow people to: Book a test online in advance to avoid waiting in a line; and use real-time information to see which clinics have testing capacity to avoid overcrowding.
Hundreds of people have been forced to wait for more than five hours in their cars to get a COVID-19 test in Sydney’s south west.
Shadow Minister for Better Public Services, Sophie Cotsis MP, said: “While drive-through pop-up clinics are a good idea, the reality is that people have been stuck waiting for hours to get tested.”
“It’s common sense. Faster testing would help identify cases, speed-up contact tracing and stop the spread of COVID-19,” Ms Cotsis added.
“The Government already provides people with real time information on waiting times in emergency departments, including the number of people waiting to be seen. We must immediately implement a similar system for COVID testing sites.”
The Member for Macquarie Fields, Anoulack Chanthivong, spoke about his experience getting tested after he learnt of the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula.
“Thousands of people in south west Sydney have done the right thing and came forward to get tested,” Mr Chanthivong said.
“Unfortunately, while waiting in line for testing for two hours at Campbelltown Hospital on Sunday, I saw people leave out of frustration. There were similar scenes at the pop-up clinic at Casula on Monday because the wait was too long.
“We must improve the efficiency of testing so long lines don’t deter people trying to do the right thing to keep our community safe.
“The NSW Government needs to make it quick and easy for people to get tested so we can stop COVID-19 outbreaks as soon as possible.”
In a meeting that took place on Wednesday at the Maximos Mansion, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis requested that COVID-19 measures be implemented more strictly to prevent any further outbreaks of the disease in Greece.
“The purpose of the meeting is… to review the operation and implementation of the relevant provisions and recommendations that have been made regarding COVID-19,” Mitsotakis told ministers during the meeting.
“We have to send a clear message: That in order to avoid a possible second wave, the measures we have defined as necessary, minimum conditions to ensure public health are being observed.”
Prime Minister Mitsotakis held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss COVID-19 restrictions and their implementation.
The safety of workers’ health, especially in areas of heavy tourism, as well as ensuring that other regions across Greece were also implementing COVID-19 guidelines, was also discussed.
Speaking about Greece’s current coronavirus restriction protocols, Mitsotakis said that “regions and municipalities cannot be out of this case. It does not concern only the central mechanism.”
Regulations, including the mandatory use of a mask and the avoidance of mass public gatherings, were singled out as examples of necessary precautions to be considered in the context of the pandemic during the current tourist season in Greece.
Public transportation and other such amenities are expected to operate under the supervision of the General Secretariat for Commerce, the Consumer Protection of the Ministry of Development and Investment and the General Secretariat for Civil Protection.
While the meeting was being held, health officials from Greece’s National Public Health Organisation reported 27 new cases of COVID-19, four of which were detected at the country’s border crossings.
The name of Iro Konstantopoulou will remain in Greek history as synonymous with bravery and patriotism.
Early Life:
Iro Konstantopoulou was born into a wealthy Spartan family in Athens on July 16, 1927. She was only 14 years of age when in April of 1941, the German army invaded Greece to establish three and a half years of tyrannical rule which left hundreds of thousands of Greeks dead.
Konstantopoulou was a high school student when she joined the resistance organisation EPON. Despite her young age, she was active in the resistance against the occupying forces, defying the danger that she knew this entailed.
Iro Konstantopoulou was born into a wealthy Spartan family in Athens on July 16, 1927.
Acts of bravery:
In early July of 1944, the teenage girl was arrested at her home by the Security Battalions, the Greek Police which cooperated with the Germans during the Occupation. However, her wealthy parents were able to use the connections they had and managed to have her released.
The second time the 17-year-old girl was arrested she was not as fortunate. Konstantopoulou was apprehended by the SS on July 31, 1944, after she participated in an act of sabotage on a train carrying ammunition for the Wehrmacht forces.
She was jailed in the Kommandantur detention facility on Merlin Street where she was tortured for three weeks in an effort to try to force her to name her comrades in the resistance.
The Germans also tried to tempt her to betray her colleagues, but to no avail. Finally, without receiving the information they desired, the Nazis put Konstantopoulou on death row at the Chaidari concentration camp.
Execution:
On September 5, 1944, Konstantopoulou was led, along with 49 other prisoners, to the Kaisariani Shooting Range, a place used by the Nazis as an execution ground.
She was shot 17 times — one bullet for each year of her life — to set an example for other resistance fighters, the Germans said. The young heroine met her end only 37 days before the Nazis left Athens, on October 12, 1944.
A statue of Konstantopoulou was erected in Terpsitheas Square, Athens.
On December 29, 1977, the Academy of Athens honored the heroine with a posthumous award for her supreme sacrifice, on the recommendation of Professor of Philosophy Ioannis Theodorakopoulos.
In 1981, scriptwriter Nikos Foskolos made a film about her short life, titled “17 Bullets for an Angel: The True Story of Iro Konstantopoulou,” which starred Mary Vidali.
