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Greek student first-in-state in HSC Indonesian Extension

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Greek student first-in-state in HSC Indonesian Extension

The NSW HSC results were released yesterday, and excited students are now able to put their anxiousness behind them and look forward to the next stage of their lives.

A number of Greek students have shined in NSW among the top achievers in the state.

Notably, Greek-Australian, Isaiah Kezelos, achieved an exceptional ATAR of 99.35.

The School Captain of Macarthur Anglican School, also placed first in the state for Indonesian Extension, fifth for Indonesian Continuers and seventh for Music 1.

Congratulations to Isaiah on behalf of the Greek community for this wonderful achievement!

Australian government invests $10 million in foreign language learning

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Australian government invests $10 million in foreign language learning

The Morrison government released a statement today promoting their new $10m community languages grant program now open for applications.

Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge said the grant program will promote multi-skilled Australian workers.

“Learning a language other than English helps prepare students for a workforce which is increasingly global and competitive,” Mr Tudge said. 

“We want more children and students learning a foreign language, which will in turn have positive impacts well into the future.”

About 1000 community language schools across Australia may be eligible for the grants. These schools specialise in 69 different languages and teach more than 100,000 school-aged children.

“Australia is the most successful multicultural society in the world, with Australians speaking more than 300 different languages,” Mr Tudge said.

“Not only does speaking another language assist on the global stage, it also strengthens social cohesion by connecting young Australians to other cultures.”

Under the program, eligible language schools that apply for funding will receive a base payment of $1,500, as well as a per capita amount of funding based on student enrolment numbers, capped at a maximum of $30,000 per school per year. 

The funding may be used to assist with operational costs such as staff wages, teaching materials and resources.

Applications for the first stream of funding are now open and will close on 17 February 2020. 

A second stream of funding will open in early 2020, with up to $25,000 available for projects that support the community language school sector through the development of teaching resources and professional development programs.

For more information about the Community Languages Multicultural Grants Program and how to apply, visit the Community Grants Hub website at www.communitygrants.gov.au.

Police seize 645kg of MDMA from Cyprus in Sydney

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Police seize 645kg of MDMA from Cyprus in Sydney

More than half a tonne of the drug ecstasy has been seized in Sydney by police after a six-month operation spanning three countries.

The 645-kilogram cache of MDMA is alleged to have been sent to Australia from Cyprus and hidden inside 200 barbecues.

Two people in Sydney and Brisbane were arrested after multiple search warrants were executed yesterday in relation to the operation, AFP’s Commander of Organised Crime, Kirsty Schofield, told reporters.

The operation involved Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, the Cyprus Drug Law Enforcement Unit and the United Kingdom National Crime Authority.

The AFP was alerted to the potential large scale importation of the drug by authorities in Cyprus and the cargo was intercepted by the Australian Border Force.

The MDMA found inside the barbecues was replaced with an “inert” substance as police investigated the alleged drug syndicate, the AFP said.A 30-year-old man from Coomera in Queensland was arrested at a Bondi Junction apartment in Sydney, and $100,000 in cash found inside the premises seized.

The APF will allege in court today that the man travelled to Sydney to remove the MDMA from inside in the barbecues and prepare it for further distribution.

The AFP also arrested a 33-year-old Canadian man in Brisbane last night.The man arrived in Australia last Tuesday and allegedly travelled to a Sydney warehouse to inspect the barbeques, the AFP said.

“We will allege in court that he was sent by the syndicate responsible for the MDMA to check on aspects of the importation,” Commander Schofield said.

The Canadian man will face court today with a view to extradite him to NSW to face charges.Commander Schofield said the seizure was a significant result for public safety.”

The size of this seizure and the amount of harm it could potentially have caused cannot be understated, and the Australian community is safer for it not being on our streets,” she said.

Sourced via 9 News.

UN called to investigate Greek exploration of Lebanon’s territorial waters

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UN called to investigate Greek exploration of Lebanon’s territorial waters

Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called upon the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to investigate the reasons behind a Greek oil vessel (which operates for the Israeli Army) exploring Lebanon’s territorial waters for around seven hours.

Aoun made this call during his meeting with UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col in the presidential palace.

The Lebanese presidency statement came following the meeting which stressed that “Lebanon rejects any violation of its legitimate rights within its territorial waters,” considering that “Israeli naval violations of Lebanese sovereignty are no less dangerous than land and air violations, which Israel continues to carry out”.

According to the statement, Aoun also expressed Lebanon’s appreciation for the efforts of UNIFIL to preserve stability along the UN demarcated “Blue Line”, and stressed on Lebanon’s commitment to the UN resolution 1701, which put an end to Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006.

Sourced via Anadolu Agency.

3,500-year-old royal tombs found in Pylos

The Greek Herald
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3,500-year-old royal tombs found in Pylos

American archeologists have discovered two monumental royal tombs dating from about 3,500 years ago, near a major Mycenaean-era palace in Greece’s southern Peloponnese region, the Greek culture ministry said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement said the dome-shaped roofs of both tombs near the Bronze Age palace of Pylos collapsed during antiquity, and the chambers became filled with so much earth and rubble that grave robbers couldn’t get in to plunder them.

Nevertheless, the tombs were disturbed during the period of their use over several generations – unlike another Mycenaean grave found nearby in 2015 that yielded a stunning hoard of gold and silver treasure, jewelry and bronze arms buried with a man presumed to have been an early ruler of Pylos.

Recovered grave goods from the two tombs included a golden seal ring and a golden amulet of an ancient Egyptian goddess, highlighting Bronze Age trade and cultural links. The ministry said the discovery was particularly important as it shed light on the early phases of Greece’s Mycenaean civilization.

The Mycenaean era, between roughly 1650-1100 B.C. provided the material for many of the myths and legends of ancient Greece including that of the Trojan War.

The larger of the two tombs had a diameter of 12 metres at floor level and its stone walls survived to a height of 4.5 metres — less than half its original height. The other was about two-thirds of that size and its walls now stand two meters high. Both belong to the tholos type of tomb, massive domed underground constructions reserved for Mycenaean royalty that could reach roughly 15 metres in height.

They were excavated over the past two years by University of Cincinnati archeologists, who also discovered the nearby rich burial that is known as the Griffin Warrior grave, after some of the ornaments found in it.

All three graves, together with another tholos tomb found nearby decades ago, were built earlier than the sprawling palace whose ruins lie close by, and which features in Homer’s Odyssey as the seat of the wise King Nestor.

Sourced via Associated Press.

Suspects charged with terrorism for attacking Golden Dawn offices

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Suspects charged with terrorism for attacking Golden Dawn offices

Two persons have been arrested in an operation mounted by the counter-terrorism squad in Athens, for targeting the offices of right-right party Golden Dawn, on Tuesday.

The two men, who were arrested on Monday, are Greeks aged 36 and 35 years old, respectively.

According to the counter-terrorism service, an investigation has implicated them in the planting of a makeshift explosive-incendiary device that set fire to Golden Dawn offices in Athens.

The two suspects were led before an examining magistrate on Tuesday and given until December 19 to prepare their testimony regarding the charges against them. These include acts of terrorism, forming a terrorist organisation with the aggravating instance of possession and construction of explosives, intent to cause grievous bodily harm, destruction of property, reckless driving that endangered foreign property and caused serious injury and damage to foreign property whose purpose is something that serves the common good.

Sourced via ANA

Greeks and Australians share concerns over 5G health impacts

The Greek Herald
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Greeks and Australians share concerns over 5G health impacts

The Australian government are responding to the Australian publics health concerns over 5G technology, which came after the Kalamata Council in Greece delayed the introduction of 5G due to health risks and infertility. Kalamata was one of three council districts in Greece where 5G was to be piloted.

As a response, the Australian government is investing $9 million over four years to ensure the public is educated and aware of the safety of 5G technology.

More scientific research and public education programs have been earmarked as part of the program.

Minister for Communications, Paul Fletcher, said the spend was about addressing community concerns.

“The rigorous safety standards for mobile networks and devices in Australia draw on extensive scientific research into [electromagnetic energy] emissions, globally and in Australia, over many decades,” Fletcher said.

“[Electromagnetic energy] levels from mobile networks and devices are typically at similar levels to familiar household devices such as microwave ovens and baby monitors.”

Part of the government’s $9 million will go the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) for more scientific research about the dangers of radiation.

Dr Ken Karipidis, a scientist with ARPANSA, has said the higher frequencies of 5G will have a short depth of penetration into human tissue.

“Consequently, this energy is absorbed mostly within the skin where surface heating is the predominant effect.

“At these higher 5G frequencies, the limits in the ARPANSA safety standard are set to prevent excessive heating at the surface of the skin and the eye.

“In our community today there are a range of devices and applications that utilise higher frequencies, for example security screening units at airports, police radar guns to check speed, remote sensors and in medicine.”

ARPANSA joins international regulators, the World Health Organisation, and the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection in confirming 5G does not pose any associated health risks.

Despite 5G technology receiving the tick of approval, upset citizens have troubled the rollout of 5G with opposition groups appearing around the country – dubbed the “anti-vaxxers of tech”.

Facebook groups like ‘We Say NO To 5G in Australia’ (11,000 likes) share memes about the supposed dangers of 5G and have encouraged their members to email the ongoing Parliamentary Inquiry into 5G in Australia.

With reference to Australian Computer Society.

Human rights activists accused of human trafficking in Greece

The Greek Herald
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Human rights activists accused of human trafficking in Greece

Two Moroccan refugees will appear in a Greek court on Tuesday, December 17, on charges of human trafficking.

The ‘Free Hamza and Mohamed‘ campaign notes that the two were detained when they arrived in Greece and were “falsely and arbitrarily accused of smuggling”. They shared that Hamza, Mohamed and another 2 refugees were abandoned by a smuggler on an island in the Evros River.

“Barely having reached the Greek shoreline, the police were waiting for them and proceeded to open fire with live bullets in their direction, attempting to capsize the vessel.”

“Fortunately none of them were hit, but once caught, the police stripped them of their clothes, humiliating and physically assaulting them repeatedly on the way to the police station.”

“Furthermore, Hamza and Mohamed were accused of illegal transfer of migrants, despite the lack of evidence for this crime.”

Hamza Haddi and Mohamed Haddar entered Greece on July 22 after fleeing oppression and political persecution in Morocco.

Haddi had been imprisoned three times in Morocco in 2012, 2013 and 2014 for his active role in the 2011 uprising widely known as the “Arab Spring” and for his subsequent work with the Moroccan Association for Human Rights.

The refugees claim that once caught, Reda, the only member of the four who can speak English, was physically forced to make a false testimony saying Haddi and Mohamed were human traffickers. He says he was also forced to sign a statement in Greek.

If the court in the north-eastern city of Komotini finds Haddi and Haddar guilty, they could face more than 10 years in jail.

With reference to Morning Star Online.

VIDEO: Erdogan uses map to indicate where Turkey plans drilling off Crete

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VIDEO: Erdogan uses map to indicate where Turkey plans drilling off Crete

In an interview on Turkish television, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated where Turkey plans to conduct research for hydrocarbons through drilling. The area he pointed out on television was a location east of Crete.

“I want to show you something,” he says. “This point here is the point where Turkey meets Libya. This belt that you see passes east of Crete. The northern section of the border here is Turkey and the southern section is Libya. What are these? These are continental shelves. We can say that we can conduct our seismic research here and then after our seismic research we can drill here,” he said.

Pointing to the presence of significant hydrocarbon deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, Erdogan said that Turkey could cooperate in the region with major international companies. 

Finally, in reference to the deal Turkey signed with Libya seeking to delineate its maritime zones, Erdogan said it would be enforced following its approval in Turkey’s Parliament, adding that the accord protects the interests of both Turkey and Libya and that Ankara will not permit unilateral actions in the region. 

Last week EU leaders rejected the Ankara-Tripoli deal as invalid. 

Sourced via Ekathimerini.

Diana Rouvas among top 4 Australian artists for Eurovision 2020

The Greek Herald
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Diana Rouvas among top 4 Australian artists for Eurovision 2020

SBS announced they will allow the Australian public to vote for the artist they would like to see representing Australia at Eurovision 2020.

The top 4 will perform for Australia’s votes in ‘Eurovision – Australia Decides 2020’, which will be hosted on the Gold Coast and air on Saturday 8 February, on SBS. The winner will be selected by the Australian public and be given the chance to represent Australia at the world famous Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The top 4 finalists includeThe Voice 2019 winner Diana Rouvas, Australia’s Got Talent 2011 winner Jack Vidgen, 19-year-old emerging singer-songwriter from Darwin Jordan-Ravi and Taiwanese-Australian multi-media artist Jaguar Jonze.

“I’m really excited to be in Eurovision – Australia Decides. As a Greek Australian, I am proud to represent the culture that our country is rich and abundant in, and I’d be so honoured to stand on that stage for Australia! It’s an incredible opportunity for any artist. I’d be bringing my true authentic self to the stage…my life’s work and dreams into that moment, and would be proud to earn a position on that stage and represent my country,” said Diana.

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