WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou of Greece has accused an unnamed sporting official of sexually assaulting her in 1998 during preparations for the Sydney Games.

Bekatorou made her allegation on Thursday while speaking at an online event organised by the ministry of culture and sport. A transcript of the event was released on Friday. She did not name the official but described him as having a senior rank in the federation.

Bekatorou said the male official from the Hellenic Sailing Federation kissed her, despite repeatedly rejecting his advances. After he kissed her, Bekatorou stated that she “froze,” and “did not know what to do”.

The official allegedly invited her to his hotel room to discuss team preparations, where he proceeded to assault the young woman.

Bekatorou said she had made it clear that the act was not consensual, adding that she was left feeling “exhausted and humiliated.” After repeatedly telling the official no, Bekatorou stated that she tried to push him away from her, showing that she “did not have the same desire.”

After the attack was over, Bekatorou stated that she left the room “crying and embarrassed,” and ran to take a shower, “feeling dirty and exhausted.”

In a statement Friday, the sailing federation said it had not received any formal or informal complaint from Bekatorou but urged her to make one.

Bekatorou has taken part in four previous Olympics starting with the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In Athens 2004 she came home with a gold medial, while in Beijing 2008 she earned a bronze.

Sourced By: AP News

Greece’s government has extended nationwide lockdown measures indefinitely but says retail stores and malls will reopen Monday with strict entrance limits.

Civil protection chief Nikos Hardalias said Friday that a nightly curfew, domestic travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders will all remain in effect after being first imposed in early November.

Retail stores, closed since Jan. 3, will reopen with limited entrance and for customers who have filled out permission notices to leave their homes that are usually made available by cellphone message.

The lockdown was imposed on Nov. 7 to fight a surge in cases and deaths that has eased in recent weeks.

Speaking in parliament ahead of Friday’s announcement, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said each month of lockdown was costing the Greek economy more than 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion).

“I want to be absolutely clear, every opening of economic activity harbors the danger of an increase in (COVID-19) cases,” Mitsotakis said.

“As long as this increase in cases is moderate and controlled and as long as it doesn’t put pressure on the health system, it is something we can bear. These are the delicate balances we must find.”

Primary schools and kindergartens reopened this week, but high school lessons are being held online only.

Sourced By: AP News

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis congratulated the student winners of the International Robotics Olympiad, who took home the top prize earlier this month, inviting them to the Maximos Mansion.

Greek students Iris Angelopoulou, Vasiliki Iliadi, Christos Rentzis and Alkiviadis Kotsikopoulos won gold by creating a “smart” white cane for the blind.

The Greeks, who were on the PlaisioBots team, beat teams from countries such as Korea and Russia, who have enormous experience in robotics.

“I have always been very close to all the robotics competitions and I want to tell you that I am excited by the talent, ingenuity, and interest shown by the robotics teams,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“And when of course they can and do excel in international competitions, it is even better. You make us, all of us, extremely proud”.

The smart cane that was created is specially designed for outdoor areas, recognising obstacles and their position, protecting the user’s head from obstacles, and communicating with the traffic lights to inform the user if they are green or red. It also has a bluetooth tracking application.

The Greek Prime Minister asked the students how they chose the idea for the smart cane. They explained that they were inspired by ab image of a visually impaired woman who had difficulty crossing a pedestrian crossing due to parked cars, and used market research to better understand the needs of potential users.

“It is interesting that you did market research,” he said.

“Technology has to work for someone. Have users. And what you are saying is that in the end, a person with a visual impairment may have a much greater response to this type of alert – unlike an audible signal – it is very interesting. Impressive.”

“The next step is now to get a patent and produce it.”

The PlaisioBots team was formed by the company Plaisio and is staffed by children and relatives of employees of the company.

A 117-year-old Greek yiayia in Western Athens will finally be able to hug her children in 20 days after receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.

According to Keep Talking Greece, Mrs Eleftheria is a resident at a care home for elderly in Nea Ionia. In Greece, visits to aged care homes by family members have been banned for months due to the pandemic.

Vaccination was not mandatory, yet Mrs Eleftheria wanted to receive it because it increased her chances of finally hugging her family again. The doctor of the facility considered that the health condition of the Mrs Eleftheria allowed her to be vaccinated as she wished.

The vaccination took place with no complications, with the aged care resident now reportedly waiting for another 20 days in order to receive the second dose of the vaccine.

Mrs Eleftheria was born on 12th of April, 1903, on the island of Lefkada, being three months younger than the Guinness Book of World Records’ oldest women in the world.

Vaccination of aged care residents and staff was labelled a high priority by the Greek government. By the end of the week, more than 4,500 people in 75 facilities are expected to be vaccinated.

Greek lawmakers in a vote Thursday approved a defense procurement program to purchase 18 French-made Rafale fighter planes, part of an armaments plan announced by the government in September.

Greece has earmarked 11.5 billion euros ($14 billion) for the modernisation of its armed forces over the next five years, at a time of increased tension with neighbouring Turkey.

READ MORE: Greece to boost military with 18 French Rafale jets in 2021

Relations between the two NATO members, often strained, deteriorated sharply last year, with warships facing off in the eastern Mediterranean in a dispute over maritime boundaries and energy rights.

Delivery of the 18 Rafale jets — 12 currently in service in France and six new planes to be built by Dassault Aviation — is scheduled to begin mid-year and to be completed over two years. The jets and the purchase of compatible air-to-air Meteor missiles are expected to cost 2.3 billion euros ($3.4 billion).

Lawmakers from the governing center-right party as well as the two largest opposition parties voted in favour of the program, backing legislation that was fast-tracked through parliament.

Government spokesman Christos Tarantilis said the program was part of the government’s actions “for the immediate reinforcement of the deterrent capabilities of our armed forces.”

The overall modernisation drive for Greece’s armed forces includes upgrades for the army, navy and air force, and the hiring of 15,000 personnel.

The program features plans to purchase warships, anti-submarine warfare helicopters and drones, and an upgrade of Greece’s F-16 fighter jet fleet by 2027.

Sourced By: AP News

Greece is pushing to return 1,450 people currently in migrant reception centres on Lesbos and other Aegean islands to Turkey, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Thursday, calling on Ankara to respect asylum agreements with the European Union.

Mitarachi said Greece had submitted a request to the European Commission and EU border agency Frontex for the immediate return of the migrants, who he said had arrived from Turkey and whose asylum applications had been rejected.

The move comes ahead of a planned resumption of talks to resolve longstanding territorial disputes between Greece and Turkey following months of tensions between the two NATO allies in the Aegean.

Migrant returns to Turkey, under a 2016 EU-Turkey agreement, largely dried up last year due to the coronavirus crisis. But Mitarachi said conditions were now in place for them to resume thanks to new technology and COVID-19 testing procedures.

“We expect Turkey to step up its efforts … First, to prevent the passage of boats departing from its shores bound for our country and European Union. And second to accept the return of migrants,” Mitarachi said.

He said most of the 1,450 individuals slated for return were on the island of Lesbos, where a fire last year destroyed the main camp housing irregular migrants, while others were on the islands of Kos, Samos and Chios.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees used Greece as their entry point to Europe through Turkey in 2015 and 2016, until the deal between Ankara and the EU reduced the flow across the Greek and Turkish land and sea borders.

Turkey hosts more than three million refugees and migrants, many from neighbouring Syria, while tens of thousands are waiting in Greece for asylum applications to be processed, mostly in camps where conditions have been described as dire.

Sourced By: Reuters