Vladimir Putin is the first leader to decline Greece’s invitation to the bicentennial independence celebration, honouring 200 years of Greece’s independence.
The Russian President is one of three leadership representatives for the remembrance of the Battle of Navarino, a battle which saw British, French and Russian soldiers unite to defeat Ottoman warships.
Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiototopoulos had announced earlier in the week that Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Prince Charles had received invitations to attend the parade as representatives of the three countries that contributed to the liberation of Greece.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said on Friday that Putin has no plans to visit Athens to attend the parade.
In October of 2020, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis is said to have personally invited the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the festivities, during his visit in Athens.
It is understood that the parade will go ahead with strict coronavirus restrictions in place in order to prevent further spread of the virus.
Blue and white echoes the heart of Sydney Olympic FC, yet Peter Kekeris shows in a jersey presentation that red and white will suit the players very nicely as they battle it out for the 2021 NSW NPL title.
Sydney Olympic Club President Bill Papas said the blue and white strips will continue as the main jersey design for the 2021 season, also adding that he was proud of the inclusion of the Pan Hellenic logo on the top back of the jerseys.
“Blue and White is synonymous with Olympic and that will never change,” Bill Papas said.
“Recently I had the great pleasure and honour of leading a consortium, including my fellow Olympic Director Damon Hanlin to acquire Xanthi Athletic Group Football Club.
“The purchase of Xanthi FC, is a huge boost for talented players of Sydney Olympic Football Club as we now have the premier development pathway in Australia and will provide the most exciting opportunity for our players to progress into the professional football environment.”
Peter Kekeris models the new Sydney Olympic alternate jersey. Photo: Sydney Olympic FC Facebook
To signify the establishment of the new football group and pathway, Sydney Olympic Football Club announced they will be adopting the red and white stripes of Xanthi FC as its alternate strip for the 2021 season.
The squad is in action on Saturday night against Macarthur Rams FC at Lynwood Park, St Helens Park with 1st grade kicking off at 7pm. The Under 18 and 20 squads will also be in action kicking off at 3pm and 5pm respectively.
For any fans coming out for a look on Saturday, the players will be wearing the alternate red and white strip for the first time in this match.
There’s nothing better in this world than two Greek stars of two different sports complimenting each other’s work ethic.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been named NBA MVP for two years running, was asked about his experience with tennis and his relationship with Nick Kyrgios ahead of the Australian Open.
“Nick Kyrgios kind of has a shaky personality, he is basically… how can I say this politely? He is the Denis Rodman of tennis. I’m joking. He’s a good guy and I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him a little bit. I think he is a Miami Heat fan. I wish him the best of luck,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said in a press conference.
Kyrgios responded to the video on Twitter saying, “Keep doing you and inspiring brother”.
Giannis also spoke about his experience on the tennis courts, revealing that he once broke in to a tennis court with his brother when he was younger. It is safe to say, however, that Giannis won’t be making the switch to the racket sport.
“My tennis skills are terrible,” Giannis jokingly said.
“I played for the first time when I was around 10, with my little brother. It was a tennis court, we. snuck in and played for hours until they kicked us out.
“Second time I played was in Milwaukee when I was 18, I was terrible.”
Giannis concluded by saying he was instead “really good” at ping pong. Putting a challenge out to the ping pong champs, Greek fans will wait to see if Tsitsipas or Kyrgios take up the ping pong challenge in the future.
Greece will shut its shops on Saturday less than two weeks after they were allowed to reopen, and has indefinitely postponed plans to reopen secondary schools, after a surge in coronavirus infections forced it to reverse early steps out of lockdown.
“The horizontal spread of infections in the most densely populated area of the country is worrisome,” Vana Papaevangelou, a member of the committee of experts advising the government, told a press briefing on Friday.
“We don’t want to face an exponential rise of infections and the impact it would have on the public health system.”
She said the attention of epidemiologists had shifted from northern Greece to the wider Athens metropolitan area, “where there was a clear rise of infections in most neighbourhoods”.
The occupancy of COVID-19 intensive care units in hospitals in Athens, where nearly half of Greece’s population lives, had reached 61%.
Greece took its first steps on Jan. 18 to loosen a second lockdown in place since November. Shops, hair salons, primary schools and kindergartens were reopened, and the authorities announced secondary schools would reopen from Feb. 1.
Under the newly tightened restrictions announced on Friday, shops in high infection areas would again have to close, though customers can pick up orders made online or by phone. Secondary schools will continue teaching remotely for the time being.
The restrictions will last at least until Feb. 8.
On Friday, health authorities reported 941 new coronavirus cases and 22 deaths, bringing total infections to 155,678 since the first case was detected in February last year and COVID-related deaths to 5,764.
Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said the situation was “particularly fragile” and there should be no complacency.
As Greek Australians look to move past the devastating events of 2020, annual celebrations, that were once treasured community events, are finally able to resume.
The Kalymnian Brotherhood of Melbourne last week hosted their annual picnic, an event that was long missed following the COVID-19 restrictions last year.
“It’s fantastic. It’s nearly 12 months and we haven’t had any functions since last year, so it was a bit of a struggle,” Kalymnian Brotherhood President Jim Tseros said to The Greek Herald.
“We’ve got a clubhouse which continuously wore away whatever money we had in the account, but it was good to get back and try and raise some funds again to keep the club rolling.”
Photo: Kalymnian Brotherhood of Melbourne Facebook.
The Kalymnian Brotherhood of Melbourne is a non-for-profit organisation that holds multiple charity events each year, including car shows and dances.
“It’s a greater thing than just an internal Greek thing. It’s becoming more of just getting involved with other clubs and other nationalities and other multiculturalism,” Jim said.
“That’s the way the clubs are heading these days. It’s not like old school where just came out here and stuck to themselves, these days they’re trying to sort of branch out and do more charity work.”
Photo: Kalymnian Brotherhood of Melbourne Facebook.
Jim says however that despite all the charity work they do, they are not a charity organisation and aren’t entitled to any “survival funds” by the government, making it harder to keep the club rolling.
“There was a little bit of money in the account which basically got us through until now and hopefully now we don’t have to look back and just move forward.” Jim said.
The Kalymnian Brotherhood is planning to hold a function at the clubhouse in late February before preparations for Easter, which is expected to be much larger than last year, begins.
Traditionally, the beginning of each school year is the starting point of a new, creative course, accompanied by feelings of joy, hope and optimism. I fully understand the particularities of the present situation – particularities that may constrain you from all those joyful things that always marked the return to classrooms: face-to-face interaction with teachers and a carefree game with your favourite classmates.
However, I am certain that your beautiful faces will not be deprived of a smile, nor will you lose hope and optimism.
This is because I believe that you will be able to respond – much better than we adults – to the unique challenge that you face, within the context of the restrictions that stem from the pandemic. While you are required to maintain social distancing between you and your teachers, the challenge that arises is how to approach spiritually, how to communicate by opening your hearts and offering love, understanding and support to one another. Besides, in addition to acquiring knowledge, this is the other primary role and purpose of education: the cultivation of values such as solidarity, respect, cooperation and unity.
Therefore, stand with courage and patience before the difficulties that you are likely to encounter and willingly offer your pure, childlike souls as fertile ground to cultivate the values and virtues of your parents and grandparents; those that were able to make them stand before the many trials that they faced.
At the same time, through the intercessions of the patron saints for Education, the Three Hierarchs, trust Christ Who will be your companion and true friend in both good and difficult times and He will help you taste the fruit of your labours.
I firmly believe that you will have the beloved educators as helpers in your good struggle as well as your parents, obeying respectfully St John Chrysostom’s encouraging words, “Everything for us is secondary especially when it comes to the care of children”.
Personally, as Archbishop and your spiritual father, I wholeheartedly wish you health and strength to progress and fulfill your dreams. Our Holy Archdiocese always has its doors open to everyone and especially for young people, willing to bless and support your endeavours and help you achieve your God-inspired goals.
The Greek Community of Melbourne on Thursday night held their Annual General Meeting via zoom and Facebook, giving the board an opportunity to present and discuss the new projects being undertaken for 2021.
GCM President Bill Papastergiadis noted that while 2020 was no doubt a challenging year, it was still a year of some achievement of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
“Despite the pandemic our organisation continued to play a pivotal role in community and educational matters both in Australia and abroad,” Papastergiadis said.
In amongst other activity, the GCM:
Managed to continue our education programs and achieved outstanding VCE results with our students achieving on the whole excellent results
In association with a broad coalition of community groups we secured the continuation of the Greek Program at La Trobe University
Continued to hold and stream to a wide audience our Language and Cultural Seminars
Ran a successful covid 19 referral service
Were successful in our lobbying of the Federal Government in taking a pro Greece stance on the Turkish incursions in the Mediterranean and with Aghia Sofia
I met on a number of occasions with the Prime Minister and Ministers Coleman, Tudge and Wood on visa issues of Greeks in Australia and on a variety of multicultural matters/initiatives
Corresponded with the Greek prime Minister on the Greek Government’s dealing with the Secretariat for Greeks Abroad
Participated in numerous international forums including the Delphi Economic Forum and the recent University Forum
Expanded the theatre units of our schools program so that performances were undertaken on line and on radio stations
In terms of the GCM’s program for 2021, Bill Papastergiadis advised as follows:
“We are hopeful of making an announcement on the establishment of a Greek Community of Melbourne Chair at Melbourne University on the Hellenic Diaspora and Cosmopolitanism. This Global Chair will be jointly funded by the Federal Government and Melbourne University and has arisen as a result of our discussions with the Prime Minister.”
“We expect to finalise the development of a new Centre for the Youth and the elderly in the city close to our Greek Centre. This will be a hub and meeting space for all Greek Australians and will act as a catalyst for future projects.”
“We are developing a program so as to integrate the universities in Australia with those in Greece so that our students can do part of their course work overseas an have that work recognised in their degrees here.”
Former Young Socceroos striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has been announced as the latest addition to Newcastle Jets’ strike force as they look to make themselves a dominant threat this year.
According to Jets football manager Joel Griffiths, the 21-year-old is a welcomed and valuable addition to the squad.
“AP is a genuine number 9,” Griffiths said.
“He has plenty of pace and the vision and ability to get into good goal-scoring areas. He has a wealth of potential and is only scratching the surface, which makes him an exciting prospect.
“He’s also a player with plenty to prove which gives him a danger factor and as a Club, we believe he will be a valuable asset.
“We are very excited to have him join our organisation.”
The young forward made his A-League debut for Adelaide United at just 18.
His four goals in 15 appearances for the Reds, saw him land a place in the Young Socceroos team.
However, Stamatelopoulos was limited to just 12 appearances for Western United last season and failed to feature in for the Club this year. Joining Newcastle Jets until the end of the 2020/21 season, he will be unable to play until the A-League transfer window opens on February 16.
“The delay in being able to play him certainly isn’t a negative,” Griffiths said.
“He will have plenty of time to settle in and get familiar with the way we play and establish some connections with his teammates.
“Come mid-February, he’ll be itching to get on the pitch.”
Greek twins Marianna and Sofia Erotokritou have been awarded the title of ‘Greek Tourism Ambassadors’ in China by Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis after 6 years of commitment to spreading the Greek culture.
Marianna and Sofia arrived in Beijing 6 years ago, studying international trade and Economics in Chinese. In their spare time, they decided to promote Greece and Cyprus to Chinese locals through videos uploaded online. Some of these videos have over 1,000,000 views.
At the same time, the Erotokritou sisters delivered short-term Greek language courses to more than 2,000 online students.
As the two countries look to strengthen their tourism relations, Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis awarded the two sisters the title of “Ambassadors for Hellenic Tourism” for the “market of China”.
“It is our great honour and at the same time a huge responsibility to promote our beautiful country in China!” the sisters said in an Instagram post.
The title is awarded for a period of two years with the possibility of renewal, while the framework of cooperation concerns the following actions:
– promotion of thematic forms of tourism, through social media and other digital media, on a weekly basis.
– emphasis on the promotion of gastronomic tourism, with posts on a weekly basis.
– representation of the Greek tourist product in events related to the Chinese market.
Haris Theoharis emphasised the title of “Ambassador of Greek Tourism” is honorary and no fee is paid.
A Greek sailing coach said he “still loved” the now 21-year-old woman in court yesterday as he was detained and sentenced to temporary detention.
An arrest warrant was issued by the First Instance Prosecutor in Athens, Nikos Stefanatos, last Friday after he reportedly carried out preliminary investigations over the weekend and received the testimonies of the now 21-year-old sailing athlete and her parents.
The “relationship” became public knowledge on Friday, when the accused revealed on television that he had an affair with the athlete when she was 11.
The Greek coach faced charges for aggravated rape, repeated seduction and misconduct in court yesterday.
He arrived at the building shortly after 9:30 a.m., yet did not begin to apologise. Instead, he wished for his parents to be the first to testify as defence witnesses.
According to Greek media, the sailing coach still declares that he is in love with the athlete after 10 years.
“I did not rape her, I categorically deny it. I still love her. I know I will be punished, I must be punished for what happened. Be patient, when I get out of prison I will marry her,” he reportedly said.
