Four Greek Australians have been named among the leading 2020 graduates from International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in South Australia.
The IB is an international school-leaving credential. It has fewer in-class assessments and about 80 percent of a student’s result is based on the final exam.
In South Australia, there were among 222 students who sat the IB instead of the SA Certificate of Education this year.
South Australia’s top International Baccalaureate diploma graduates: James Psaltis (front row, third from right); Natacha Zisogiannopoulos (middle row, second from right); Mihalis Kokkoni (back row, first from right); George Karageorge-Nguyen (front row, first from right). Picture: Dean Martin.
Among them was 18-year-old James Psaltis from St Peter’s College, who received 44 out of a possible 45 score – the equivalent of the maximum possible 99.75 Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank.
Speaking to The Advertiser, James says he has applied to study medicine at Adelaide or Flinders University. He also aims to bolster his volunteer work.
“I manage my own social enterprise operations, in partnership with United Way Australia,” James says to the newspaper. “I aim to improve literacy rates in at-risk children.”
Also recognised among the top IB students in SA were Natacha Zisogiannopoulos from St Peter’s Girls’ School and Mihalis Kokkoni.
Pembroke School graduate, George Karageorge-Nguyen, was also recognised for achieving an IB score of 43 out of 45, translated to an ATAR of 99.55.
Congratulations to all four Greek Australian students!
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, reshuffled his cabinet on Monday in an attempt to give a boost to his conservative government, but left key ministers in place to signal policy continuity for the economy and foreign affairs.
As Greece aims to reopen schools next week and start mass vaccinations this month, the government is keen to kick-start the economy after the novel coronavirus pandemic destroyed hopes of a recovery last year.
To face the challenges, Mitsotakis has switched some ministers around and brought in a few new faces, including Christos Tarantilis, an Athens University professor who was appointed the government’s spokesman to help polish its image.
Greece’s PM appointed what officials said was the country’s first openly gay minister, Nicholas Yatromanolakis.
In addition, the prime minister appointed what officials said was Greece’s first openly gay minister, naming Nicholas Yatromanolakis, a former member of the centrist Potami party, as deputy culture minister in a move that underlined his socially liberal governing style.
“Every government needs to demonstrate flexibility at the right time,” Tarantilis said, announcing the cabinet line-up.
Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos remain in place, as tensions with Turkey over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean have grown in recent months.
Harry Theoharis also keeps his job as tourist minister, a role that is also central to the Greek economy.
Kostas Skrekas was moved from deputy agriculture minister to take over the energy ministry from Kostis Hatzidakis, who has moved to the labour ministry, a significant portfolio with pension reforms pending and as businesses have suffered during the pandemic.
The economy is expected to have declined by some 10% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, and hopes for a strong recovery are pinned on the second half of 2021. Greece emerged from a decade-long debt crisis in 2018.
The country has reported 139,447 infections and 4,881 related deaths since its first coronavirus case was detected in February. The latest changes were announced during a nationwide lockdown, the second since the outbreak.
Greece’s Orthodox Church said on Monday it would defy a government lockdown order imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus and open churches to the faithful during the Epiphany celebration on January 6.
The decision was made following an emergency session of the Holy Synod, the Greek Orthodox Church’s governing body.
“The synod does not agree with the new government measures regarding the operation of places of worship and insists on what was originally agreed with the state,” the ecclesiastical body said in a statement.
“It asks that the aforementioned decision be absolutely respected by the state without further ado taking into consideration… that all the foreseen hygiene measures were upheld by clerics in thousands of churches across Greece.”
Greek Orthodox churches in Greece to defy lockdown by opening for Epiphany.
The announcement marks a rare show of dissent by Church authorities, which until now have largely respected government restrictions curbing religious services, along with other public activities, during the pandemic.
Before the holiday season Athens’ centre-right government had said it would relax curbs and permit all places of worship to conduct services, albeit with limited congregations, on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and the Epiphany.
But with the country’s health system under pressure after a surge in coronavirus cases, the administration rescinded the decision on Sunday saying restrictions eased over the festive period would be reimposed until January 11.
In response to this dissent, a government official said lockdown laws applied to everyone equally and that the Greek Church cannot “cherry-pick” among the health rules and restrictions.
“We hope that the Church will realise the urgency of these times for society, as it has responsibly done so far,” the official said, noting that the government has sought dialogue with the Church at all stages of the pandemic, showing “respect for public health and people’s faith.”
Epiphany, which officially marks the end of the Christmas holidays, is one of the most important religious festivals in the Greek Orthodox calendar.
When Meresini Leivere’s story of how she’d fallen victim to a car scam and lost nearly $9000 aired on Channel 9’s A Current Affair, Greek Australian Nicholas Karagiannis was glued to the screen. He knew he needed to do something to help.
The Team Manager rallied together a team from his Homebush business, Crash Claim, and started a fundraiser to help Ms Leivere get a Hilux – the same type of vehicle used in the Facebook Marketplace scam.
“We were moved by Mereseini’s journey…” Mr Karagiannis tells The Greek Herald.
Since spending her remaining savings on another car, Ms Leivere had been working nearly every day to get the money back.
She was desperate to have the funds to return to Fiji to gain selection for the country’s Olympic and World Cup rugby 7’s team – a dream she’d been working towards for years.
Mr Karagiannis says he could see the drive and passion in Ms Leivere’s eyes to make her Olympic dream a reality and that only made him more determined to help out.
“Accomplishing any dream is hard work with many obstacles along the way and having something like what Meresini experienced can not only be soul destroying but a huge set-back,” he says.
“Being on our own journey, we know this would have been a difficult set-back and wanted to reach out and lend a hand. With all the negative going on in the world right now, we also wanted to show that goodwill and good people do still exist.”
Mr Karagiannis giving a $5,000 cheque to Ms Leivere. Photo: Supplied / A Current Affair.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Through a GoFund Me page, Mr Karagiannis and his team at Crash Claim, managed to raise $20,000 all up, with some funds going towards the purchase of the Hilux, and the remaining $5,000 being given to Ms Leivere as a cheque.
There was no shortage of tears from Ms Leivere and the Crash Claim team.
“The entire team were pumped to say the least and loved being able to make a difference,” Mr Karagiannis tells The Greek Herald.
Mr Karagiannis started a fundraiser to help Ms Leivere get a Hilux. Photo: Supplied / The Greek Herald.
Mr Karagiannis is the driving force behind Crash Claim, which he founded in April 2019 with his wife. The business is well-known for providing a quality service to people who have had a motor vehicle accident.
Over the years, he has also been a prominent member of Sydney’s Greek community, having supported a number of charitable events, including the 30 year anniversary celebration of his local Parish, St Stefanos Hurlstone Park, where $250,000 was raised and a donated car was raffled.
With such a strong background in philanthropic and charitable activities, it’s no surprise Mr Karagiannis has just added another thing to his Good Samaritan list.
Following the announcement that the annual Blessing of the Waters will not go ahead in Sydney, Victoria and WA this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Greek Orthodox churches across Australia have also had to adapt their scheduled house blessings.
In New South Wales, due to a number of recent coronavirus outbreaks in the Northern Beaches, Berala and Croydon, masks are now mandatory in some indoor venues, including places of worship.
In Greater Sydney, household gatherings have also been reduced to a maximum of five guests including children.
These restrictions have made it difficult for traditional house blessings to go ahead. This is how some churches in Sydney are adapting (please note, this is not an extensive list):
St Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in Mascot:
After seeking advice from His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia and due to the current COVID-19 restrictions in NSW, St Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in Mascot has decided they will not be doing house blessings this year.
Instead, Father Athanasios and his parish “will be providing cups for everyone to take Holy Water for themselves and their homes this Tuesday and Wednesday.”
“We all know that our parishioners are always waiting with great anticipation for their parish priest to bless their homes as it is customary but this decision was taken… in order to protect our parishioners health, especially our most vulnerable members,” the parish wrote in a Facebook statement.
Greek Orthodox churches in both Liverpool and Kogarah:
Both Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Liverpool and The Resurrection of our Lord, our Lady of Myrtles and St Elessa, Greek Orthodox church in Kogarah, have decided to go ahead with house blessings.
This is according to Facebook posts they published on December 31 and December 30 respectively, featuring their epiphany house blessing schedules for 2021.
In Kogarah’s announcement, which also includes their church program for January 2021, the Parish asks that people are “home on the day the Priest has designated for your suburb, because it will not be possible for him to return a second time should you not be at home.”
Greek Orthodox Community and Parish of Prophet Elias in Norwood, South Australia:
In South Australia currently, people present in a place of worship must not exceed 1 person per 2 square metres, so the maximum capacity will depend on the size of the venue.
While the total number of people allowed at a private residence is 50.
Now although restrictions in South Australia are not as tough at the moment as they are in New South Wales, one Greek Orthodox church in the state has still decided to change the way it does house blessings this year.
The Greek Orthodox Community and Parish of Prophet Elias in Norwood has released a statement on Facebook saying Parish priest Michael “will not personally bless your homes by visiting them” this year.
“Instead a bottle of Holy Water will be available to all families, as well as prayers and instructions concerning the Sanctification of your own homes,” the post reads.
“Great Holy Water (Agiasmos) for the blessing of homes will be available for all at the services for Holy Epiphany (5th and 6th January, services from 8am).”
US President-elect, Joe Biden, has sent an official letter of thanks to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Patriarchate’s press officer said on Saturday.
In his letter, Mr Biden thanked the Patriarch for a letter he sent in November congratulating him on his election victory.
Mr Biden said he and Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, “look forward to a future dialogue” with the Ecumenical Patriarch, adding in a postscript: “We need your leadership.”
The President-elect and Patriarch share a long history of goodwill and friendship, dating back to Biden’s eight-year tenure as Vice President during the Obama administration.
A turning point in their friendship was Biden’s visit to Istanbul as Vice President in 2011. While there, Biden immersed himself in the world of Orthodoxy, touring the most important sites with then-Archbishop of America Demetrios.
The Greek Australian co-owner of Epping Gardens aged care home, which is at the centre of a major class action over the deaths of 38 residents from COVID-19, has left Australia for Greece, according to The Sunday Age.
Multimillionaire Peter Arvanitis and his wife, Areti, reportedly received a travel exemption from the Australian Department of Home Affairs to attend to “essential business” in Athens, and left Melbourne about two weeks before Christmas.
Mr Arvanitis was unable to tell The Sunday Age when he would return to Australia.
“[I am] unsure of my return date, depending on business progress here and of course requirements of international travellers returning home. The plan is to be home sooner rather than later,” Mr Arvanitis told The Sunday Age.
Multimillionaire Peter Arvanitis and his wife, Areti, reportedly left Melbourne about two weeks before Christmas. Picture: Facebook.
Mr Arvanitis’s decision to leave for Greece has angered many victims of the aged care home, where 103 residents tested positive to COVID-19 and 86 staff also became infected, amid mounting evidence of poor care at the facility.
Sam Agnello, who is lead plaintiff in a class action involving Heritage Care, told The Sunday Age he had never received any offer of condolences or an apology from the owners of the company or its management team.
Mr Agnello’s mother, Carmela, 92, contracted COVID-19 at Epping Gardens in July and died within three days of being admitted to hospital.
“[Mr Arvanitis] has never taken any responsibility or shown any compassion. We want him to come back to Melbourne and face up to the families who have been destroyed by this,” Mr Agnello told the Australian news outlet.
The deadly outbreak at Epping Gardens remains under investigation by WorkSafe and the State Coroner, who is being assisted by police detectives.
Mr Arvanitis resigned as a director of Heritage Care in September, when media attention on his vast wealth and opulent lifestyle became a “distraction to the good work of the staff.”
At the same time as Mr Arvanitis has left for Greece, his mansion on Irving Road has also been listed for sale privately. The property could be sold for up to $40 million.
The property featured in the March edition of Vogue Living, which gushed about the “gluttonous trappings of wealth within a classical framework.”
The interior of the Toorak mansion. Picture: Vogue Australia.
Mr Arvanitis told The Sunday Age that although he is not actively looking to sell, “everything has a price and only for a significant premiuim.”
“If I was to sell, I have several properties in Toorak and interstate I could move into. My history in real estate demonstrates this as I have sold over 60 properties in the last five years,” Mr Arvanitis said.
Mr Arvanitis, who joined Heritage Care in January 2019, was the founder and one-time director of listed for-profit nursing home giant Estia. He sold his shareholding in 2016 for $55 million and quit the company after it hit trouble.
In 2018, he also sold a shopping centre and a thoroughbred horse breeding farm, netting another $21 million.
Four cases of the fast-spreading COVID-19 variant, first identified in the UK, have been diagnosed in Greece, according to reports by Greek news networks SKAI and ANT1.
Since its discovery in the UK in November, the coronavirus mutation has been diagnosed in dozens of countries across the globe.
In Cyprus, a total of 12 cases of the mutation were found, after the country conducted further tests on samples taken from people who had travelled from the UK and tested positive for COVID-19.
The variant is causing concern around the world because it spreads faster than novel coronavirus, although it’s not necessarily more deadly.
Lockdown extended in Greece:
This news comes as the Greek government announced on Saturday a one-week closure of all retail shops which were allowed to open during the holidays, as well as the closure of all places of worship.
Government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, said the decision was taken by Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the government to avert a spike in the viral load so schools of all levels can reopen on January 11.
A man with an umbrella walks in the rain on Pnyx hill in front the ancient Acropolis hill, with the ruins of the fifth century BC Parthenon temple, in Athens, on Monday, November 30, 2020. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
At the same time, Petsas said that the nightly curfew will return to 9 pm to 5 am for one week. People working night shifts are exempt from the curfew, but need to be able to show a pass from their employers if stopped during a police check.
These measures apply as of Sunday, January 3, starting at 6 am, until 6 am on Monday, January 11.
Retailers and churches will be allowed to reopen along with schools on January 11, with the same health and social distancing rules that applied before the holidays, Petsas added.
NSW Health has issued a new set of restrictions for the Greater Sydney region, including a limit on weddings and funerals.
Places of worship and religious services will be limited to 1 person per 4sqm up to a maximum of 100 people per separate area. Weddings and funerals will similarly be limited to 1 person per 4sqm, with a maximum of 100 people.
See below for the full list of restriction changes:
Gym classes reduced to 30 people.
Places of worship and religious services limited to 1 person per 4sqm up to a maximum of 100 people per separate area.
Weddings and funerals limited to 1 person per 4sqm up to a maximum of 100 people.
Outdoor performances and protests reduced to 500 people.
Controlled, outdoor gatherings (seated, ticketed, enclosed) reduced to 2,000 people.
Night clubs not permitted.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also announced the introduction of mandatory masks from midnight Saturday, yet enforcement won’t begin until midnight Monday with a $200 on-the-spot fine for non-compliance.
Masks will be compulsory in shopping settings including retail, supermarkets and shopping centres, on public and shared transport, during indoor entertainment including cinemas and theatres, places of worship, hair and beauty premises.
Face masks will also be mandatory for all staff in hospitality venues and casinos.
“If you go to shopping centres, are catching public transport, attending an entertainment venue like the cinema, you have to wear a mask,” Berejiklian told reporters on Saturday.
“We want people in NSW to be able to go about their business as much as possible but we need to reduce the risks in certain settings where we know there are challenges.”
The move comes as the state records a further seven locally acquired cases of COVID-19.
Greek Australian guitarist Orianthi released her new album, “O,” on November 6, 2020, and has struck a chord with young audiences. The album was Orianthi’s first new studio album in seven years and her first new music as a solo artist in six years.
“The album ‘O’ is a very inspired album. … Kept things pretty raw and didn’t overthink it. Marti (Frederiksen, producer, mixer, songwriter) and I wanted to create a unique sound and vibe with every track and we experimented a lot with synths and different guitar tones,” Orianthi said.
“Lyrically, a lot of this record comes from life experience and other people’s stories. It’s going to be so fun to play these songs live!”
The platinum-selling recording artist’s first major solo success was with the Geffen Records release of “According To You,” which is now RIAA-certified Platinum and has over 17 million streams on Spotify.
Orianthi was also previously named by Elle magazine as one of the 12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists.
Orianthi’s father, a former Greek guitarist, had a major influence in her music career. Her father and grandmother taught Orianthi the importance of being family-oriented and attending family functions, and just sitting down and eating dinner together.
