Elon Musk has endorsed Cypriot MEP and YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou for the European Union presidency in a post on X.
This followed a discussion about the term “far right” and Musk’s response to a user praising Fidias as “one of the most transparent politicians in Europe.” Musk later reinforced his support, tweeting, “Fidias for EU President!”
Fidias previously criticised the EU election process after Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election as European Commission president earlier this year, advocating for a “more democratic” system. Musk agreed with his viewpoint, stating, “Fidias has a good point.”
Despite the EU lacking a formal presidency, the European Commission president is its most influential role. Von der Leyen’s term runs until 2029. Musk’s connection with Fidias began in 2023 when the YouTuber camped outside X headquarters to meet him. Fidias, who credits Musk for inspiring his active use of X, later entered the European Parliament.
Authorities recently discovered a significant land fraud scheme involving 45 plots of public land, spanning 550,000 square metres, on the Greek islands of Hydra, Spetses and Agistri. A group from northern Greece is accused of forging documents to falsely claim ownership of forested and agricultural areas.
The fraud was identified by a private surveyor and the Greek land registry (Ktimatologio). Investigators revealed that the suspects retroactively altered their tax declarations (E9 forms) to create the appearance of long-standing claims predating the land registry process. They supported these false claims with affidavits repeatedly signed by the same individuals, enhancing the illusion of legitimacy.
Spetses.
The group used a single notary for all notarised documents, likely to minimise risk. Instead of legitimate survey data, they relied on publicly accessible tools from Ktimatologio to identify and claim the plots. Exploiting the system’s reliance on self-reported data and the challenges of verifying historical claims, they hoped to avoid detection, particularly as the targeted lands were remote and public.
Greece’s Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Kostas Kyranakis described the scheme as a calculated exploitation of system loopholes and confirmed that legal proceedings are under way. Officials believe the group anticipated the state’s limited resources would leave the areas unguarded.
The suspects face felony charges, which could result in sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years due to the involvement of public property.
Maria, Arthur and I grew up together in a working-class, inner-city suburb of Melbourne. This was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when our parents bought their respective houses there and become neighbours, while Maria and I met in primary school.
Our neighbourhood was a predominantly Greek one, with Greek Australian kids roughly the same age as Maria and I. There was Arthur, his brother Jim and younger sister Helen. There was Maria’s older brother Evan. There was John, Spiro and Fani. There was Steve, and the brothers Jim and George.
We’d ride our bikes on the street, play tennis on the road. Glorious memories, until us girls turned 14 or so; when adolescence hit. Our parents “went funny” and turned strict, feeling that we were transgressing their good, Greek daughter norms. A familiar story for many of us second generation Greek Australian girls trying to forge an identity, caught between two worlds, the Anglo and the Greek
At high school in the early 1980s, Maria and I had different friends but spent time together after school. Both our parents were strict to us girls. I’d go to Maria’s house and smoke before her parents arrived home from work. Maria would borrow my high heel, ‘school’ shoes – ‘slickers’ that were in fashion back then – because her parents wouldn’t allow her to own or wear them. Neither did my parents, but I was on a rebellious path, even piercing one of my ears myself, four times.
Maria & me in 1984 Maria with her brother and me with her mother“Those infamous Slickers”
At the time of my hard core ‘unruliness,’ I’d stopped hanging out with Maria, seeking other ‘rebels,’ mostly Aussie kids with more ‘freedom.’ That was the time I heard on the Greekvine (aka grapevine), that Maria was in a relationship with our neighbour and childhood friend Arthur – and that her parents weren’t happy.
Different stories and rumours abounded, and just before my parents sent me to Greece aged 16 (as a ‘reform’ measure), I was figuratively left with the impression that Maria and Arthur had eloped. Good for them, I thought, chuckling in glee in my rebelliousness against ‘the parents.’
maria and arthur at school
So, my ‘new’ life began in Greece, and Maria and my childhood and early-teen neighbourhood ‘gang’, lost touch. Now, older – and wiser (I hope) – I decided to seek out Maria via Facebook and we became online friends, liking each other’s posts when they appeared.
I’d been thinking of her with love and fondness for a long time, so I asked her if she was interested in speaking to me, now a writer for The Greek Herald, about her ‘love story’ with Arthur – against all odds, I thought. But reality was different and I won’t give a spoiler yet!
That’s the problem with rumours and hearsay – things get mixed up and the truth, or real story, suffers. Maria kindly agreed for me to write the article about her love story, and soon set things straight.
Speaking to her via video call, I could at last see her again, her lovely face, her beautiful skin which truly hasn’t aged, and her gorgeous blue eyes. A Cretan girl. I also thought that the fuss with both Maria’s parents was odd, because their surnames were similar as well as ending in -akis (usually signifying Cretans), so I assumed, it must’ve been something like a Cretan vendetta!
“No. It wasn’t like that at all”, Maria clarifies, adding, “Arthur’s Dad is from Florina; it was his grandfather that was from Crete way back.”
“And did you elope after all?” I asked Maria excitedly. “Er, no. We got engaged and our parents were thrilled. And we got married a year later in 1987 with 500 guests at our wedding. It was great!”
Confused but glad for my friend (really; as I’m older and wiser now), I ask… “What was all the fuss about back in the neighbourhood? Please, let it rip.”
Maria’s reply shocked me. She said: “I still feel guilty about what I did to my parents.”
My gut reaction was to shout “what are you talking about?!” but I stayed quiet, professional – as the interviewer.
“Well, Arthur and I began having romantic feelings towards each other when I was in Year 11 towards Year 12. Something sparked! And we began sneaking around because my parents were strict. They wanted me to finish Year 12 without ‘distractions’, as they had planned for us to return to Greece permanently. My brother was already there finishing the army, and so… when I finished Year 12, they, well, sold the house, got our tickets, and… thought I too was going,” Maria explains.
She seems to swallow, while looking down.
“So, you hadn’t told your parents about you and Arthur…” I exclaim, trying to appear calm. “Even when they were selling – and sold – their house?!”
Maria’s Dad YianniMaria with her mum
Not wanting to add insult to injury, with my old defiance against our Greek parents surfacing, I then stayed silent, allowing Maria to continue.
“I was too scared. I wouldn’t let Arthur tell them either – that we were serious, even though his parents didn’t want me to go and said they’d talk to my parents – but I said no… so… that’s how it turned out. And I’ll always live with the guilt. My father passed away five-and-a-half years ago…” she says.
I respond that she’s certainly made up for her ill feeling of guilt because she gave her parents a wonderful son-in-law in Arthur.
Maria continued, “my parents obviously didn’t go and live in Greece back then without me. Instead, they bought a house in a suburb a bit further out from where we initially lived, and Arthur came to live with us. My dad and he were mates, and my dad certainly enjoyed our kids – his grandchildren.”
There you go, I tell her, your Dad was a very lucky man. Love conquers all.
Maria’s dad and kids
Maria and Arthur are still happily married with three adult children and three grandchildren. They’ve visited Greece several times, and Europe – all trips with family. Maria’s mum, who I remember – the lovely Thia Zaharoula who made the best kalitsounia in the world (better than those in Crete) – took her oldest grand-daughter for a trip back in 2005, and then Maria went to join them. More trips to Greece, particularly to Crete, ensued.
Maria and two grandkids
“Arthur was never really keen on visiting Greece,” Maria says, “but now he loves it, especially with our grandkids being with us on these holidays. I think he enjoys it even more than I do.”
Maria and family in Athens, 2021
Arthur and Maria have worked hard since finishing high school. Maria worked for a major bank, while Arthur for a menswear chain store. On the side, they also had a picture framing business. Maria even completed a beautician course part-time, “my passion” she tells me.
family shot 10 years ago
Later on, an opportunity arose for Maria to work as a beautician twice a week, outside of her bank job’s hours at an upmarket salon in a wealthy part of town. To cut a long story short, Maria ended up owning and running that salon for 20 years. Arthur has been in real-estate now for many years himself with his own business.
“My parents would babysit, and they did all of our food shopping for 20 years. That’s what my Dad was like, even shouting us holidays. The help was endless until the very end, before my father’s passing.”
Maria, who was born in Crete and came with her parents and brother to Australia when she was three, says longingly, “I love Greece, Crete, the fresh food, the simplicity of the village.”
“Australia has changed post-COVID; people became germaphobic and even now, keep more to themselves. There’s a high level of protectionism. The spirit of being carefree has gone. I would trade it all for the quiet life of Crete. I’d love for us to retire, or spend six months of the year there,” she adds.
“Well do it then!” I tell Maria, to which she responds, “I’m a grandmother now, and family still comes first.”
“I dedicate this article to my parents for sacrificing their dreams to allow me to have my happy ever after life. It was the only time I went against my parents,” she concludes.
May the happiness continue for you and your family always, my dear friend.
Nearly two years after its debut and rise to Netflix’s top 10, Maestro in Blue is set to return with its highly anticipated third season. The first Greek series to stream globally on Netflix will premiere on MEGA TV in Greece on December 2, with episodes airing daily through December 5.
According to tovima.com, Greek and Cypriot audiences can stream the show on Netflix starting December 3, while global viewers gain access on December 28.
During a press screening of the third season’s premiere, creator and star Christophoros Papakaliatis hinted at the possibility of a fourth season, emphasizing the rich storytelling potential of the show’s characters while expressing his need for a break.
‘Maestro In Blue’: The plot
Set on the picturesque Ionian island of Paxos, the series follows Orestis, a musician organizing a festival during the pandemic. He falls in love with a local woman and becomes entwined in the island’s community, confronting issues like homophobia, domestic abuse, and corruption. A murder adds mystery to the narrative.
Praised for its stellar ensemble cast and stunning Paxos backdrop, Maestro in Blue features notable Greek actors such as Haris Alexiou, Maria Kavoyianni, and Fanis Mouratidis.
With 15 episodes aired so far, the series has won international acclaim, earning an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1/10 on IMDb. Its critical and popular success solidifies its status as a milestone for Greek storytelling on a global platform.
Niki Louca from My Greek Kitchen shares her favourite recipe for halva with The Greek Herald. You can follow her on Instagram @mygreekkitchen for more!
Ingredients:
1 cup slivered almonds
3-4 tablespoons light olive oil
¾ cup light olive oil (or vegetable oil)
2 cups coarse semolina
1 tsp cinnamon powder
For the syrup:
1 ¾ cup sugar
4 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
2-6 tablespoons rose water
Method:
In a medium non-stick deep pan, heat the 3-4 tablespoons of oil and gently fry the almonds till golden brown.
Remove almonds from pan and place on absorbent kitchen paper.
Place all the syrup ingredients together in a separate saucepan and place over the heat.
Bring the syrup to a rapid boil for 2 minutes and then remove it from the heat. Add the rose water – as much or as little as you like.
In the medium non-stick deep pan you used earlier, heat ¾ cup oil, and add the semolina. Stir constantly until lightly brown.
Remove semolina from heat.
Slowly and carefully, pour the boiling syrup to the semolina. Be very careful because it will boil rapidly and may spit – it can burn, so be careful. Put the semolina mixture back on low heat and fold in the almonds and cinnamon powder. Stir continuously until all the syrup is absorbed and the mixture thickens and leaves the sides of the pan.
Place Halva into a mould tin or individual moulds and allow to cool. Once cooled turn out on a serving dish. Sprinkle with some more cinnamon and orange rind (optional). Cover with glad wrap, cool at room temperature and refrigerate for a couple of hours. You can also serve it warm.
Sarah Di Lorenzo is a wealth of knowledge regarding health and wellness. She is also a single mother of three daughters, an entrepreneur, regularly appears on TV and spreads body positivity.
Sarah is the author of a handful of best-selling books, including The 10:10 Plan – Your Ideal Weight, The 10:10 Recipe Book, The 10:10 Kickstart, and 10:10 Simple with The Four Week 10:10 Gut Repair.
Her books are all about nutrition and include programs. To date, she’s sold over 120,000 copies of her four books.
Is there anything she can’t do? It doesn’t seem like it.
The Greek Herald spoke with Sarah about all thing’s health, wellness and her new cookbook My Mediterranean Life.
Anyone who knows Sarah is aware of how ardent and motivated she is. However, she takes those words to a whole new level.
“I am going to start by saying I am someone who absolutely loves everything I do, and I do wear many different hats. I am so passionate about health, wellness, nutrition, living your best life and feeling your best self. I am also someone who thrives on helping others in all areas of my work,” Sarah says.
She is a Clinical Nutritionist with a private clinic in Sydney. Sarah has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off.
“Through my work, we’ve gotten over 1 million kilograms off thousands of Australians and many off medications,” she says.
Sarah is also a TV Presenter and the resident nutritionist on the Sunrise and WeekendSunrise programs on Channel 7, amongst other roles in the media space as a public speaker and emcee.
Sarah talks about how growing up with a Greek grandfather who cooked Greek food shaped her current way of life and appreciation for food and good produce.
“He also very much influenced the family with the Mediterranean way of life!” she adds
Sarah says that she feels like her childhood and growing up with the influence of her grandfather instilled in her a positive relationship with food and produce.
“We are all little sponges when we grow up and I loved listening to him talking about food, cooking and family. My childhood and family time were focused on eating together,” she says.
“On a Sunday we would all be excited to have the big meal of the week together at lunchtime. This way of life laid the foundation for me to grow to love good produce, healthy food and eat together.”
Sarah’s new cookbook My Mediterranean Life is like nothing she’s ever done before.
“It is so unique,” she concludes.
Sarah Di Lorenzo’s ‘My Mediterranean Life’ is available at bookshops and online retailers now.
The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has named Anogia, Crete, one of the 55 Best Villages of the World for 2024, recognising it as an Outstanding Destination for Rural Tourism.
According to protothema.com, this accolade highlights the village’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and preserving its cultural heritage while fostering tourism that supports its community and environment.
Anogia’s Mayor, Socrates Kefalogiannis, emphasized the award’s significance, stating it underscores how rural communities like Anogia are shaping sustainable travel by balancing tradition, development, and biodiversity protection. “The award is for a global initiative through which the Villages where tourism does not become a hindrance to their cultures, their traditions, while investing in sustainable development by providing opportunities and protecting biodiversity are highlighted,” he said.
Selected from over 260 nominations across 60 countries, Anogia was evaluated on nine criteria, including cultural and natural resource preservation, economic and social sustainability, tourism integration, and environmental stewardship. UN Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili praised tourism as a tool for empowering rural communities, enabling them to preserve their cultural heritage while fostering sustainable development.
Anogia now joins the global Best Tourism Villages Network, connecting it to 254 rural destinations that share best practices in tourism-driven rural development. The initiative also combats desertification and supports local traditions and community prosperity.
The next evaluation for this prestigious network is set for 2025, offering more rural destinations a chance for global recognition.
For the first time, Asia Minor studies will have a dedicated role in Greek higher education through a new endowed chair at the University of Macedonia’s Department of Balkan, Slavic, and Oriental Studies.
According to ekathimerini.com, the chair, focusing on Asia Minor—modern-day Anatolia in Turkey—aims to connect Balkan and Middle Eastern research. Professor Dimitris A. Stamatopoulos noted it will address gaps in studying critical events like the Asia Minor Catastrophe (Greek-Turkish War of 1922) and its lasting impact.
Funded by companies like Alumil and Optima Bank, the initiative will delve into the region’s multicultural legacy, including interactions among Greeks, Armenians, Turks, and others. The official launch will take place Friday at Thessaloniki City Council Hall, featuring speeches from the university rector and academics like Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler.
The university aims to spotlight Asia Minor’s historical importance and promote interdisciplinary research.
In his seaside workshop on the Greek island of Lesvos, Dimitris Kouvdis preserves ancient pottery-making traditions, earning a place in UNESCO’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
According to an article by Elias Marcou in ekathimerini.com, Kouvdis, 70, works near Mandamados, a historic pottery hub where traditional methods are disappearing due to industrialization. His family continues to craft pottery using clay from local soil, firing pieces in a traditional kiln fueled by olive pits, and painting them with natural lime.
“It’s an honoUr for me,” Kouvdis said about the UNESCO recognition of his work.
He highlights the challenges facing traditional potters, noting that mechanized presses work ten times faster, making it difficult for artisanal methods to survive. “There’s no continuity. There’s no space for (our) method to continue,” he lamented.
Despite the challenges, Kouvdis remains dedicated to his craft, creating individual pieces in his workshop overlooking the Aegean Sea.
“Above all, it’s a passion – trying to create something that fulfils you,” he said.
Greece, our poor and martyred homeland, the once called “Psorokostena,” the country with successive bankruptcies and unstable party formations, the small and faltering country of the Balkans, managed to compete with itself and surpass it. Despite the fact that the so-called “transition to democracy” by politicians and journalists never took place in Greece, since the same ideological movements continued to influence the country, whilst the same political families continue to play their dominant role before the junta and after, and the same abysmal hatred and toxic climate prevail in political life.
However, broadly speaking, there has been political stability. Among the achievements of the last forty years, there was an economic improvement of the Greek citizen, his Europeanisation, since, normally, the Greek people did not always see their identity as European (and they are right to a point), the development of a social system, which, despite its shortcomings and weaknesses, the social system remains one of the best in Europe. Richer countries, even those related to colonialism, do not have social welfare and progress comparable to Greece. Greek nationals and foreigners, immigrants and new settlers, enjoy a social state welfare that is more generous and humane than the welfare shown in most other countries of Europe. The benefits, the medical health care, hospital health, pharmaceutical care of the state, the benefits, the allowances to the unemployed and needy, the pensions, the provision of free health are comparatively among the best in Europe and certainly in the USA.
Despite the achievements, complaints and protests are not lacking. Many Greeks complain that foreigners, who do not contribute to the national economy, who do not pay taxes, should be treated in the same way as citizens who support the national economy. Many of the complaints are legitimate, but they are assessed differently by legislators and officials within the wider European area. They take into account that these social welfare benefits may seem unfair, but the factor of humanism, solidarity for all those in Greece towards social and cultural integration applies.
And this is happening in Greece and frankly makes us feel proud of the brave stance of the Greek state and its functionaries, revives our national feeling and forms a consciousness of honest dependence.
In Australia – the vast Commonwealth with its bottomless economic powers, with its massive exports of wealth and minerals – the welfare system, despite the abundance of wealth, capital, strong budgets, investment and the availability of sources of financial support, remains with many weaknesses.
Unfortunately, in many parts our Australian social welfare system remains weak, with terrible deficiencies, under-functions, and even hundreds of cases where social welfare is openly grazed as a vector of corruption and mismanagement. Let me explain, with concrete examples, reflecting hundreds of similar cases. I am sure that there is no reader who has not witnessed or been aware of similar cases in his neighbourhood, in his clan, in the place where he lives.
Dimitris happened to be born in Sydney sixty years ago. In the 1970s, when Dimitris was seven years old, his parents returned home to pursue their dreams there, having secured a small fortune with bloody savings and selling their house in Newtown. In Lamia, where they settled, his parents opened a tailor’s shop (his mother was a machinist in Australia) and his father joined the local municipality as a worker. Dimitris and his sisters, when they reached adulthood, left for Athens. There, this little born Australian worked in various companies in Greece, made sure to continue his English, which was almost his mother tongue, started a family and educated his children. Fifty years later he remembered that he had been born in Australia. They were therefore entitled to the relevant old-age pension. He returned to Australia for a few months, sat with his parents’ relatives, and when he was granted the “entitled” pension he took it and returned to Lamia or Athens so that Australian taxpayers’ money could come to him there. Dimitris, who did not work a single day in Australia, who never beat a card for a daily wage, is entitled by the “corrupt” system, because he was born in Australia, to come for a while, get his old-age pension and have a good time in Greece.
Mrs Maria who lives in Melbourne, who worked all her life and paid hundreds of thousands of taxes to the Australian state because her husband was a small businessman and has a car, a house and a caravan for their cottage, Mrs Maria I repeat, passed the relevant test and was disowned by state officials from the public purse, did not give her a pension, because they were “not entitled to a pension.”
Dimitris, who was born in Australia but didn’t offer a dime to the state in taxes to support government spending, enjoys his Australian pension in Greece. Mrs Maria, who paid well for the state and contributed to the national economy, receives pocket money from her husband in order to live. This is not my friends, state corruption, it is a state disaster. Let’s go to a second case.
Dionysis, who worked all his life, and Marianna, his wife, who took her eyes off the needle, managed to buy two houses and a European car, a 2005 model, with bloody savings. This man, Dionysis, paid with his own money, in addition to his taxes, and acquired an insurance fund. Today they both live at the age of 80 in an Adelaide suburb. Neither is entitled to a pension. None of them enjoys the social assistance of the state by granting an old-age pension, because they have, says the legislator, property. Dionysis and Marianna, who are not entitled to a pension, have paid over two million in taxes to the Australian state over the past sixty years.
Mrs Calliope, their neighbor, had taken only four houses with her late husband and had their savings. When her husband passed away, she moved three of the four houses to their children, handed over the car to the grandchildren because she had glaucoma, and the assessment officials of the state came and offered her a generous pension, and in addition $55,000 an annual budget to spend as “old age welfare,” to mow her grass, clean her roof, offered her permission to take the taxi voucher and go where she wants and charge her government bill, to wash and clean her house, to put bars on the stairs, to change the bathroom and toilet…
Marianna, who was honest and declared everything, stayed bottled. Mrs Calliope, who deceived the public sector with the complicity of her children, has it all, even a taxi driver with a hat and gloves… Well done, governors.
*Professor Anastasios M. Tamis taught at Universities in Australia and abroad, was the creator and founding director of the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora and is currently the President of the Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies (AIMS).
