February 2014 – Page 2 – GREEK WORLD MEDIA

Sculpture Of Greek God Apollo Found Off The Shores Of Gaza

Source: .jerusalemonline.com

An ancient sculpture of the Greek god Apollo was found by a Gaza fisherman off the coast of Gaza. The statue itself apparently has a price tag of half a million dollars.

A 26 years old Gaza resident told Reuters that he saw the bronze statue of the Greek god Apollo in shallow waters about a hundred meters from the beach and just north of the border between Gaza and Egypt. At first, the fisherman thought he was looking at charred body, but after diving, he then discovered that it was another rare statue.

After the fisherman found the statue, he consulted with experts in archeology in Gaza, and for a short time, it was also on sale for auction at his house. The price tag on the statue is about half a million dollars, a price far lower than the estimated value of the statue. After a picture of the sculpture was posted on the internet, the police came to the house of the man, took the statue and requested to download the picture from eBay. Authorities in Gaza are now preparing an investigation in acquiring further details on the statue, its origin and real value.

According to current estimates based on the picture that was posted, the sculpture is approximately from the first century to the fifth century. “This is unique sculpture,” said Jean-Michel Tragon, a historian at the French School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. “No price for it is too special. This is like asking the price of the Mona Lisa. It is rare to find a statue like this that is not made from marble or stone but from metal.” The historian added that according to the picture, the condition of the statue is good despite its having been in the sea.

The weight of the statue is 500 kg, and archaeologists from around the world are making efforts to gain access to the statue and examine it. Researchers on the Hellenistic period are raising many questions about the statue’s origins, but all they have is one picture of the statue posted on the Internet.

Dad to be questioned over skateboard fall in suburban Marrickville

Source: News.com.au

A SYDNEY father is expected to explain to police on Monday why he towed his 12-year-old son on a skateboard behind his car.

The boy fell to the ground as he and two friends were riding skateboards in inner suburban Marrickville on Saturday night.

The three were allegedly holding the rear of a Kia Sportage, with the 12-year-old’s father behind the wheel.

The man’s son fell and hit his head on the road.

He was taken to Randwick’s Children Hospital where he was placed in an induced coma. He has a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Police hope to interview the father on Monday, after which they will decide whether or not to press charges.

Crash investigation unit inspector Phillip Battin says police believe the father was fully aware he was towing the boys.

The father has told Network Ten in a statement he was shattered.

“I am just devastated,” he said.

“I just ask that you pray for my son.”

The 12-year-old remains in a critical condition.

Brunch to Support St George Monastery in Springwood

Source: kogarahgreekorthodox.org.au

Our Philoptohos has organised a Brunch to raise money for St George Monastery in Springwood.

The Brunch will be held in our Parish Hall on Sunday 23rd of February immediately following the Divine Liturgy. The entry donation is $20.00. We will have plenty of food, tea, coffee and soft drinks.

We will have a raffle and a small auction.

Our support is needed more this year than in the past, especially after the devastating and destructive fires that burnt through the Monastery buildings and brought about the loss of life to some of the animals.

If you wish to support this initiative of our Parish, please contact Fr Sophrony or one of the Ladies of the Philoptohos.

Protesters torch Greek motorway toll booth over price hike

Athens: A group of 500 anti-government demonstrators has set fire to a toll booth on a motorway east of Athens to protest a near-tripling of prices, Greek police said.

The announcement last week of the toll hike from 55 cents (USD 0.74), rising to 1.45 euros (USD 1.97) tapped into general rage by Greek motorists who complain that they are paying a high price for roads that are not always properly maintained.

Austerity measures hitting Greek citizens are also fuelling the indignation. The demonstrators yesterday blocked the motorway, set fire to tyres and chanted slogans against the government. They dispersed hours later.

But Transport Minister Mihalis Chryssohoidis said Friday the toll increases were part of the contract signed with the motorway operators in 2007.

“Whoever obstructs passage through the tolls is acting to the detriment of the Greek people,” he said.

He said however that everyday commuters using the tollway at the centre of the protest would pay the previous lower fare.

According to a document Chryssohoidis presented to parliament, Greece has raised 1.3 billion euros (USD 1.7 billion) in toll revenue since 2008. He said average tolls were among the lowest in Europe.

REVIEW: Kirk Pengilly on what he thought of the INXS: Never Tear Us Apart TV show

Source: TheAdvertiser

Kirk Pengilly on the set. Supplied by: Channel 7

The Australian public have no idea how big we became internationally because we played it down, says Kirk Pengilly on the fame of INXS, the subject of a new biopic. Picture: Channel 7 Source: Supplied

My wife (former world surfing champion Layne Beachley) and I watched INXS: Never Tear Us Apart nearly two weeks ago along with my brother.

I was pretty nervous about it.

I did spend a couple of days in Melbourne on set and I was blown away.

“This is going to be pretty powerful,” I thought. The actors were extraordinarily good.

Sitting down to watch, I was nervous, but in saying that it’s been so well put together.

For the most part, it is very accurate about the work we put in, and shows the band was massive.

Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS: Luke Arnold as Michael Hutchence. Source: Supplied

The Australian public have no idea how big we became internationally because we played it down. We didn’t want to come across as wankers.

The producers covered it all really well.

As for actor Luke Arnold (Michael Hutchence), the other actors had the luxury of being able to meet each of us and see us in real life, albeit a number of years after the story.

Luke obviously couldn’t get together with Michael, but did an astounding job.

Luke Arnold plays Michael Hutchence in INXS: Never Tear Us Apart Source: Channel 7

One thing that seemed a little confusing was that the show jumped from Wembley to Perth, when the band actually started in Sydney. It’s probably not that important.

But the producers did capture the time we spent in Perth, which was about 10 months.

The Farriss family had to move back, and we all dropped our jobs and moved to Perth.

INXS impact on charts following the airing of ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. Source: Supplied

We wanted to play original material. We were rocking the boat and found after a while that gigs were disappearing because we were concentrating on writing and playing original material. We were left with only one gig a week.

Then the mining town gig came up and that did bankroll our move back to Sydney, thank heavens.

INXS in 1991. Source: News Limited

There were a few incidents up there in Perth and Michael was in a lot of them.

John was falling asleep in school all the time because we played four or five gigs a week. He may as well have not been in school anyway.

However being there gave us more time to develop original songs without anyone in the big eastern states knowing who we were.

As for the portrayal of Andrew Farriss, he was probably the guy with the most talent as a songwriter, but he had the most doubt.

It all probably comes from your upbringing. My dad would say “keep it as a hobby and get a real job”.

Some of the members were very positive like Tim and myself, and some were not so sure.

Years ago we were asked if we wanted platinum records made up for family and friends. I got one for mum and dad with the message “keep it as a hobby”.

Andrew was unsure we were going to go anywhere. We were pretty different to what other bands were doing, especially overseas. So the portrayal of Andrew was pretty good.

Luke Arnold and Samantha Jade as Hutchence and Minogue. Source: Supplied

Then there was the Kempsey gig scene — it’s all real.

We were touring with Richard Clapton. Richard and one of his band guys, after his set, chucked a browneye.

The crowd was going mental, so we all did it. Of course I waited, stripped off, and came out with a coat and did the full frontal.

We all got run out of town. We raced back to the hotel, got our luggage and got out of there before there were any issues.

Andy Ryan playing Andrew Farriss Source: News Limited

The cast of INXS: Never Tear Us Apart Source: Supplied

The incident with the guards at Buenos Aires airport is actually a bunch of incidents rolled into one. I recall it as my bag that got searched, not Garry’s.

That certainly did happen in South America, though I don’t remember that we got rid of the substances exactly prior to the guards arriving.

Layne Beachley and Kirk Pengilly. Picture: Regina King Source: Supplied

I guess it showed the mayhem of that period and was edited into one scene. We did have fun.

I would’ve liked to have included some of the recording sessions. It is a very important part.

I always believed each cycle that led us to making videos and going and touring was all instigated by the album. Do the album, do the videos, go tour — it was cylical.

The most creative side could’ve been touched on. We worked with some amazing producers. It’s a little bit of a shame that side of what we did was not represented.

Certainly a lot of family and friends contributed massive amounts of time to what we did, too, but you can’t put everyone in the show.

Police attacker Arthur Aggelidis has jail sentence reduced because of parole bungle

A knife-wielding man who attacked a police officer in his car when on parole after being jailed for stabbing a body-building Russian doctor in the eye has had his jail sentence reduced because Corrections Victoria bungled his release.

The Court of Appeal president Justice Chris Maxwell and Justices Phillip Priest and Paul Coghlan said the attack by Arthur Aggelidis on the police officer “was both entirely predictable and almost certainly preventable”.

Aggelidis, 32, of Reservoir, had appealed against his conviction and sentence after a County Court jury found him guilty in October 2012 of one count of reckless conduct endangering life and he was jailed for four years with a non-parole period of two years and nine months.

Police had been searching for Aggelidis after being contacted by his mother, who was concerned for his welfare. She had spoken to him on the phone and he was crying over his father’s death and talking about self-harm.

Aggelidis, who suffers from an extreme psychiatric condition, ran away from police when a dog squad unit approached him about 2am on May 21, 2011.

He later walked to the driver’s side of a police car and lunged at an officer with a knife. The knife grazed the officer’s face but he was able to drive off.

Aggelidis had been on parole at the time after being jailed in October 2008 for intentionally causing serious injury to Edward Dib on April 28, 2007.

The pair had been fighting when Aggelidis stabbed Dr Dib, who gained his medical degree from St Petersburg in 2000, in the left eye.

Dr Dib, a bodybuilder who took steroids, was in a coma for some time, lost his left eye, suffered substantial paralysis to the right side of his body and had a speech impediment.

Aggelidis was released on parole on April 27, 2012 – 24 days before he attacked the police officer.

“The crucial feature, in my view, is that the appellant’s (Aggelidis’) relapse into mental illness – and into offending behaviour – can be traced directly to the inexplicable failure of the correctional authorities, at the time of his release on parole, to make the necessary arrangements for his transition back into the community,” Justice Maxwell said in the Court of Appeal judgment.

“This was his third parole release since July 24, 2009. On each previous occasion, he had breached his parole and was returned to custody.

“Defence counsel told the (sentencing) judge that, on both of the earlier occasions when the appellant was released on parole – in July 2009 and May 2010 – he had been given no form of identification and no medication.

“Counsel explained that, without identification, he was unable to obtain a prescription for medication. Without medication, and without support services, he quickly relapsed – and re-offended – and his parole was cancelled.

“Exactly the same thing occurred – for the third time – when the appellant was released on April 27, 2011. No provision had been made for appropriate accommodation; he did not have a referral to an area mental health service; there had been no pre-release visit from Centrelink; and he was not given personal identification documents, which he needed in order to obtain assistance and treatment.

“Counsel for the appellant maintained that his release in such circumstances triggered an involuntary relapse into severe mental illness, which substantially diminished his personal culpability for this offending, and the relevance of both specific and general deterrence.

“Given what had occurred on the two previous releases on parole, this relapse was both entirely predictable and almost certainly preventable.

“Both the appellant and the community were entitled to expect that the authorities would take all reasonable steps to ensure that, following his release, he was in a position to maintain stability in his mental health. That he was unable to do so meant that this offending was, in an important sense, involuntary. It also had the consequence that a brave policemen was unnecessarily exposed to grave danger.”

Justice Maxwell said a lower sentence was called for and Aggelidis was re-sentenced to three years’ jail with a non-parole period of 18 months.

Marrickville RSL continued to pay its senior staff six years after closing, investigation finds

Source: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

ONE of Sydney’s oldest and best known RSL clubs incurred losses of more than $4 million after it continued to pay senior staff for six years after closing its former premises and moving the club to a small office next to a brothel.

An investigation by Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority into the closure of the Marrickville RSL found an extraordinary tale of how for six years the club continued its licence out of a small rented office while it pursued a number of mergers with other clubs.

“The club closed its former premises at 359 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville on 31 December 2007 and for the past six years has rented a small office space at 1/269 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville which offers no facilities for members,’’ the authority said. The office space rented is above a bottle shop and next to a large brothel.

“In 2008, the club sold its former club property to a developer for over $10 million but did not receive the first instalment of the purchase price until early 2009, with final payment in July 2011.

“Payments made by the club to senior staff and officers, including the considerable salary of the then secretary and, to a lesser extent, honorariums paid to the club’s eight current and one former director, were a major driver of the ‘huge sums’ spent by the club,” the authority said in its decision.

The Office of Liquor and Gaming will now pursue the then club secretary, Dalley Robinson alleging he is not a fit and proper person to run a NSW licensed club. During the investigation, lawyers for Mr Robinson said he was unable to give evidence due to an undisclosed medical condition.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots to renew peace talks

Talks set to resume early next week after previous round in mid-2012 failed

cyprus

Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades, right, and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, left, announced that they will renew peace talks early next week.

AP Photo/Petros Karadjias

Efforts to reunify the ethnically divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus are set to recommence next week after rival Greek and Turkish Cypriots agreed to a new round of talks.

In a brief statement issued Friday, the breakaway Turkish Cypriots said renewed talks became possible after both sides agreed on the text of a joint declaration outlining the main principles that will guide a future accord.

The statement said a first meeting between the leaders is planned for the beginning of next week.

Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

The most recent round of talks, which aimed at forging a federation between the Turkish Cypriot north and the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south, ground to a halt in the middle of 2012.

The two sides have been haggling over the wording of the joint declaration for several months. In a departure from previous failed rounds of negotiations, the island’s Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades insisted that the declaration had to precede any resumption of talks in order to ensure both sides were on the same page.

The main point of contention had been on the sovereignty status of a reunified Cyprus, amid concerns among Greek Cypriots that Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu was seeking recognition for his community as a separate state that would act as a buffer against domination by the majority Greek Cypriots. But Greek Cypriots argued that would plant the seeds of permanent partition in case any new arrangement collapsed.

Anastasiades said the draft declaration “safeguards the important principles and basis for a solution.”

“The hardest part is yet to follow,” Anastasiades said after talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens Friday. “The joint declaration doesn’t constitute the solution to the Cyprus problem, but sets the parameters along which the two communities must move.”

Debt-laden Cyprus agreed last year to a bailout with its euro partners and the International Monetary Fund. A peace deal could reap a huge financial dividend.

After months of stalemate, things began moving rapidly earlier this week following a visit to Cyprus by U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland.

On Friday, Anastasiades spoke to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who according to Cypriot officials expressed “unwavering U.S. support for a just and lasting settlement.” They said Biden was encouraging “creative thinking” to boost the chances of success.

However, Anastasiades will face difficulties convincing everyone on his side, notably from the center-right Democratic Party. Its leader Nicholas Papadopoulos has already denounced the declaration as a bad deal that bodes ill for the course of negotiations and urged Anastasiades not to sign it. The Democratic Party is a partner in Anastasiades’ ruling coalition government.

The Associated Press

George Clooney Tells Britain to Return Greek Art Treasures

Source: variety.com

George Clooney Tells Britain Return Greek

BERLIN — George Clooney said the U.K. should return Greek art treasures in its possession, during a press conference for his film “The Monuments Men” at the Berlin Film Festival Saturday.

Asked by a Greek journalist whether Greece should claim its historic monuments back from Britain, he said: “I think you have a very good case to make about your artifacts. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if they were returned.

“I think that is a good idea. I think that would be a very fair and very nice thing. Yeah, I think it is the right thing to do.”

The possession by British museums of Greek artifacts — such as the Elgin Marbles, which were taken from the Acropolis in Athens — has long been a bone of contention between the two countries. The question fitted nicely with the theme of Clooney’s film, which follows the attempt by a squad of art experts to return stolen works of art to their rightful owners in post-war Germany.

The press conference had got off to a somber start when festival chief Dieter Kosslick announced that the reason that the press conference had started late was that a journalist had collapsed at the preceding press screening of Clooney’s film. He added that the journalist had been taken to hospital and was okay.

In the press conference, Clooney was also asked why he had expressed his support for the protesters in the Ukraine, through a message he posted on YouTube. He explained that the Klitschko brothers, who are among the leaders of the opposition movement in the Ukraine, were friends of his, dating back to his work on “Ocean’s Eleven,” in which Wladimir Klitschko had a role, but he said it went further than just friendship.

“I like them very much, but I was also aware of (Ukraine politician) Yulia Tymoshenko and the fact that Yulia hasn’t committed a crime, yet she has been placed in jail. And it seems like it gets lost in all the shuffles of news, and doesn’t get talked about, so I just wanted to show some support for that.

“I think the protesters are having a very difficult time, and I know that there are some hooligans on their side who are also making life difficult. So it is going to be a very long struggle, but I find it to be an important one to at least point out that the people are hoping for their own self determination.”

Politicians roll in for Melbourne’s Greek festival

Source: TheAge

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haw080214.001.003.jpg Melbourne Lonsdale street Greek Festival Prime Minister Tony Abbott with greek dancers Picture Wayne Hawkins

Prime Minister Tony Abbott with greek dancers at the Antipodes Festival on Lonsdale Street. Photo: Wayne Hawkins

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, and Premier Denis Napthine joined thousands of Greek Australians at the Lonsdale Street Festival on Saturday night.

The three, with State Opposition leader Daniel Andrews and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, addressed the crowds enjoying the festivities on a very hot summer’s evening.

The Festival, Melbourne’s largest Greek-themed street party, is being held in Lonsdale Street on both Saturday and Sunday. The main attraction is Greek singer Kostas Makedonas – a star in his native country – who will perform some of his biggest hits alongside the Orchestra Emmetron and fellow Greek singer Eirini Toumpaki.

The Festival continues on Sunday between 1pm and 11pm between Russell and Swanston Street.