Daily Archives: July 26, 2014

Glasgow: Australia continued to lead the way in the pool at the Commonwealth Games as they won four more gold medals on Friday, while England claimed their first two swimming golds.

There was also more joy for the hosts Scotland as Dan Martin won the men`s 400m individual medley and Canada`s Katerine Savard was the other victor of the evening in the women`s 100m butterfly.

Australia`s gold rush continued as the men`s 4x100m freestyle relay team retained their title ahead of South Africa and England to claim their seventh victory from a possible 14 events to round off the night.

Leiston Pickett became the first swimmer to retain a 50m Commonwealth breaststroke title, while there was an Aussie one-two in the men`s 200m freestyle as Thomas Fraser-Holmes edged out Cameron McEvoy with Calum Jarvis claiming Wales` first medal of the meet in third.

There was also a world record for Maddison Elliott in the women`s para-sport 100m freestyle S8 ahead of England`s Stephanie Slater and another Australian Lakeisha Patterson.

However, the Aussies didn`t have it all their own way as the home nations battled back to win three golds.

Benjamin Proud claimed England`s first of the meet in the men`s 50m butterfly ahead of South African duo Roland Schoeman and Chad le Clos.

“I don`t know what to say. I just treated it like any other race, but now tears are almost in my eyes,” said the 19-year-old.

Chris Walker-Hebborn then ensured the men`s 100m backstroke Commonwealth title remained in English hands with a Games record time of 53:12sec.

Defending 100m backstroke champion Liam Tancock was tied for third with Australia`s Josh Beaver, whilst another Aussie Mitch Larkin took silver.

“I`m over the moon. I`m a bit emotional and speechless at the moment.

“It definitely helps to see your squad doing so well,” said Walker-Hebborn on an evening when England won six medals in all.

The biggest cheer of the evening was definitely reserved for Wallace as he won Scotland`s third swimming gold in two days following the success of Hannah Miley and Ross Murdoch on Thursday.

Wallace admitted he had been inspired by the film “Braveheart” as he edged out Fraser-Holmes and Canada`s Sebastien Roussea.

The 21-year-old could be seen bellowing “freedom” after touching the wall to seal the win, just as his namesake William Wallace does in the film.

“I just screamed `freedom` at the top of my lungs because just being here in front of a home crowd just brought out the Braveheart inside of me,” he said.

“I watched it just last week to get ready for this. It`s such a Scottish thing. It warms my heart.”

Savard claimed Canada`s second swimming gold of the Games as she edged out England`s Siobhan O`Connor by just five hundredths of a second.

Australia`s Emma McKeon added to her two golds from Thursday with a bronze in third, but Alicia Coutts missed out on her sixth Commonwealth Games medal as she finished fourth.

In the night`s semi-finals, Francesca Halsall threw down the gauntlet to Australia`s Cate Campbell by qualifying for the women`s 50m butterfly final in a new Games record of 24.14

It was the fourth time on Friday the Games record had gone as just minutes before Campbell had set a new mark of 24:17sec in the first heat.

England`s Adam Peaty broke the Commonwealth Games record in a time of 59:16sec in qualifying fastest for the men`s 100m breaststroke final.

Murdoch continued his fine meet after winning 200m breaststroke gold by registering the second fastest time ahead of Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh.

However, there was more disappointment for world champion Christian Sprenger and home favourite Michael Jamieson and as they both failed to qualify for the final.

Meanwhile, Australia`s Emily Seebohm continued her quest to retain the women`s 100m backstroke title as she qualified fastest for Saturday`s final ahead of Wales` Georgia Davies and Sinead Russell of Canada.

source: india.com

The Abbott government’s claim to have ”stopped the boats” has dramatically unravelled, as 157 asylum seekers who have been held captive on the high seas for almost a month will be brought to the mainland on Saturday.

The humiliating backdown came after Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament this month that ”on every occasion that may present, we will apply all of the policies we have to ensure that no venture successfully reaches Australia”.

Mr Morrison, who has refused to acknowledge the existence of the boat for weeks, confirmed the asylum seekers would be transferred to the mainland, where they will be interviewed by Indian officials.

”Until this process undertaken by Indian consular officials has been completed, the persons will remain in Australia,” he said.

It follows Mr Morrison’s meeting in Delhi this week with India’s Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, where they agreed to take back Indian nationals and would ”consider” taking back the Sri Lankan nationals who were on the boat, Mr Morrison said.

But human rights advocates and lawyers questioned why it had taken the Abbott government four weeks and an ongoing High Court challenge to bring the asylum seekers to the mainland. ”This recent development shows that stranding a boatload of people in the middle of the sea, in an effort to ‘stop the

boats’, has achieved nothing,” said Graeme McGregor, Amnesty International’s refugee campaign co-ordinator.

Human rights lawyer David Manne agreed, saying: ”This could and should have happened from day one.”

Lawyers working on the High Court challenge against the government’s decision to detain the asylum seekers welcomed the news, but said it now cast doubt over whether core elements of the High Court challenge can proceed before the court.

Hugh de Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, said the legal team was currently assessing the impact on the case.

The case, which was due to continue on August 5, was to be the first comprehensive test of whether the government had the power to intercept boats on the high seas and whether it had the right to hold asylum seekers against their will and take them where it chose.

Fairfax Media spoke with passengers on the asylum seeker boat, which departed Puducherry in the south of India on June 13. ”We need some help,” a female Tamil passenger said on June 27. ”We are refugees.”

Until now, Mr Morrison has consistently failed to provide any information on the boat’s passengers.

”It is our standard practice, as you know under Operation Sovereign Borders, to report on any significant event regarding maritime operations at sea, particularly where there is safety of life at sea issues associated,” he said on June 28. ”I’m advised that I have no such reports to provide.”

Mr Morrison then reported on Friday that under government policy, the asylum seekers would not be resettled in Australia.

He said Indian consular officials would work through their claims and ”I don’t want to pre-empt the work they’re doing”.

Fairfax Media understands an A320 Airbus has been booked to transport the asylum seekers from Cocos Island to Curtin detention centre in north Western Australia on Saturday.

The Curtin detention centre has widely been considered to be one of the harshest detention centres on the Australian mainland.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said Mr Morrison was a ”spectacular failure by his own measure”.

Meanwhile, the government’s now-monthly Operation Sovereign Borders update, which details the movement of ”illegal arrivals” and successful people-smuggling operations, has not been updated for a month and six days.

But Mr Morrison said on Friday that in the past seven months there had not been a single successful people-smuggling operation to Australia.

source:smh.com.au

Israel and the militant group Hamas agreed to a 12-hour lull in fighting beginning early Saturday, and U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry declared that a longer cease-fire in the Gaza Strip could be finalized before a Muslim feast beginning early next week.

But Israel rejected a proposal by the United States and United Nations for a seven-day truce. Its defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, put troops on notice Friday that ground operations in the coastal enclave could be expanded.

In Gaza, meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll from the 18-day Israeli offensive rose to at least 860, mostly civilians, including many women and children. Six more Palestinians died in scattered clashes across the West Bank that pointed to a potential widening of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Kerry, who has been in the region since Monday pursuing intensive talks, held an evening news conference in the Egyptian capital with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, all of whom have been working to prod Israel and Hamas into accepting a temporary cease-fire in hostilities while larger issues are negotiated.

Israel’s rejection of the seven-day cease-fire followed an hours-long session of its security Cabinet, an inner circle of senior government officials who held a rare meeting on the Jewish Sabbath to debate the truce proposal. Kerry visited Israel and the West Bank earlier this week to lay out the plan.

Though the rejection was unanimous, it put the government in an uncomfortable spot, said Robert Danin, a longtime U.S. diplomat in the Middle East. He said Israel needed U.S. involvement in the crisis and didn’t want to rebuff its closest ally at a time when it is facing increasing international isolation.

Israel’s message was, “We can’t accept this iteration, but we’d like to see if you can go back and get more out of Hamas,” said Danin, now with the Council on Foreign Relations.

Hamas, which last week rejected an Egyptian cease-fire plan that Israel accepted, has been insisting on an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza before it would agree to a truce. Kerry acknowledged that all the pieces were not yet in place for a seven-day cease-fire to honor the Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that begins Sunday or Monday and marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. A truce coinciding with the feast, one of the most important on the Islamic calendar, would carry strong symbolic weight.

But though a final deal wasn’t ready, Kerry said, “I will tell you this: None of us here are stopping.”

The secretary played down the significance of Israel’s rejection, saying the vote was not in response to a formal proposal. Israel has been pressing for terms that would allow its forces to continue destroying Hamas tunnels into Israel while observing a cease-fire.

“The whole world is watching a tragic moment unfold, and wondering when is everybody going to come to their senses,” said Kerry, who was to travel onward to Paris to continue talks Saturday with Turkey, Qatar, France and Britain. “The basic outline is approved by everybody. People would like to see the violence end.”

Kerry’s proposal begins with a one-week cease-fire, and then moves to broader negotiations over the status of Gaza. Kerry also made clear that he believes the two sides need to complete their negotiations over the creation of an independent Palestinian state to finally resolve the problem.

A Hamas spokesman was quoted by local news agencies as saying the group had agreed to the 12-hour humanitarian truce beginning Saturday morning.

An Israeli military statement said the army would respond if Palestinian militants fired more rockets at Israel or attacked soldiers. It said the army would continue to look for Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

The Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar has been serving as an interlocutor with Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group and does not deal with directly.

Also Friday, the Israeli military announced it had definitively established that a soldier who had previously been described as missing had been killed in action. Hamas had claimed to have captured the soldier, which would have given the militant group a valuable bargaining chip. It never produced any proof the soldier was alive.

Despite Kerry’s claim of progress, he is likely to meet resistance from Hamas, analysts say. The militant group believes it has strengthened its political position through its military campaign and wants to see whether it can achieve its goals, including the release of Palestinian prisoners and an easing of the Gaza embargo, they say.

There are also signs that the conflict is gaining support among Palestinians. On Friday, the main Muslim prayer day and a traditional day of protests, the West Bank-based Fatah movement called for a “day of rage” in solidarity with those suffering in Gaza.

Demonstrations were smaller than those on Thursday night, when thousands of Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and a main crossing point between Israel and the West Bank. But in an escalation of force, Israeli troops used live ammunition against demonstrators, Palestinian witnesses said.

The Palestinian protests, the most serious unrest in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza offensive, were sparked by at least 15 deaths at a U.N. shelter in northern Gaza on Thursday. Hamas accused Israel of striking the facility. Israel’s military said the incident was still under investigation, suggesting that errant rocket fire from militants might have been to blame.

Meanwhile, Hamas and other fighters in Gaza unleashed a new volley of rockets at Israel, most of them intercepted by the Iron Dome antimissile defense system. Several of the projectiles were shot down in the general vicinity of Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.

source:latimes.com

The icon containing priceless jewellery donated by parishioners.

Thousands of dollars worth of gold jewellery housed in an icon stolen at Red Hill Orthodox Church.

Police are appealing for witnesses to an afternoon robbery at the Holy Monastery of Panagia Kamariani in Red Hill.

Thieves broke into the Greek Orthodox Church and smashed the glass of an framed icon of the Virgin Mary that contained hundreds of pieces of gold jewellery that had been donated to the church since 1984.

Police value the jewellery, that contained rings, chains, bracelets, coins, bangles and crosses at over $100,000.

The offenders broke into the church Wednesday afternoon at 3:20pm and fled with the jewellery.

Police are appealing for information and urge people to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppers.vic.com.au

source: Neos Kosmos

Η καθηγήτρια Αθηνά Ζώνιου-Σιδέρη

Τη Δευτέρα, 28 Ιουλίου, στο πλαίσιο των Σεμιναρίων Ελληνικής Ιστορίας και Πολιτισμού που προσφέρει η Ελληνική Κοινότητα Μελβούρνης.

Διάλεξη με θέμα «Η ελληνική εκπαιδευτική πραγματικότητα στην εποχή της οικονομικής κρίσης: μια κριτική τοποθέτηση» θα δώσει η καθηγήτρια Αθηνά Ζώνιου-Σιδέρη του πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών τη Δευτέρα, 28 Ιουλίου, στο πλαίσιο των Σεμιναρίων Ελληνικής Ιστορίας και Πολιτισμού που προσφέρει η Ελληνική Κοινότητα Μελβούρνης
Η διάλεξη θα δοθεί στην αίθουσα της Φιλανθρωπικής Αδελφότητας Ιθακήσιων (2ος όροφος, 329 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne) και ώρα 7μμ και θα παρουσιαστεί στην ελληνική γλώσσα

Περίληψη της ομιλίας:
Πέντε χρόνια μετά την εκδήλωση της βαθιάς ελληνικής οικονομικής κρίσης και τέσσερα μετά την προσφυγή της χώρας στον μηχανισμό χρηματοδοτικής στήριξης που συγκροτήθηκε από το Διεθνές Νομισματικό Ταμείο, την Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή, και την Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα, η Ελλάδα εξακολουθεί να βρίσκεται σε μία εξαιρετικά καίρια καμπή της ιστορίας της. Το μεγάλο δημοσιονομικό έλλειμμα, το μεγάλο δημόσιο χρέος, η μειωμένη ανταγωνιστικότητα της ελληνικής οικονομίας αποτελούν κάποια μόνο από τα εμφανή χαρακτηριστικά της ελληνικής οικονομικής ύφεσης. Στην πραγματικότητα η ελληνική κρίση είναι πολυδιάστατη: είναι κρίση θεσμική, κρίση πολιτική, κρίση κοινωνική.

Στην προσπάθεια αντιμετώπισής της εφαρμόστηκε, υπό τις επιταγές και την εποπτεία των εκπροσώπων των δανειστών, μία σκληρή δημοσιονομική πολιτική και δοκιμάσθηκαν μεταρρυθμίσεις, συμβατές με νεοφιλελεύθερες επιταγές, οι οποίες έμελλε, μεταξύ άλλων, να πλήξουν θεμελιακά κοινωνικά πολιτικά και εργασιακά δικαιώματα και να αλλάξουν ριζικά το κοινωνικοπολιτικό χάρτη της χώρας. Οι αλλαγές και οι μεταρρυθμίσεις αυτές επηρέασαν αναπόδραστα όλους τους τομείς της κοινωνίας, συμπεριλαμβανομένης της εκπαίδευσης. Οι δραστικές περικοπές στον ετήσιο προϋπολογισμό για την εκπαίδευση, οι συγχωνεύσεις και καταργήσεις σχολικών μονάδων, οι ραγδαίες εργασιακές μεταβολές των εκπαιδευτικών αποτελούν μόνο την κορυφή του παγόβουνου της σημερινής «κατάστασης εξαίρεσης» (Agamben, 2007). Κάτω από αυτή, υποστηρίζεται ότι ενοικεί μία «θεσμικά οργανωμένη, παρεμβατική και κανονιστική πολιτική ορθολογικότητα που παράγει αποτελέσματα εξουσίας» (Αθανασίου, 2012). Πρόκειται για την πολιτική ορθολογικότητα του νεοφιλελευθερισμού. Στο συγκεκριμένο ζήτημα θα επικεντρωθεί η παρούσα εισήγηση, στο κατά πόσο δηλαδή ο χώρος της εκπαίδευσης, όπως αυτός διαμορφώνεται στην Ελλάδα σήμερα, αποτελεί αποκλειστικά θύμα της οικονομικής ύφεσης ή, εν δυνάμει τουλάχιστον, και εργαλείο μετασχηματισμού της εκπαιδευτικής πραγματικότητας προς κατευθύνσεις περισσότερο συμβατές με το κυρίαρχο στην εκπαίδευση νεοφιλελεύθερο δόγμα. Για να καταστεί μία τέτοια ανάλυση εφικτή όμως, θα προηγηθεί μία πολύ σύντομη ανασκόπηση του χρονικού της ελληνικής κρίσης καθώς και των σχετικών μνημονιακών πολιτικών και διαρθρωτικών μεταρρυθμίσεων.

Η Αθηνά Ζώνιου-Σιδέρη είναι καθηγήτρια στο Τμήμα Εκπαίδευσης και Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών. Επίσης, είναι και η Διευθύντρια του Κέντρου Έρευνας και Τεκμηρίωσης Προγραμμάτων ενταξιακής Εκπαίδευσης.

Τα ερευνητικά της ενδιαφέροντα επικεντρώνονται στις δυνατότητες και προσκλήσεις της εκπαιδευτικής και κοινωνικής ένταξης ατόμων με αναπηρία και στην πολιτική και πρακτική της ενταξιακής εκπαίδευσης.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Υποδοχή σταρ επιφύλασσαν οι μαθητές του Oakleigh Grammar στον Βαγγέλη Μόρα και όλοι ήθελαν να φωτογραφηθούν μαζί του. Φώτος: Κώστας Ντεβές

Ο Έλληνας διεθνής βρίσκεται στη Μελβούρνη για να υποβληθεί σε επέμβαση δωρεάς μυελού των οστών, μόσχευμα που προορίζεται για τον αδελφό του.

Ο γνωστός Έλληνας ποδοσφαιριστής Βαγγέλης Μόρας, βρίσκεται στην Αυστραλία για να γίνει σώσει τον αδελφό του Δημήτρη, που πάσχει από λευχαιμία.
Όπως πληροφορείται ο «Νέος Κόσμος», ο Βαγγέλης στις 2 Αυγούστου θα υποβληθεί σε επέμβαση στο νοσοκομείο Alfred της Μελβούρνης, κατά την οποία θα δωρίσει μυελό των οστών, μόσχευμα το οποίο, στη συνέχεια, θα δοθεί στον αδελφό του Δημήτρη.

Η ιστορία του Δημήτρη Μόρα, συγκίνησε ιδιαίτερα την ελληνική παροικία της Μελβούρνης, που από την πρώτη στιγμή που διαγνώστηκε με λευχαιμία, στάθηκε στο πλευρό του, βοηθώντας με ερανικές προσπάθειες να καλυφθεί μέρος των εξόδων νοσηλείας του.

Ο 32χρονος Δημήτρης Μόρας ήρθε για διακοπές στην Αυστραλία τον Μάρτιο. Μία ξαφνική αδιαθεσία στάθηκε η αιτία να επισκεφθεί το νοσοκομείο Alfred. Η διάγνωση των γιατρών ήταν καταπέλτης για τον νεαρό άνδρα. Μετά τις σχετικές εξετάσεις, οι γιατροί διαπίστωσαν ότι έπασχε από λευχαιμία. Ο Δημήτρης εισήλθε στο νοσοκομείο στις 7 Απριλίου και επειδή οι γιατροί που τον παρακολουθούν έκριναν επικίνδυνη έως απαγορευτική για την υγεία του άτυχου νέου οποιαδήποτε μετακίνηση, μέχρι σήμερα παραμένει εκεί.

Και παρά το γεγονός ότι η ελληνική παροικία της Μελβούρνης στάθηκε στο πλευρό του Δημήτρη, αλλά και των γονιών του, που έσπευσαν στην Αυστραλία για να βρίσκονται κοντά στο παιδί τους, αυτό δεν ήταν αρκετό για να σωθεί ο Δημήτρης.

Οι θεράποντες γιατροί του Δημήτρη αποφάνθηκαν ότι η μόνη σωτηρία για τον 32χρονο ήταν να υποβληθεί σε μεταμόσχευση μυελού των οστών. Στο κάλεσμα των γιατρών για την ανεύρεση του μοσχεύματος σωτηρίας, ανταποκρίθηκε άμεσα ο αδερφός του, Βαγγέλης, ο οποίος, μετά από τις σχετικές εξετάσεις στην Αθήνα, αποδείχθηκε συμβατός δότης.

Μάλιστα, επειδή η κατάσταση του Δημήτρη, που αυτό το χρονικό διάστημα δέχθηκε χημειοθεραπείες, θεωρείται ιδιαίτερα κρίσιμη, η μετάβαση του αδερφού του Βαγγέλη, στην Αυστραλία για να δώσει το σωτήριο μόσχευμα, ήταν εσπευσμένη.

Ο ποδοσφαιριστής της Εθνικής Ελλάδας (πρώην ποδοσφαιριστής της ΑΕΚ, ο οποίος τώρα αγωνίζεται στην Βερόνα της Ιταλίας), έφτασε στη Μελβούρνη πριν από λίγες μέρες και θα παραμείνει στη Μελβούρνη έως τις 4 Αυγούστου. Στη συνέχεια, θα μεταβεί στην Ιταλία.

Την περασμένη Δευτέρα ο διεθνής Έλληνας ποδοσφαιριστής, εκτός από το νοσοκομείο που επισκέπτεται κάθε μέρα, επισκέφθηκε και το ελληνικό Κολλέγιο Oakleigh Grammar, που βρίσκεται στο Oakleigh της Μελβούρνης, και συναντήθηκε με μαθητές και δασκάλους του σχολείου, οι οποίοι, ομολογουμένως, τον αποθέωσαν.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος