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Αυτή θα είναι η τρίτη παρουσία του πρωθυπουργού, Μάλκολμ Τέρνμπουλ, σε Ελληνικό Φεστιβάλ από τότε που ανέλαβε τα καθήκοντά του. Αρχικά πήγε στο Ελληνικό Φεστιβάλ Gold Coast (όπου έσπασε και …πιάτα), στη συνέχεια στο Being Greek Festival Sydney (από όπου και η φωτογραφία) και τώρα έρχεται στη Μελβούρνη

Αναμένεται να παραστούν ακόμα ο αρχηγός του Εργατικού Κόμματος, Μπιλ Σόρτεν, ο πολιτειακός πρωθυπουργός, Ντάνιελ Άντριους και πολλοί άλλοι υπουργοί, βουλευτές, γερουσιαστές, δήμαρχοι και άλλοι επίσημοι.

Ο πρωθυπουργός της Αυστραλίας κ. Μάλκολμ Τέρνμπουλ, πρόκειται να παρευρεθεί στα εγκαίνια του Ελληνικού Φεστιβάλ της Λόνσντεϊλ, που θα γίνουν το Σάββατο, 27 Φεβρουαρίου.

Στην επίσημη έναρξη αναμένεται να παραστούν ακόμα ο αρχηγός του Εργατικού Κόμματος, Μπιλ Σόρτεν (για τρίτη συνεχή χρονιά), ο πολιτειακός πρωθυπουργός, Ντάνιελ Άντριους, ο αρχηγός της πολιτειακής αντιπολίτευσης Μάθιου Γκάι, και πολλοί άλλοι υπουργοί, βουλευτές, γερουσιαστές, δήμαρχοι και άλλοι επίσημοι.

Μετά την επίσημη έναρξη, θα ακολουθήσει δωρεάν συναυλία του Αλκίνοου Ιωαννίδη.

Ο πρόεδρος της Κοινότητας, κ. Βασίλης Παπαστεργιάδης, εξέφρασε την ικανοποίησή του για την θετική ανταπόκριση του πρωθυπουργού στην πρόσκληση της Κοινότητας λέγοντας:

«Είμαστε υπερευχαριστημένοι που ο πρωθυπουργός της Αυστραλίας, Μάλκολμ Τέρνμπουλ, θα παρευρεθεί στα εγκαίνια του 29ου Ελληνικού Φεστιβάλ της Λόνσντεϊλ που η Κοινότητά μας διοργανώνει φέτος, το Σαββατοκύριακο 27-28 Φεβρουαρίου.

Η θετική ανταπόκριση του πρωθυπουργού στην πρόσκλησή μας αποδεικνύει ότι το Φεστιβάλ αναγνωρίζεται ως ένα από τα πιο επιτυχημένα και μεγαλύτερα Φεστιβάλ όχι μόνο των εθνικοτήτων, αλλά και των Αυστραλών. Είναι πολύ σπάνιο να έχεις σε μια εκδήλωση τον πρωθυπουργό της Αυστραλίας και τον πρωθυπουργό της Βικτώριας.

Το να έχουμε, για μια ακόμα φορά, όλη την πολιτική ηγεσία της Αυστραλίας στα εγκαίνια του Φεστιβάλ, δείχνει ότι η Κοινότητα, αλλά και η παροικία μας, αναγνωρίζονται ως σημαντικό κομμάτι της αυστραλιανής κοινωνίας και ότι ενδιαφέρονται για το σκοπό μας και τον αγώνα μας.

Στο παρελθόν, στις εκδηλώσεις της Κοινότητας ανακοινώνονταν από τους πολιτικούς ηγέτες μεγάλες αποφάσεις που αφορούσαν τόσο τον Οργανισμό μας όσο και την ομογένεια. Η παρουσία του πρωθυπουργού στο Φεστιβάλ,

μας δίνει την ευκαιρία να εγκαινιάσουμε έναν διάλογο μαζί του, από τον οποίο κερδισμένη θα είναι όλη η παροικία μας.

Είναι η τέταρτη φορά στα περασμένα πέντε χρόνια που πρωθυπουργός της Αυστραλίας παρευρίσκεται στο Φεστιβάλ μας. Με τις προσωπικές επαφές μαζί του, θα μας δοθεί η δυνατότητα να προωθήσουμε θέματα σχετικά με την εκπαίδευση και τον πολιτισμό. Γνωρίζουμε όλοι ότι είναι μεγάλος φιλέλληνας και πιστεύουμε ότι αυτό αποτελεί σημαντικό στοιχείο για την ανάπτυξη μιας στενής συνεργασίας μαζί του και με την κυβέρνησή του για το αμοιβαίο καλό.

Επίσης, ευχόμαστε ότι θα εγκαινιάσει τη βραδιά αυτή και τους χώρους της Delphi Bank και του Γκρεκ Κάιας, μεγάλων ευεργετών της Κοινότητας και της παροικίας μας».

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

First phase of troika evaluation takes place in Athens

The heads of the European Union and International Monetary Fund mission assessing Greece’s progress arrived in Athens earlier this week to discuss the pension plan, tax reforms and bad loans weighing on Greek banks.

While Greek ministers were in talks with their lenders in a Syntagma hotel, 50,000 frustrated people started protesting against government pension reforms.

The crowd, carrying black balloons, marched on parliament, asking Alexis Tsipras to revoke the measures implemented to meet the IMF and EU’s demands.

Creditors also argue that Greeks will have to work up to the age of 67 to qualify for a pension – at the same time the jobless rate has climbed to a staggering 25 per cent among the nation’s young.

Meanwhile, an angry group of youths broke away from the body of the protest and begun to hurl stones and molotov cocktails at the police, who responded with several rounds of stun grenades and tear gas.

The 24-hour strike, which coincided with the official review of Greece’s performance on terms of its €86 billion bailout, is said to have worried the institutions.

The lenders still object to the 1.5 percentage point rise in social security contributions and are setting the minimum national pension at €384 per month, which is considered too high.

The Greek side insists that the quartet has not asked outright for a cut to existing pensions, which the government has set as a “red line” in the negotiations.

The troika will make its position known next week but will be watching closely for the Greek people’s reactions.

SYRIZA is also concerned that prolonged talks will cause more protests against the reforms put forward by the coalition, not to mention political turbulance.

The government wants to conclude the review swiftly to start talks on debt relief and convince Greeks that their sacrifices are paying off after six years of austerity and a deep recession that has brought the country to its current state of economic crisis.

“Greece’s economy will be the only one in the European Union to shrink this year,” the EU Commission said on Thursday, “but the fall is much smaller than previously estimated.”

source:neos kosmos

Economic instability has had a direct impact on Greek shipping

The share of Greek-owned ships in the global fleet continued to grow in 2015, as they numbered almost 4,500 vessels – i.e. 19.63 percent of the world’s entire capacity in deadweight tons – and almost 50 percent of the fleet of the European Union, as Theodoros Veniamis, the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners, told the entity’s annual general meeting this week.

Veniamis stressed that “this development leaves us no room for pessimism,” in spite of the major difficulties the sector has had to face both in Greece and abroad.

The imposition of the capital controls last June and the overall economic instability they have generated have had a direct impact on Greek shipping. Bank of Greece data showed that in the first half of 2015 the foreign currency inflows from shipping grew 2.13 percent year-on-year to 6.42 billion euros, but in the following four months (July to October) they posted a 50.78 percent yearly decline to 2.27 billion euros from 4.62 billion in the same period in 2014.

Contributing to that decline was also the global sinking of chartering rates for dry-bulk carriers in the last few months of 2015, reaching historic lows. This continues into 2016, without any recovery prospects in sight, according to Veniamis.

Source: Kathimerini

Full results of the “What Do Greeks Believe?” survey to be published on 10 February.

Greeks’ faith in the European vision appears to have been particularly shaken, even if that was not directly reflected in the results of the last general election.

The first major survey by DiaNEOsis, a new research corporation founded by Dimitris Daskalopoulos, former head of the Association of Greek Industries (SEV), found that 46.2 percent of Greeks believe that the country has recorded net losses in terms of financial growth and well-being from its membership in the European Union. The fact that just half of that percentage, or 23 percent, wishes that Greece had left the EU is due to the fears that Greece’s position outside the bloc would deteriorate further.

“After 35 years of membership in the European institutional and economic mechanism, Greek society today appears practically divided between Europhiles and Euroskeptics. This is a split which, as long as Greece remains in a structural crisis, could evolve into a new division,” Daskalopoulos argued on Tuesday during a presentation of the new research organization and the generalities of the survey’s findings. He went on to forecast that this will be the worst of the consequences of the Greek crisis.

Daskalopoulos attributed the growing Euroskepticism among Greek society to “the continuing crisis, the pointless clash between supporters and enemies of the bailouts for six years, as well as the inflexible economic dogma for austerity that has been testing the stamina of our society.”

Source: Kathimerini

Taxis, tractors and refugees blocking the borders to FYROM

At least 80 buses packed with migrants were halted by the police on a major highway in Greece, about 10 kilometres before the borders with FYROM.

On the FYROM side of the border, taxi drivers blocked the railway line in between the two countries, protesting over policemen giving priority to trains and buses taking the migrants to Serbia.

Dozens of tractors lined up on the Greek side, complaining over the latest government pension reforms.

The borders were closed for migrants and regular traffic was significantly delayed.

Mostly women and children fleeing the war in Syria, the majority of male migrants had to disembark from the over-packed buses and sleep on the ground.

Aid groups set about lighting camp fires and tents to accommodate the refugees, offering basic medical treatment, water and food.

“It’s not possible to get all these people into tents,” Sardar, an Iraqui refugee told 9News.

“There aren’t enough facilities, so we spent the night on the ground.”

source:neos kosmos

THE iconic Across The Lake Swim, an annual 3.8km-long splash from Coal Point to Belmont to raise funds for local lifesavers since the 1950s, has become the latest shark victim.

PLENTIFUL: A great white shark snapped breaching near Marmong Point last September. Lake Macquarie’s shark population continues to improve. Picture: Jeff Adams.

For the second year running, organisers have decided to cancel the event because the improving health of Lake Macquarie is attracting an ever-increasing shark population.

Swansea-Belmont Surf Life Saving Club president Graham Burge said his club was there to protect people from danger, not place them in it.

“It is just not worth the calculated risk anymore,’’ Mr Burge said.

“The sharks have always been in the lake, but there is a lot more of them now, and a lot more bigger ones now too.’’

Almost daily dorsel fin sightings, including around the route the swimmers take, as well as advice from authorities, was enough for organisers to change tack.

Instead of the lake swim, they will have an ocean classic off Nine Mile Beach to continue to raise funds for the club.

“You can’t risk it, with the number of people in the water and how spread out they get. If there was a sighting then there would be no way we could get everyone out,’’ Mr Burge said.

source:theherald.com.au

BRONWYN Agnew considers Newcastle East Public School as so much more than just her alma mater.

It is a common, ongoing thread between four passionate learners – her grandmother Winifred Winning, mother Betty Agnew, herself and her daughter Winifred Agnew-Pauley – who traversed the same streets to their much-loved school.

“I feel an enormous sense of pride to have been part of that tradition,” she said.

“I feel a great sense of ownership of the school and that comes with the connection of all four of us being part of it. But I also feel a sense of being offered a great gift in being able to start my learning life here.”

Ms Agnew has chronicled her family’s experiences at the school in a new book, To Climb The Hill: A People’s History of Newcastle East Public School 1816-2016.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard will launch the book on Saturday as part of Australia’s oldest continually running school’s bicentenary celebrations, which will span three days.

Principal John Beach has been at the school of 250 students since 2002 and said the community was “very excited” about celebrating the milestone after years of preparation.

“It’s very significant in the history of education in Australia,” he said.

“This is the country’s oldest school – there are no other schools going back as far as 1816 – and we believe it has national significance.

“Public education took a nation of people who were all illiterate to a country that’s got 99 per cent literacy and that’s virtually all through public schooling.”

The school was known as Newcastle Public Charity School when it opened in February 1816, in a slab hut near the corner of Watt and Bolton streets. Convict teacher Henry Wrensford delivered Bible-based lessons to 17 students, the children of convicts, free settlers, military officers and seamen.

The school went through a series of both name and location changes before opening at its current Tyrrell Street address in 1982.

Mr Beach said while the school was grateful that Edwin Braggett researched and wrote his PHD thesis about the first 150 years of the school in 1966, the time had come to compile a people’s history of the school from students and teachers perspectives.

“The experiences of the children reflect Australia’s social and economic history,” he said.

Betty Agnew, 86, attended the school from 1934 to 1941 and remembers classmates without shoes, sitting on the floor with slates and falling ill with whooping cough.

source:theherald.com.au

The plane operated by Daallo Airlines sits on the runway in Mogadishu. A gaping hole in the commercial airliner forced it to make an emergency landing in Somalia’s capital. Photo: AP

Mogadishu: A commercial airliner has made an emergency landing at Mogadishu’s international airport after passengers heard a loud bang and a fire broke out on board, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage.

One man was sucked out of the plane and two people were slightly injured. The remaining 74 passengers and crew of the Airbus A321 were evacuated after the plane made a safe landing on Tuesday afternoon, Somali aviation official Ali Mohamoud said on Wednesday.

Intl Avion de DalloAirlines sufre emergencia y aterriza en Somalia, se le hizo hueco a fuselaje 2heridos (2 fotos) pic.twitter.com/0ykSa0nWZE
— Mi DIARIO (@midiariozulia) February 2, 2016
Mohamed Hassan, a police officer in nearby Balad town, said residents had found a dead body of an old man who they believed had fallen from the Airbus A321.

Local authorities in the Balcad area, about 30 kilometres north of Mogadishu, confirmed the body of the man, believed to have been sucked out of the plane, was found in the area.

A police officer at Mogadishu airport said, “The dead body of the passenger is being transported to Mogadishu.” The officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that the man was about 55 years old.

“He dropped when the explosion occurred in the plane,” he said.

The plane, operated by Daallo Airlines, was en route to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa when it was forced to land minutes after taking off from Mogadishu airport, Mr Mohamoud said.

Daallo Airline plane heading 2 Djibouti catches fire 5 mints afta taking off frm the airport in Mogadishu, 2 injured pic.twitter.com/eGuHLvjnEZ
— Goobjoog News. (@Goobjoognews) February 2, 2016
One of the plane’s passengers Mohamed Ali said that they heard a bang before flames opened a gaping hole in the plane’s side.

“I don’t know if it was a bomb or an electric shock, but we heard a bang inside the plane,” he said.

There was no immediate explanation of the explosion from the airline or Somali government officials.

“Daallo airline was enroute to Djibouti but it landed shortly after it took off. A fire exploded and two passengers were slightly wounded,” Mohamed Hussein, an agent for Daallo Airlines, the operator of the flight, said.

Aviation website http://www.airlive.net said the explosion occurred on flight D3159, an Airbus A321.

Daallo flies to several destinations in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, its website showed.

Somalia faces an insurgency perpetrated by the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which is responsible for many deadly attacks across the nation.
source:smh.com.au

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei will create an artwork in Germany from 14,000 life jackets discarded by migrants arriving on Greece’s Lesvos island, local authorities said on Tuesday.

“Island mayor Spiros Galinos has provided 14,000 life jackets for the creation of an artwork in Berlin by globally renowned artist Ai Weiwei,” the town said in a statement.

“This work aims to mobilise the global community regarding the crime carried out daily in the Aegean by ruthless people smugglers,” it added.

Poorly made in sweatshops in Turkey and sold to migrants at a premium by smugglers, the life jackets usually offer no help in an emergency at sea.

The 58-year-old Chinese dissident artist has taken an active interest in the plight of refugees and migrants who risk their lives by crossing the Aegean Sea in search of a better future in Europe.

He has visited Lesvos several times, and last month announced plans to create a memorial to the refugees on the island.

Last week, he caused a stir by posing for India Today magazine on a Lesvos beach as Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler whose tiny body was found lying face down on a Turkish beach in September.

Kurdi’s death drew international attention to the scope of the Syrian refugee crisis and prompted volunteer groups to flock to the Aegean islands to provide assistance.

But greater awareness has done little to facilitate the passage to Europe, with dozens of refugees and migrants drowning in the Aegean every week.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that the number of refugees and migrants who perished in the Mediterranean in January alone topped 360.

The Turkish coastguard on Tuesday recovered the bodies of nine migrants including two babies after their boat sank just a short distance from land while trying to reach Europe.

source:ekathimerini.com

Πλέον όμως έχει μια ευκαιρία ζωής, χάρη σε ένα ζευγάρι Αυστραλών τουριστών που τον εντόπισε στην πρωτεύουσα της χώρας, Πνομ Πεν, κατά τη διάρκεια των διακοπών του.

Η Diana Koski και ο John Nettleton «ηλεκτρίστηκαν» από την ιστορία του άστεγου και άνεργου άνδρα, αποφασίζοντας να ξεκινήσουν αρχικά μια εκστρατεία στο Facebook, πριν καταφέρουν τελικά να τον φέρουν σε επαφή με έναν χειρουργό στη Σιγκαπούρη, μέσω ενός επιχειρηματία από το Περθ.

«Περπατούσε δίπλα μας στο δρόμο και συγκλονίστηκα. Τότε είπα στον άνδρα μου πως πρέπει να τον βοηθήσουμε», εκμυστηρεύτηκε η Diana στην αυστραλιανή Daily Mail, συμπληρώνοντας: «Άρχισα να του μιλάω, αλλά δεν καταλάβαινε αγγλικά και ζήτησα έτσι τη βοήθεια κάποιων συμπατριωτών του. Του είπα ότι θέλουμε να τον βοηθήσουμε. Τουλάχιστον να προσπαθήσουμε».

Ο Vid ακολούθησε έτσι τους Αυστραλούς στο ξενοδοχείο τους, ωστόσο «περπατούσε συνεχώς πίσω μου και οι ντόπιοι προσπαθούσαν να τον αποφεύγουν. Κάποιοι μάλιστα τον εμπόδιζαν να έρθει μαζί μας», συνέχισε η Diana, προσθέτοντας: «Δεν ζητιάνευε, απλά περπατούσε στους δρόμους. Φαντάζομαι είχε μια πολύ σκληρή ζωή».

Όσο απίστευτο και αν φαίνεται μάλιστα, το ζευγάρι χρειάστηκε να πάρει ειδική άδεια από τον «αρχηγό» του χωριού όπου γεννήθηκε ο Vid, προκειμένου να κανονίσει να χειρουργηθεί ο άτυχος άνδρας!

«Δεν μιλούσε για την οικογένειά του ή αν είχε κάποιο μέρος να μείνει. Δεν νομίζω ότι είχε γονείς αφού έπρεπε να πάρουμε άδεια από το χωριό του», ανέφερε επίσης η Αυστραλή, αποκαλύπτοντας: «Όταν τον ρώτησα αν ήθελε να αφαιρεθεί ο όγκος του, απάντησε αμέσως καταφατικά. Δεν ήξερα όμως αν φοβόταν να ταξιδέψει σε άλλη χώρα. Του είπα έτσι πως θα κάναμε ό,τι μπορούμε, αλλά ίσως πάρει μήνες».

Όσο για το χαρακτήρα του Vid, ο οποίος βλέπει μόνο από το ένα μάτι και αναπνέει μόνο από το ένα ρουθούνι; «Έχει ανεπτυγμένη αίσθηση του χιούμορ και πιστεύει πως ίσως οι γυναίκες θα ενδιαφέρονταν γι΄ αυτόν αν δεν είχε τον όγκο», σημειώνει ακόμα η Diana, αναφέροντας ότι δεν νοιώθει πονοκεφάλους ή βαρύ το κεφάλι του γιατί «δεν έχει ζήσει ή γνωρίσει κάτι διαφορετικό»…

Το ζευγάρι δημοσίευσε μια φωτογραφία του Vid στο Facebook μόλις τον γνώρισε, ρωτώντας αν ήξερε κανείς κάποιον πλαστικό χειρουργό ή άλλον τρόπο να βοηθήσει. Επικοινώνησε αμέσως μαζί του ένας επιχειρηματίας από το Περθ, ο οποίος προθυμοποιήθηκε να καλύψει τα έξοδα της επέμβασης που θα αναλάμβανε να κάνει ένας γνωστός του στη Σιγκαπούρη…

Η Diana και ο John ετοιμάζουν έτσι ξανά βίζα, διαβατήριο και αεροπορικά εισιτήρια, προκειμένου να επιστρέψουν στη Σινγκαπούρη, καθώς θέλουν να βρίσκονται στο πλευρό του Vid την ώρα της επέμβασης που θα του αλλάξει τη ζωή…

Πηγή:newsbomb.gr