The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Credit: Armineaghayan / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
On Wednesday, the government of Greece unveiled a bill that will allow the operation of private universities in the country.
Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said private universities will have strict foundation criteria while students must have reached the minimum entry level in the national examinations or hold an International Baccalaureate.
The law, which was put to public consultation on Wednesday, also includes many provisions concerning public institutions of higher education, including increased funding and the promotion of a more international profile.
“This is a bill that represents a historic step forward for higher education and the country at large,” Pierrakakis said while presenting the law, which has been stirring up opposition from a section of students and academics for two months.
Pierrakakis stressed the government’s emphasis on the need to institutionalize non-state universities, citing the fact that over 40,000 Greek students study overseas. The majority of them (18,000) live in Cyprus, where higher education has grown dramatically in recent years with Greek students accounting for 40 percent of all students in the country.
Britain (9,500) and Bulgaria (4,200) are Greek students’ next most popular study destinations. At the same time, Greece has 33 private colleges that operate as branches of European universities, serving approximately 32,000 students.
“And despite this situation, Greece, with the current institutional framework, cannot set academic criteria for their operation,” Pierrakakis noted, estimating that non-state universities are expected to begin to operate from September 2025.
Criteria for establishing private universities in Greece
The minister said that the minimum cost for founding such a branch of a foreign university in Greece will be two million euros, with 500,000 euros allocated to each of the three departments it is required to have and another 500,000 for buildings.
An exception will be made for the top 20 universities in the world rankings, which will have the option of founding a branch with a single department.
He said that the criteria for establishing non-state universities will be the strictest in Europe and supervised by the National Authority for Higher Education, while the branches will be legal entities of university education linked to the parent university, which will be responsible for the curriculum.
They will not be permitted to employ faculty members who also teach in the state universities.
According to Pierrakakis, anyone with a school leaving certificate from another country that is equivalent to that of Greece, or an international baccalaureate can enroll in a non-state university without sitting exams.
Protests against the bill
Opponents of the bill say the proposed law would undermine state universities, which provide free tuition, and effectively limit tertiary education to the wealthy.
Leftist groups and students across Greece have staged a series of building occupations, preventing lectures and exams, and protests against the reform, some of which have turned violent.
The government has urged university authorities to seek police assistance in ending occupations and to hold online exams in departments that are currently controlled by protesters.
A statue of the navigator was erected in Kefalonia, Greece. Public Domain
Juan de Fuca, or Ioannis Phokas, was an intrepid, and much underappreciated, Greek explorer and navigator who lived during the sixteenth century. De Fuca is best known for being the first to describe the Strait of Anian, which is now known as the Strait of Juan de Fuca off Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is located between scenic Vancouver Island and the stunning, mountainous Olympic Peninsula, located in the northwestern part of the US state of Washington.
The Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, one of the smallest in the world, runs along the coast of Vancouver Island, just near the strait named after him.
Greek explorer Juan de Fuca and his famous Strait
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is named after the Greek explorer who recorded his voyage along the coast of western Canada. Credit: Copernicus Satellite/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0
Born in 1536 on the Greek Ionian island of Kefalonia, de Fuca was a maritime pilot who served King Philip II of Spain during his many Spanish expeditions. This is how he became known as de Fuca, which is the Spanish version of his last name.
The navigator’s grandfather, Emmanouel Phokas, fled Constantinople in 1453, the year the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine capital.
Emmanouel Phokas settled first in the Peloponnesian peninsula, but in 1470 he moved to the island of Kefalonia. A few decades later, the great navigator was born to Emmanouel’s son Valerianos.
De Fuca’s first voyages were to the Far East. He claimed to have arrived in New Spain in 1587 when the English captain Thomas Cavendish seized his galleon and deposited him ashore at Cabo San Lucas in Baja California.
Before he made his trip up the northwest coast of the North American continent, de Fuca sailed to China and the Philippines and back to Mexico in Central America.
There has been controversy surrounding the veracity of Juan de Fuca’s exploratory missions since researchers have been unable to find extensive records of his expeditions in the Spanish archives.
Some not only doubted his discoveries along America’s West Coast and Asia, but also whether or not he even existed.
It is said that some scholars, including Captain Cook, the eighteenth-century British explorer, considered Juan de Fuca a completely fictional character. Most contemporary scholars now agree that de Fuca likely did exist.
However, in 1787, when the English explorer Capt. Charles William Barkley “re-discovered” the passage the Greek explorer had described, he decided to rename the waterway from The Strait of Anián to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
On August 5, 2017, in Argostoli, the capital of Kefalonia, a statue of the navigator was erected in his memory, and the city’s port was renamed in honor of the Greek explorer. Perhaps history has just begun to give the fearless Greek explorer his just desserts, and time will uncover more historical records on this great man.
The history of Li-Lac starts in 1923, when Demetrious, a Greek native who studied the art of chocolate making in France, emigrated to New York and opened his shop in the heart of Greenwich Village.
In the 1920s, the Village was a destination for artists, intellectuals and innovators. It was in this context that Demetrious applied his chocolate-making expertise, creating and perfecting his recipes for items like Almond Bark and Hazelnut Truffle Squares, steadily building a loyal customer following among his neighbors.
Li-Lac, an artisan chocolate company specializing in small batch, hand-made chocolate and gifts, quickly became a New York favorite and remained so over the next nine decades.
Its chocolates are still crafted using Demetrious’ original recipes, cooking techniques and ingredients. And, with more than 120 items, the selection of chocolates is one of the largest fresh gourmet chocolate offerings in the US.
Manhattan’s oldest chocolate house stayed true to its roots despite industry changes
When trendy ingredients and mass production emerged as the model for the modern chocolatier, Li-Lac remained true to its history and tradition, eschewing automation and trendiness. Deemed “stubbornly old fashioned” by the Wall Street Journal, Li-Lac is one of the few old-school chocolate companies to survive into the modern era.
George Demetrious. Credit: Li-Lac Chocolates
Demetrious used large marble-top tables and copper kettles to perfect his signature recipes. He employed a staff of dippers and packers who contributed their own specialized care and attention to detail still found in every Li-Lac box made today.
Passing the baton to Marguerite Watt
In 1972, Demetrious passed away.
He entrusted his recipes and company to Marguerite Watt, his devoted employee of 25 years, who carried on Demetrious’ high standards for chocolate making until she retired.
“Edward Bond,” Watt would often say, “is the quintessential Southern gentleman.” And, on many occasions, she told him that she wouldn’t sell the company to just anyone. “Whoever comes in here after me, will be seeing to it that quality, caring, and commitment still count.”
Bond, a Mississippi native, was a regular patron who purchased dessert items from Li-Lac for his catering business. Whenever he visited the store, he allowed other customers to be served first so he could stay behind and visit with Watt. During the years, they became good friends and she was convinced that Bond was the perfect person to continue Li-Lac.
In 1978, Watt sold the business to Bond.
Business expansion, new items
While upholding the company’s tradition, Bond expanded the business and introduced a few items of his own. He also acquired a large selection of chocolate molds and designed Li-Lac’s first signature floral gift box packaging.
In 1981, Bond’s sister, Martha, joined him in the chocolate-making business. For Martha, “it was love at first sight!” She quickly learned the old master’s recipes, perfected his techniques, assisted customers, and helped Ed with day-to-day operations.
Together, Martha and Bond developed new recipes — most notably the Specialty Truffles, which are still a best-selling item today. Martha’s efforts were recognized in 1996, when her recipe won an award for the Best Raspberry Truffle in the Tri-State Area.
Bond passed away in 1990.
Under new leadership, opening second location
Martha Bond inherited the stewardship of Li-Lac Chocolates, nurturing the business and maintaining the same single-minded focus on product quality as Demetrious, Marguerite, and Ed had done.
In 1999, she opened a second location in Grand Central Market, bringing Li-Lac into the world’s busiest train station. When rent became too high in 2005 to continue at the Christopher Street location, the store was forced to relocate a few blocks north, while the production facility moved to Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
In 2009, Martha retired to Mississippi to be with her beloved grandchildren.
Continuing the legacy
Today, Li-Lac is in the care of three local New York City residents: Anthony Cirone, Anwar Khoder, and Christopher Taylor.
Cirone, a resident of the West Village, began shopping at Li-Lac when he first moved to New York in the early ’90s. He loved the chocolates so much that in 2011 he bought the company, along with his two partners. Khoder began working at Li-Lac in 1989 and today is the company’s Master Chocolatier. Taylor, who has a background in finance, works behind the scenes to nurture and grow the company.
Together, this trio represents the new generation of Li-Lac owners. And, like their predecessors before them, they are committed to retaining the old-school chocolate making processes that makes Li-Lac so special and unique.
Rapid expansion, new stores and factory
In 2014, Lil-Lac built a new chocolate factory at Industry City, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Here, customers can look in through oversize windows and see the chocolate-making in action.
Lil-Lac opened a sixth store in Hudson Yards, in 2019.
Nikos Xylouris. His songs and music captured the Greek psyche and demeanor, earning Xylouris the title, Archangel of Crete. Public Domain.
Nikos Xylouris, nicknamed Psaronikos, who passed away on Feb. 8, 1980, is a symbol of Crete. He was one of its greatest singers whose talent made him internationally known.
Xylouris was born in Anogeia, a rugged mountain region in the hinterland of Crete, and penned soulful songs seen as expressing the indomitable Cretan spirit. He was the older brother of two other great musicians of Cretan music, Antonis Xylouris or Psarantonis, and Yiannis Xylouris or Psaroyiannis.
His early years were filled with a patriotic zeal for his ancestral village of Anogeia, well-known throughout Crete for their bravery. This would be tested in the adolescence of his youth, brought upon by the turmoil of war with the Axis powers.
In 1941, Nikos Xylouris was four years old when he witnessed German paratroopers, the Fallschirmjäger, descending upon his island during the Battle of Crete. In 1944, Xylouris was eight years old when his hometown of Anogeia was razed to the ground by the German army.
He acquired his first lyre, or lyra (the three-stringed Cretan fiddle which is supported on the knee while playing), at the age of twelve and displayed great potential in performing local Cretan folk music.
Xylouris: The Archangel of Crete
He was part of the movement that brought down the Greek military junta, which fell in 1974. His songs and music captured and described the Greek psyche and demeanor, gaining him the title of Archangel of Crete.
He first performed outside Greece in 1966 and won the first prize in the San Remo folk music festival. In 1967 he established the first Cretan Music Hall, Erotokritos, in Heraklion.
Xylouris soon led to performances in Athens, which became his new permanent residence, at the Konaki folk music hall.
During the early 1970s, Xylouris’ voice became identified not only with Cretan music but also with the new kind of artistic popular music that emerged as well-known composers such as Giannis Markopoulos, Stavros Xarhakos, Christodoulos Halaris and Christos Leontis wrote music on the verses of famous Greek poets, among which stand out Nikos Gatsos, Yannis Ritsos, Giorgos Seferis, Kostas Varnalis and Dionysios Solomos.
In 1971, Xylouris was honored by the Academy Charles Cross of France for his performance in the Cretan Rizitika songs album with G. Markopoulos.
His songs continue to be played regularly on Greek radio stations, his contribution is universally recognized among his fellow musicians, and his legacy is held in the highest regard throughout the Greek Nation, both within the homeland and across the Greek Diaspora as well.
Greece placed separate orders for MH-60R aircraft—four in July 2020 and three in April 2021. Credit: Sikorsky
Greece will be receiving the first three of seven MH-60R Seahawk (Romeo) helicopters within the first few months of 2024, Lockheed Martin confirmed on Wednesday.
A Lockheed Martin statement said Sikorsky had completed the testing of the integrated mission systems and sensors aboard three MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Hellenic Navy early in December 2023 and confirmed that each helicopter is ready to perform anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions from land or naval ship.
Greece placed separate orders for MH-60R aircraft—four in July 2020 and three in April 2021—as a Foreign Military Sales purchase with the US government. After delivery of the first three, the remaining four will arrive in 2025, the manufacturer said.
Hellenic Navy MH-60R aircraft will join eleven existing S-70B Seahawk aircraft at the Kotroni Naval Air Station near Marathonas in East Attica. Known as “Aegean Hawks,” the older maritime helicopters were acquired directly from Sikorsky between 1994 and 2005.
Greece is the seventh country to receive the U.S. Navy’s MH-60R maritime helicopter. In Europe, Denmark operates nine MH-60R aircraft. Spain and Norway placed orders in 2023 for a combined 14 MH-60R aircraft.
“Commonality of these Hellenic Navy MH-60R Seahawk aircraft with 330 MH-60R and 250 MH-60S Seahawk aircraft, and with the global Black Hawk helicopter fleet, enables Sikorsky and the US Navy to continue sustaining and upgrading this proven weapon system for maximum threat deterrence and operational capability,” Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo said.
Capabilities That Seahawk Helicopters Will Offer Greece
The MH-60 is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modifications are the folding main rotor blades and a hinged tail to reduce its footprint aboard ships.
Able to deploy aboard any air-capable frigate, destroyer, cruiser, fast combat support ship, expeditionary transfer dock, amphibious assault ship, littoral combat ship, or aircraft carrier, the Seahawk can handle anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC).
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security of the United States by improving the air capabilities and interoperability of a NATO Ally that is a force for political and economic stability in Europe,” the State Department commented in its respective announcement.
Greek and Roman ruins of the ancient city of Antioch. Credit: flickr / Carole Raddato CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
Indians have a special connection with the ancient city of Antioch. The city, now part of Turkey, was renamed Antakya but their connection with it is fleeting at best when compared to the Greeks and Syrians, taking a chronological overview.
Originally called Antiocheia (Greek:Αντιόχεια), it ranked among the most prominent Hellenistic cities of antiquity. Antioch was the primary residence of the Seleucid kings and the capital of the Roman province of Syria, as per Michael Blömer, of the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus University. Founded by a successor of Alexander the Great, Seleucus Nikator I in 300 BC, it was the center of Seleucid Kingdom till 64 BC.
Bust of Seleukos I Nikator, Bronze, Roman, 100BCE-100CE at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale Naples. Credits: Allan Gluck/ CC-BY-SA-40
Seleucids had a powerful empire, but they were defeated by an even more powerful enemy in the field of battle, the Mauryas. The Mauryas led by Sandracotta (Chandragupta) who as per ancient Greek historian Plutarch, had advised Alexander to advance beyond the Beas and attack the Nanda emperor Xandrames, who was so unpopular that his people would rise in support of an invader. Though Alexander returned from India, Sandracotta defeated Xandrames and founded the first Indian empire, the Mauryan empire.
Sandracotta Defeats ancient Greek king Seleucus
Shepherd boy Chandragupt Maurya dreaming of the India he was to create. Credits: Public Domain / CC-BY-SA-40
Later Sandracotta fought a long battle against Seleucus Nikator I, finally defeating him around 305 B.C., and a treaty was signed.
According to this treaty, Seleucus Nicator I ceded the trans-Indus territories – namely Aria (Herat), Arachosia (Kandahar), Gedrosia (Baluchistan) and Paropamisadae (Kabul) – to the Mauryan Empire, in exchange for which Sandracotta made a gift of 500 elephants to Seleucus.
Seleucus also gave his daughter in marriage to the Mauryan prince; it is supposed that Chandragupta married his daughter (a Greek Macedonian princess) to formalize an alliance. The name of Sandracotta’s Indian wife was Durdhara and his Greek wife was Helena.
Sandracotta Connection with ancient Greek city of Antioch
Sandracotta’s son Bindusara, named Amitrochates of Strabo, had friendly relations with Greek King Antiochus I of Syria. Deimachus was the Seleucid ambassador sent to the court of Amitrochates by this Greek king.
It is known from the ancient Greek accounts that Amitrochates requested the King Antiochus I Soter, who was the son of Seleucus Nikator, to buy and send to him sweet wine, dried figs and a learned philosopher.
The king wrote back: “We shall send you the figs and the wine, but in Greece the laws forbid a sophist (a man of wisdom) to be sold”. However, he sent an ambassador named Daimachus to the court of Bindusara. Amitrochates’ son Basileus Piodasses (Ashoka) became the third Mauryan emperor. He became a Buddhist later in life, and worked hard to spread the faith; in Buddhism, one of the most missionary religions of the world, we find inscriptions from the time of the great Emperor Ashoka — recording how missionaries were sent to Antioch.
Indians’ Christian Connection with ancient Greek city of Antioch
Syro-Malankara Holy Mass. Credits: Simon Cheakkanal / CC-BY-SA-30
Christianity was brought to India by the Apostle Saint Thomas. For centuries the metropolitan heads of the Thomas Christians were known as the apostolic successors of St.Thomas, the founder of the Indian church.
The Indian Church established by Apostle Saint Thomas, got organized and prospered with the arrival of a group of Syrian Christians (Knanaites) from Edessa in AD 345. Under the leadership of these Antiochean missionaries, the Church in Malankara (Kerala) adopted the rites & liturgies of the Syrian Church of Antioch and became a part of that ancient Patriarchal See.
Thus the early Christian converts (St.Thomas Christians) along with the new Christian settlers (Knanaites), came to be called ‘the Syrian Christians’. The Church in Malankara continued to be under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch, and his subordinate in the East, the Catholicos/Maphriyono, until the arrival of Nestorian bishops in 1490.
The Constitution of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch states that it is One Holy, Universal and Apostolic Church, whose Apostolic See was established in Antioch by Saint Peter, the chief Apostle, in the year 37 A.D.
Its present headquarters is in Damascus, Syria, while the headquarters of the Catholicate of the East is in Kerala. This latter covers all the Syrian Orthodox Archdioceses in India, except the Knanaya Archdiocese, the churches of the Patriarchal See, and the Evangelical Ministry Associations in India.
On Friday the 26th July 2002, His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka-I, the Patriarch of Antioch & all the East, consecrated the 73-year old Mor Dionysius Thomas as the CATHOLICOS with the title ‘BASELIOS THOMAS I’ at a solemn function held at the St. Peter & St. Paul Cathedral in Mor Ephrem Monastery, Ma’arat Sayyidnaya, near Damascus.
Thus, fulfilling the wishes of a multitude of faithful, the Malankara Church received a Catholicos after a gap of six years (Catholicos Mor Baselios Paulose II died in 1996). In the Syrian Orthodox Church hierarchy, the Catholicos is second in rank to the supreme spiritual head, the Patriarch of Antioch. Fourteen Syrian Orthodox Bishops, from India, Syria, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Turkey and Australia attended the consecration ceremony as the co-celebrants.
Antakya devastating earthquake and the help from India
Antakya has long had a special connection with India. In response to the devastating earthquakes of February 2022 and anguished by the pain of fellow humans in Turkey and Syria, India decided to send rescue and relief teams, along with material aid, as part of ‘Operation Dost’ (Friend) to both earthquake-hit countries. This action aligns with India’s civilizational motto: ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – the whole world is one family.
Indian National Disaster Response Force Teams executed search, rescue and relief operations including life detection at 35 sites in Nurdagi and Antakya. More than 150 members of the Indian National Disaster Relief Force provided relief in Turkey, along with 99 Indian Army personnel, who set up a 30 bed facility in field conditions, in Iskenderun, Hatay, the administrative capital of which is Antakya. 7 huge Indian Airforce Aircrafts with relief materials and teams were also sent to Turkey.
As per a report by newsgroup CNBC TV18, the Indian Army had developed a network-independent real-time tracking and messaging module called “SANCHAR” which was used in the Republic of Turkey in areas where Indian soldiers were deployed. After saving many lives in Turkey, courageous Indian rescue and relief teams went back in India.
Work on the Battle of Crete Memorial at Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia is underway after many years of planning. Credit: Battle of Crete Memorial Committee of WA / FB
Work on the Battle of Crete Memorial at Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia is underway after many years of planning, negotiating, and fundraising.
Battle of Crete Memorial in Australia to Be Unveiled Later This Year
When complete, the memorial will be the first monument in Australia to be dedicated solely to the Battle of Crete. The official date of unveiling is May 11th of this year. This will take place in the presence of the memorial’s two co-patrons, Archbishop Makarios of Australia and Richard Sandover.
The memorial is being built to acknowledge the courage, sacrifice, and commitment of the Australians and Greeks who served in the Battle of Crete.
The construction was made possible through the support of federal and state funding, as well as individual donors. According to a Facebook post by the Battle of Crete Memorial Committee of WA, the campaign on Crete was of particular significance to Western Australians because it involved HMAS Perth and the City of Perth 2/11th Battalion.
What Happened During This Part of World War II?
The Battle of Crete was a significant attempt by the Axis powers’ airborne and amphibious military units to capture the island of Crete during World War II.
It began on the morning of May 20, 1941, when multiple German aircraft landed on Crete. Greek and other Allied forces, as well as Cretan civilians, managed to defend the island, and after just one day of conflict, the Germans had suffered heavy losses, leading the Allied forces to believe they would fend off the invasion.
The Cretans—who only four decades earlier had fought for and attained their independence after 250 years of Ottoman occupation—came out of their homes and challenged Hitler’s forces using whatever weaponry they had at their disposal. It was the first time the Germans had encountered significant opposition from a local population.
However, the following day, due to communication failures, Allied forces’ strategical hesitation and a strong German offensive, Maleme Airfield in western Crete fell, which enabled the Germans to bring in reinforcements and overwhelm the defensive posts on the north of the island.
Allied forces were driven to the south coast and more than half were evacuated by the British Royal Navy, while the remainder surrendered or joined the Cretan resistance.
Defensive operations grew into a costly naval engagement, with the Royal Navy’s Eastern Mediterranean strength having been reduced to just two battleships and three cruisers by the time the fighting was over.
The Battle of Crete was the first time that German paratroopers were used in large numbers, the first predominantly airborne invasion in military history, the first time the Allies utilized intelligence from decrypted German messages using the Enigma machine, and the first time German troops were met by mass resistance from a civilian population.
After this battle, due to the number of casualties and his belief that German airborne forces no longer had the advantage of surprise, Adolf Hitler became reluctant to carry out more large airborne operations, preferring to employ paratroopers as ground troops instead.
Archaeologists in Italy have unearthed significant ancient Greek and Etruscan artifacts, including warrior helmets believed to be from the ancient Battle of Alalia. Image: Chalcidian helmet discovered in Velia, Southern Italy. Credit: Parco Archeologico di Paestum & Velia
Archaeologists in Southern Italy have unearthed several significant artifacts, including two helmets, fragments of weapons and armor, and pottery shards, at an archaeological site in the ancient Greek city of Velia.
Velia was the Roman name of the ancient city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele around 538 to 535 BC.
The items uncovered in Southern Italy were discovered by a team of archaeologists who have been at the Velia excavation site since last July. The researchers believe the artifacts are from an important maritime conflict “that changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean nearly 2,500 years ago.”
Upon unearthing, the archaeologists determined that the ancient Greeks seem to have abandoned the artifacts after the Battle of Alalia.
Between the years 541 and 535 BC, a fleet of Phocaean ships from the Greek settlement of Alalia on the island of Corsica moved into the Tyrrhenian Sea to oppose attacks from nearby Etruscan and Carthaginian forces.
The Greeks won the battle, but the cost of the conflict was extreme, and so the Phocaeans were forced to leave Alalia and make their homes in the Greek colonies of the southern coast of Italy, known as Magna Graecia—the Roman name for the Greek-speaking settlements of Southern Italy.
The Phocaeans sailed to the mainland and bought the site that would eventually become Velia, as reported by Smithsonian magazine.
Experts suggest that ancient Greek soldiers might have stolen this piece of armor from Etruscan forces during the Battle of Alalia. Credit: Parco Archeologico di Paestum & Velia
Etruscan and Ancient Greek Helmets
The archaeologists posit that one of the helmets is made in the Greek Chalcidian style, while the other bears resemblance to the Negua headpieces worn by Etruscan fighters. They speculate that the Greek soldiers may have taken the helmets from conquered Etruscan warriors during battle.
Ancient brick walls were also uncovered at Velia, thought to date back to the city’s founding. The researchers suggest these walls may have formed part of a temple dedicated to Athena, the Greek goddess of war and wisdom.
The walls, measuring just over eighteen meters in length and seven meters in width, were constructed after the Battle of Alalia, according to Massimo Osanna, the director of the archaeological park and head of Italian State museums, who also suggested that the Phocaeans may have offered their enemies armor as a tribute to the goddess.
Osanna theorized that it could be possible that the Phocaeans, who fled from Alalia, built the temple when they arrived in Velia, because it was customary for them to do so.
“The relics were offered to their goddess to propitiate her benevolence; they added the weapons snatched from the enemies in that epic battle at sea,” Osanna declared in a statement.
The team also unearthed pottery fragments inscribed with the Greek word for “sacred,” and further discovered parts of bronze and metal weaponry as well as fragments of a large, decorated shield.
Lastly, Osanna stated that there may be inscriptions within the helmets, too. This was common practice with ancient armor, as it was a way to trace its history and the identity of the soldiers who wore it.
Harvard scientist, Avi Loeb, says that the metals found in the Pacific Ocean are alien objects. Credit: Avi Loeb / Medium
A Harvard scientist, who first suggested evidence of alien life in the Pacific Ocean, now unveils further compelling findings. Around ten percent of these fragments has elements not found in our solar system.
Avi Loeb, a physicist, explained that after studying 850 small round objects, they discovered a new type of composite called BeLaU. This mix is different from coal ash, which some people thought these fragments were composed of.
The elements in this mix—including Beryllium, Lanthanum, and Uranium—are found on Earth. However, their blending is unlike alloys found naturally on our planet.
“We studied more than a dozen BeLaU spherules and showed that they are distinctly different from coal fly ash based on the abundances of 55 elements from the periodic table,” said Loeb.
“Beyond any reasonable doubt, this rules out the coal ash interpretation that was suggested by four people.”
Earth’s first interstellar visitor
The recent discovery by the team now suggests the IM1 meteor spotted streaking across the skies in 2014 was actually the first “visitor” from another star system to ever reach Earth.
In his latest paper, the Harvard physicist identifies the various types of spherules found in the samples. These samples were carefully analyzed by three different laboratories, namely the University of California, Berkeley, Bruker Corporation, and Harvard University.
The samples were divided into three main types based on their composition: silicate-rich spherules (S-type), iron-rich spherules (I-type), and glassy spherules (G-type). Approximately seventy-eight percent of the spherules belong to the S, G, and I types.
Harvard Scientist Presents New Evidence That Samples Are Alien Spacecraft
"It raises the possibility that it may have been a voyager-like meteor, artificially made by another civilization."
Harvard professor and notorious UFO hunter Avi Loeb claims he has new evidence that… pic.twitter.com/5HII7zPHZA
The study states, “These spherules are thus called differentiated, meaning they are likely derived from crustal rocks of a differentiated planet; we label them as D-type spherules, characterized by Mg/Si.”
Again, another group, known as “differentiated,” was identified to possess higher levels of silicon (Si) and magnesium (Mg), as well as increased ratios of aluminum (Al) and silicon (Si).
Out of the 850 spherules studied, approximately twenty-two percent were classified as differentiated.
Composition of spherules different from known solar system meteors
The team utilized a distinct method to pinpoint spherules containing higher amounts of beryllium (Be), lanthanum (La), and uranium (U).
Using this method, they identified ten D-type spherules as BeLaU with low-silicon (Si) content and two as BeLaU with high-silicon (Si) content.
Loeb clarified that while it is evident the fragments originate from a material that separated from a rock-like object, their chemical makeup differs from any known solar system material, with a component resembling the lunar crust being the closest match.
“The elemental composition of the BeLaU spherules was never reported in the scientific literature and is different from familiar spherules from known solar system meteors,” said Loeb.
Iconic traffic policeman, Nikos Kotsakis, widely known as ‘Moustakias’ has died. Credit: RobW. CC BY 2.0/flickr
A beloved and popular traffic policeman in Athens, Greece, nicknamed “Moustakias,” who witnessed the city during some of its worst traffic nightmares in the ’80s and ’90s, has died, according to a recent social media post.
Given the affectionate nickname “Moustakias,” as a result of his bushy black moustache, Nikos Kotsakis resided in the suburb of Maroussi and worked mostly on the Kifisias Avenue junction at Agia Varvara, the main exit for Psychiko, Filothei, and Halandri.
Described by many as “our national traffic warden,” the announcement of Kotsakis’ death on a community Facebook page was met by dozens of posts from motorists commenting on his kind manner and skillful traffic management. The post did not specify his age or cause of death.
In the post, it is said that Kotsakis was one of fifteen siblings born into a poor family in Ilia on the Peloponnese. He worked as a farmhand starting at the age of fifteen until he joined the profession for which he was best known and celebrated.
Themis Kalamatas, a member of the Hellenic Police team, also took to social media to praise the late traffic controller. He wrote, “The Hellenic Police team and I personally honor the leading traffic warden of all time, the favorite of all drivers, the maestro of traffic regulation by placing on the team’s profile for 10 days from today the now historic figure of Nikos Kotsakis, as soon as his loss became known. Traffic police officer Nikos Kotsakis is immortal forever.”
Early Years of Moustakias, Athens’ Traffic Policeman
In an interview with Real News in 2012, Kotsakis elaborated on how he got into the traffic policing profession, saying, “I was destined to be. I met three gendarmes when I was a farmhand and I noticed that all three were respectable persons in society. The appearance, the air they exuded, the courtesy, the kindness.”
He continued, “And I said to them ‘I am a farmer now, but I don’t want to stay in the fields, I want a better fortune.’ Not that the fields is a disgrace. My bloody hands, the roses on my fingers, the discipline I had imposed on myself, it all started there.”
Moustakias, Athens’ best known traffic policeman, told Real News he had another reason for wanting to leave the farming behind, adding, “My mother was a dictator, in a good way. She kept us under strict discipline, with dialogue. Of course, I wasn’t trying to stray [from] her law, but I was young, and so, sighing, and with a pain in my soul, I left home.”
“After that,” he continued, “I asked the three gendarmes if I could join, and they said I fit the bill like a glove.”
Kotsakis also remarked on other parts of his childhood. “My mother tried to marry me off in a hurry to keep me close by,” he said, “and I was an obedient child, but I changed. If the commander had been stood opposite me and there was a traffic jam—with constant rain chilling me to the bone—and he told me to take a rest and move away from the road, I wouldn’t have gone. I would stay forever if I had to.”
