Daily Archives: March 23, 2014

Blacktown Spartans ruined the debut of Sydney Olympic’s former Greek international Sotirios Kyrgiakos with a 3-1 win at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.

More than 7000 fans turned out to see Kyrgiakos in action with the home team taking the lead in the 13th minute via Amaury Gauthier.

But a double to Elsid Barkhousir and fantastic solo effort by Ray Miller saw the Spartans make it two from two to open their account in this year’s National Premier League NSW Men’s 1 competition.

Blacktown Spartans showed their intent early, winning a corner in the first minute only to be easily cleared by the Olympic defence.

Brett Studman moved forward with vengeance only five minutes later rising well for a corner only to glance his header across the face of goal.

Sydney Olympic eased their way into the game with William Angel and Evan Kostopoulos starting to trouble the Spartans out wide.

The pressure paid off in the 13th minute when Olympic took the lead. After Kostopoulos was fouled on the left hand side, Harris Gaitatzis stepped up to float the ball to the back stick. The Spartans failed to clear before Amaury Gauthier popped up to put the ball into the back of the net.

Blacktown was not resting on their laurels and in the 18th minute Greg Kondek switched the play to David Gullo whose header found Elsid Barkhousir. The former Sydney Olympic striker turned quickly before his shot trickled to the hands of the waiting Paul Henderson.

Kostopoulos continued to trouble the away side all over the park and on 24 minutes thought he had doubled his side’s lead, only to be called back for being offside.

Olympic’s constant pressure in the middle of the park forced Blacktown into another mistake on 35 minutes when Taiga Soeda won the ball before feeding Angel on the left whose imposing shot was saved by a diving Saliadarre.

Kyrgiakos got into the act two minutes later, getting on the end of a free kick but only to lash the ball well over the bar.

The missed chances came back to haunt Olympic in the 41st minute when former striker Barkhousir was found free down the middle before calmly slotting the ball under an Henderson and into the goal to bring the scores level.

Blacktown started the second half much like the first, pushing forward with numbers but unable to find the right ball to open the Olympic defence.

It would be the Olympic faithful who were off their seats in the 55th minute though when Sotirios Kyrgiakos went centimetres away from scoring, heading the ball just wide of the left hand upright.

Two minutes later the Blues were again on the front foot with Gaitazis finding Gauthier in the middle of the park whose shot went sailing over the bar.

Gaitatzis went for the spectacular in the 64th minute, connecting with a bicycle kick that couldn’t trouble Saliadarre in goal.

Blacktown quickly countered onto the other side of the park to create a chance of their own as Corey Biczo’s 20 yard shot missing the target.

With 20 minutes to go Blacktown Spartans coach Ben De Haan turned to his bench replacing Kingsley Williams with former Olympic captain Phil Makrys.

The move brought a spark to the Spartans attack immediately as they took the lead for the first time in the match as Barkhousir taking on Brendan Hooper before beautifully curling the ball into the net to make it 2-1 in the 74th minute.

Blacktown was not done there as they continued pushing forward. With 10 minutes remaining Makrys saw his free kick blocked by a carefully constructed wall only for Ray Miller to move forward and strike his shot over the bar.

Miller would not make the same mistake again and in the 83rd minute dribbled his way through three defenders before curling the ball into the back of the net making it 3-1.

The Blues were not letting go of any chance of a comeback and in the 87th minute two chances to score in the same play, only for Saliadarre to save well.

Match Stats

Sydney Olympic 1 (Gauthier 13’)

Blacktown Spartans 3 (Barkhousir 41’,74’, Miller 83’)

Venue: Belmore Sports Ground

Referee: Kurt Ams

Assistant referees: Lance Greenshield and Craig Fisher

Fourth Official: David Hasslett

Sydney Olympic: 1. Paul Henderson, 7. William Angel, 10. Harris Gaitatzis ( 33. Christos Tomaras 74’), 24. Amaury Gauthier, 9. Dimitri Hatzimouratis (39. Michael Gaitatzis 68’), 4. Brendan Hooper, 23. Evan Kostopoulos, 14. Petar Markovic (c), 2. Brayden Sorge, 18. Taiga Soeda (5. Bradley Treloar 45’), 16. Sotirios Kyrgiakos

Substitutions not used: 15. Yiannia Spyrakis, 40. Liam Jacobs, 5. Bradley Treloar, , 8. Chris Godoy Bascur

Yellow Cards: Kostopoulos 24’

Red Cards: nil

Blacktown Spartans: 9. Elsid Barkhousir, 13. Corey Biczo( 14. Jacob Ott 88’), 17. Keiran Dalto, 10. Emmanuel Giannaros, 11.David Gullo, 6. Greg Kondek (2. Luke Austin 62’), 8. Ray Miller, 3. Nathan Millgate, 1. Carlos Saliadarre (c), 4. Brett Studman, 15. Kingsley Williams ( 7. Phil Makrys 70’)

Substitutions not used: 21. Riley Keayes, 19. Reid Taylor

Yellow Cards: Giannaros 43’, Millgate 53’, Biczo 84’

Red Cards: nil

Player Ratings

3 – Elsid Barkhousir (BS)

2 – Ray Miller (BS)

1 – Evan Kostopoulos (SO)

-By Chris Georges

source: nswpl.com.au

Photographer Emmanuel Santos met one of the hidden Jewish Greek children who survived occupied Greece, Marios Sousis. His tale is told in the film Kisses to the Children.

“He is an incredible looking man, a strong character,” says photographer of diaspora communities, Emmanuel Santos. “He has this twinkle about him that in spite of what’s happened to him, he’s here to tell the tale and that’s a great pleasure for humanity itself.”
Santos is talking about Marios Sousis; one of the Greek Jewish children who were hidden by families during WWII. When he was just five, his father and other family members were taken by train to Auschwitz, never to return. He escaped the train by being saved by a Christian family in Greece.
Now well into his 70s, he still tells his story with vigour to remind all that in a time of pure evil, there can be good.
“He’s one of the most inspirational people I’ve met,” Santos tells Neos Kosmos, “not just as a human being, but his whole way of recollecting, and his dedication to giving voice to the Holocaust survivors of Greek nationality, is part of this whole inspiration which is himself; miracles happened in his life to be saved.”
For 25 years, Santos has dedicated his life’s work to documenting and photographing Jewish communities of the diaspora. For the first time last year, he visited Greece’s Jewish communities and photographed ten regions, which included Ioannina, Corfu, Halkidiki and Rhodes, just to name a few. Jewish communities have been fostered in Greece from the time the Romaniote communities were there in 586 BC, and the Jews who migrated from Spain following the Inquisition in 1492. Eighty-seven per cent of Greek Jews perished under the Nazi occupation of Greece in WWII; at the same time, many Greeks risked their lives by hiding Jews or helping them escape deportation.
“It’s a very old and fascinating community,” says Santos, “and in places like Corfu and Chalkidiki, I came across some of the oldest synagogues that I have encountered in my 25 years of documenting Jewish communities all over the world.”
During his time he met with important and significant members of the Jewish community and survivors of the Holocaust.
“The survivors were very hospitable and willing to talk about the history and the past and lives of the Jewish people in Greece and one of those was Marios, who gave us a very illuminating aspect of what it was like to be a hidden child during WWII.”
The film Kisses to the Children, directed by Vassilis Loules, tells Sousis’ story, along with another four Greek Jewish children who were saved by Christian families during the German occupation of Greece. This documentary also features Rosina, Iossif, Eftyhia, and Shelly, who reveal the true stories of their lives as children in hiding and the effects this has had into their adulthood.
It will be screened as part of the Holocaust Film Series (HFS), presented by Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF), that aims to highlight the resilience and courage of the human spirit through true stories of love, identity, hope and survival against the odds, and in that comes a tale of survival from Greece. This film also beautifully describes and recreates the lives of Greek Jewish communities before World War Two via rare archival material as well as amateur films by German soldiers and once-illegal footage shot by Greek patriots.
Santos will speak after the screening of the film – along with documentary maker Carol Gordon, with whom he travelled to Greece last year to shoot the documentary Shira’s Journey – about the history of the Greek Jewish community and their situation today.
Even though WWII is in the past, the survivors live it every day. And even more so now, says Santos, with the rise of Golden Dawn.
“We arrived in Greece at the height of Golden Dawn and now [Sousis’] attention is on that and he thinks is the Holocaust coming again with the neo-Nazis.”
In all the Jewish communities Santos and Gordon visited in Greece, he said that the rise of Golden Dawn was a “big concern” and that their “insecurities and fears have come back” due to their growing popularity.
“[Sousis] was reminiscing about the beginning of the German Occupation and said it was like a very poisoned flower about to bloom; we have to be aware of it,” Santos repeats Sousis’ warnings.
“As a person who survived the war and the Nazi occupation – where most of his family perished – the threat [of Golden Dawn] is very real,” says Santos.
The Holocaust Film Series showcases the passion of filmmakers young and old, united by their desire to make sense of an event that encouraged both the finest and most evil aspects of humankind. Films about the Holocaust tell universal stories as well as those that are deeply personal. They tap into the very human themes of courage, tragedy, identity and hope, often in an attempt to make sense of the incomprehensible. The Holocaust Film Series not only tells stories of the Holocaust, but also engages in a contemporary conversation about social justice and how the past relates to the present.
The documentary Shira’s Journey – that is part of the travels to Greece by Santos and documentary maker Carol Gordon – follows the journey of the character in the script written by Gordon. The shoot involved visiting 10 communities throughout Greece.
They envisage that as part of this film and book, launches, as well as exhibitions of photos by Emmanuel Santos, will be held in Melbourne and other major capitals worldwide.
Kisses to the Children will screen in Melbourne: Classic Cinemas, Elsternwick – Sunday 23 March, 3.30 pm and Sunday 29 March, 7.00 pm. Sydney Jewish Museum, Darlinghurst – Sunday 23 March, 4.00 pm.

Οι γιαγιάδες γνώριζαν πολλές πρακτικές εφαρμογές για να απαλύνουν τον πόνο, χρησιμοποιώντας συνήθως υλικά που είχαν μέσα στα ντουλάπια τους ή στον… κήπο τους! Τα γνωστά σε όλους μας «γιατροσόφια» μεταφέρθηκαν από γενιά σε γενιά με σκοπό να μας βοηθήσουν να ξεπεράσουμε έναν πόνο, πριν πάμε στο γιατρό. Έτσι μια λίστα από πολλά «θεραπευτικά» tips δημιουργήθηκε ανά τους αιώνες από τόπο σε τόπο και έφτασε από στόμα σε στόμα μέχρι τις μέρες μας.

Γιατί πώς αλλιώς θα γνωρίζαμε ότι κρεμμύδι σταματά τον πόνο του αφτιού ή ότι η ζάχαρη δεν είναι μόνο για τα γλυκά και το πιπέρι για το φαγητό;
1. Πονάει το αφτί; Στάξε μερικές σταγόνες λιωμένο κρεμμύδι!
2. Η διάρροια δίνει και παίρνει; Ανακάτεψε ένα κουταλάκι ωμό καφέ με το χυμό μισού λεμονιού και… τέλος στις συχνές επισκέψεις στην τουαλέτα!
4. Μυρίζουν τα πόδια σου; Κάνε ένα ποδόλουτρο με αφέψημα φασκόμηλου!
5. Έχεις λόξυγγα; Φάε λίγη ζάχαρη!
6. Τα μαλλιά σου είναι θαμπά και άτονα; Ξέπλυνέ τα με λίγο ξίδι!
7. Τα χείλια σου είναι σκασμένα και πονάνε; Κάνε συχνά επάλειψη με μέλι!
8. Έκοψες το δάχτυλό σου και αιμορραγεί; Ρίξε λίγο μαύρο πιπέρι (για όσους αντέχουν!).
9. Έχεις ταχυπαλμία και άγχος; Ανασήκωσε τους αντίχειρες!
10. Το κεφάλι σου πάει να σπάσει από τον πονοκέφαλο; Κάνε κομπρέσες εμποτισμένες με αφέψημα δυόσμου!
11. Υποφέρεις από αϋπνίες; Φόρεσε κάλτσες λίγο πριν κοιμηθείς για να είναι τα άκρα σου ζεστά!
12. Πονάει η κοιλιά σου; Κάνε επάλειψη με ελαιόλαδο!
13. Έκαψες το δαχτυλάκι σου στο σίδερο; Ρίξε επάνω στο έγκαυμα λίγο καφέ!
14. Πονάει το δοντάκι σου! Πριν πας στον οδοντίατρο, βάλε λίγο πάγο για να ανακουφιστείς!
15. Έχεις πρησμένα μάτια από το ξενύχτι; Βάλε μια φέτα ωμής πατάτας κάτω από τα μάτια!
16. Έχεις πιτυρίδα! Το ξέρεις; Ξέπλυνε τα μαλλιά σου με αφέψημα δεντρολίβανου!
17. Έβγαλες μια άφθα στο στόμα ή πρήστηκαν οι αμυγδαλές σου; Κάνε γαργάρες με φασκόμηλο.
18. Χτύπησες το χεράκι σου; Βάλε στην πληγή κατάπλασμα από ρίγανη!
19. Ζαλίζεσαι και όλα γύρω σου γυρίζουν; Πιες λίγο χυμό λεμονιού στον οποίο θα προσθέσεις λίγη σόδα.
20. Έπαθες ψύξη και έχεις «στραβολαιμιάσει»; Κοπάνησε φρέσκα φύλλα ρίγανης, ζέστανέ τα λίγο και κάνε επάλειψη στο σημείο που πονάς!

Πηγή: perierga.gr

Ενας θηλυκός χιμπαντζής «έβαλε τα γυαλιά» στο ανθρώπινο είδος νικώντας  το πανηγυρικά σε ένα παιχνίδι στον ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή.

Συγκεκριμένα η Πάνζι, η οποία έχει στο παρελθόν κατακτήσει πολυάριθμες  γνωσιακές διακρίσεις, επέδειξε σε μια επιστημονική μελέτη πολύ καλύτερες  επιδόσεις από παιδιά ηλικίας 3-12 ετών αλλά και από ενηλίκους  ανθρώπους, γεγονός το οποίο επιβεβαιώνει την υψηλή νοημοσύνη των στενών  συγγενών μας.

Η χαρισματική Πάνζι, η οποία έχει μεταξύ άλλων ανακηρυχθεί από τους  επιστήμονες «ο χιμπαντζής που καταλαβαίνει καλύτερα την ανθρώπινη γλώσσα  από κάθε άλλον στην Ιστορία», έφυγε από τη ζωή λίγο προτού κλείσει τα  29 της χρόνια στις 9 Φεβρουαρίου 2014 εξαιτίας επιπλοκών από διαβήτη.  Λίγο νωρίτερα, τον Ιανουάριο, είχε λάμψει επίσης ως «σταρ» μιας άλλης  μελέτης που δημοσιεύθηκε στην επιθεώρηση «Nature Communications» και  έδειξε ότι οι πίθηκοι χρησιμοποιούν μια πολύ πιο σύνθετη «νοηματική»  γλώσσα με χειρονομίες από ό,τι πίστευαν νωρίτερα οι ειδικοί.

Ανθρωποι και πίθηκοι
Η τελευταία μελέτη με πρωταγωνίστρια την Πάνζι δημοσιεύθηκε επίσης τον  Ιανουάριο στην επιθεώρηση «American Journal of Primatology» από  επιστήμονες του Κέντρου Γλωσσικών Ερευνών του Πολιτειακού Πανεπιστημίου  της Τζόρτζια, όπου διέμενε και εκπαιδευόταν ο πανέξυπνος θηλυκός  χιμπαντζής, σε συνεργασία με ερευνητές από το Πανεπιστήμιο του  Μίσιγκαν-Ντίαρμπορν και το Κέντρο Καθολικών και Διαπολιτισμικών Μελετών  του Μίσιγκαν στο Αν Αρμπορ.

Οι ειδικοί θέλησαν να συγκρίνουν τις γνωσιακές ικανότητες ανθρώπων και  πιθήκων εξετάζοντας τις επιδόσεις των δύο ειδών σε ένα ειδικά  σχεδιασμένο παιχνίδι «λαβυρίνθου» στον ηλεκτρονικό υπολογιστή.

Τέσσερις ενήλικοι χιμπαντζήδες από το Κέντρο Γλωσσικών Ερευνών, τέσσερις  ενήλικοι άνθρωποι και 12 παιδιά ηλικίας 3-12 ετών κάθησαν μπροστά σε  ηλεκτρονικούς υπολογιστές και άρχισαν να περιπλανώνται χρησιμοποιώντας  joysticks σε δρόμους κλεισμένους με τοίχους από τούβλα με σκοπό να βρουν  την έξοδο.

Οι ομάδες των 16 ανθρώπων και των τεσσάρων πιθήκων ήταν ισάριθμα  μοιρασμένες όσον αφορά το φύλο, ενώ στους τοίχους υπήρχαν σύμβολα που  διευκόλυναν τους παίκτες (ένα μπλε τετράγωνο σήμαινε ότι ήταν στον σωστό  δρόμο ενώ ένα καφέ τρίγωνο σήμαινε ότι η συγκεκριμένη επιλογή δεν ήταν  σωστή).

Το παιχνίδι ανέβαινε σταδιακά σε δυσκολότερες «πίστες», ενώ προκειμένου  να αξιολογήσουν τις επιδόσεις οι επιστήμονες βαθμολογούσαν τόσο τον  χρόνο που χρειαζόταν κάθε φορά ο παίκτης για να βγει από τον λαβύρινθο  όσο και την απόσταση που είχε διανύσει – κατά πόσον, δηλαδή, κάποιος  ακολουθούσε μια πιο σύντομη οδό σε σχέση με τους άλλους.

Πρωταθλήτρια στο «κόψιμο» δρόμου
Οπως ήταν αναμενόμενο, οι ενήλικοι παίκτες ξεπέρασαν σε γενικές γραμμές  σε επιδόσεις τα παιδιά και τους πιθήκους, αλλά οι χιμπαντζήδες τα πήγαν  εξίσου καλά με τα παιδιά 3-6 ετών ως προς τους χρόνους στους οποίους  ολοκλήρωναν τις διαδρομές επιδεικνύοντας «ανθρώπινες» ικανότητες.

Η Πάνζι όμως ξεχώρισε με διαφορά στο «κόψιμο δρόμου», αφού κέρδισε όλα  τα παιδιά και ορισμένους από τους ενηλίκους επιλέγοντας συχνότερα τη  συντομότερη διαδρομή.

Οι επιστήμονες θεωρούν ότι οι θηλυκοί χιμπαντζήδες έχουν πιο ανεπτυγμένη  αίσθηση του προσανατολισμού εξαιτίας του ανταγωνισμού με τους  αρσενικούς για την αναζήτηση τροφής όταν ζουν ελεύθεροι στη φύση.

Τα αρσενικά του είδους αναζητούν τροφή σε ομάδες και επιτίθενται στα  θηλυκά που βρίσκουν στον δρόμο τους κλέβοντας το φαγητό τους. Για τον  λόγο αυτόν τα τελευταία είναι αναγκασμένα να αναζητούν τροφή σε λιγότερο  προφανή σημεία και άρα να περιπλανώνται περισσότερο.

«Στις λίγες μελέτες που έχω κάνει τα θηλυκά τα πάνε καλύτερα από τα  αρσενικά στα παιχνίδια προσανατολισμού με έναν στόχο, όπως ο λαβύρινθος,  και στα παζλ» ανέφερε στο τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο Fox η Φρανσίν Ντόλινς του  Πανεπιστημίου Μίσιγκαν-Ντίαρμπορν, πρώτη συγγραφέας της μελέτης.

Η πιο καλή μαθήτρια
Ωστόσο οι ερευνητές δεν θεωρούν βέβαιον ότι οι χιμπαντζήδες που ζουν σε  άγρια κατάσταση θα επεδείκνυαν ανάλογες ικανότητες στο συγκεκριμένο  παιχνίδι.

Οι περισσότεροι πίθηκοι που ζουν στο Κέντρο Γλωσσικών Ερευνών της  Τζόρτζια είναι εξοικειωμένοι με τους ηλεκτρονικούς υπολογιστές και τα  παιχνίδια (μόνο ένας από αυτούς που συμμετείχαν στη μελέτη δεν ήξερε να  χειρίζεται το τζόιστικ), ενώ παράλληλα εκπαιδεύονται στην εκμάθηση της  γλώσσας, γεγονός το οποίο ενδέχεται να βελτιώνει τις ικανότητές τους.

Ειδικά η Πάνζι ήξερε να χειρίζεται με χαρακτηριστική άνεση τους  υπολογιστές, το τζόιστικ, καθώς και το ειδικό «πληκτρολόγιο» ή πίνακα  συμβόλων με τον οποίο συνομιλούσε με τους επιστήμονες.

Γενικότερα όμως ξεχώριζε από τους άλλους συγγενείς της: εκτός του ότι  καταλάβαινε σε εντυπωσιακό βαθμό τους ανθρώπους όταν συνομιλούσαν μαζί  της, συνήθιζε να ζωγραφίζει δικά της σύμβολα και να φτιάχνει μόνη της  μάσκες από χαρτί τις οποίες φορούσε για να διασκεδάσει ή να φοβίσει –  παίζοντας – τους εκπαιδευτές της.

Οπως σημειώνουν οι τελευταίοι σε άρθρο που ανήρτησαν στην ιστοσελίδα του  Κέντρου, ο θάνατός της αποτελεί τραγική απώλεια όχι μόνο για την  επιστήμη, στην οποία συνεισέφερε ιδιαίτερα, αλλά και για τους ίδιους  προσωπικά – όλοι όσοι εργάστηκαν μαζί της δηλώνουν ότι θα τους λείψει  και ότι θα τη θυμούνται πάντα με αγάπη.

Πηγή:Real.gr

Η οικολογική οργάνωση Sea Shepherd (Θαλάσσιος Ποιμένας) ανακοίνωσε  σήμερα ότι έσωσε 750 φάλαινες από τους Ιάπωνες φαλαινοθήρες κατά τη  φετινή εκστρατεία της στον Νότιο Παγωμένο Ωκεανό, η οποία σημαδεύτηκε  για άλλη μια φορά από βίαιες συγκρούσεις.

Έπειτα από 94 ημέρες στη θάλασσα τα πλοία της οργάνωσης, το Bob Barker  και το Steve Irwin, κατέπλευσαν χθες Σάββατο στο Ουέλινγκτον και στο  Χόμπαρτ της Νέας Ζηλανδίας, τερματίζοντας τη δέκατη εκστρατεία της  οργάνωσης, η οποία είχε αρχίσει στις 5 Ιανουαρίου.

Τρία σοβαρά επεισόδια έφεραν αντιμέτωπο τον στόλο της Sea Shepherd με  τους Ιάπωνες φαλαινοθήρες. Η οργάνωση κάνει λόγο για «ενέδρες».

«Παρ όλο που οι λαθροθήρες δεν έχουν ακόμη ανακοινώσει τον αριθμό των  φαλαινών που σκότωσαν αυτή τη σεζόν, είμαστε πεπεισμένοι ότι δεν έφθασαν  ούτε το ένα τέταρτο της ποσόστωσης που είχαν ορίσει» σχολίασε ο  πλοίαρχος του Bob Barker, ο Πέτερ Χάμαρστεντ.

«Εκτιμάμε ότι οι προσπάθειές μας έσωσαν περισσότερες από 750 φάλαινες» πρόσθεσε, χωρίς να δικαιολογήσει τον υπολογισμό του.

Η Ιαπωνική Υπηρεσία Αλιευμάτων δεν ήταν διαθέσιμη για να σχολιάσει.

Ήταν η εκστρατεία με τη μεγαλύτερη διάρκεια της Sea Shepherd στον Νότιο  Παγωμένο Ωκεανό, όπου η οργάνωση υποστηρίζει ότι έχει σώσει 4.500  φάλαινες κατά τα εννέα πρώτα χρόνια των εκστρατειών της.

Η εμπορική φαλαινοθηρία απαγορεύεται από το 1994 στο «Καταφύγιο Φαλαινών  του Νότιου Παγωμένου Ωκεανού», αλλά η Ιαπωνία επωφελείται από ένα κενό  στο κείμενο του διεθνούς μορατόριουμ του 1986 και ισχυρίζεται πως μπορεί  να κυνηγάει φάλαινες για επιστημονικούς λόγους.

Ωστόσο το κρέας των φαλαινών καταλήγει στα ράφια των ιαπωνικών  καταστημάτων, κάτι που η Ιαπωνία δεν το κρύβει, επικαλούμενη μια  προγονική πολιτιστική παράδοση. Μόνον η Νορβηγία και η Ισλανδία  συνεχίζουν τη φαλαινοθηρία για εμπορικούς λόγους παρά το μορατόριουμ.

Η Αυστραλία έχει προσφύγει εναντίον της Ιαπωνίας ενώπιον του Διεθνούς  Δικαστηρίου της Χάγης, του ανώτατου δικαστικού οργάνου του ΟΗΕ, το οποίο  πρόκειται να αποφανθεί εντός του έτους.

source: zoo.gr

MORE planes have joined the search of a remote patch of Australian waters in the hopes of finding answers to the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, after China released a satellite image showing a large object floating in the search zone.

Four civilian jets and four military aircraft have arrived at the search area, about 2,500 kilometres south of Perth, in the southern Indian Ocean.

Mike Barton, from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said today’s visual search, which began around 4pm AEDT due to time differences, would focus on a more defined area.

“China provided us with an image, we have incorporated that,” he said.

The previous search was hampered by poor visibility but today’s conditions are reported to be clear.

“The area continues to change as the water movement changes,” he said.

PHONE RECORD PROBE OF CAPTAIN AND CO-PILOT                

Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed earlier that a wooden pallet had been spotted by one of the aircraft searching for the missing plane.

Mr Barton said the use of wooden pallets was quite common in the airline industry, but that pallets are also used in the shipping industry.

“We’ve gone back to the area where the pallet was spotted to attempt to locate it, he said.

AMSA said strapping belts were sighted within the palette but were not spotted a second time.

A number of Chinese warships are also on the way to assist with the search.

“China is very focused on assisting with the search,” Mr Barton said.

The search will continue late into the evening, AMSA said.

Deputy PM Warren Truss thanked AMSA for their time and effort.

“We hope that soon more information will be available to provide closure, especially for the families involved,” he said.

AMSA has refined the search based on the latest clue from the Chinese satellite showing an object that appeared to be 22 metres by 13 metres. It said the object’s position also fell within Saturday’s search area but it had not been sighted.

Today’s search has been split into two areas within the same proximity covering 59,000 square kilomeres.

Earlier, more details emerged of a mystery woman who reportedly called the captain of Flight MH370 before take-off, raising fears about his motives.

Phone records of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah have reportedly revealed he took a two-minute phone call from a mystery woman using a mobile phone number obtained under a false identity, The Mail Online reports.

PHONE RECORD PROBE OF CAPTAIN AND CO-PILOT                

Investigators are understood to be treating it seriously because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their identity card or passport number.

This ensures that every number is registered to a traceable person.

In investigations into the captain’s life, police are believed to have traced the number to a shop selling SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur.

It was bought “very recently” by someone who gave a woman’s name – but was using a false identity.

The news comes as police are understood to be keen to speak to the captain’s estranged wife.

After waiting for two weeks, they will now formally interview Faizah Khan following pressure from FBI agents assisting the inquiry, the Mail Online reports.

“The whole world is looking for this missing plane and the person who arguably knows most about the state of mind of the man who captained the plane is being left alone,” said a source close to the FBI team.

DEBRIS SPOTTED AS CHINESE SATELLITE IMAGES OFFER HOPE

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was told late last night a civilian aircraft had sighted a number of objects within the search zone.

It is the first direct sighting of debris and follows two hits by satellite in the past week.

“Yesterday one of our civilian search aircraft got visuals on a number of objects in a fairly small area in the overall Australian search zone,” Mr Abbott said today.

He said the debris was: “A number of small objects, fairly close together within the Australian search zone, including a wooden pallet.”

“It’s still too early to be definite, but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft,” Mr Abbott said.

Wooden pallets were onboard Flight MH370 before it vanished, as the aircraft was carrying crates of fruit, mainly mangosteens, that were meant to be delivered to Beijing.

His revelation gives further hope that authorities might be closing in on the fate of missing Malaysian aircraft MH370.

Speaking in the PNG capital Port Moresby as he prepared to fly back to Australia, Mr Abbott said the sighting was one of three significant developments in the past 24 hours.

Australia will resume its search today, after a new Chinese satellite image also revealed a large floating object deep in the southern Indian Ocean.

The grainy photo, which was taken on March 18  – two days after the first images were captured by commercial satellites and released by the State Administration of Science Technology and Industry – shows an object 22.5 metres by 13 metres floating in the ocean.

Malaysia’s Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein made the announcement as “breaking news” midway through a press conference in Kuala Lumpur last night.

After being handed a note with the notes of a telephone conversation on it, Mr Hussein told the media that the Chinese had a “satellite image of floating objects in the southern corridor”.

Ships were now on the way to the location, he said.

FINAL 54 MINUTES OF MISSING FLIGHT MH370               

“New satellite imagery, the Chinese satellite imagery, does seem to suggest at least one large object down there, consistent with the object that earlier satellite imagery discovered,” Mr Abbott said.

“Finally, the search has been joined today by four additional aircraft – two Chinese aircraft and two Japanese Orions.

“I want to say that this is a really big international effort and it does show many countries are capable of pulling together in times of trouble.”

Mr Abbott said the search was an important humanitarian exercise.

“We owe it to the almost 240 people on board the plane. We owe it to their grieving families. We owe it to the governments of the countries concerned to do everything we can to discover as much as we can about the fate of MH370,” he said.

“Obviously the more aircraft we have, the more ships we have – and HMAS success is in the search area now – the more confident we are of recovering whatever material is down there “It’s still too early to be definite by obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope – no more than hope – that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft.”

COULD SATELLITE IMAGES BE POINTING TO MH370 WRECKAGE?

There is a “high likelihood” that the images are the wreckage of MH370, aviation expert Neil Hansford said.

The new find appeared to back up Australia’s efforts to focus the search at the location of the previous sighting, 2300km south west of Perth, he said.

AVIATION EXPERT: ‘HIGH LIKELIHOOD’ IMAGES ARE MH370               

“If that was taken later than the first images, it suggests it validates what they saw.”

Other aviation experts concur, saying it is the best lead we have in the search for the missing aircraft.

Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said the currents in the area typically move at about one metre per second but can sometimes move faster.

Based on the typical speed, a current could theoretically move a floating object about 173 kilometres in two days, making it harder for vessels to reach the objects detected via the satellites.

News of the new Chinese satellite image comes days after Australian satellite images also picked up what appeared to be debris about 2300km south west of Perth.

That debris was about the same size – the largest piece was 24 metres long.

The other piece of debris was 5 metres long.

The Boeing 777-200 is about 64 metres long with a wingspan of 61 metres and a fuselage about 6.2 metres in diameter, according to Boeing’s website.

But even if both satellites detected the same object, it may be unrelated to the plane.

One possibility is that it could have fallen off a cargo vessel.

Warren Truss, Australia’s acting prime minister while Tony Abbott is abroad, said before the new satellite data was announced that a complete search could take a long time.

“It is a very remote area, but we intend to continue the search until we’re absolutely satisfied that further searching would be futile — and that day is not in sight,” he said.

“If there’s something there to be found, I’m confident that this search effort will locate it,” Truss said from the base near Perth that is serving as a staging area for search aircraft.

TROPICAL CYCLONE COULD THREATEN SEARCH

Cyclone Gillian, which has set off a cyclone warning in the Southern Corridor area has yet to hamper search and rescue operations, but could interfere.

Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the cyclone was currently in the area around Christmas Island, and had yet to affect the Southern Corridor search area.

“It is not in the search and rescue area yet, but may approach it,” he said, adding it could hamper efforts there.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said it was currently a category one cyclone, and “was not affecting the search area yet, but could grow”.

“Some vessels may have to go through the cyclone to get to the search and rescue area,” he said.

SEARCH CONTINUES TO FIND PLANE DEBRIS

Today’s search has been split into two areas within the same proximity covering 59,000 square kilometres about 2500 kilometres south-west of Perth. These areas have been determined by drift modelling.

A total of eight aircraft have been tasked by AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre to undertake today’s search activities.

The civil aircraft are two Bombardier Global Express, a Gulfstream 5 and an Airbus 319.

One civil aircraft departed Perth for the search area just after 9am. Three other civil aircraft departed for the search area between 11am and midday.

The United States Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft departed for the search area about 11am.

RELATIVES FURIOUS OVER MH370 BUNGLES                                                                               

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion aircraft departed RAAF Base Pearce about 11.45am. This aircraft will be followed by a second RAAF P3 Orion about 2pm.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3 Orion is scheduled to depart for the search area at 4pm.

HMAS Success is also conducting search activities today.

source: news.com.au

Roar skipper Matt Smith finally gets his hands on the Premier’s Plate. Source: Getty Images

UPDATE: BRISBANE Roar took a significant step on the road to A-League redemption on Saturday night, clinching the Premier’s Plate with a last-gasp 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Suncorp Stadium.     

But in the eyes of hero Luke Brattan, who won the game with a thunderbolt deep in stoppage time, the job won’t be completed until the Roar win the grand final and seal their second premiership-championship double.

“It was a good feeling to get it in, and a bit of relief, but we’re going to concentrate on the finals now and building momentum for that,” Brattan said.

However, regardless of what happens for the rest of the season, there’s no doubting Brisbane are again the best team in the competition after losing that tag last season when they failed in their bid for a hat-trick of championships.

Under coach Mike Mulvey, who last night won his first piece of silverware with the club, the Roar have regained the hunger, desire and class that made them standouts under the man who started the revolution, former Brisbane boss and current national coach Ange Postecoglou.

“It’s a remarkable achievement,” Mulvey said.

“You don’t judge different seasons and you don’t judge us against the team that won it a few years ago at Brisbane Roar.

“Champions need to be not compared. They need to be recognised.

“It’s an absolutely brilliant achievement to win the league with  three games to go.”

Just when it seemed the Roar were going to have to put premiership celebrations on hold, Brattan delivered a mighty strike that was too good for Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas, who had been superb for 90 minutes.

With three rounds remaining after this weekend, the win moved Brisbane 12 points clear of the second-placed Victory.

It’s the Roar’s first Premier’s Plate since 2011 and is the club’s fourth piece of silverware, with Brisbane also having won two championships.

Delighted Roar skipper Matt Smith received the Premier’s Plate from Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop.

Winning the Plate has also ensured the Roar qualification for next year’s AFC Champions League.

“It’s one of the things that we set our stall out for at the beginning of the season. One was to finish top, qualify for Asia and the other is the grand final, so now we’ve got that in our sights,” Mulvey said.

If not for some desperate Victory defending and the excellent display of goalkeeper Thomas, the Roar would have won by more last night in front of almost 18,000 supporters.

The Roar had enough chances to win three games, with the absence of suspended striker Besart Berisha telling at times.

The Roar made two forced changes to the side that started in the 1-1 away draw with Sydney FC on March 14.

Brazilian livewire Henrique replaced Berisha, while former Victory utility Diogo Ferreira came in at left back from Corey Brown, who is recovering after appendix surgery.

The Victory made four changes to the side that beat Yokohama F. Marinos 1-0 last Tuesday in the AFC Champions League.

Returning to the starting team were skipper Mark Milligan, playmakers Tom Rogic and Gui Finkler, and defender Scott Galloway.

They replaced Rashid Mahazi, Dylan Murnane, Pablo Contreras and Archie Thompson, who entered proceedings in the second half.

Despite their heavy schedule, the Victory were up for the contest.

“Mixed amongst a severe disappointment, I’m thoroughly proud of the boys,” Victory coach Kevin Muscat said.

“It was a good performance tonight (and) gut-wrenching. We were 90 seconds away from taking a point.”

source:heraldsun.com.au

ROCK rebel Courtney Love conformed last week when she nominated a smudge on a satellite image as debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Her announcement, complete with handwritten pointers, led to Where’s Wally gags and the like. The vanishing of 239 souls was overlooked in the silliness.

Still, Love had chosen to be “part of the crowd”. She had accepted an invitation issued by satellite company Tomnod, which had thrown up bazillions of images for the world to ponder. Millions of people gorged on the offer.

The satellite scanning pursuit was rather compulsive once you got started, the hope of an unlikely answer to a bulging list of contradictions.

My effort was as tokenistic as flicking a coin at a charity collector. It revealed less than a breakfast TV interview with a Kardashian. But the exercise did tap an urge to do something, anything. It was a stab at finding the truth.

The instinct to help was natural enough. London mayor Boris Johnson wrote that “this is one of the first times I can remember when the whole human race has seemed as one in their sympathy and their concern for others”.

Concern can take many forms. Within hours, the flight’s fate was subjected to more conspiracy theories than the Mary Celeste, the ghost ship found floating in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872.

There was no theory to fit the facts. There were too few dots to join. Were the pilots heroes or villains? Take your pick. Was it an accident or aliens? Take your pick.

Part of the reason for this, and it goes to the only flaw in Johnson’s otherwise sweet sentiment, lay in the tyrannical workings of Malaysia’s leadership. Malaysia neither pursued nor shared the available evidence as the need for truth demanded.

Up to three separate Malaysian military radar stations missed the unidentified plane tracking across the country — to the west. No matter, Malaysia decided. Let’s keep the information an official secret for five days. Let’s spend a week supervising a multinational search of a sea — to the east.

When leaks to the press began to contradict the official message, when relatives start throwing water bottles and exploding with grief, and when China — of all nations — started querying Malaysia’s approach, officials seemed to apply a bureaucratic dispassion best reserved for a misplaced shipping container.

Calamities help define nations. Australians draw on mateship in the face of bushfires, for example. Americans bow to patriotism when confronted by terror. Those sentiments tend to flow without conscious effort. They don’t excise errors of judgment that can compound the size of the tragedy. But they do offer comfort in times of extreme need.

Malaysia is a hub of trade and enterprise. It has long been ruled by a political party unaccustomed to close levels of scrutiny. The country is marked for its affluence and corruption.

Presented with a catastrophe, its leaders couldn’t give anyone anything to believe in. Facts were scarce. Lacking answers, Malaysia did not seek the clean embrace of transparency. It offered stony faces and a hint of petulance in the face of international scepticism. Its leadership was exposed as all pulse and no heart.

Malaysia’s government wanted the truth, presumably, but its need to control the information undermined Johnson’s optimism.

It wasn’t united with the rest of the world: it was instead braced against a chorus of confusion. It bumbled from the start; in this, it is no different from any other major disaster in which human error always plays a role.

YET in masking the errors, Malaysia compounded them. It knowingly looked in places less likely to yield evidence. It contradicted itself: was an on-board communications system manually switched off before the last radio contact, as stated, or was that point of fact unclear, as later stated? Its prime minister, Najib Razak, took a full week to front the media. Did he have better things to do? Was he washing his hair? He took no questions from a hungry press. Heaven forbid they ask tricky questions.

This sense of inaccessibility accounts for the behaviour of Chinese relatives last Wednesday. The scene dripped with grief and injustice, much like that of a Russian woman being sedated with a needle in 2000. Her husband had died in the Kursk submarine explosion — she collapsed soon after the drug was administered, without her knowledge, by a woman in a white coat.

President Vladimir Putin, a newbie in the role, was on holiday at the time. He didn’t cut short his trip to return to Moscow, despite conflicting reports and a rising clamour about secrets.

Putin doesn’t admit to many mistakes. He admitted to that one.

Perhaps Malaysia will do the same one day. Rarely have notions of “global community” seemed less twee as in the collective sigh for the MH370 tragedy. And rarely has a supposedly peace-loving country seemed so alone.

source: heraldsun.com.au

Manchester City’s Yaya Touré scores the opening goal with a penalty against Fulham in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

No slip-up, no contest and almost no sweat. Manchester City prepared for Tuesday’s trip to Old Trafford with an exercise in ruthless efficiency as Yaya Touré led a rout of Fulham with his first hat-trick in English football. Felix Magath was left incensed at a lack of fight from the Premier League‘s bottom club. On this form, his men look condemned. Manuel Pellegrini’s team look in control.

City’s biggest league win since November resembled a training session for the final half hour as they prised apart Fulham without performing close to their fluent, commanding best. Their manager withdrew the outstanding Touré, who now has 20 goals for the season, David Silva and Samir Nasri in the closing stages in readiness for the Manchester derby, the first of two testing away games next week that can shape City’s attempt to overhaul Chelsea at the summit, such was their comfort level.

Fernandinho and Martín Demichelis completed the scoring against a Fulham team reduced to 10 men when the hapless Fernando Amorebieta was sent off early in the second half. The range of goals was a perfectly timed illustration of City’s power with their leading strikers injured, ill or, in the case of Álvaro Negredo, struggling to finish from three yards.

“At this part of the season it is important to have the balance between scoring and not conceding easy goals. Fulham is a team that defends well but we played well, we were a balanced team and we had patience. Winning is always good preparation for the next game and to win 5-0 is important, but we must forget about this now and move on because a derby is always a special match,” said Pellegrini.

Negredo missed a great chance to make it six and impress in the absence of the hamstrung Sergio Agüero and under-the-weather Edin Dzeko, but played a pivotal part in turning the game by winning a soft penalty following a slight touch from Amorebieta.

Magath’s team had been comfortable until the 25th minute incident, with City labouring. Once behind, however, Fulham’s belief evaporated.

The Spanish forward showed good determination to beat Amorebieta to James Milner’s long ball into the box but looked as though he had been slain by an assassin’s bullet when he got there. The referee, Jon Moss, was unmoved but his assistant, Ian Hussin, spotted a slight touch on Negredo’s backside from the Fulham defender’s boot and signalled for a spot-kick. Once the protests had subsided, Touré sent David Stockdale the wrong way from 12 yards.

There was little fluency to the home side yet they could have been three goals ahead by the interval. Not a bad sign when pursuing the title. Amorebieta’s one positive contribution was to clear off the line from Silva after he collected Fernandinho’s pass, wriggled free inside the area and clipped over the advancing Stockdale. Aleksandar Kolarov also side-footed against the bar from Silva’s lay-off down the left.

After the interval, however, the rain stopped, the sun appeared and City cruised towards victory without breaking into a sprint. There may have been doubt over the first penalty decision but Amorebieta gave Moss no alternative but to point to the spot for a second time and dismiss the already-booked Venezuelan when he sent Silva sprawling. The spot-kick routine did not change; Stockdale went low to his left as Touré converted to the goalkeeper’s right.

The midfielder completed his hat-trick in stunning fashion shortly afterwards. Nasri played a free-kick square to Touré and, from 25 yards, he curled an exquisite shot beyond the despairing dive of Stockdale. City’s fourth also impressed as Milner found Fernandinho with a clever corner and the Brazilian hit an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. The onslaught was not over for the sorry visitors as Demichelis tapped into an open net after Stockdale parried the substitute Stevan Jovetic’s shot into his path.

“Until the first penalty it was not bad,” said Magath, the Fulham manager. “In my opinion it was not a penalty and it gifts power to City. It was a bad moment for us but that is no reason to stop playing. The team did not seem to believe we could win after the first goal. The penalty changed the whole atmosphere and the players didn’t have the confidence to change the situation.”

source: theguardian.com

Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, left, scores his team’s second goal against Cardiff City in the Premier League match at Cardiff City Stadium. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty

The Liverpool bandwagon rolls on. “We’re gonna win the league” reverberated from the travelling supporters after a sixth successive Premier League victory maintained Liverpool’s pursuit of a first title since 1990 and offered further evidence of their staggering firepower and ability to score almost at will.

Trailing 2-1 at one stage, Liverpool responded in emphatic fashion through a hat-trick from the irrepressible Luis Suárez, who took his tally for the season to 28 in 25 appearances, two goals from Martin Skrtel and another for Daniel Sturridge.

Cardiff, who remain second from bottom, were powerless to stop the inevitable Liverpool onslaught. Brendan Rodgers’s side have racked up 24 goals across those last six league fixtures, an incredible return that underlines why they are not just legitimate title contenders but also entitled to stake a claim to be the most enjoyable team to watch in the Premier League at the moment.

Sunderland travel to Anfield on Wednesday night and it would be easy to forgive Gus Poyet and his players for arriving with a sense of trepidation.

It is the first of five home games Liverpool have in their remaining eight fixtures – another reason for supporters to believe this could be their year. “The immediate future is all I can focus on,” Rodgers said. “The fans can believe and dream – and that’s important when you’re a supporter. And when you come and see your team play away from home and score six goals, then you’ve got every right to do that.”

If there is one nagging doubt about Liverpool’s ability to finish top come 11 May, it is the defensive vulnerability that surfaced again here.

Cardiff, who have struggled for goals all season – Suárez alone has plundered more than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s entire squad – managed to score three times and on each occasion Liverpool’s defending left much to be desired. Conceding three and beating Cardiff, Stoke and Swansea is one thing; doing the same against Manchester City or Chelsea is quite another.

It was put to Rodgers that there are similarities between Liverpool and the Newcastle team that Kevin Keegan managed the first time around, when the modus operandi seemed to be to simply try to outscore opponents no matter what happened at the other end.

“I think we’re a totally different team to that – they were a wonderful team,” Rodgers said. “It’s not how we work. We don’t look to just outscore opponents, we work on our balance, we just conceded poor goals [today].

“We’re off the back off two clean sheets, which I take as much pride in. We just conceded too much space. But the key thing for me is how we respond, and how we’ve grown over the last 18 months has been that mental resilience and that confidence to know that we can get back into game, so I’m more pleased with that.”

For Solskjaer, the biggest frustration was the manner in which Liverpool went ahead for the first time. When Skrtel headed in Philippe Coutinho’s corner to put Liverpool 3-2 in front, Mutch and Kévin Théophile-Catherine were both off the pitch, after being ordered to leave the field following treatment. “I think you should look at that rule,” the Cardiff manager said. “How can you defend a corner kick with nine men, and two of your men have not faked anything, they’ve not dived, they just want to get [back] on the pitch. I said to the fourth official: ‘They’re going to score here.'”

Solskjaer was at least able to take some encouragement from the way Cardiff played in the first half. Mutch put them ahead in the fourth minute, after Campbell capitalised on Joe Allen’s wayward pass, and although Liverpool equalised through Suárez, following a fine move involving Glen Johnson and Jordan Henderson, Cardiff were soon back in front. Daniel Agger was left badly exposed by Mutch’s slide-rule pass and Campbell skipped past the Dane before confidently beating Simon Mignolet.

Skrtel then grabbed his first to bring Liverpool level, when he got in front of Juan Cala to volley in Coutinho’s cross, and the central defender added his second of the afternoon with a glancing header when Cardiff were down to nine men. Sturridge’s delightful backheel set up Suárez for the Uruguayan’s second and the roles were reversed for Liverpool’s fifth.

Suárez, running onto Johnson’s long diagonal pass, got away from Steven Caulker before crossing for Sturridge to tap home.

Mutch’s 88th-minute header, from a Kenwyne Jones knockdown, after the Liverpool defence again went missing, gave the scoreline a more respectable look from Cardiff’s point of view but Suárez was not finished. Shrugging off Cala, the striker sprinted clear in injury-time and beat David Marshall with nonchalant ease to register his third hat-trick of an extraordinary season. “He’s a remarkable player,” Rodgers said.

source: theguardian.com