Monthly Archives: May 2014

Relaxing building restrictions along the Greek coastline would damage environment and tourism, warns Spanish WWF.

The head of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that the proposed bill for coastal development in Greece will lead to the same “dramatic alteration and destruction of the coastline” seen in Spain.

When several weeks ago the Finance Ministry submitted the bill titled ‘Protection of the shoreline and coast’ for public consultation, criticism of it was swift and widespread.

The outcry prompted the government to extend the period of public consultation until after the European elections. While many of the critics of the bill heralded the announcement as a victory, it is possible that the government might still attempt to pass it with amendments.

Many fear that these will be little more than cosmetic and that even a modified bill will still severely curtail environmental protections and open the way for extensive building on the coast and for beach privatizations. This, critics say, will replicate the failed model of intensive development seen in Spain, in effect sacrificing long term sustainable development and healthy communities and ecosystems for short-term revenues and a building boom.

Now adding his voice to those of the critics is one who has seen the effects of just such a building boom firsthand. In an open letter to Yiannis Stournaras and Olga Kefalogianni, Ministers of Finance and Tourism respectively, Juan Carlos del Olmo, head of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund, has urged the ministers to reconsider the bill which he warns is likely to have ‘disastrous’ consequences’.

Below is the letter in full:

Dear Ministers Stournaras and Kefalogianni,

Alarmed by the prospect of unprecedented loss of valuable coastal ecosystems, due to the draft law on the “Protection of the shoreline and coast”, WWF Spain addresses you with this urgent call to rethink Greece’s policies on coastal conservation and tourism and to lead Greece’s way towards a living economy through a healthy and sustainably managed natural capital.

As I am sure you know, Spain is the Mediterranean country suffering from the most dramatic alteration and destruction of its coastline. Intensive development during the last decades, without environmental consideration, has had disastrous consequences, which Spain will have to address in the coming years.

Currently, 75 per cent of the Spanish coast is urbanized or is under development (at a rate of 8 ha/day during the last 20 years) and the first kilometre of coastline has been completely developed in one third of Spain’s Mediterranean coast. At the same time, about half a million dwellings are empty.

This disproportionate growth of real-estate industry has had a huge environmental cost and has fostered corruption. The increase in population living along the coast and uncontrolled development have caused a profound degradation of the coastal environment, accompanied by unsustainable use of water, land and energy.

Furthermore, important key ecosystems have disappeared or are under severe threat: most of the coastal wetlands have disappeared, 60 per cent of the dunes have been lost, 80 per cent of Posidonia oceanica meadows have been degraded, beaches have regressed and many river channels and streams have been altered.

This environmental degradation of the coast has had not only environmental, but also economic effects. With over 70 per cent of the coastline being occupied, there has been a loss of competitiveness, attractiveness, and environmental quality with negative effects on the quality and stability of tourism. In fact, tourism in Spain has declined during the last years, only benefiting from social and political instability in other Mediterranean countries.

In your own country, Greece, we are already aware of cases where unsustainable coastal development is threatening extraordinary landscapes and sites of unique biodiversity. Such examples include Laganas in the National Marine Park of Zakynthos and the sand dunes and sea turtle habitat in Kyparissia, the two most important nesting sites for Caretta caretta in the Mediterranean. Due to the threats to this globally endangered species your country has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In other areas, for example in Rhodes and Crete, intensive development is undermining the future of tourism itself, since the natural capital that is an integral part of the tourist product is also being degraded, whereas coastal destruction in Crete has been reported by scientists as a major threat to soil quality, flood protection and beach stability. Environmental protection of the coastline is a key factor for competitiveness, human welfare, job creation and the preservation and enhancement of natural and cultural centers of interest. In fact, the European Commission has warned that if coastal development is not controlled, it can jeopardize biodiversity, natural resources and cultural heritage.

So taking into account the Spanish experience of recent years, I wholeheartedly urge you to ensure that any legislation affecting the coastline will guarantee the protection of coastal ecosystems and the ecological services which they offer, so that Greece can be internationally recognized as a major tourism destination that respects its key tourist product: nature.

Source: thepressproject.net

Allegedly found in possession of a hand gun and methamphetamine.

Mark Robert Coutelas has been arrested in Phuket, Thailand, for allegedly being in possession of a hand gun and methamphetamine

A local Thai news report claims that Coutelas was arrested by police Tuesday afternoon following a raid on his hotel room.

At this stage, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it is aware of the arrest of an Australian tourist in Phuket, but a spokesperson told the ABC that the Australian Government is set to provide consular assistance.

Thailand is currently under military rule, after the government was overthrown in a coup last week. This means Coutelas could possibly face a military court and be denied access to a lawyer.

Source: ABC

Westfield Group chairman Frank Lowy. Photo: Getty Images

Westfield short $2.6b on tax.

Frank Lowy’s Westfield shopping centre empire pays less than a third of the corporate tax rate, a report has found, sparking calls for an inquiry into the tax contribution of Australia’s biggest companies.

An analysis of Westfield’s financial results over nearly a decade by a university academic found the taxman has forgone as much as $2.6 billion from Westfield if the 30 per cent company tax rate had been enforced.
The report by Roman Lanis, a senior lecturer in accounting and tax at the University of Technology, Sydney, found the combined arms of Westfield pay an ”effective corporate tax rate” of just eight cents in the dollar – far below the official 30 per cent rate levied on business in Australia. On average, the top 200 sharemarket-listed companies in Australia pay 22 cents in the dollar.

The report does not allege Westfield has done anything illegal, and nor does Fairfax Media.

Westfield, which is due to face shareholders at its annual meeting on Thursday, said the motive of the report was to ”embarrass” the company as it was funded by United Voice, the union representing cleaners at Westfield’s 38 malls.

The union and the company are locked in a dispute over conditions for cleaners who are paid a basic $17.50 an hour.

”Far from being embarrassed, Westfield is proud of its record of tax compliance,” Westfield spokesman Mark Ryan said.

Dr Lanis’ report found that over nine years between 2005 and 2013, Westfield paid an average annual tax of just $140 million on pre-tax profits of $1.7 billion.

The Westfield Retail Trust, a listed offshoot valued at nearly $10 billion, paid an effective rate of zero, his report concluded.

”If [both arms of] Westfield had paid tax at the statutory rate of 30 per cent, it could generate additional annual tax revenues of $541 million,” Dr Lanis found.

A report by the Uniting Church last year identified Westfield, along with the major banks, for use of tax havens and low-tax jurisdictions. Westfield’s highly complex corporate structure includes more than 50 entities registered in tax havens such as Jersey, Luxembourg and Singapore.

The listed property sector, of which Westfield is by far the biggest player, is among the most ”aggressive” in terms of tax minimisation, Dr Lanis said.

He said it would take public pressure to get the government to act on wider corporate tax avoidance despite commitments Prime Minister Tony Abbott who has vowed to use Australia’s leadership of this year’s G20 meeting to push for a co-ordinated international crackdown on tax avoidance by global corporations.

”The government said the pain would be shared but if you look at the budget there was very little pain aimed at the corporate sector,” Dr Lanis said. ”Society has been hit hard by the budget. As a society we need to raise questions and force further investigation. Surely there is a way to make companies pay their fair share.”

Westfield declined to confirm its actual Australian tax contribution but said the report was ”flawed and so obviously written to grab cheap media attention” by United Voice. ”The ‘report’ has been generated as part of a long-running industrial campaign to achieve over-award payments for cleaning staff in Australia,” Mr Ryan said.

United Voice national secretary David O’Byrne said a ”major” inquiry was needed into corporate tax, combining all political parties, corporate tax, academics and the community sector. He said of Westfield’s tax arrangements: ”It’s not illegal but it’s immoral.

”When the government is launching this attack on ordinary Australians, it is important that they have done all the work that can be done on the revenue side. Joe Hockey said the age of entitlement is over – well, over for who?”

Mark Zirnsak of the Tax Justice Network Australia said it was hard to get to the bottom of corporate tax affairs but said a review of nine years’ results by Dr Lanis was ”robust”. ”At the moment, tax law is very secretive,” he said.

source: smh.com.au

Στο Πολιτισμικό Πανηγύρι του Μπρίσμπαν.

Πλημμύρισε η Βρισβάνη από Ελλάδα το περασμένο Σαββατοκύριακο και γι’ αυτό, πρέπει να συγχαρούμε την Ελληνική Ορθόδοξη Κοινότητα Αγίου Γεωργίου, τον πρόεδρο κ. Μιχάλη Ανάστα, και την οργανωτική Επιτροπή του Πανηγυριού, όπως είναι πιο γνωστό, που κατάφερε και φέτος και προσέλκυσε έναν αριθμό της τάξης των 60.000 από την ευρύτερη αυστραλιανή κοινωνία, που διασκέδασαν ελληνικά και έγιναν κοινωνοί της ελληνικής μας παράδοσης.

Έτσι από νωρίς το πρωί του Σαββάτου, το πάρκο Musgrave που βρίσκεται ακριβώς απέναντι από την εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου και του κτιριακού συγκροτήματος που στεγάζεται η ομώνυμη Κοινότητα επί της Edmondstone Street, άρχισε να δέχεται τους πρώτους επισκέπτες.

Από τα 30 τόσα καλοστημένα περίπτερα πωλούνταν όλων των ειδών τα παραδοσιακά εδέσματα που ικανοποίησαν στο έπακρο τις γαστρονομικές ανάγκες όλων των επισκεπτών, ενώ από την τεράστια πίστα, πέρασαν δεκάδες χορευτικά συγκροτήματα, από τη σκηνή έδειξαν τη δεξιοτεχνία τους αναγνωρισμένα μουσικά σχήματα και από τα μεγάφωνα, ακούγονταν αδιάκοπα μελωδίες από την νησιωτική και ηπειρωτική Ελλάδα.

Και όπου υπήρχε κενό στο πρόγραμμα, οι παρουσιαστές Μπίκο Αθανασάς και Λάζαρος Λαζάρου, καλούσαν μικρούς και μεγάλους στην πίστα σε ένα μακρύ χορό Ζορμπά, στον οποίο φαίνεται ότι η πολυεθνική κοινότητα του Βορρά, έχει ιδιαίτερη προτίμηση. Οπότε ο χορός καλά κρατεί.
Παράλληλα, στις αίθουσες της Κοινότητας, λειτουργούσαν εκθέσεις λαογραφικού περιεχομένου, φωτογραφίας, γίνονταν επιδείξεις μαγειρικής από καταξιωμένους σεφ, ανάμεσά τους η Helena και η Vikki από το «My Kitchen Rules», προβολή ελληνικών ταινιών, ομιλίες, κυρίως στα αγγλικά, με θέμα την Ελλάδα και τον Πολιτισμό μας από πανεπιστημιακούς, και έκθεση βυζαντινών βιβλίων και ιερών σκευών μέσα στην εκκλησία.

Εντυπωσιακό ήταν και το σόου «Χορός με τους Αστέρες», που οργάνωσε το κανάλι 7 με τους γνωστούς ηθοποιούς, Jackson Gallagher, Tai Hara και άλλους οι οποίοι μοίραζαν απλόχερα αυτόγραφα και… χαμόγελα.

Και για τους μικρούς καλούς μας φίλους στήθηκαν παιδικές χαρές και εργαστήρια για δική τους ψυχαγωγία.
Αξίζει να αναφέρουμε και τους διαγωνισμούς στους οποίους μέτρησαν τις αντοχές τους στην κατανάλωση λουκουμάδων, μακαρονάδας, ελιών (χωρίς κουκούτσι) κλπ, άτομα από την πολυεθνική κοινότητα.

Φυσικά για να γίνουν όλα αυτά, επιστρατεύτηκαν δεκάδες εθελοντές που εργάστηκαν ακούραστα το διήμερο προς όφελος του οργανισμού που αντιπροσωπεύουν. Μια βόλτα στα περίπτερα και διαπιστώνει ο καθένας του λόγου το αληθές. Όλοι με ευγένεια κι ένα πλατύ χαμόγελο, εξυπηρετούσαν από τις πρωινές ώρες μέχρι αργά το βράδυ.
Τα εγκαίνια έγιναν από τον δήμαρχο Βρισβάνης, κ. Graham Quirk, παρουσία αντιπροσώπων της πολιτειακής και ομοσπονδιακής κυβέρνησης και άλλων παραγόντων.
Ο «Νέος Κόσμος», που συμμετείχε με περίπτερο και μοίρασε δωρεάν φύλλα τόσο της έκδοσης της Πέμπτης 22 τρέχοντος, όσο και του δίγλωσσου «Ν.Κ.» του Σαββάτου, συγχαίρει την οργανωτική Επιτροπή, την Ελληνική Ορθόδοξη Κοινότητα Αγίου Γεωργίου Βρισβάνης και ευχαριστεί για τη θερμή φιλοξενία.

Η χαρά μας ήταν μεγάλη που συναντήσαμε τόσους αναγνώστες μας και ακούσαμε από κοντά τις απόψεις τους. Ευχαριστούμε τους φιλέλληνες ακαδημαϊκούς που επιλέγουν να διαβάζουν ελληνικά με προτίμηση την εφημερίδα μας για την ενημέρωσή τους για τα ελληνικά και κυπριακά δρώμενα.

Όσοι επιθυμείτε να γίνετε συνδρομητές, παρακαλείστε να τηλεφωνήσετε στο Γραφείο μας, (03) 9482 4433, για πληροφορίες για συνδρομητική εφημερίδα.
Με την ευκαιρία ευχαριστούμε τις εταιρίες και τους οργανισμούς που συμμετείχαν στο Αφιέρωμα του “Νέου Κόσμου” στις 24.5.2014 και ευχόμαστε η συνεργασία μας να συνεχιστεί και στο μέλλον.

Ο επίλογος γράφτηκε γύρω στις 7μμ. όταν ο ορίζοντας πάνω από την πόλη σκεπάστηκε από εκθαμβωτικά βεγγαλικά.
Κατά γενική ομολογία το Πανηγύρι του Μπρίσμπαν είναι ένα διήμερο που αφήνει στον επισκέπτη την πιο γλυκιά γεύση Ελλάδας!
Μια πανδαισία από αρώματα, γεύσεις, ήχο και μελωδίες, που η ομογένεια μοιράζεται με πολλή αγάπη με τους συμπολίτες τους.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Η Μαρία Φαραντούρη με τον σαξοφωνίστα Charles Lloyd,

Σε μια μουσική πανδαισία.

Την ερχόμενη Κυριακή ένα μεγάλο πλήθος ομογενών και μη, θα έχει την ευκαιρία να απολαύσει τη Μαρία Φαραντούρη σε μια μοναδική εμφάνιση, μέσα στα πλαίσια του Διεθνούς Φεστιβάλ Τζαζ Μελβούρνης.

Μαζί της, ο μεγάλος σαξοφωνίστας Charles Lloyd, κορυφαίος στο χώρο της τζαζ, με πολλά βραβεία και διακρίσεις στο ενεργητικό του.

Την εμφάνισή του έκανε τη δεκαετία του ’60, ακολουθώντας μια ανοδική πορεία η οποία θα τον καθιερώσει ως μεγάλο διεθνή μουσικό της τζαζ.. Ερευνώντας συνεχώς νέους χώρους η μουσική του βρίσκεται στην κορυφή για πάνω από μισό αιώνα, εκπλήσσοντας πάντα τους θαυμαστές του με νέες συνθέσεις και συνεργασίες με καλλιτέχνες από όλη την υφήλιο, προκαλώντας ρίγη συγκίνησης με τον μοναδικό τρόπο ερμηνείας που έχει τη δυνατότητα να αγγίζει τις πιο ευαίσθητες πτυχές της ανθρώπινης ψυχής.
Μια από τις μεγάλες του επιτυχίες η συνεργασία του με τη Μαρία Φαραντούρη σε συναυλία που δόθηκε στο Ηρώδειο το 2010 και άνοιξε την πόρτα και για τους δύο σ’ έναν νέο τρόπο μουσικής έκφρασης.

Τον συνδυασμό τζαζ και κλασσικών ελληνικών οργάνων.

Μαζί, για πάνω από μία δεκαετία έρχονται στην Αυστραλία μέσα στα πλαίσια του Διεθνούς Φεστιβάλ Τζαζ της Μελβούρνης για να παρουσιάσουν το Greek Project την ερχόμενη Κυριακή στο Δημαρχείο της Μελβούρνης και την Τετάρτη 4 Ιουνίου στο City Recital Hall του Σίδνεϊ.

Η εμφάνισή τους στη Μελβούρνη γίνεται σε συνεργασία με την Ελληνική Κοινότητα Μελβούρνης και έχει ήδη προκαλέσει το ενδιαφέρον του ευρύτερου κοινού της πόλης μας.

Οι δύο κορυφαίοι καλλιτέχνες θα συνοδεύονται από τον Τάκη Φαρατζή στο πιάνο, τον Ρούμπεν Ρότζερς στο μπάσο, τον Έρικ Χάρλαντ στα κρουστά και τον Σωκράτη Σινόπουλο στη λύρα.

Μια μουσική πανδαισία που σπάνια έχει κανείς την ευκαιρία να απολαύσει.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Ο Πάνος Κούρος

Ένα από τα θέματα που θα διερευνήσει το Φεστιβάλ Συγγραφέων στη Βόρεια Επικράτεια που συντονίζει ο ομογενής Πάνος Κούρος και σ’ αυτό συμμετέχει και ο Χρήστος Τσιόλκας.

Ο ομογενής Πάνος Κούρος, από τη Νότια Αυστραλία είναι ο καλλιτεχνικός διευθυντής του φετινού Φεστιβάλ Συγγραφέων Βόρειας Επικράτειας «Καταιγισμός Λέξεων», που φιλοξενεί κάθε χρόνο δεκάδες ανθρώπους των Γραμμάτων.

Το Φεστιβάλ Συγγραφέων αρχίζει σήμερα και θα διαρκέσει έως το Σάββατο. Το γεγονός ότι ονομάστηκε «Καταιγισμός Λέξεων» δεν είναι τυχαίο, καθώς εκτός από παρουσιάσεις βιβλίων συμπεριλαμβάνει και συζητήσεις πάνω σε θέματα που άπτονται του κοινωνικού γίγνεσθαι της Αυστραλίας, αλλά και της συγγραφικής δημιουργίας στη χώρα.

Ο Πάνος Κούρος κάνει ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στη θεματική ενότητα «Δεν είναι Μαύρο ή Άσπρο» κατά την οποία θα διερευνηθεί η σχέση και οι εμπειρίες των Αβοριγίνων κατοίκων με τους μετανάστες αυτής της χώρας.

«Πάντα πίστευα ότι υπάρχουν πολλά κοινά σημεία αναφοράς μεταξύ της ελληνικής κουλτούρας και της κουλτούρας των Αβοριγίνων. Η οικογένεια, το χιούμορ μας, οι κοινωνικές μας δομές» λέει χαρακτηριστικά ο Πάνος Κούρος.

«Στόχος αυτής της ανοικτής συζήτησης είναι να εντοπίσει, αλλά και να διερευνήσει, όλα αυτά τα κοινά σημεία, αλλά παράλληλα και την επίδραση των βρετανικής καταγωγής κατοίκων της χώρας στην καλλιέργεια της σχέσης μεταξύ Αβοριγίνων και μεταναστών».
Προσθέτει ότι ο νόμος του «διαίρει και βασίλευε» που για αιώνες τώρα χαρακτήριζε την αποικιοκρατική πολιτική της Βρετανίας έπαιξε και συνεχίζει να παίζει σημαντικό ρόλο στο πώς διαμορφώθηκε αυτή η σχέση μεταξύ μεταναστευτικών κοινοτήτων και Αβοριγίνων.

«Μία από τις ανοικτές συζητήσεις έχει αυτόν ακριβώς το τίτλο ‘διαίρει και βασίλευε’ και στους ομιλητές συμπεριλαμβάνονται ο Χρήστος Τσιόλκας και η Alexis Wright, πολυβραβευμένη συγγραφέας ιθαγενικής καταγωγής. Η επιλογή δεν ήταν τυχαία, ειλικρινά θέλω να διερευνηθεί αυτή η σχέση γιατί για χρόνια τώρα πιστεύω ότι έχουμε πολλά κοινά με του Αβορίγινες» προσθέτει.

«Πιστεύω ότι θα βγουν πολύ ενδιαφέροντα συμπεράσματα» λέει ενώ παράλληλα αναφέρει ότι ίσως το Darwin να μην είναι η καταλληλότερη πόλη για να γίνει αυτή η συζήτηση γιατί «σ’ αυτήν την πόλη το πολυπολιτισμικό στοιχείο είναι που έχει τον κύριο λόγο στην κοινωνία της. Η πόλη αυτή δεν καθορίζεται και δεν ελέγχεται απόλυτα από τους Αγγλοσάξονες. Αυτού του είδους οι συζητήσεις πρέπει να λάβουν χώρα σε άλλες πόλεις της Αυστραλίας. Σ’ αυτές που οι Αγγλοσάξονες έχουν μεγαλύτερη επιρροή» αναφέρει.

Ο Πάνος Κούρος μπορεί να μην έχει άμεση σχέση με το χώρο του βιβλίου αλλά ως μουσικός παραγωγός και συνθέτης έχει άμεση σχέση με την τέχνη.
Αυτή είναι η πρώτη χρονιά που αναλαμβάνει την καλλιτεχνική διεύθυνση του Φεστιβάλ το οποίο όπως τουλάχιστον το πρόγραμμά του αποδεικνύει ασχολείται με τη συγγραφική δημιουργία σε πολλές και διαφορετικές πλατφόρμες. «Οι λέξεις στη δημοσιογραφία, στη μουσική, στην παιδική λογοτεχνία και η δυναμική τους συμπεριλαμβάνονται στο φετινό Φεστιβάλ» λέει ο Πάνος.

«Αυτός ο διάλογος είναι απαραίτητος και είναι καιρός η σχέση των μεταναστευτικών κοινοτήτων με τους Αβορίγινες να ορίσει ουσιαστικότερα το μέλλον αυτής της χώρας» προσθέτει.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has begun personal meetings with the Senate crossbenchers who will decide the fate of the budget – but novice politician Ricky Muir is refusing to play ball.

The elusive senator-elect has declined an invitation for a one-on-one meeting because, he said, he cannot get time off from his job at a rural sawmill in regional Victoria.

Fairfax Media can reveal Mr Abbott is taking the lead hand in negotiating with the group that will hold the balance of power from July 1.

Democratic Labour Party Senator John Madigan met Mr Abbott on Thursday. The Prime Minister also met Bob Day, the South Australian senator-elect from Family First, in Canberra on Wednesday.

And he will sit down with New South Wales senator-elect David Leyonhjelm in Sydney on Friday.

But the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party said Mr Muir, a 32-year-old father of five, had no time to talk until he becomes a full-time politician in July.

”He has to work for a living. He has a mortgage, he has to feed his family. He just can’t take time off at the whim of the Prime Minister,” said Keith Littler, the founder of the Motoring Enthusiast Party.

As part of the four-member Palmer United bloc in the Senate, Mr Muir is also at loggerheads with the government over Clive Palmer’s request for official ”party status” and the extra financial resources that bestows.

”There was a request to the PM for resources and that was declined, and yet the PM expects everyone to be at his beck and call,” said Mr Littler.

”Mr Abbott has to understand there’s a whole other world out there where people have to work for a living.”

On July 1, Mr Muir will swap the $500 a week basic wage for a timber process worker for the $190,000 salary of a senator.

Mr Palmer, who was seen dining with Liberal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasury boss Martin Parkinson in Canberra on Wednesday night, is still refusing to talk to Mr Abbott over the Coalition’s refusal to grant party status. ”It hasn’t happened and it doesn’t look like happening,” said a spokesman for Mr Palmer.

Senator Madigan said he had had a broad discussion with Mr Abbott in which he outlined a list of concerns with the budget, including health, education and jobs.

”The budget, we believe, is not good for families and jobs,” he said. ”It’s one thing to say go and get a degree, but there isn’t the jobs out there.”

He handed Mr Abbott three pages of questions on the Murray-Darling basin and water for irrigators and raised issues with intellectual property rights and patents.

Mr Leyonhjelm said he was resolutely opposed to any new taxes, including the deficit levy and raising the petrol excise.

”We’re just going to get to know each other a bit. It is a nice thing for the government to be talking to the minor parties,” he said.

source: theage.com.au

THE federal government remains convinced missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will be found in the south Indian Ocean despite revelations that four sets of signals believed to be from the plane were not from its black box recorders.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told parliament that a fresh hunt for the aircraft by experienced commercial operators would begin in August.

But he conceded that hopes had been dashed of finding the aircraft in the 800sq km of sea floor, the recent focus of the Australian-led search.

Searchers armed with sophisticated deep-water salvage gear will now cover a massive area of ocean floor of close to 60,000sq km, some of it more than 5km deep.

The government’s confirmation followed comments by Mich­ael Dean, the US Navy deputy director of ocean engineering, that authorities believed the pings emanated from something other the aircraft’s black boxes.

Mr Dean told CNN the pings could have been produced by the ship or even by electronics in the towed pinger locator itself.

In the May budget, the Abbott government earmarked more than $90 million of Defence and other funding for the search for the aircraft which vanished on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew aboard while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

No trace of it has been found despite a massive search.

The search was focused on the southern Indian Ocean after scientists from the communications giant Inmarsat announced that one of their satellites had picked up a series of six tiny signals from the aircraft engines.

Those signals indicated the plane was still flying for about six hours after it was thought to have crashed.

A seventh, partial “ping” was picked up.

That was believed to have been a signal sent when the jet ran out of fuel and its engines flamed out.

From that data an area was worked out where the aircraft was considered likely to have crashed into the sea.

A so-called “pinger locator” towed behind the Royal Australian Navy vessel Ocean Shield quickly picked up the four sets of signals that the searchers said matched those from beacons attached to black boxes.

The US Navy’s unmanned and remote-controlled mini-submarine, Bluefin-21, was sent down into that area. The search co-ordinator, former Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston, and Tony Abbott announced that they were hopeful of finding the wreckage soon.

Yesterday Mr Truss said the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre had confirmed that after scouring more than 800sq km of ocean floor about 4.5km deep, the Bluefin found nothing.

“The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and, in its professional judgment, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370,” the co-ordination centre said.

That leaves the searchers to cover an area of 56,000sq km based on a strip 800km long and 70km wide that co-ordinators believe was on MH370’s flight path.

Air Chief Marshall Houston has told The Australian that all the data relevant to the search was being examined and peer reviewed to ensure its accuracy. The JACC has ordered a technical survey of the ocean floor, expected to take three months.

source: theaustralian.com.au

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dyjop7_v5s#t=38

KUALA LUMPUR — Today’s admission by Australian officials that the southern Indian Ocean area where pings were detected is not the crash site of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been described as evidence of “a giant cover-up” by some distraught family members of those onboard the missing airliner.

Sarah Bajc told The Malay Mail Online that the new “twist” is “consistent with the tangled mess that is this supposed investigation”.

Bajc, partner of Philip Wood, and Pralhad, whose wife Kranti is still missing along with the rest of the people on board, alleged that the latest revelation that the plane was not in the southern Indian Ocean, was part of a consistent effort by several countries in hiding the truth.

“This cover up is demonstrated through initial delays in search and rescue, their statements, preliminary report with manipulated or incomplete information, delayed realise of manipulated and incomplete Inmarsat data, contradicting statements from Mr Najib and Mr Hishammuddin and not declaring complete cargo manifest, which has raised several doubts,” Pralhad told The Malay Mail Online via e-mail.

He alleged that the search in the southern Indian Ocean was to distract the families and the media from the truth.

“It is obvious that when search is going on in middle of ocean no families or media will go there to see.

Bajc meanwhile questioned why it was so hard to convince the public that search and rescue efforts for the missing plane and its passengers has been a “giant cover up”, pointing to possible links to weapons of mass destruction.

She also made references to Valerie Plame — the woman who claimed senior officials from the Bush Administration led to the exposure of her status as a CIA operative— and Edward Snowden, a National Security Agency contractor who had leaked troves of confidential material.

Earlier today, Australia’s authorities declared it is ending the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean.

They came to that conclusion after deepsea hunts using a drone submersible have not been able to detect any trace of aircraft debris in more than 850 square kilometres of the ocean floor in the area.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), headed by retired Australian air marshal Angus Houston, said the underwater sub Bluefin-21 had completed its last mission searching the remaining areas where the several “ pings” believed to have originated from the missing passenger plane had been detected in early April.

“As a result, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre can advise that no signs of aircraft debris have been found by the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle since it joined the search effort.

“The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgement, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370,” the statement said.

The JACC statement however said it was not giving up the underwater hunt for the plan but moving on to the next phase, which will involve a review of all data and analyses covering up to 60,000 square kilometres along the arc in the southern Indian Ocean; carrying out a bathymetric survey to map the sea floor and hiring the specialist services needed for a comprehensive search of the defined area.

Bajc told The Malay Mail Online that she has been repeating to herself since the first week of the disappearance that the families of those on board were being “managed and intentionally distracted”.

“Until 3 months later there is not a single solitary fact or piece of evidence that has been proven to be true.  not one.  Both the leads and the redactions come from a mix of official sources and “leaks”.

“Nothing is logical or consistent or according to standard expected protocols much less common sense.  No organisation, not even the Malaysian government, is that inept and ignorant,” she said.

The economics and business teacher at a British high school in Beijing, China, said even the preliminary report released by the Malaysian government on May 1 was “so obviously full of holes as to appear to be intentionally so.”

“They give three different ‘last heard from’ times, in writing  that just screams intentional incompetence to me.  The most basic of factual data, that would be open public record in most places, has been withheld.”

“The superpowers have been inordinately quiet. The information that is released is manipulated,” Bajc said.

The new revelation came as two spokesmen from the US Navy issued conflicting statements on the ping signals at the centre of the search for MH370 in the last two days, with one saying the signals did not originate from the Malaysian aircraft while the second official later said the earlier observation was “speculative and premature”.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft went missing shortly after departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing on March 8 and remains missing despite an international search involving over two dozen countries.

The Beijing-bound plane was ferrying 12 crew and 227 passengers.

It was detailed analysis of satellite and radar data that led experts to believe that MH370 had gone down in the southern Indian Ocean, a theory that at first did not sit well with the families of those aboard the ill-fated jetliner as it showed a drastic diversion to the plane’s original flight path. – Malay Mail

source:malaysia-chronicle.com

Είναι σχεδόν όλα από το καινούριο μοντέλο που βγήκε τον περασμένο Μάιο.

Η αυτοκινητοβιομηχανία Holden ανακαλεί 42.000 Commodores – δηλαδή, όλα σχεδόν από το καινούριο μοντέλο που βγήκε τον περασμένο Μάιο, εξαιτίας κάποιου ελαττώματος που παρουσιάστηκε σε ορισμένες από τις ζώνες ασφαλείας των μπροστινών καθισμάτων.

Η ανάκληση έγινε το απόγευμα της περασμένης Δευτέρας και η Holden ισχυρίζεται ότι δεν υπήρξαν παράπονα από πελάτες όσον αφορά το συγκεκριμένο θέμα, αλλά η ανάκληση οφείλεται σε κάποια αναφορά από τη ζώνη ελέγχου.

Αρκεί να σημειωθεί ότι αυτή είναι η τέταρτη κατά σειρά ανάκληση της Holden από την αρχή του χρόνου, αναφορικά όμως με το τελευταίο μοντέλο της Commodore, πρόκειται για το πρώτο ανησυχητικό σημείο. Συνέβη, μάλιστα, σε μια περίοδο που οι πωλήσεις δείχνουν αύξηση κατά 62% αυτόν το χρόνο.
Το προηγούμενο μοντέλο Commodore είχε ανακληθεί 10 φορές μεταξύ 2006 και 2013.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος