Monthly Archives: December 2014

A baby rhino has been welcomed into the world at the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

A baby rhino has been welcomed into the world at Melbourne’s Werribee Zoo.

The female Southern White Rhino was born at 4.20am on Saturday to mother Si Si, who is recovering well.

At a healthy 67 kilograms, the calf is receiving around-the-clock care at Werribee Open Range Zoo’s veterinary hospital, where her first week will be critical.

Zoo staff will dedicate the next month to feeding and monitoring the calf.

Like her big sister, 18-month-old Kipenzi, the baby will be hand-raised by vets and keepers during the first few months, as mother Si Si has been unable to feed her calves.

The birth is a critical milestone for the Southern White Rhino, a species under increasing threat from illegal poaching.

Just over 20,000 Southern White Rhinos remain in the wild, as poaching in South Africa continues to rise.

This year, more than 1000 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone and if poaching continues at these levels, the species could be extinct within 20 years, the zoo says.

“With the number of Southern White Rhinos plummeting in the wild, this is not only an important birth for Werribee Open Range Zoo but for the species as a whole,” zoo director Sally Lewis said.

source: smh.com.au

An AirAsia flight travelling from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control, the company has said.

Indonesian media say more than 160 people were on the Airbus A320-200.

Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (23:24 GMT), Malaysia-based AirAsia tweeted.

Malaysia’s national carrier Malaysia Airlines has suffered two disasters this year – flights MH370 and MH17 – but AirAsia has never lost a plane.

Flight MH370 disappeared on a flight from Jakarta to Beijing in March with 239 passengers and crew, and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 on board.

AirAsia says that search and rescue operations are under way for the missing aircraft.

The flight had been due to arrive in Singapore at 08:30 (00:30GMT).

There were six foreigners on board the flight, reports say, three from South Korea and one each from the UK Malaysia and Singapore. The rest of the passengers were Indonesian.

An official with the transport ministry, Hadi Mustofa, told local media the plane lost contact over the Java Sea, between the islands of Kalimantan and Java.

He said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact and that the weather had been cloudy.

AirAsia have given few other details.

“At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available,” a company statement said.

AirAsia has set up an emergency line for family or friends of those who may be on board. The number is +622 129 850 801.

source: bbc.com

Popular support for the Abbott government has fallen dramatically across Australia over the past year, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten now considered preferred prime minister in most states, a Newspoll analysis shows.

The News Corp Australia poll out on Saturday shows the coalition’s primary vote has tumbled 10 points in Victoria and South Australia, nine points in NSW, eight points in Queensland and seven points in WA.

In two-party-preferred terms based on preference flows in the 2013 election, Labor leads the coalition by 60 per cent to 40 per cent in Victoria, by 54 to 46 per cent in both NSW and South Australia, and by 52 to 48 per cent in Queensland.

Only in WA does the coalition have a two-party preferred lead – of 53 to 47 per cent.

Responding to the poll, opposition education spokesman Senator Kim Carr said voters were angry because the government came to office on the back of a lie.

‘A lie that they would not change the way we funded our education system, a lie that said they wouldn’t cut education, they wouldn’t cut health, they wouldn’t cut the ABC, they wouldn’t cut pensions,’ Senator Carr said in Melbourne on Saturday.

‘All of those things have now happened.’ Mr Abbott’s office did not reply to calls from AAP regarding the poll.

According to Newspoll, Bill Shorten is also preferred prime minister in most states.

Mr Shorten, who’s currently away on leave, is ahead in NSW by 40 to 39 per cent, in Victoria by 45 to 33 per cent and in South Australia by 43 to 34 per cent.

Tony Abbott is considered the better prime minister in WA, with a nine-point lead of 43 to 34 per cent and in Queensland with 41 to 39 per cent.

Meanwhile, Australian Development Strategies data published by News Corp Australia shows unemployment is up in many federal coalition seats, but down in Labor-held seats.

It found 24 of the 28 electorates with the largest rises in unemployment rates are controlled by the Coalition.

source: skynews.com.au

Greek olive oil producers are nursing high expectations this season as the exceptionally bad year in Italy resulting from the destruction of crops by bad weather and the olive fruit fly, as well as the very low output in Spain, have opened the way for Greek produce.

Greece’s Agricultural Development Ministry estimates that local olive oil production this year will soar to 300,000 tons, against just 135,000 tons last year.

Due to the low output in other European countries, the ministry is anticipating a rise in prices for producers that could reach up to 3.40 euros per liter.

Nevertheless, market professionals are urging caution among olive oil producers who have decided to wait, stressing that the rumors regarding the signing of expensive contracts may well turn out to be no more than mere rumors.

“If everyone waits to sell at a high price, then they will eventually fall,” said Manolis Vakontios, the president of the Sitia Agricultural Cooperatives Association on Crete.

source: ekathimerini.com

A day after reports in the Turkish press indicated that Turkey’s seismic vessel Barbaros will withdraw from Cypriot waters next week, fueling hopes of a possible resumption of Cyprus talks, fresh reports over the weekend suggested that the Barbaros is heading for Greek territorial waters.

A Turkish maritime order, or Navigational Telex (Navtex), that was issued illegally in October to dispatch the Barbaros to Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will not be renewed, according to the reports. However, a new Navtex is to be issued for January 1 to 10, dispatching the Barbaros to the area between the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo for participation in an anti-submarine exercise.

Although the prospect of the Barbaros entering Greek territorial waters is regarded as unlikely, diplomatic sources were not ruling out such a scenario.

The Barbaros has been within Cyprus’s EEZ since October 20 when it entered the area amid Turkish protests over Cypriot authorities launching licensed oil and gas drilling activities in the area.

The violation by the Barbaros prompted Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades to pull out of the latest round of United Nations-mediated negotiations aimed at reunifying the divided island.

Initial reports in the Turkish media quoted Turkish-Cypriot negotiator Ergun Olgun as saying that the Barbaros would withdraw from Cyprus’s EEZ on December 30, following the completion of its exploration activities. According to the reports, Olgun said the move would pave the way for the resumption of stalled talks.

source: ekathimerini.com

In an eleventh-hour effort to bolster the government’s candidate in a crucial presidential vote Monday that is likely to spark early general elections, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras made an appeal to undecided lawmakers over the weekend, saying snap polls would lead to “pointless upheaval” for the country.

In an interview with state TV NERIT which aired on Saturday evening, Samaras prodded MPs. Refusing to elect a president would be tantamount to “political blackmail,” Samaras said, adding that those who vote “present” in Monday’s ballot at noon would be “burdened with the responsibility” and would be “remembered by the people and chiefly by history.”

Citing a narrowing of leftist SYRIZA’s lead over New Democracy in opinion polls, Samaras said that early elections “suit me” but he would rather “lead the ship safely to harbor.”

He lashed out against SYRIZA for pushing for snap polls, saying most citizens did not want elections, and warning of “fatal perils” that the path of snap polls could bring amid eurozone jitters. Samaras accused SYRIZA of “foolish bravado,” adding that the party’s alternative economic program was full of “unilateral moves.”

The premier said authorities have “sweat blood” in recent years to keep Greece on its feet and warned against years of sacrifices being lost.

He repeated his calls for a consensus on the president, negotiations on Greece’s debt and early elections at the end of 2015.

Despite government efforts, the 180-vote minimum required to endorse Dimas, and put off snap polls, appeared out of reach over the weekend.

With early elections looming, political parties are preparing campaigns and candidate lists. PASOK in particular is in upheaval as former party leader and ex-Premier George Papandreou is expected to announce a new party next week.

Samaras’s appeal came as SYRIZA insists it will seek to renegotiate the terms of Greece’s bailouts as well as a writedown of the country’s debt. In an article in the party’s mouthpiece Avgi to be published Sunday, Tsipras indicates that SYRIZA would not negotiate its economic program with creditors. “SYRIZA’s national effort will have international repercussions as our historic responsibility is to open the way for an alternative policy in Europe, transforming a eurozone country from the subject of a neoliberalist experiment to a model for social protection and growth,” he said. In a separate interview in the Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper, SYRIZA MP Giorgos Stathakis said the leftists, if elected to power, would seek “a comprehensive renegotiation of the debt, without unilateral action.”

SYRIZA’s intentions appeared to be rejected out of hand by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who told Saturday’s Bild newspaper that any Greek government would have to honor existing agreements. “New elections won’t change anything about Greece’s debts,” he said. “Any new government must abide by the legal agreements of its predecessors.” Schaeuble said he would support Greece on its “path of hard reforms” but that “it will be difficult” if Athens chooses another road.

source: ekathimerini.com

Bargain hunters: Hundreds of shoppers descend on Pitt Street shopping mall for the Boxing Day sales. Photo: Daniel Munoz

Shoppers triggered a record 5.7 million transactions through the National Australia Bank during their Boxing Day spending spree, nearly double the figure three years ago, the latest data shows.

The frenzy peaked at 1pm on Friday as eftpos, ATMs, debit and credit cards transactions hit 147 a second, the banking giant said. In 2011, 3 million transactions were processed on the day, peaking at 80 a second.

Retailers are now more confident that their post-Christmas spending prediction of $16.1 billion nationally will “certainly be exceeded”, Russell Zimmerman from the Australians Retailers Association said.

Both bosses from the department stores said customers were wielding plastic with confidence. Debit cards were far more popular this year.

“We’re seeing a stronger debit card business now,” said Ian Nairn, David Jones’ new chief executive.

Myer’s Bernie Brookes said: “I think people are a bit reserved to load up their credit cards in the current environment. We’re also seeing the decline of cash but [not at the rate it was falling] in previous years.”

Retailers large and small were reporting this year’s Boxing Day sales were “busier and stronger” than last year’s, and NSW’s spending forecast of $585 million will “well and truly be achieved,” Russell Zimmerman said.

Paul Harrison, consumer behaviour expert at Deakin University, said growing use of cards correlated with increased spending.

Research showed paying with notes and coins elicited a “greater psychological pain” in shoppers compared with credit and debit cards.

“It’s easier to spend with cards and people are less wary about the risks of using credit cards too,” he said. “As more people use cards, I think we will see more people spend [during the sales].”

Spending in the five-day period before Christmas went up 12.9 per cent on last year’s figure, accounting firm BDO national retail lead partner Simon Scalzo said. “Retailers are in for a good overall result. That’s good news for the economy.”

David Jones embraced more than 1 million shoppers through its CBD flagship stores on Friday from 5am to midnight, as well as 1.5 million more via their website.

In the business shirt wars, David Jones trumped Myer by offloading 18 more business shirts a minute compared to its rival.

“We sold more than: 30,000 men’s business shirts, which equates to 68 business shirts sold per minute nationally, 90,000 pairs of shoes, which equates to 10 pairs sold per minute, and 20,000 handbags, approximately five sold per minute,” a spokeswoman said.

Almost $60 million worth of stock was marked down by 80 per cent and largely cleared by midday, Mr Nairn said.

To continue the momentum and make space for new brands next year, David Jones will be turning over stock and offering discounts at a level never seen before, he added.

But Rohan Miller, marketing expert at Sydney University, labelled the post-Christmas retail frenzy as a “psychological tradition built up over a long period of time” and cautioned shoppers to be wary of various selling tactics.

He said genuine bargains were limited in number and buried deep inside stores, forcing customers to navigate through stands of goods at tempting prices.

“You’d like to thinking marking up to later mark down doesn’t exist, but in reality you have to be sceptical and assume there’s an element of artificial pricing and sometimes people do fall for it,” he said.

“Often retailers have stock on order to have a sale, so you assume when something goes to sale that it’s in-store stock, but often they anticipate they negotiate lower prices with their suppliers.”

For those left with dud Boxing Day purchases, consumer advocacy group Choice said everyone is entitled to a refund, replacement or repairs if the goods are “faulty, doesn’t do the job it is supposed to do or does not match the advertised description.”

“It’s also important to remember the same person who purchased the product doesn’t have to be the one to return it,” said spokesman Tom Godfrey.

“You just need proof of purchase such as a receipt, or even the retailer’s swing tag.”

source: smh.com.au