Daily Archives: January 24, 2015

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios plays a forehand in his third round match against Malek Jaziri of Tunisia during day five of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Friday night. Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

  Kyrgios overcomes nose bleeds, an aching back and a tenacious Tunisian as Tomic powers past compatriot Sam Groth.

Nick Kyrgios has overcome nose bleeds, an aching back and a tenacious Tunisian to safely join Bernard Tomic in the last 16 of the Australian Open.

Completing a triumphant night double for Australia, Kyrgios ended Malek Jaziri’s surprise run with a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 third-round victory over the world No 75.

Tomic outclassed fellow Australian Sam Groth 6-4 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 to set up a fourth-round showdown with Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych.

Incredibly, having not won a tour match since the US Open in September, Kyrgios now has a huge opportunity to emulate his charge to last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Instead of an expected showdown with Roger Federer on Sunday, Kyrgios will square off with Italian Andreas Seppi, a shock four-set winner over the Swiss superstar earlier on Friday.

Kyrgios took care of Seppi in straight sets in the second round in New York in what proved to be the 19-year-old’s last ATP win of 2014 before calling an end to his exhausting campaign in October.

Kyrgios isn’t taking the world No 46 lightly, but knows the door is ajar to the last eight.

“It’s sport – upsets happen. He’s obviously playing some really good tennis,” Kyrgios said. “I’m really looking forward to it, but now I’ve got to prepare and do everything right.”

After withdrawing from the Hopman Cup with a back complaint and losing in the first round in Sydney, Kyrgios hadn’t won a match this year before arriving at Melbourne Park.

“It’s a great feeling. I haven’t played too many matches. It feels good to get some wins at my home slam,” he said. “It feels awesome coming back.”

After reaching round three with a four-set second-round defeat of towering seed Ivo Karlovic, Kyrgios was well-fancied to see off Jaziri. He did so, but it wasn’t all straightforward.

Kyrgios was treated several times early on for nose bleeds, at one point needing stuffing to play on.

Jaziri handed him the only break of the opening set with a double-fault and then Kyrgios had to fight back from 4-0 down in the second-set tiebreaker to keep the African at bay.

Just when Kyrgios seemed like putting the Tunisian to bed, the teenager sought a medical timeout at 4-1 in the third set and dashed off court for a back rub.

But he returned to break Jaziri once more, plunder his 25th ace and finally get the job done after one hour and 58 minutes.

Tomic was particularly impressive against Groth, claiming the only two service breaks and saving a set point in the pivotal second-set tiebreaker to trump the tournament’s ace leader in one hour and 43 minutes.

Tomic played a great opening set, committing just three unforced errors and claiming the only service break in the third game when Groth double-faulted at 15-40.

It was the only invitation Tomic needed as he took the set in 27 minutes.

Groth created the first set point in the second-set breaker, but his booming serve failed him, the 27-year-old double-faulting at the worst possible time.

Groth saved two set points with unreturnable deliveries but a backhand return long gave Tomic a two-set-to-love lead and stranglehold on the match.

Tomic broke again in the third game of the third set before holding firm to march on.

But having lost his two previous tour meetings with Berdych, both in four sets on Wimbledon’s grass courts in 2013 and 2014, the 22-year-old knows he needs a special performance on Sunday to keep his Open hopes alive.

Despite his superior head-to-head record, Berdych knows he has a battle on his hands.

“I’ve played Tomic a couple of times in slams at Wimbledon and they were both very tough matches,” he said after beating Viktor Troicki in straight sets on Friday.

“He really loves to play on grass and they weren’t easy matches at all, but here there’s always a bit extra for him playing in front of home crowds.

“He’s not an easy opponent at all”.

source:theguardian.com

Έτοιμη στα κυριότερα σημεία της είναι η συμφωνία στρατιωτικής συνεργασίας μεταξύ  Λευκωσίας και Μόσχας  με τα δύο μέρη να έχουν καταλήξει στα περισσότερα επιμέρους θέματα που θα την διέπουν.

Κύριος άξονας της συμφωνίας είναι η παροχή στρατιωτικών διευκολύνσεων εκ μέρους της Κύπρου στην Ρωσική Ομοσπονδία όπως ανακοίνωσε εχθές και ο Ρώσος πρεσβευτής στη Λευκωσία  Στανισλάβ Οσάντσι.

Το θέμα βρίσκεται υπό διαβούλευση μεταξύ αντιπροσωπειών Κύπρου και Ρωσίας από τον περασμένο Νοέμβριο και όπως δήλωσε σήμερα ο  Κύπριος κυβερνητικός εκπρόσωπος ο εκπρόσωπός της, Νίκος Χριστοδουλίδης, «η κυπριακή κυβέρνηση προσεγγίζει θετικά το ρωσικό αίτημα για παροχή στρατιωτικών διευκολύνσεων».

Ο κ. Χριστοδουλίδης μιλώντας  στο ΡΙΚ είπε ότι οι συμφωνίες αναμένεται να υπογραφούν κατά την επίσκεψη του Προέδρου Νίκου Αναστασιάδη στη Μόσχα, στα τέλη Φεβρουαρίου

Ήδη στο παρελθόν η Λευκωσία είχε δώσει διευκολύνσεις ελλιμενισμού ρωσικών σκαφών στη Λεμεσό. Νεότερες πληροφορίες αναφέρουν ότι αυτό που ενδιαφέρει τη Μόσχα είναι να δοθούν διευκολύνσεις σε ρωσικά αεροσκάφη (δεν διευκρινίζεται εάν θα πρόκειται για μεταφορικά ή μαχητικά αλλά το πιθανότερο είναι να πρόκειται και για τα δύο) για χρήση της Αεροπορικής Βάσης «Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου», στην Πάφο.

Έτσι η συμφωνία θα περιλαμβάνει αφενός ναυτικές διευκολύνσεις και αφετέρου χρήση της ΑΒ στην Πάφο από ρωσικά αεροσκάφη με «κλιμάκιο» μόνιμα σταθμευμένο στην Κύπρο.

Η Μόσχα εξετάζει και το ενδεχόμενο να δημιουργήσει δικές της λιμενικές εγκαταστάσεις στην Κύπρο καθώς και παλαιότερες δηλώσεις του αρχηγού  του Στόλου της Μαύρης Θάλασσας Alexander Vitko η βάση της Ταρτούς δεν μπορεί να πλέον να εξυπηρετήσει την δύναμη που δραστηριοποιείται σήμερα στη Μεσόγειο εξετάζοντας την δημιουργία μιας νέας βάσης “κάπου στην περιοχή”.

Τελικά το «κάπου στην περιοχή» πρόκειται να είναι η Κύπρος και όχι η Αίγυπτος όπως ανέφεραν κάποιες άλλες πληροφορίες.

Ακόμη δεν είναι γνωστό τι μορφή θα έχει το ρωσικό αεροπορικό κλιμάκιο που θα σταθμεύσει στην Κύπρο αλλά σίγουρα αυτό θα αποτελείται από πλήρη τεχνική βάση υποστήριξης των αεροσκαφών και προσωπικό.

Το ρωσικό Ναυτικό χρειάζεται μια ασφαλή βάση για τα MiG-29K και τα Su-33 που επιχειρούν από το αεροπλανοφόρο Admiral Kuznetsov, ενώ η ρωσική Αεροπορία χρειάζεται βάση γα τα αεροσκάφη εναεριου ανεφοσιασμού Il-76 Midas, και τα μεταφορικά της αεροσκάφη.

Σε ότι αφορά την παρουσία μαχητικών αεροσκαφών αυτή αναμένεται να διαμορφωθεί με τη μορφή των περιοδικών μετασταθμεύσεων τουλάχιστον σε πρώτη φάση.

Η ΑΒ της Κύπρου στην Πάφο η οποία έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί και αεροσκάφη άλλων χωρών αλλά και το αίτημα της Ρωσίας για την χρησιμοποίησή της δείχνει τον απόλυτα στρατηγικό ρόλο που παίζει στην περιοχή έχοντας πολύ σημαντικά στρατηγικά οφέλη.

Αν και δεν αναφέρεται επίσημα (εξαιτίας της ευαίσθητης φύσης της)   η συμφωνία μεταξύ της Κύπρου  και Ρωσίας θα περιλαμβάνει και την παραχώρηση ρωσικού στρατιωτικού υλικού στην Κύπρο καθώς η ενίσχυση των δυνάμεων της κυπριακής Εθνοφρουράς έχει πλέον απόλυτη προτεραιότητα για την κυπριακή ηγεσία.

Αυτό εξαιτίας τόσο της τουρκικής αυθαιρεσίας στην κυπριακή ΑΟΖ η οποία λίγο διαφέρει από μια εισβολή, όσο και εξαιτίας της παντελούς αδυναμίας της Ελλάδας αλλά και αδιαφορίας (έχει “σοβαρότερα” ζητήματα να ασχοληθεί όπως είναι οι εκλογές) να προσφέρει έστω και την παραμικρή εγγύηση για την ασφάλεια της Κύπρου όχι στα λόγια αλλά στην πράξη.

Έτσι και μετά από αρκετά χρόνια αφοπλισμού η Κύπρος αποφασίζει να κάνει μια αυτονόητη στροφή για την αναβάθμιση της στρατηγικής της θέσης στην περιοχή αλλά και για την ενίσχυση των ενόπλων της δυνάμεων.

Πηγή:Τμήμα ειδήσεων defencenet.gr

Ο κ. Ταβλαρίδης το 2009 ως πρόεδρος της Ομοσπονδίας Ποντιακών Σωματείων, με τον τότε Γενικό Κυβερνήτη της Ν. Αυστραλίας Michael Atkinson και Παναγιώτης Ιασωνίδης αναπληρωτής πρόεδρος της Ομοσπονδίας Ποντιακών Σωματείων

Η εφημερίδα «The Australian» αφιέρωσε εκτενές δημοσίευμά της στον ομογενή, Χαράλαμπο Ταυλαρίδη, διευθυντή προγραμμάτων της εταιρίας Thales Australia.

Η εν λόγω εταιρία απασχολεί περίπου 3.200 άτομα στην Αυστραλία και ειδικεύεται στην παροχή ηλεκτρονικών συστημάτων στις αυστραλιανές ένοπλες δυνάμεις, αλλά και στον ιδιωτικό τομέα.

Πρόσφατα, το αυστραλιανό υπουργείο Άμυνας της ανέθεσε τα συμβόλαια για τους νέους εξομοιωτές των πολεμικών ελικοπτέρων της.

Όπως αναφέρεται στο δημοσίευμα, αυτό οφείλεται και στις ικανότητες του κ. Ταυλαρίδη.

Ο τελευταίος είναι δραστήριος ομογενής. Υπήρξε πρόεδρος της Ομοσπονδίας Ποντιακών Σωματείων Αυστραλίας και πρωτοστάτης της αναγνώρισης της Ποντιακής Γενοκτονίας από την κυβέρνηση της Νότιας Αυστραλίας.

Greek voters go to the polls on Jan. 25 in a general election that will decide whether Europe’s most-indebted country sticks to the economic-overhaul program set out by its troika of official creditors or tries to chart its own course.

This is a guide to the rules governing the voting and the process of forming a government afterward.

— Voting begins at 7 a.m. on Sunday and finishes at 7 p.m. local time. A total of 9.8 million citizens are eligible to cast ballots, with more than a third of them concentrated in the Attica metropolitan region, which includes the city of Athens.

— Exit polls will be published at the close of voting. There will be an initial estimate of the result based on ballots counted at about 9:30 p.m and a more accurate estimate before midnight. The vote count will be available on the Interior Ministry’s website: http://ekloges.ypes.gr/.

— Twenty-two parties are standing for election. They need at least 3 percent of the vote to win seats in the next parliament and polls indicate that as many as seven will pass that threshold. Lawmakers are allocated proportionately among the parties that reach the cutoff and the group with most votes gets an extra 50 seats.

— Once sworn in, the new prime minister will have 15 days to win a confidence vote requiring 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. Recent polls suggest neither SYRIZA nor New Democracy will be able to do that on their own.

— If no single party has an absolute majority, the president of the republic gives the leader of the party with the most votes three days to form a government. If he fails, the three-day mandate is handed to the leader of the second-biggest party, and finally to the leader of the third party.

— If no one can form an administration, the president will ask party leaders to form a unity government. If that doesn’t work, as happened in 2012, all parliamentary groups will be asked to join an interim government to prepare fresh elections. And if that fails the job of organizing a new vote falls to either the head of the Council of State or the Supreme Court.

source:ekathimerini.com

Alexis Tsipras speaking at Friday’s press conference.

 SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras will aim to conclude an agreement with Greece’s international lenders by the summer if his party is able to form a government after Sunday’s elections.

In a televised news conference Friday, Tsipras sketched out his plans for government and revealed that he had no specific plans for meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel if he becomes prime minister.

The SYRIZA chief suggested that his government would enter negotiations with Greece’s eurozone partners after being elected and would aim to wrap up talks on the way forward in the relationship between the two sides by July or August, when Greece has a series of debt obligations to meet.

Tsipras said that he is aiming to achieve a “sustainable, mutually acceptable solution for Greece and for Europe.” However, he suggested that he would negotiate with representatives of European Union institutions, rather than troika officials.

“Austerity is not enshrined in European treaties,” said Tsipras, adding that his government would recognize Greece’s “institutional obligations” toward the EU but not the “political commitments”» made by the outgoing government.

When asked where he would make his first official trip to if elected prime minister, Tsipras said it would be Cyprus. He added that he would not seek direct talks with Merkel.

“I do not recognize Mrs Merkel as being any different from the other leaders,” he said. “She is one of 28 so I will not rush to meet her.”

source:ekathimerini.com

Antonis Samaras addressing supporters on Friday.

 In a last-ditch attempt to rally supporters and attract additional support ahead of Sunday’s critical snap elections, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday underlined the risks of a leftist government coming to power in Greece, stressing that his party would keep the country solvent, on the path of reform and inside the Eurozone.

“We are leaving the memorandums… Greece no longer needs loans,” Samaras told a crowd of supporters at a sports stadium in Faliro.

“They will bring us to the point where we need to borrow again,” Samaras said, referring to leftist SYRIZA which is tipped to win the elections on Sunday.

“SYRIZA isn’t going to change Europe but will turn Europe against Greece,” Samaras said and accused leftist leader Alexis Tsipras of “serving the drachma lobby.”

The premier vowed that “the Tsipras accident is not going to happen,” warning that Greece could suffer a crisis similar to that experienced by Cyprus, where the European Central Bank cut off liquidity, if Tsipras comes to power.

Earlier in the day, New Democracy spokesperson Maria Spyraki struck a similar tone, describing Tsipras as “”determined to lead the country to isolation and bankruptcy” and accusing the leftist chief of “defrauding Greeks.”

At his rally, Samaras insisted that ND, which continued to trail SYRIZA in the final opinion polls Friday, was the only party that could steer Greece to economic and political stability. “The key question is this: Who do you want in the driving seat right now?” he said, reiterating pledges to cut property, income and corporate taxes if ND is re-elected.

The premier also slammed SYRIZA for its position on the ECB’s bond-buying program, indicating that the leftists’ resistance to resuming talks with Greece’s troika of international creditors essentially would block the country from the program. “It’s raining money, and they’re ordering umbrellas,” Samaras quipped.

The last round of opinion polls Friday pointed to SYRIZA maintaining a strong lead over the conservatives though it remained unclear whether the leftists would be able to secure an absolute majority and avoid talks with coalition allies. In any case, Samaras is almost certain to face upheaval within his party, with speculation about a leadership challenge intensifying Friday.

source:ekathimerini.com

Mr 50 per cent: Joe Hockey says Australians spend six months of the year working to fill the government’s coffers, a claim disputed by a new report. Photo: Christopher Pearce

Australians pay far less tax than they believe, a new report finds, and certainly far less tax than the Treasurer thinks they do.

Mr Hockey told Fairfax radio on Monday that Australians paid nearly half their income in tax.

“When Australians spend the first six months of the year working for the government with tax rates nearly 50 cents in the dollar it is a disincentive,” he said.

“You’re working July, August, September, October, November, December just for the government and then you start working for yourself and your own household income after that for another six months – it is a disincentive.”

A report released on Saturday by the Australian Council of Social Service finds that personal tax as a proportion of a middle-earning household’s income is just 11 per cent – a good deal less than other calculations and far less less than the Treasurer’s.

High-earning households pay 20 per cent of their household income.

ACOSS arrives at the figures by including all household income in its total, including untaxed or lightly taxed income washed through superannuation, family trusts and negatively geared properties.

“To get a true picture you need to look at total income rather than just taxable income,” ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.

The personal tax scale prepared by ACOSS is quite progressive. The bottom one-fifth of households pay 3 per cent of their income in personal tax, the next group pays 7 per cent, middle group 11 per cent, the second-top group 15 per cent and the top group 20 per cent.

But the progressivity vanishes when other forms of tax are included. Including the goods and services tax and other consumption taxes such as petrol and tobacco excise, the lowest earning household pays 24 per cent of its income in tax and the highest earning household only a little more at 28 per cent.

Dr Goldie said the goods and services tax hit low earners far harder than high earners meaning they paid much more in consumption tax than income tax while high earners paid much more in income tax than consumption tax.

“It shows how skewed the tax debate is becoming. We seem to be only talking about the GST, yet our modelling shows that lifting the GST would hit hit the lowest earners far more than the highest earners,” she said.

Superannuation tax concessions and those for trusts, negative gearing and capital gains were far more likely to raise money from well off households than the GST

ACOSS has prepared the research paper as part of its contribution to the governments tax review which Mr Hockey will launched early next month.

“We are about to be embroiled in a very contested debate and we have the treasurer suggesting people are contributing half their income to tax which is simply not accurate,” she said.  “How can we possibly get responsible debate about reform when we don’t even have good transparency about the facts?”

“We are releasing this paper to demonstrate that based on the Bureau of Statistics data and appropriate modelling people on higher incomes are contributing around 28 per cent. They are able to pay more.”

source:smh.com.au