Monthly Archives: June 2015

MOSCOW: The Russian maker of the Buk air defense missile system said on Tuesday that it has concluded that Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was downed by an older version of the missile, which isn’t in service with the Russian military but is in Ukrainian arsenals.

Controversy continues over who shot down the plane last summer over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard. Ukraine and the West suspect it was destroyed by a Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Russian soldiers or Russia-backed separatist rebels fighting in the area. Russia denies that.

Mikhail Malyshevsky, an adviser to the director general of the missile maker, state-controlled Almaz-Antei consortium, said at a news conference Tuesday that its analysis was based on photographs of the wreckage available to the public. He said the holes in the plane’s parts were consistent with a specific type of Buk missile and its warhead.

Each of the Buk subtypes has its warhead rigged with shrapnel of a specific shape. This variation of the missile is in the Ukrainian military arsenals, but not in the Russian, said Almaz-Antei director Yan Novikov.

Novikov said that in 2005 when Ukraine contacted the consortium regarding the maintenance of its Buk systems, it had 991 such missiles.

Rebels have staunchly denied even possessing a functioning Buk missile launcher at the time that MH17 was brought down, although one was seen in separatist-controlled Snizhne by AP reporters a few hours before the plane crashed.

Russian officials and state media have previously said they suspect the airline was shot down by a Ukrainian warplane.

“First they said it wasn’t a Buk missile. Now, suddenly, they’re saying it is but it wasn’t them. So I just think the credibility is not 100 percent here on that,” said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf in Washington.

Ukrainian military spokesman Vladislav Seleznev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Tuesday that photos and video materials at the time documented the presence of a Buk on the rebel-held territory.

Novikov and Malyshevsky said that the company’s analysis of shrapnel impact on the plane’s fragments allowed it to pinpoint the location of the missile launcher, which they said was placed near the town of Zaroshenske. A missile launched from Snizhne would have incurred different damage, they said.

The Almaz-Antei officials stopped short of directly blaming Ukraine for shooting down the plane, but their statements hinted at that.

A spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, declined to comment on the consortium’s statement. The Dutch report is expected in October.

source:indiatimes.com

Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano have a lot history together.

Barcelona and Juventus haven’t played each another for 12 years, which is partly what makes this season’s Champions League final so intriguing. In a competition packed full of “repeat” ties, this is a genuinely new tactical battle to get excited about.

Nevertheless, various players on opposing sides have faced one another before, when playing for other clubs, or at international level. It means various individual duels are also fascinating — here are three of the key battles.

Javier Mascherano vs. Carlos Tevez

These two Argentines go way back: they first encountered one another in one of world football’s greatest rivalries: River Plate against Boca Juniors. Already considered potentially world-class talents by that stage, their rivalry turned to friendship through mutual respect. When Kia Joorabchian brokered the deal which took Tevez to Corinthians in Brazil 10 years ago, the forward encouraged his agent to recruit Mascherano, too. And so he did.

Then came their unexpected, bizarre joint move to West Ham United in 2006, where Tevez shone and Mascherano was often kept out of the team by Hayden Mullins and Nigel Quashie. Unsurprisingly, they ended up at more illustrious sides, and were soon battling it out in Liverpool vs. Manchester United.

Tevez is now 31, while Mascherano will turn 31 two days after this final — and both are arguably at their peak. Tevez has been in sensational form for Juventus, forming a brilliant partnership with Alvaro Morata and providing both creativity and goal-scoring ability. He drops deep into clever positions between the lines, becoming an outright No. 10 for a side whose attacking midfielders, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, are about energy as much as guile. His goal-scoring record is also impressive: 19 league goals last season; 20 this time around. He’s also hit seven in the Champions League this term, a competition he’d previously struggled in.

Mascherano is still considered a defensive midfielder playing out of position by many, but having played at centre-back for half a decade with Barcelona he should be viewed as amongst the world’s best in that position, too. His improvement has been hugely impressive: he now reads the game as intelligently as anyone in the world, making clever interceptions and well-timed, hard tackles if necessary too. He’s not the greatest in the air because of his height, but Tevez won’t trouble him in that respect.

This should be a tremendous head-to-head battle, because both players are highly intelligent with their positioning, but typically Argentine and up for a battle too. Tevez will attempt to draw Mascherano up the pitch, and the Barcelona defender must make good decisions about how far to track, and when to tackle.

Sergio Busquets vs. Arturo Vidal

Two of the world’s most complete midfielders are likely to be in direct combat — as they were at last summer’s World Cup. There, Chile’s 2-0 victory over Spain was largely due to Chile’s intense pressure, which was led admirably by a not-fully-fit Vidal shutting down Busquets repeatedly.

A repeat might be unlikely, because Juventus won’t press high up the pitch. Instead, they’ll defend deeper with the midfield protecting the defence solidly, and Max Allegri has often ordered Juve to flatten their diamond without the ball, with Vidal dropping in alongside Andrea Pirlo to create a more traditional midfield quartet.

Busquets might find his direct opponents when he receives possession are actually Tevez and Morata, dropping back to keep Juventus compact in the manner Atletico Madrid usually play against Barcelona.

The interesting element of this battle, however, will be what happens when Juventus win possession. Their usual approach in this Champions League run has been to bypass the midfield quickly, knocking longer passes into Tevez and Morata. However, they’re also excellent at getting the midfielders forward in support, and Vidal is capable of brilliant, lung-busting runs to sprint into the final third and provide an extra goal threat.

Because Juventus will play two upfront against Barcelona’s two centre-backs, Busquets’ job will be to track Vidal if he pushes forward to become an extra attacker. Few players in world football are as intelligent in a positional sense as Busquets, but the one thing he lacks is Vidal’s sheer speed. Busquets will be in control for 95 percent of the game, but a couple of untracked bursts from the Chilean could prove crucial.

Luis Suarez vs. Giorgio Chiellini

It’s typically Luis Suarez that the biggest game of his club career will see him battling against two players he’s previously wronged. He was banned for eight games for racially abusing Patrice Evra in 2011, then received a four-month worldwide ban (and nine-game international ban) for biting Giorgio Chiellini at last summer’s World Cup in Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy.

With Suarez’s tendency to drift wide from his centre-forward role, switching positions with Lionel Messi, he’ll encounter both Juventus’ left-back and their left-sided centre-back regularly. But it’s Chiellini he’ll battle against most regularly, and it’s worth remembering the nature of their encounter in Natal last summer.

Suarez’s bite was clearly unacceptable, but Chiellini’s antics throughout that match were risible. There was shirt-pulling, playacting, a couple of sly elbows when the referee wasn’t watching. There was unquestionably a plan to rile Suarez, based upon his previous antics, something which obvious by the way Suarez ran at Chiellini, rather than into the space either side of him, in the moments leading up to the horrific bite.

Chiellini wanted to turn it into something that transcends the usual battle you find between physical centre-backs and combative centre-forwards. He wanted football to take second place behind a pantomime, a running contest to see who could provoke the other into something stupid. Chiellini won that aspect — although individually he played extremely poorly, and Italy lost the game.

Chiellini will surely attempt something similar this weekend. This Juventus backline is extremely well-drilled collectively, and all four are good individuals both physically and technically. But they’re also masters of the dark arts, and they know Suarez is a ticking time bomb. Messi is impossible to rile; Neymar usually keeps his discipline. But Suarez can be provoked.

In a pure footballing sense, Chiellini will want to defend deep, to counteract the pace of all three Barcelona forwards. Suarez’s game at Barcelona is all about his lateral running across the opposition backline to create space for others, which is more difficult inside a congested penalty area. Suarez’s main chances to pounce will probably come from direct attacks, when he can spin dangerously into the channels.

Kevin Rudd says Julia Gillard has provided the ABC series with a “creative reconstruction of political memory”. Source: ABC

JULIA Gillard has accused Kevin Rudd of physically intimidating and bullying her in revelations that smash the idea the pair were ever a “dream team”.

Ms Gillard, Australia’s first woman Prime Minister, was the victim of an “angry performance” by Mr Rudd when in Opposition, she tells the new ABC series The Killing Season.

One of the most explosive revelations from the series comes when Ms Gillard discusses her role as leader of Labor’s tactics meetings.

“Kevin was always very anxious to strut his stuff in Question Time,” she tells the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson.

“And tactics hadn’t gone his way. I’d taken a view about something else forming the issue of the day.

“And after the tactics meeting broke up, he very physically stepped up into my space and it was quite a bullying encounter. It was a menacing, angry performance.”

Her accusations are rejected as “utterly, utterly false” by Mr Rudd, who was ousted by Ms Gillard and in turn removed her from the prime ministership during six years of Labor turmoil.

He insists they had good relations, even when Ms Gillard arrived at his office to “announce the coup”, which saw him cast out in his first term.

However, the two disagree on critical points — with Mr Rudd challenging what he calls Ms Gillard’s “creative reconstruction of political memory”.

Mr Rudd tells the series it was like a nightmare to recall those years.

“Well, I’m a human being, just like you,” he says to the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson.

“I sleep, I dream and, as a result, a lot of these things come back in more vivid ways than either of us would like.”

He says the most painful recollection is of “the active sense of betrayal, betrayal by people who were very close to you, betrayal by people you thought you could trust.”

The bitter dealings are covered in the three-part ABC TV series, which begins next Tuesday night. The series title comes from the final sitting weeks of a parliamentary session, when leadership challenges are often launched.

The program is the descendant of the 1993 series Labor in Power, which covered the Hawke and Keating governments. The stark difference is that Labor was returned in 1993. This series ends with Labor losing in 2013.

Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard were the powerful and ambitious team who replaced Kim Beazley in the Labor leadership late in 2006 and were headed for government at the 2007 election.

Julia Gillard accuses Kevin Rudd of bullying her. Source: ABC

They were billed as close and friendly, with Ms Gillard telling an interviewer at the time: “We’ve never had a cross word or a difficult moment.”

However, she told a different story to The Killing Season, with her accusations of Mr Rudd’s “menacing” and “bullying” behaviour.

Mr Rudd said there were “never” angry exchanges between the two “including on the night that she marches into the office to announce the coup”.

“I said to her repeatedly, ‘But Julia, you’re a good person’,” recalls Mr Rudd.

It is not the only point of clashing recollections by the two, who took the Labor leadership in what former leader Simon Crean calls “a marriage of convenience”.

They also disagreed over the so-called Gang of Four — the powerful group that essentially ran government, made up of Ms Rudd, Ms Gillard, Wayne Swan and Lindsay Tanner.

Ms Gillard recalls for the program her doubts about the “four-person central committee” and the view she put at the time of needing to move to “a more regular decision making style”.

“It wasn’t disbanded because, I think, in Kevin’s view in particular he preferred to do business that way,” she said.

Mr Rudd replied: “That is the most creative reconstruction of the political memory that I’ve ever heard.

“I remember Julia in particular enjoyed and liked the relative secrecy of that small gathering.”

The ABC’s Sarah Ferguson grills Julia Gillard on the tumultuous years when she was in power. Source: ABC

The program will remind viewers of the Rudd successes as prime minister, including the emotionally powerful apology to the Stolen Generations of indigenous Australians.

Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry praises Mr Rudd for spotting early what later became known as the global financial crisis. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown and former US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson agree.

In March 2009, Australia recorded modest economic growth for the quarter, the only industrialised nation to avoid recession.

However, the Rudd Government’s competency was being undermined by criticism of elements of its stimulus strategy, such as the schools building program, and handling of asylum seekers. Australia had been humiliated by Sri Lankans, who had refused to leave the Customs ship Oceanic Viking until given special treatment.

It was at this time Ms Gillard was paired with Mark Arbib to implement the stimulus measures. The ambitious team of the woman from the Victorian left and the influential figure from the NSW right would cause Mr Rudd trouble.

Ms Gillard also developed a political relationship with Treasurer Wayne Swan. These two new partnerships would lead to the dumping of Mr Rudd as prime minister.

source:news.com.au

Former Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott’s Forestville home in Sydney. Source: News Corp Australia

HE owns a modest home in a modest street but Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Forestville home will land him more than a $1 million profit when he finally sells the property.

The windfall shows just how much Sydney housing prices have ballooned, blocking gen Y babies from being able to purchase their own home.

Mr Abbott sparked controversy on Monday when he said he hoped housing prices would continue to rise in contrast to his Treasury Secretary John Fraser who warned the property bubble was at risk of being “over heated”.

The Prime Minister yesterday insisted most Australians wanted house prices to rise so they could secure their future and slammed Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for wanting to destroy housing prices.

Analysis done for The Daily Telegraph showed Mr Abbott paid $351,000 in 1994 for his home and it is now worth $1.5 million. In comparison, Mr Shorten’s Melbourne home, which was purchased for $842,000 in 2009, would be worth $1 million.

“Millions of Australians have mortgages and the last thing they want to see is the decline in the most important asset,’’ Mr Abbott said.

“Just imagine how you would go if you had to repay your mortgage when your house was not worth what it was when you bought it.”

Mr Shorten said Mr Abbott “just didn’t get it” and needed a plan for younger buyers to enter the housing market.

Belle Property Seaforth agent Matt Brady said Mr Abbott’s house — with four bedrooms on 696sq m — would be worth in the “mid $1 millions” but was far from being flash.

“He lives in a modest home in a modest street,’’ he said.

Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie conceded low rates were inflating the market but said the government had to be careful tax breaks did not worsen the problem.

“Tax arrangements need to improve housing affordability not undermine it as they currently do,” she said.

Meanwhile, Australian Taxation Office acting second tax commissioner Neil Olesen confirmed the ATO were investigating 195 properties possibley purchased illegally by foreign investors at a Senate estimates hearing.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair slab of them were towards the top end of the market,” he said.

Foreign investors have also been blamed for booming housing prices.

source:news.com.au

Το διάβασμα του καφέ, του φλιτζανιού κατά άλλους, αποτελεί εδώ και πάρα πολλά χρόνια δημοφιλή πρακτική για… προβλέψεις, πλάκα ή απλά εκμετάλλευση των πιο αφελών, ωστόσο, πως πραγματικά γίνεται;

Η προετοιμασία του καφέ, όπως αναφέρει η εφημερίδα «Espresso» είναι απλή αλλά πολύ σημαντική για το… διάβασμα μετέπειτα.

Ο καφές πρέπει να ψηθεί σε σιγανή φωτιά ή σε χόβολη. Ρίχνουμε τον καφέ στο μπρίκι με το νερό, τον ανακατεύουμε και τον σερβίρουμε στο φλιτζάνι μόλις φουσκώσει, αλλά χωρίς να βράσει.

Εδώ αρχίζουν τα «δύσκολα» καθώς ο ενδιαφερόμενος πρέπει προτού πιει τον καφέ να τον «μελετήσει» δηλαδή να εκφράσει μέσα του το ερώτημα για το οποίο αναζητά απαντήσεις.

Αφού τον πιείτε, γυρίζετε κυκλικά το φλιτζάνι δύο – τρεις φορές για να διαλυθεί το κατακάθι και μετά το αναποδογυρίζετε στο πιατάκι, όπου θα το αφήσετε για περίπου 5 λεπτά, ώσπου να στεγνώσει ο καφές στα τοιχώματα και είμαστε έτοιμοι για να αρχίσουμε το διάβασμα.

Οι πληροφορίες, σύμφωνα πάντα με την εφημερίδα, ισχύουν για περίπου έναν χρόνο και ανάλογα με τη θέση του συμβόλου μέσα στο φλιτζάνι είναι δυνατόν να καταλάβουμε πόσο κοντινό ή μακρινό είναι το γεγονός.

Οσο πιο κοντά στο χείλος βρίσκεται το σύμβολο τόσο πιο γρήγορα θα συμβεί αυτό που βλέπουμε. Μπορεί να συμβεί σήμερα ή το πολύ μέσα σε 2-3 εβδομάδες.

Οσο η ανάγνωση προχωράει προς τον πάτο απομακρύνεται ο χρόνος που θα εμφανιστούν τα γεγονότα, ενώ κάτω κάτω εμφανίζονται γεγονότα που μπορεί να απέχουν 11 – 12 μήνες.

Τα σύμβολα που εμφανίζονται αριστερά από το χερούλι αφορούν το παρελθόν. Η πλευρά του φλιτζανιού στην οποία βρίσκεται το χερούλι αντιστοιχεί στην προσωπική μας ζωή, ενώ η απέναντι πλευρά αντιστοιχεί στην κοινωνική ζωή και στα απρόοπτα.

Τα σύμβολα και η σημασία τους

Παρακάτω παρατίθενται αναλυτικά τα σύμβολα και η σημασία τους, όπως τα δημοσιεύει η Espresso :

Γράμματα και αριθμοί

Τα γράμματα αφορούν ένα άτομο του οποίου το όνομα ή το επίθετο ξεκινά από το αντίστοιχο γράμμα, ενώ οι αριθμοί, ανάλογα τη θέση τους, μπορεί να σημαίνουν ημέρες, μήνες ή ημερομηνία.

Γεωμετρικά σχήματα

Τρίγωνα: Καλή τύχη ή απρόσμενη εύνοια, δώρα ή χρήματα, ενώ ένα ανάποδο τρίγωνο σημαίνει ότι κάποιος φίλος θα ζητήσει τη βοήθειά σας.

Τετράγωνα: Προστασία, περιορισμοί ή το ξεκίνημα μιας ευτυχισμένης σχέσης.

Κύκλοι: Ερμηνεύονται ως απογοήτευση, τέλος μιας υπόθεσης, ειδήσεις, γύρισμα της τύχης, γάμος ή βελτίωση της κοινωνικής θέσης σας.

Ευθείες γραμμές: Προγράμματα και αποφασιστικότητα. οι κυματιστές δυσκολίες και αβεβαιότητα ή ένα θαλασσινό ταξίδι, οι γραμμές με τελίτσες συμβολίζουν ένα ταξίδι ή χρήματα και οι παύλες ένα νέο

ξεκίνημα.

Τρεις τελείες: Θα κάνετε καινούργιους φίλους ή θα ξεκινήσετε μια περιπέτεια. Αν βρίσκονται πολύ κοντά η μια στην άλλη, θα χρειαστεί να κάνετε υπομονή.

Mικρές κάθετες γραμμές: Ενα ταξίδι θα σας φέρει τύχη.

Σύμβολα

Βέλος: Σύντομα θα πάρετε μια απόφαση! Αν δείχνει προς τα πάνω, το αποτέλεσμα θα είναι θετικό, ενώ αν δείχνει προς τα κάτω, καλύτερα να έχετε κάποιες επιφυλάξεις.

Αετός: Επιτυχία, τα όνειρά σας θα πραγματοποιηθούν, αλλά πρέπει να κάνετε υπομονή μέχρι να συμβεί αυτό.

Καμπάνα: Καλά νέα και χαρές, ίσως και γάμος.

Λάμπα ή γράμματα: Αποκαλύψεις! Τα γράμματα σχετίζονται με αρχικά ατόμων ή τόπων.

Αυτί: Θα ακούσετε κάτι, προσωπικά ή από το τηλέφωνο. Μπορεί να πιστεύετε ό,τι σας λένε χωρίς να το εξετάζετε σε βάθος.

Αλογο: Γρήγορες εξελίξεις! Μια καινούργια συνεργασία ή ένα ταξίδι.

Παιδί: Γρήγορες εξελίξεις ή ειδήσεις, ίσως και η πραγματοποίηση ενός δημιουργικού έργου.

Κουνέλι: Ειδήσεις από ένα φιλικό πρόσωπο οι οποίες μπορεί να συνδέονται με επαγγελματική ή προσωπική δημιουργία.

Φιόγκος: Επιτυχία, τύχη. Ισως παραβρεθείτε σε μια χαρούμενη συνάντηση.

Μέλισσα: Οι προσπάθειές σας θα ευοδωθούν.

Σκύλος: Εχετε πιστούς φίλους.

Ψάρι: Ψυχική ωριμότητα. Μπορείτε να βοηθήσετε τους άλλους με τις γνώσεις σας.

Σπίτι: Καλή τύχη και αρμονία στην οικογένεια.

Φύλλα: Νέα από παλιούς φίλους ή νέες γνωριμίες.

Αμφορέας: Επιτυχία.

Αγγελος: Ισχυρό σύμβολο προστασίας! Η παρουσία του ακυρώνει άλλα τυχόν αρνητικά σύμβολα που έχουν εμφανιστεί.

Αυγό: Αύξηση και επέκταση.

Κλειδί: Κάτι θετικό ανοίγει. Μπορεί να προμηνύει επίσης μετακόμιση ή να σας αποκαλύπτει ότι θα κερδίσετε την καρδιά κάποιου.

Σκάλα: Προαγωγή ή άνοδος.

Βουνό: Πρόοδος έπειτα από προσπάθεια.

Ηλιος που ανατέλλει: Θα εκπληρωθούν αναπάντεχα οι προσδοκίες σας.

Λιοντάρι: Ισχυρή βοήθεια! Διαθέτετε και οι ίδιοι γενναιότητα που θα σας βοηθήσει στις προσπάθειές σας.

Καλάθι: Θα λάβετε κάποιο δώρο.

Μισοφέγγαρο: Προσφορά! Αν βρίσκεται δίπλα σε κάποιο γράμμα, η προσφορά αυτή θα προέρχεται από ένα άτομο του οποίου το όνομα ξεκινά από το συγκεκριμένο γράμμα.

Σταυρός: Δόξα και αναγνώριση.

Ανοιχτή ομπρέλα: Προστασία από κινδύνους κάθε είδους.

Καρδιά: Αγάπη.

Κιθάρα: Νέο ειδύλλιο.

Δαχτυλίδι: Γάμος. Αν όμως είναι σπασμένο, σημαίνει διαζύγιο.

Παγόνι: Εύνοια στα οικονομικά.

Κάστρο: Απροσδόκητα κέρδη.

Κεφαλαίο Π: Μια πύλη ή μεγάλη πόρτα, όπως δικαστήριο, δημόσια υπηρεσία ή πανεπιστήμιο.

Πουλιά: Ταξίδι συνοδευόμενο από καλά νέα.

Αεροπλάνο: Αεροπορικό ταξίδι ή η επιθυμία σας να ταξιδέψετε κάπου μακριά.

Μανιτάρι: Ευχάριστο ταξίδι με αναπάντεχες εξελίξεις.

Αστέρι: Ενα χαρούμενο ταξίδι που θα σας ανοίξει νέες προοπτικές.

Πεταλούδα: Μια ασταθής φιλία ή θα πρέπει να δείξετε αποφασιστικότητα.

Σημαία: Προσέξτε τους φίλους σας, γιατί μεταξύ τους ίσως να υπάρχει κάποιο αναξιόπιστο άτομο.

Κεφαλαίο Υ: Θα συναντήσετε έναν παλιό φίλο που θα σας βοηθήσει.

Χέρι: Θα δώσετε ή θα λάβετε χείρα βοηθείας.

Σύννεφα: Απογοητεύσεις που όμως δεν θα κρατήσουν πολύ.

Φίδια: Συκοφαντίες και εχθροί.

Πίθηκος: Κρυφός εχθρός ή άτομο που προσπαθεί να σας εκμεταλλευτεί.

Γάτα: Απάτες και ψέματα.

Γουρούνι: Ζήλια ή πρέπει να προσέχετε τις επιλογές σας.

Μάτι: Κάποιος σας φθονεί ή σας παρακολουθεί με ενδιαφέρον.

Μπότα: Απότομη αλλαγή στο κοντινό περιβάλλον σας.

Τύμπανο: Σας περιμένουν σκάνδαλα.

Οπλα: Κίνδυνοι και καβγάδες.

Μαχαίρι: Διενέξεις ή πρέπει να προσέχετε τη γλώσσα σας.

Σφυρί: Σκληρή δουλειά, που θα σας βοηθήσει να ξεπεράσετε τις δυσκολίες.

Πηγή:madata.gr

In sign that their patience is running out, international lenders are hashing out a deal to present outright to Athens

Greece’s international creditors late on Monday were preparing the text of a final bailout deal to present to the Athens government, in a sign that lenders are running out of patience after months of stalled talks.

Officials from European institutions and the International Monetary Fund sent a draft text on the economic overhauls that Greece needs to implement to unlock bailout financing to a meeting in Berlin of key European leaders, said people familiar with the matter.

Leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, IMF head Christine Lagarde and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gathered in Berlin on Monday night to try to work out what one official involved in the talks called a final offer to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Monday’s flurry of diplomatic activity could mark a turning point in the monthslong standoff between the eurozone, the IMF and Mr. Tsipras’s government, led by the left-wing Syriza party. After four months of stalemate, the creditors’ drafting of an effective ultimatum could be the start of a drive to reach a breakthrough within days.

After balking at accepting painful belt-tightening measures during months of fruitless talks, Mr. Tsipras now could be presented with a take-it-or-leave-it draft agreement, posing a stark dilemma for his government.

Rejecting the deal could plunge Greece into default, capital controls and a potential exit from the euro. Accepting it could split Syriza, which won election in January on a promise to stop and reverse the austerity that Greece’s lenders have forced the country to accept as the price of emergency loans since 2010.

Officials from Greece’s creditors have said not enough progress has been made in talks with Greece’s government so far, with key differences persisting on thorny issues such as pension and labor-market overhauls as well as on the size of the country’s primary budget surpluses—which exclude interest payments—over the next few years.

The draft agreement aims to set out overhauls Athens needs to accept to access its next slice of financial aid of up to €7.2 billion ($7.9 billion).

Greece is under pressure to agree to creditors’ policy demands as it runs dangerously low on cash. Athens is believed to have enough left to repay a €300 million loan to the IMF on June 5, but probably lacks the money to pay a further €1.25 billion of IMF loans in mid-June unless it raids pension funds.

Earlier on Monday, Germany signaled a tough stance on Greece’s bailout package, doubling down on demands for broad economic overhauls ahead of the top-level Berlin meeting.

Ms. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Greece has to agree to a “far-reaching reform package.” The finance ministry echoed the call, saying Greece must overhaul its labor market, change its service sector and pursue privatization.

“The aim of these individual measures is to restore Greece’s debt sustainability,” German Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jäger said.

Ms. Merkel and Mr. Hollande held a conference call with Mr. Tsipras on Sunday, the second time in four days the three spoke by phone.

In public, Greece continues to reject its creditors’ demands for painful pension cuts and short-term fiscal-austerity measures.

“The lack of an agreement…is due to the insistence of certain institutional actors on submitting absurd proposals and displaying a total indifference to the recent democratic choice of the Greek people,” Mr. Tsipras wrote in an article published Sunday in the French newspaper Le Monde.

But European officials familiar with the talks say the Athens leadership is showing more flexibility in private discussions on pensions and other difficult issues, signaling it knows it will have to make hard concessions.

The officials say a deal will require turning those signals into concrete policy measures, including curbing pension costs that are straining Greece’s budget. And even once a policy package is agreed, Mr. Tsipras could face a rebellion from parts of Syriza over concessions that go against the party’s ideology and election promises.

A failure of the talks with creditors could force Greece to leave the euro, Europe’s common currency, economists say.

Watching closely is the public in Germany, where politicians and news media have questioned the wisdom of putting billions more taxpayer euros on the line for Greece and have criticized the Tsipras government’s aggressive negotiating style.

Mr. Juncker, who heads the European Union’s executive arm, said in a German newspaper interview published Monday that a Greek exit from the euro “is not an option” in part because it would damage international faith in the currency.

Mr. Juncker’s chief of staff, Martin Selmayr, said in a talk in Berlin on Monday that Greece leaving the euro would lead to the country going bankrupt, which would in turn touch off a crisis that Europe would probably need to address with development aid.

“For the German taxpayer, it won’t be cheaper, guaranteed,” if Greece were to leave the euro, Mr. Selmayr said. There is no alternative to reaching an agreement with Athens, he added, “because the alternative would be even worse than to make compromises now.”

source:wsj.com

NO, it wasn’t just you – Tuesday really was colder than normal.

Weatherzone meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the Hunter shivered through its coldest June 2 in at least 12 years on Tuesday as temperatures in the region dropped unusually low.
But the Hunter had plenty of company wishing for warmer climates, with a mass of cold air forcing temperatures down from southern Queensland to Tasmania.

“Sydney had its coldest day this early in the season since 1987 and Adelaide had its coldest since 1986,” Mr Sharpe said.
At Nobbys temperatures swooped down to 6.9 degrees at 7am, Mr Sharpe said, lower than the 10.3 degrees at midnight.

You could be forgiven for distrusting the mercury though, with the apparent temperature at the same time a frosty 3.2 degrees.

“It’s the coldest this early in the season [at Nobbys] in at least 12 years.”
Cooranbong hit 8 degrees at 5am, its coldest since midnight, while Scone dipped below zero from 4am until warming back up to freezing point at 7.30am.
Mr Sharpe said winds were pushing a build-up of colder air towards the coast from the Hunter’s west.

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“The reason it was so cold this morning is we’ve had the strongest cold front for the season move through yesterday,” he said.

“It’s pretty widespread.”

Mr Sharpe said he expected temperatures to increase over the next few days, with highs anticipated to reach the 20 degree mark by Sunday.

source:theherald.com.au