Monthly Archives: July 2015

Greeks queued outside banks on Monday as they reopened three weeks after closing to stop the system collapsing, the first cautious sign of a return to normal after a deal to start talks on a new package of bailout reforms.

However limits on withdrawals will remain and payments and wire transfers abroad will still not be possible – a situation which German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday was “not a normal life” and warranted swift negotiations on a new bailout, expected to be worth up to 86 billion euros.

The stock market will also remain closed until further notice. Increases in value added tax agreed under the bailout terms have also taken effect with VAT on food and public transport jumping to 23 percent from 13 percent.

The bank closures were the most visible sign of the crisis that took Greece to the brink of falling out of the euro earlier this month, potentially undermining the foundations of the single European currency.

Their reopening followed Tsipras acceptance of a tough package of bailout demands from European partners but a party revolt has threatened the stability of his government and government officials have said that new elections may be held as early as September or October.

Queues formed outside bank branches in central Athens as long-suffering Greeks waited to take care of business frozen during the three week-long bank holiday.

“Things are better than the last few weeks. Thank God we didn’t end up with the drachma!” said 62-year-old pensioner Maria Papadopoulou. “I came to pay bills and my taxes today. Last week I couldn’t and all of this is very tiring for the older people like me.”

Limits on cash withdrawals have been made slightly more flexible, with a weekly limit of 420 euros in place of the daily 60 euro limit previously.

“Capital controls and restrictions on withdrawals will remain in place but we are entering a new stage which we all hope will be one of normality,” said Louka Katseli, head of the Greek bank association.

Greeks will be able to deposit cheques but not cash, pay bills as well as have access to safety deposit boxes and withdraw money without an ATM card.

Bankers said there may be minor disruptions after the three-week interruption to services but they expected services to resume largely as normal.

“I don’t expect major problems, our network and the network of our competitors are ready to serve our clients,” said a senior official at Piraeus Bank, one of the big four lenders. “There might be lines because many people will want to withdraw money from their deposit boxes,” the official said.

After European authorities agreed last week to provide emergency funding assistance, Athens is expected to meet a payment deadline for 4.2 billion euros (2.9 billion pounds), including interest payments, due to the European Central Bank on Monday.

Wednesday vote

Tsipras is eyeing a fresh start and swift talks on the bailout aimed at keeping Greece afloat but he still faces hurdles with parts of the ruling Syriza party in revolt over the tough terms of the bailout agreement.

The Greek parliament approved the bailout package on Thursday but the 40 year-old prime minister was forced to rely on votes from the opposition after 39 rebels from his Syriza party refused to back the government, by voting against or abstaining.

A second vote will be held on Wednesday, on measures including justice and banking reforms, when a similar outcome is expected. However the voting arithmetic is finely poised.

Together with his coalition partners from the right-wing Independent Greeks party, Tsipras has 162 seats in the 300-seat parliament but Thursday’s rebellion cut his support to just 123 votes. Under Greek constitutional rules, the minimum support needed for a minority government is 120, so if the number falls below that level, the government’s future would be in doubt.

“What worries me is that some people still think that there would be no austerity if we were out of the euro. This argument is absolutely false,” State Minister Nikos Pappas, one of Tsipras’ closest aides told the leftist Efimerida Ton Syntakton newspaper.

Acceptance of the bailout terms that meant the banks could reopen marked a turnaround for Tsipras after months of difficult talks and a referendum that rejected a less stringent deal proposed by the lenders.

The bailout terms include tax hikes, pension cuts, strict curbs on public spending, an overhaul of collective bargaining rules and a transfer of 50 billion euros of state assets into a special privatisation fund.

source:ekathimerini.com

Mick Fanning’s mother has described how her terror turned into overwhelming relief as she watched her son fight off a huge shark at the J-Bay Open surf competition in South Africa.

Elizabeth Osborne was watching the competition live on TV when a large shark stalked and then attacked her champion surfer son, who was in shock after his near-death experience.

Shedding tears, Ms Osborne told the ABC that her late son Sean, who died in a car crash almost 17 years ago, was watching over his brother.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen happen to any of my family because it was just there in front of me,” she said.

“When Sean was killed in the car accident, I didn’t see it. I saw this just in front of me. It was just terrible.” Ms Osborne described the moment she watched the shark’s fin surface behind her son, and the agony of watching him fight for his life.

“We always say in our family, ‘we never give up and we never give in’. And he didn’t. He’s such a fighter,” she said.

“I’m just so thankful and so proud of Mick and so grateful to the universe that he didn’t have a leg missing.”

Fanning said he may not compete again. After being rescued from the water in the wake of the dramatic attack during which he punched and wrestled the large shark, a shaken Fanning teared up, confessing: “I’m happy to not ever compete again.”

Fanning was in the final with fellow Australian Julian Wilson when the drama began. Live video footage of the World Surf League event shows Fanning being pushed from his board after the appearance of an enormous fin behind him.

When it became clear that the situation was serious, the cameras panned to a wide shot and for tense minutes, with Fanning lost to view, there were grave fears for the three-time world champion. What the cameras couldn’t show was the surfer punching and wrestling the shark.

After being pulled safely onto a jetski with no damage, apart from a severed leg rope, Fanning described the dramatic moments when the shark struck.

“I was just sitting there and I felt something grab or get stuck in my leg rope and I instantly just jumped away,” he said. “It just kept coming at my board and I was kicking and screaming. I just saw fins, I didn’t see any teeth. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me as I was swimming. I punched it in the back.”

He said the frightening attack happened when he was “just cruising.”

“All of a sudden I had this instinct that something was behind me. I started getting pulled underwater and then the thing came up and I was on my board and it was right there. I saw the whole thing thrashing around but I was getting dragged under by my legrope. I felt like it kicked me off but it was still there going and I was still attached to my board. I felt like I punched it a couple of times and then it was dragging me and then my leg rope broke.

“I started swimming and screaming and yelling at Jules to move as well, but he was coming at me. What a legend, coming after me. I was swimming in and I turned around and I had this thought, what happens if it comes to have another go at me, so I turned around so I could at least see it coming. Before I knew it the boat was there, the jet skis were there and we were in safely. I just can’t believe it.”

An emotional Wilson said he thought Fanning hadn’t survived the attack when he disappeared from view.

“I saw the whole thing pop up behind him. It came up and he was wrestling it. I saw him get knocked off his board and then a wave popped up and I thought, ‘He’s gone’. I felt like I couldn’t get there quick enough. The results don’t mean anything to me, I’m just happy he’s alive. I literally thought when I was paddling for him that I wasn’t going to get there in time, especially when I saw him off his board and swimming away. I thought it was going to grab him and take him under. I’m so happy we’re both on the beach right now, I was so worried about Mick’s life.”

Both surfers were transferred to the safety boat, which had been stationed adjacent to the break throughout the contest in the case of just such an incident.

Interviewed by commentatory Peter Mel immediately afterwards, Fanning said, “I was just sitting there. I felt something get stuck in my legrope. I instantly jumped and it kept coming at my board.

“I just saw a fin. I didn’t see teeth. I was just waiting for the teeth to come at me!”

Asked by commentator Peter Mel if he took a swing, Fanning said, “I punched it in the back.”

The final was cancelled, and the two surfers shared the prize money and world-title points.

This is the first time a pro contest has been put on hold because of a shark attack, but not the first time a shark has frightened competitors.

At the same event in 2007, Australian Mick Lowe saw what he thought was a great white. “I saw a shark,” he said at the time. “It did a U-turn, and it was no dolphin.”

In 2003, Australian Taj Burrow cut a heat short at Jeffreys Bay when he saw a monster shark swim under his board.

On both occasions, the contest went ahead, without incident.

In October 2013, a man was attacked and killed by a shark while snorkelling close to the shore at Jeffreys Bay. And in June last year, the line-up at Jeffreys Bay was cleared when a 2m shark was spotted swimming between two of the 50 surfers in the water.

On that occasion, the first person to paddle back out was South African pro surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who recently told The Australian that great whites were endangered, and not the problem. “More people in the water and humans fishing out the sharks’ food supply is the problem,” he said.

This is the first time a pro contest has been cancelled by a shark attack, but not the first time a shark has frightened competitors.

At the same event in 2007, Australian Mick Lowe saw what he thought was a great white. “I saw a shark,” he said at the time. “It did a U-turn, and it was no dolphin.”

In 2003, Australian Taj Burrow cut a heat short at Jeffreys Bay when he saw a monster shark swim under his board.

On both occasions, the contest went ahead, without incident.

In October 2013, a man was attacked and killed by a shark while snorkelling close to the shore at Jeffreys Bay. And in June last year, the line-up at Jeffreys Bay was cleared when a 2m shark was spotted swimming between two of the 50 surfers in the water.

On that occasion, the first person to paddle back out was South African pro surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who recently told The Australian that great whites were endangered, and not the problem. “More people in the water and humans fishing out the sharks’ food supply is the problem,” he said.

source:theaustralian.com.au

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said Speaker Bronwyn Bishop is “on probation” for claiming a helicopter ride from Melbourne to Geelong to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser last year, costing taxpayers $5227. 

Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Monday, Mr Abbott also said that he is “unhappy” about the ongoing scandal and that the Speaker has “copped a justifiable hiding”.

However, Mr Abbott said Mrs Bishop “has been a strong servant of our country, she has been a good servant of the Coalition and so she does have my confidence”: Photo: Andrew Meares

“I can really understand why people are unhappy about this,” Mr Abbott said. “Frankly, I’m unhappy about it as well.”

“She has been a strong Speaker…she has been a strong servant of our country, she has been a good servant of the Coalition and so she does have my confidence but like everyone who has done something like this, inevitably, for a period of time, they are on probation.”

While Mrs Bishop has paid back the money for the flight – plus a $1300 penalty – she has not apologised for the matter.

However, Mr Abbott said he believed the Bishop was “contrite” and “apologetic” over “this serious lapse of judgment”, and she will “learn a very salutary lesson”.

“Bronwyn is, I think, very, very contrite about this. I’ve had a couple of long conversations with her about it,” Mr Abbott said. “And I think all of us can learn this lesson, but my priority today is to get on with providing the best possible government for our country.”

Earlier Social Services Minister Scott Morrison suggested he would have apologised if involved in an expenses scandal like Mrs Bishop’s.

“When I had an error in one of my own arrangements…and it came to my attention, I fixed it and I made that sort of a statement,” Mr Morrison said on 2GB radio.

In 2013, Mr Morrison returned $354 after incorrectly claiming for a night’s hotel stay while in Melbourne for a wedding.

The comments come the morning it was revealed Mrs Bishop failed to check her expenses claim before signing off on it, entrusting her staff with the details.

She also reportedly chartered another flight to a Liberal fundraiser in regional NSW, five days after the infamous helicopter ride.

source:smh.com.au

A JUVENILE humpback whale that became caught in a shark net in waters off the Gold Coast has been partially freed from the tangle.

Whale-watching tour boats spotted the distressed juvenile on Saturday morning and alerted rescuers at Sea World.

Channel Seven reported rescuers had removed about 80 per cent of the netting from the whale’s body before it swam away.

“It would thrash the lower half of its body to one side as if it was trying to free itself,” Sea World’s Mitchell LeRoy told the network.

“We are notifying the fisheries departments up and down the coast — they’ll keep an eye out and we will get reports as the animal moves forwards.”
Sea World staff were forced to euthanise a humpback whale calf after it repeatedly stranded itself on the Gold Coast last week.

Humpback whale pods migrate from the feeding grounds of Antarctica, around New Zealand and then up Australia’s east coast during winter months.

Passengers on whale watching boats reported seeing the whale trapped in netting.

Jonathan Northall tweeted a photo and video of the whale taken aboard a Sea World whale cruise on which he was a passenger this morning.

source:couriermail.com.au

Washington: In a shocking incident, a 10-year-old Brazilian girl has given birth after complaining of having a stomach ache at school.

The girl was taken to the hospital by her teachers where doctors discovered she was in the later stages of labour.

The schoolgirl from southeast Brazil was found to be seven months pregnant.

Despite the girl’s age, the baby was delivered safely last week, ‘Metro.Co.Uk’ reported.

It is believed that the girl became pregnant after her 40-year-old stepfather, who has been accused of rape of a child and illegal possession of firearms, allegedly abused her.

The girl’s mother said she was unaware the child was pregnant and had not noticed her daughter’s stomach was larger than normal.

The girl told police that her stepfather had threatened to kill her mother and brother if she ever revealed the abuse, the report said.

source:zeenews.india.com

Hundreds of anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters have rallied against each other in aggressive demonstrations across Australia.

Five people were arrested in Sydney on Sunday, a day after violent clashes in Melbourne.Two people were injured when more than 150 Reclaim Australia protesters marched in Martin Place in Sydney, some wearing ancient Greek army costumes and others with Australian flags draped over their shoulders.

George Jameson, rallying with Reclaim Australia in a replica Spartan military outfit, said they weren’t racists and had come together to stand for freedom of speech.’Both my parents are immigrants,’ he told AAP.

‘They both came from the former Yugoslav Republic, how can I be a racist? I’m a first-gen Aussie.’I’m (here) for freedom of speech and democracy.’Police separated the group from a a loud counter-protest gathering, whose members waved banners with the words ‘no Racism, no Islamophobia’.

Protester Linc Saunders said some in the Reclaim Australia camp had different intentions.’There are people amongst them (who) spout online pro neo-Nazi propaganda – I think that just shows who we are up against here.’

People were nearly trampled in Perth as police kicked out numerous protesters from the Rally Against Racism group.The group shouted ‘Muslims are welcome, racists are not’ through megaphones as they battled with the Reclaim Australia protesters to drown each other out with chants and speeches.

Two dozen police officers on foot and horse maintained a human barrier between the groups.

In Canberra, about 200 anti-racism protesters outnumbered about 50 people marching for Reclaim Australia, with the first group marching to federal parliament while chanting ‘racist scum off our streets’.

Despite the heated tensions, there were no reports of arrests at the Queensland rallies, which were held at Mackay, Brisbane, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Cairns and the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

Federal government MP George Christensen delivered on his promise to attend the Mackay Reclaim Australia rally, dismissing criticism from Labor.The member for Dawson said the spread of repressive ideologies must not be confused with religion.’

I refer to the slow spread of sharia-style dispensation of justice, which is quietly executed in Australian mosques, unfortunately, on a daily basis,’ he said.’Yet we don’t dare speak of it because we will be instantly attacked as racists.’

Earlier, Labor leader Bill Shorten said the prime minister should not allow his MPs to stir up trouble by attending the rallies.The mood at Sunday’s rallies was at times aggressive but did not reach the level of violence witnessed at a similar rally in Melbourne on Saturday.

Police had resorted to capsicum spray and arrested at least four people in Melbourne as they battled to keep the two sides apart.

source:skynews.com.au

The Greek striker joined Albion on a two-year deal last August, but was restricted to just eight appearances for the Premier League club in all competitions, all off the bench.

Samaras spent the second half of last season on loan at Al Hilal, and has now agreed to leave The Hawthorns, with a possible return to Celtic mooted as well as a move to Melbourne City, the city where his father was born.

The 30-year-old enjoyed a trophy-laden six years at Scottish champion Celtic, netting 71 goals in 243 appearances.

source:theworldgame.sbs.com.au

Ο γορίλας Τζάμπο έγινε διάσημος από την ευγένεια που επέδειξε όταν ένα 5χρονο αγοράκι έπεσε στο χώρο που ήταν περιφραγμένοι οι γορίλες στον ζωολογικό κήπο Τζέρσεϊ της Αγγλίας.

Το περιστατικό αυτό διέλυσε τον μύθο ότι οι γορίλες είναι πάντα άγριοι και επικίνδυνοι.

Δείτε το βίντεο!

Πηγή:madata.gr

Vocal protesters and police are out in force as more anti-racist and anti-Islamist rallies get underway nationwide, after violence erupted at protests rallies in Melbourne yesterday.

In Sydney’s Martin Place scuffles between Reclaim Australia protesters and anti-racism protesters have been reported despite a heavy police presence including specialist officers.

One man was arrested before the protests over the alleged assault of police, while a group of demonstrators were forcibly removed by police to an area further down in Martin Place which was agreed to by rally organisers.

Police said they had worked with rally organisers to ensure the protests were conducted safely but that officers would respond swiftly to violent or disruptive behaviour.

Reclaim Australia called supporters to gather for what organisers have described as “a public response to the shock of recent atrocities of Islam’s radicals both inside and outside of Australia”.

Hundreds were also expected to protest against bigotry, xenophobia and Islamophobia.

“We will not tolerate any criminal, anti-social or dangerous behaviour,” Assistant Commissioner Alan Clarke said in a statement.

“If you choose to do the wrong thing you’ll be removed and dealt with appropriately.

“The same goes for anyone who attempts to cause disharmony or incite conflict with those who may hold opposing views.”

The Sydney rallies are among a number being held in cities across Australia today including Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart and Perth.

In Queensland, a Reclaim Australia rally in Mackay is to be addressed by federal Coalition MP George Christensen, while former federal MP Pauline Hanson made an appearance in Rockhampton.

Ms Hanson told the crowd she was “against the spread of Islam” and that Australia was changing and that she did not like it.

Violent clashes in Melbourne yesterday saw hundreds of police called in and officers used capsicum spray to subdue the crowds.

Bottles were thrown and protesters from both sides were punched and kicked as they clashed.

In Adelaide there were tense scenes as Reclaim Australia and anti-racism demonstrators converged at Parliament House..

Organisers of today’s Rally Against Racism in Perth say they want to challenge Reclaim Australia without resorting to violence.

“We’re not going there with any intention of being violent in any way, we are actually there to challenge the violence, the ideological violence of the people in Reclaim Australia,” organiser Miranda Wood said.

“Hate speech is not welcome and we will be there to challenge it.”

source:abc.net.au