Monthly Archives: August 2015

Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Nick Kyrgios will escape further penalties for his insults directed at French Open champion Stan Wawrinka provided he stays out of further trouble for six months.

The 20-year-old Australian faces a $US25,000 ($34,728) fine and a 28-day suspension from the ATP World Tour if he is fined for “verbal or physical abuse” or receives penalties of more than $US5000 ($6946) for other offences at ATP events before February 24, the men’s tour said in a statement on Monday.

The ATP had already fined Krygios $US12,500 ($17,364) for two incidents during a match against Wawrinka two weeks ago at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The world no. 37 was heard on camera making lewd suggestions regarding Wawrinka’s girlfriend Donna Vekic and another Australian player, Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Gayle David Bradshaw, executive vice-president, rules & competition at the ATP, called the incident “egregious and reflected poorly on our sport”.

She added Kyrgios had “expressed regret, and the best result would be that he learns a lesson from this incident and that he understands he is responsible to the tour and to fellow players for both his actions and his words. It is with these factors in mind I feel he should have the opportunity to ‘earn’ his way out of additional sanctions”.

The ATP said at the time of the incident that it would start an investigation into his behaviour. The maximum penalty for aggravated behaviour or “conduct contrary to the integrity of the game”, is a $US100,000 ($138,914) fine and a three-year ban.

source:smh.com.au

More than $US5 trillion has been erased from the value of global equities since China unexpectedly devalued the yuan on August 11. Photo: Reuters

A wave of selling has gripped global markets overnight, setting up another bloodbath today for Australian markets.

US stocks joined selloffs in Europe and Asia, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index tumbling toward its first correction in almost four years. Chinese shares sank the most since 2007 and stocks in Germany headed for a bear market.

Commodities fell to a 16-year low as crude plunged 4.1 per cent. The yen strengthened and 10-year Treasury yields slid below 2 per cent for the first time since April.

“There is no doubt that the panic begets panic in this market,” Michael Holland, chairman at Holland & Co, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Yet you called Black Friday, we certainly have Black Monday morning starting for us, so it’s a psychological thing. It’s pervasive. It’s everywhere.”

More than $US5 trillion has been erased from the value of global equities since China unexpectedly devalued the yuan on August 11, fuelling concern that the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy is worse than anticipated. The rout is shaking confidence that the global economy will be strong enough to withstand higher US interest rates, even as bets ease on a September increase.

Black Tuesday on the way for ASX

On Monday, the ASX experienced its worst day since the GFC, finishing the day over 4.1 per cent down at 5001.3 points, the lowest level in more than two years. Investors are bracing for more pain on Tuesday. with the futures pointing to a drop of around 200 points (or 4 per cent) at the open.

Wall Street slides, volatility explodes

US stocks have finished sharply lower but far above the session’s floor following a bruising day in global financial markets sparked by mounting worries over the Chinese economy.

The broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 77.68 points (3.94 per cent) to 1,893.21 on Monday, pushing the index into “correction” territory, normally defined as a loss of 10 per cent or more.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 588.47 (3.58 per cent) to 15,871.28, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 179.79 (3.82 per cent) at 4,526.25.

US stocks were in the red all day after the latest plunge in the Shanghai equity index ignited another round of turmoil in global equity markets. Bourses in England, France and Germany all fell at least 4.5 per cent.

But the main Wall Street indices finished well above their lows for the session. The Dow fell more than 1,000 points, or six per cent, after the opening bell, but soon recovered some of those losses. The Nasdaq was down more than 9.0 per cent at one point.

Overshoot eyed for shareholder value

The S&P 500’s rout sent valuations tumbling. The price-to- earnings ratio for the gauge sank to 16.76, the lowest level since the October pullback. Then, the measure bottomed just above 16.50, the cheapest since January 2014.

“It may overshoot in the near term to the downside, creating value for shareholders,” said Jeff Mortimer, the Boston-based director of investment strategy for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, which oversees almost $US193 billion. “We are looking at those companies that don’t have as much international exposure,” and instructing portfolio managers to steer clear of large-caps.

Selling eased after the open, as investors sought opportunities among the biggest declines. The Dow lost nearly 1100 points before cutting that slide in half, while the S&P 500 fell more than 5 per cent in the first 10 minutes of trading.

“As prices go lower, we see selective opportunities to buy as opposed to a provocation to become more bearish,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, the private-banking unit of KeyCorp that oversees more than $US25 billion in assets. “We’re emphasising large-caps relative to smaller ones” and within the US, companies that are less export-oriented, he said.

Some prominent money managers and forecasts said the selling has gone too far, too fast. Jonathan Golub, chief market strategist at RBC Capital Markets, says the bloodbath in biotechnology and tech stocks is temporary, and investors should buy back the best performers of 2015.

More selling tipped

Laszlo Birinyi, the investor whose bullish calls have repeatedly come true since 2009, says that while the selloff lashing global equities is painful, its cause is no mystery – and that’s a reason for optimism.

“When the issues are on the table, the market will do what it has to to adjust and come out OK on the other end,” Birinyi, the president of Birinyi Associates in Westport, Connecticut, said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio’s “Surveillance” with Michael McKee. “That other end may be a while, and it may not be fun getting there.”

Doug Ramsey, the chief investment officer of Leuthold Weeden Capital Management LLC, whose quantitative research into market breadth, valuation and investor sentiment foreshadowed the drubbing in American stocks last week, says the selling will worsen.

All but three of the shares in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated Monday, driving the gauge down 4.5 per cent. Germany’s DAX Index retreated 3.9 per cent, taking the decline from its peak in April to more than 20 per cent.

London’s FTSE 1000 plugned 4.67 per cent to 5898.

Investors withdrew $US1.9 billion from US exchange-traded funds that buy in emerging-market stocks and bonds last week, the most since March.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 1.8 per cent, heading for the lowest closing level since August 1999.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crudes both traded at six-year lows of $US43.48 and $US38.89 a barrel, respectively. Gold, a haven for investors during volatile trading, was little changed at $US1159.60 an ounce, erasing earlier losses, while copper slipped 3.1 per cent.

Resource currencies lead declines

Currencies of basic resource-producing countries led declines, with the ruble tumbling 2.5 per cent to 70.86 per dollar and Malaysia’s ringgit sliding 1.8 per cent to a fresh 17-year low. South Africa’s rand dropped 2.1 per cent and New Zealand’s currency weakened 1.8 per cent.

Turkey’s lira retreated 1.2 per cent. A deadline for a coalition government passed, putting the country on course for its second parliamentary election this year.

The yen advanced with the euro as Treasuries rallied amid speculation the global selloff will forestall the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate increase since 2006.

Japan’s currency jumped 1.8 per cent to 119.95 per dollar, the strongest since May 19 and the euro climbed for a fourth day against the dollar, strengthening to $US1.15 for the first time since February.

Fed funds futures now show a probability of a December rate increase at 51 per cent versus 61 per cent on Friday. Bets on the first increase in rates in almost a decade in September fell to 28 per cent, down from 34 per cent. The calculation is based on the assumption that the effective fed funds rate will average 0.375 per cent after the first increase.
source:smh.com.au

Thousands of migrants and refugees continued to reach the shores of Greece’s eastern Aegean islands on their way to Western Europe, as France and Germany called for a unified response to the mounting crisis.

According to police estimates, between 8,500 and 9,000 refugees on the island of Lesvos were Monday awaiting transfer to the Greek mainland. A ferry charted by the Greek government – the Eleftherios Venizelos – was expected to pick up another 2,500 Syrians from the island at 2.30 this morning and bring them to Athens.

“The foreigners that leave the island every day are replaced by the same number of people arriving from the Turkish coast,” Lesvos Mayor Spyros Galinos told Kathimerini.

Authorities said a second ferry would be added to the route in the coming days.

The Hellenic Coast Guard yesterday recovered the bodies of two people who drowned after the vessel they were traveling in capsized due to strong winds off the island’s coast. Another person was still missing late yesterday while eight were rescued.

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 migrants and refugees remained stranded on Kos island. Also yesterday on Kos, a fire broke out at the derelict Captain Elias hotel which is used as temporary accommodation by refugees. It was the second time the building had caught fire, prompting Kos Mayor Giorgos Kyritsis to threaten legal action against property owners Piraeus Bank.

Warning of “an exceptional situation,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande Monday called for a unified asylum system across Europe. “Rather than wait, we should organize and reinforce our policies, and that is what France and Germany are proposing,” Hollande said.

Frontex, the EU’s border agency, said last week that a record 107,000 migrants were at the bloc’s borders last month, with more than 20,000 arriving in Greece last week alone.

Tension appeared to ease Monday on the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as Skopje lifted a blockade of its border. Hundreds more people entered FYROM from Greece yesterday, after nearly 10,000 people crossed into Serbia over the weekend.

source:ekathimerini.com

Μalaka Brothers επέλεξαν να ονομάσουν τη νέα ψησταριά που ανοίγουν στη διάσημη παραλία Venice στο Boardwalk του Λος Άντζελες δύο ομογενείς από την Καλιφόρνια, οι οποίοι ίσως σκέφτηκαν οτι η πιο αναγνωρίσιμη ελληνική λέξη μπορεί να αποτελέσει το κλειδί για… καλές δουλειές.

Λίγους μήνες πριν, εικόνες ενός μεγάλου μπάνερ με την επιγραφή Malaka Brothers Gyro, κυκλοφόρησαν στο διαδίκτυο, με πολλούς να θεωρούν ότι επρόκειτο για πλάκα.

Όμως, η ομάδα φίλων με ελληνική καταγωγή επιβεβαιώνουν ότι η επιγραφή θα είναι η ονομασία του νέου εστιατορίου που θα ανοίξουν στην περιοχή, το οποίο υπόσχεται να σερβίρει «το πιο φρέσκο και καλύτερο γύρο στην περιοχή του Λος Άντζελες».

Δείτε στο βίντεο τον μάνατζερ του εστιατορίου, Guy Puglia να εξηγεί γιατί οι ομογενείς επέλεξαν αυτό το όνομα για το εστιατόριο. Όπως παραδέχεται άλλωστε και ο ίδιος, πολλοί περαστικοί βγάζουν φωτογραφίες στο εστιατόριο και γελούν υστερικά στη θέα του ονόματός του. Όμως φαίνεται πως είναι ένα παιχνίδι μάρκετινγκ…

Πηγή:madata.gr

Tο ποσοστό των Αυστραλών ιδιοκτητών κατοικίας σημείωσε ραγδαία πτώση

Στο νοίκι πάνω απ’ τους μισούς Αυστραλούς νέους.

Όλο και πιο δύσκολη γίνεται η απόκτηση ιδιόκτητης κατοικίας για τους νέους, καθώς η ραγδαία αύξηση στις τιμές των ακινήτων αφήνει εκτός της αγοράς τους Αυστραλούς κάτω των 35 ετών. Αυτό προκύπτει από έκθεση του Αυστραλιανού Ινστιτούτου Υγείας και Πρόνοιας, η οποία διαπιστώνει ότι οι Αυστραλοί ηλικίας 25-34 ζουν στο νοίκι, σε ποσοστό μεγαλύτερο του 50%. Συγκρίνοντας στοιχεία που καλύπτουν χρονικό διάστημα τριών δεκαετιών, το Ινστιτούτο διαπίστωσε ότι το ποσοστό των Αυστραλών ιδιοκτητών κατοικίας σημείωσε ραγδαία πτώση, καθώς το 1981 ήταν 61% ενώ το 2011 έπεσε στο 47%.

Ο λόγος γι’ αυτήν την πτώση εντοπίζεται στην ραγδαία αύξηση της τιμής των ακινήτων, η οποία ξεπέρασε δυσανάλογα τις αντίστοιχες αυξήσεις στις τιμές των καταναλωτικών ειδών και κυρίως αυτές στο μέσο εισόδημα, καθιστώντας απαγορευτική την αγορά πρώτης κατοικίας για ανθρώπους χαμηλών και μεσαίων εισοδημάτων. Αποτέλεσμα αυτής της εξέλιξης είναι η δέσμευση των ανθρώπων με πιεστικά στεγαστικά δάνεια, ενώ ακόμη και εκείνοι που δεν καταφέρνουν να πάρουν δάνειο πρώτης κατοικίας, βρίσκονται αντιμέτωποι με όλο και μεγαλύτερες αυξήσεις ενοικίων.

Η ερμηνεία του φαινομένου διχάζει τους αναλυτές, καθώς πολλοί παρουσιάζουν αυτού του είδους τις αυξήσεις ως σύμπτωμα μίας ισχυρής οικονομίας, από την άλλη όμως αυξάνουν όλο και περισσότερο οι φωνές που ισχυρίζονται ότι, αντιθέτως, είναι αποτέλεσμα της πολιτικής της ομοσπονδιακής κυβέρνησης, η οποία ευνοεί εκείνους που επενδύουν στα ακίνητα, έναντι εκείνων που τα αγοράζουν ως πρώτη κατοικία.

Άλλοι αναλυτές εκτιμούν ότι η συνολική πτώση του αριθμού των ιδιοκτητών πρώτης κατοικίας δεν είναι παρά η ένδειξη ότι το σύστημα έρχεται σταδιακά σε ισορροπία, καθώς η Αυστραλία και η Νέα Ζηλανδία σημείωσαν δυσανάλογη έκρηξη τις πρώτες μεταπολεμικές δεκαετίες, ενώ τις τελευταίες δύο-τρεις δεκαετίες, η στάση των ανθρώπων απέναντι στην ιδιοκτησία ακινήτων μοιάζει να πλησιάζει αυτό που συμβαίνει στις υπόλοιπες ανεπτυγμένες χώρες της Δύσης, της Ευρώπης και της Βόρειας Αμερικής.

Δεν είναι όμως μόνο οικονομικοί οι λόγοι που κρατούν τους νέους μακριά από την αγορά ακινήτων: η πτώση σχετίζεται με ευρύτερες κοινωνικές αλλαγές, καθώς βρίσκεται σε ευθεία αντιστοιχία με την πτώση του ποσοστού των νέων που παντρεύονται και κάνουν οικογένεια πριν την ηλικία των 35 ετών. Η αγορά κατοικίας, καθώς και η σύναψη στεγαστικού δανείου, σχετίζονται με την δημιουργία οικογένειας, κάτι που τώρα οι άνθρωποι επιλέγουν να κάνουν σε μεγαλύτερη ηλικία. Περαιτέρω απόδειξη ότι η ιδιοκτησία ή μη ακινήτου σχετίζεται με ένα ευρύτερο πλαίσιο τρόπου ζωής, αποτελεί η διαπίστωση ότι, η πλειοψηφία των Αυστραλών, οι οποίοι δεν έχουν δικό τους σπίτι, μέχρι την ηλικία των 45, είναι κάτοχοι τουλάχιστον ενός πανεπιστημιακού τίτλου σπουδών, ενώ κατά κανόνα πρόκειται για ανθρώπους που ταξιδεύουν συχνά στο εξωτερικό.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

The story of Doujon Zammit’s tragic death in 2008 is being updated to reveal a remarkable bond.

Doujon Zammit’s violent death at the hands of nightclub bouncers from Mykonos’ Paradise Beach is a tragedy that has touched many, but it has also evolved to showcase the best of humanity. This weekend, Nine Network’s 60 Minutes program has a must-watch update to its original report of Doujon’s death and the profound events that followed.

Producer Howard Sacre and reporter Liz Hayes have again straddled the sensitivities and shocking realities of a story that keeps on giving.

The original 2008 program covered the heart-rending events following the vicious attack on Doujon, which left him with such serious head injuries that he was airlifted to an Athens hospital.

His father, Oliver, made the mercy dash from Australia and was immediately thrust into the ensuing maelstrom, with intense media coverage and a situation in which there was no other option but to turn off his son’s life support.

Oliver featured in saturated coverage, expressing no ill-will towards Greece and describing Doujon’s death as a freak, one-off event. His insistence that his son’s heart be used to save the life of Athens journalist Kostas Gribilas, and that his other organs be used to keep another three people alive, won admiration the world over.

Kostas was dying from heart failure and had days to live but was ultimately given the kiss of life. He and future wife, Poppy, knew who the donor was, and Mr Zammit and wife Rosemarie knew who the recipient was, and they met in a very emotional encounter.

It was an extraordinary exception to the general rule that donor and recipient identities be kept confidential, largely to protect the emotional and psychological well-being of the recipient and members of both families.

“We’re updating the story because that initial meeting of Kostas and Poppy, and Oliver and Rosemarie, has blossomed into a very unusual friendship,” Sacre told Neos Kosmos.

“Kostas and Poppy have also left Greece and now live in Australia. They see Oliver and Rosemarie very often. Our story details this unique friendship.”

In early 2013, Poppy gave birth to Konstantina, but at eight months of age in September 2013 she was rushed hospital. Poppy and Kosta had noticed signs of dehydration while teething. Within 48-hours, Konstantina had passed away with heart complications. “It was a baby that took three of us to make,” Kostas says on the 60 Minutes promo.

A charitable foundation was established in memory of Konstantina Angelique Gribilas. Details can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/KonstantinaAngelique
Postscript

There is a personal dimension to this story for me. I was in Athens at the time and fielded frantic calls from members of my extended family following the Mykonos attack.

My cousin was, at the time, the girlfriend of Doujon’s travelling companion Cameron Tabone, and I was urged to head to the Athens hospital to assist in any way I could.

Once I was confident I’d done all that I could do to assist, I was faced with the decision of whether or not to cover the story for the Fairfax newspaper – The Sydney Morning Herald – to which I was a contributor.

In doing so, I was faced with the dilemma that following my journalistic instincts would potentially create awkwardness and tension between my immediate and extended family.

I went ahead and reported on a series of events that emotionally, remains as my hardest assignment to date, but at the same time brought the rewards of contact with some exceptional ambassadors for compassion and humanity. I have no regrets.

source:Neos Kosmos

Two ancient statues that were allegedly dug up by two Greek farmers to be sold for €10 million. Photo: ap/Thanassis Stavrakis

The economic crisis is seeing those with a clean record turn to crime.

The financial crisis has seen a rise in a rather uncommon form of crime: the looting of Greek antiquities.

“The numbers have increased, and this is related to the economic crisis,” Lieutenant Evgenios Monovasios of the Security Police Division of Attica told National Geographic.

The increase of illegal excavations and theft of archaeological artefacts coincides with a significant rise in applications for metal detector permits.

Although the Greek government tracks these applications, granting the devices to only those without a criminal record, authorities are having a harder time than usual monitoring the situation.

Police detectives with the Greek Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage say this is due to the changing profile of looters, from members of criminal networks to regular people looking to make a quick buck.

“It would take an army to catch everything,” said Elena Korka, the director general of antiquities and cultural heritage.

“It’s impossible not to find antiquities in Greece; they are literally everywhere.”

With agencies in charge of protecting the country’s antiquities experiencing severe budget cuts, only 60 odd employees across the country work exclusively on monitoring looting.

But at the end of the day, is it really worth it for the diggers?

According to National Geographic, those excavating only receive a small percentage of the final value price, referring to a group of looters who received €50,000 for a statue whose sale price was €1.1 million.

If caught, taking part in an illegal excavation can lead to a jail sentence of up to 10 years, while artefacts carrying a price tag of €150,000 or more face even greater sentences.

Lieutenant Monovasios says taking preventative measures is the only way forward, suggesting an increase in educational outreach.

He says people need to realise how much a society loses not only financially, but on a cultural level, when sites and artefacts are destroyed and taken away.

“By looting you are depriving future generations of identity,” he said.

“The economic crisis is probably temporary, but the negative effects of looting are permanent.”

Source: National Geographic