Με το σταγονόμετρο συνεχίζεται η παροχή ρευστότητας προς το ελληνικό τραπεζικό σύστημα από την Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα ενώ οι πιέσεις γίνονται εντονότερες καθώς για δεύτερη συνεχή φορά μέσα σε μία εβδομάδα το διοικητικό συμβούλιο της Κεντρικής Τράπεζας συζήτησε εκ νέου το ενδεχόμενο αύξησης του haircut στα ενέχυρα των ελληνικών τραπεζών.
Τραπεζικές πηγές αναφέρουν ότι το άνοιγμα του ELA κατά μόλις 500 εκατ ευρώ αποτελεί μήνυμα προς την Αθήνα ότι ο χρόνος τελειώνει και εξαντλούνται τα χρονικά περιθώρια της ΕΚΤ όσον αφορά τις διαπραγματεύσεις μεταξύ της Αθήνας και των πιστωτών.
Ως προειδοποίηση ερμηνεύουν δε και την διαρροή ότι το καυτό θέμα της αύξησης του κουρέματος των ενεχύρων μπήκε για μία ακόμη φορά στο τραπέζι.
“Μέχρι και πριν δεκαπέντε ημέρες δεν υπήρξε ούτε μία φορά διαρροή για το εν λόγω θέμα. Τις δύο τελευταίες συνεδριάσεις του διοικητικού συμβουλίου της ΕΚΤ το θέμα όχι απλά απασχόλησε αλλά τεχνηέντως διαρρέεται. Αυτό αποτελεί προειδοποίηση και όσο περνά ο χρόνος δεν αποκλείεται, εφόσον η Αθήνα και οι πιστωτές δεν συμφωνούν, να γίνει πραγματικότητα”, αναφέρουν τραπεζικές πηγές. Ο επικεφαλής της ΕΚΤ πάντως πιθανότατα θα ερωτηθεί για την Ελλάδα στη σημερινή συνεδρίαση του διοικητικού συμβουλίου.
Πολύ μικρό ποσό
Το μικρό ποσό, σε σχέση με τις συνολικές εκροές καταθέσεων της τελευταίας εβδομάδας, προκαλεί προβληματισμό στα υψηλόβαθμα στελέχη των τραπεζών, τα οποία στις κατ’ ιδίαν συζητήσεις τους αναφέρουν ότι το κλίμα δυσχεραίνει και όσο παραμένει ασαφές και ανοικτό το ζήτημα της συμφωνίας οι κίνδυνοι γίνονται ακόμη μεγαλύτεροι.
“Μολονότι χθες η εκροή καταθέσεων κινήθηκε σε χαμηλότερα επίπεδα, κοντά στα 250-300 εκατ ευρώ, η ανησυχία παραμένει”, τονίζει στο Euro2day.gr στέλεχος τράπεζας και προσθέτει: “Η συμφωνία πρέπει να κλείσει άμεσα γιατί δεν υπάρχουν περιθώρια και δεν μπορεί το τραπεζικό σύστημα να συνεχίσει να σέρνεται για πολύ καιρό ακόμη”.
Ο Γερμανός υπουργός Οικονομικών Βόλφγκανγκ Σόιμπλε άσκησε και πάλι σκληρή κριτική στην ελληνική κυβέρνηση.
Στη συνέντευξή του στο οικονομικό περιοδικό Wirtschaftswoche, κατηγορεί την κυβέρνηση του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ για παραπλάνηση των ψηφοφόρων της.
Συγκεκριμένα δήλωσε, «Η Ευρώπη βασίζεται στον αλληλοσεβασμό. Πρέπει κανείς να δρα λογικά, αυτό καθιστά τις τρέχουσες διαπραγματεύσεις με την Ελλάδα τόσο εξαντλητικές.
Ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ κέρδισε τις τελευταίες εκλογές λέγοντας στους Έλληνες ότι υπάρχει ένας πιο εύκολος δρόμος να παραμείνουν στο ευρώ χωρίς μεγάλες προσπάθειες για μεταρρυθμίσεις, οι οποίες όμως είναι προς το συμφέρον της Ελλάδας.
Ίσως δεν θα έπρεπε να έχουν γίνει αυτές οι υποσχέσεις. Ακόμη και πριν από τις εκλογές είχα συμβουλεύσει τον τωρινό πρωθυπουργό Αλέξη Τσίπρα να μην δίνει τέτοιες υποσχέσεις».
Παρόλα αυτά στη συνέχεια ο κ. Σόιμπλε, διέψευσε ότι κρατά πιο σκληρή στάση από την καγκελάριο Άγγελα Μέρκελ σε ό,τι αφορά μια πιθανή έξοδο της Ελλάδας από την ευρωζώνη και δήλωσε ότι στο θέμα αυτό έχει την ίδια άποψη με τη Μέρκελ.
«Στο ερώτημα ποια είναι η σωστή λύση για την Ελλάδα η καγκελάριος και εγώ συμφωνούμε απολύτως», υπογράμμισε.
«Έχω καταβάλει πολλές δυνάμεις και έχω δεσμευθεί για να βρεθεί ένας δρόμος για την Ελλάδα ώστε να σταθεί ξανά στα πόδια της (…) το 2012 ζήτησα ένα κούρεμα του χρέους ύψους 53%. Τέτοιος είναι ο ρόλος μου ως “του σκληρού” απέναντι στην Αθήνα», πρόσθεσε ο Γερμανός υπουργός.
Πριν από τέσσερις ημέρες αψηφούσε τις φωνές να κάνει στην άκρη και επανεξέλεγη πρόεδρος της FIFA, τώρα ανακοίνωσε την παραίτησή του υπό το βάρος των υποθέσεων που συγκλονίζουν την συνομοσπονδία: Ο Σεπ Μπλάτερ φέρεται, σύμφωνα με συγκλίνουσες αναφορές, να βρίσκεται και ο ίδιος στο στόχαστρο της αμερικανικής έρευνας για διαφθορά.
Οι New York Times ανέφεραν πως ο Μπλάτερ «προσπάθησε εδώ και μέρες να πάρει τις αποστάσεις του από το σκάνδαλο», αλλά πως οι αρχές «ελπίζουν ότι θα εξασφαλίσουν τη συνεργασία ορισμένων από τους εμπλεκόμενους αξιωματούχους της FIFA που κατηγορούνται» για διαφθορά ώστε να σφίξει ο κλοιός γύρω του.
Η εφημερίδα της Νέας Υόρκης καθώς και το τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο ABC έκαναν λόγο για έρευνα του FBI που αφορά απευθείας τον Σεπ Μπλάτερ, επικαλούμενοι μη κατονομαζόμενους αξιωματούχους των δυνάμεων της τάξης, καθώς και πηγών που πρόσκεινται στην υπόθεση, χωρίς όμως να δίνουν λεπτομέρειες.
Εκπρόσωπος του FBI αρνήθηκε στο Reuters κάθε σχόλιο, παραπέμποντας στην ανακοίνωση την οποία έκανε την προηγούμενη εβδομάδα η εισαγγελέας Λορέτα Λιντς σχετικά με την απαγγελία κατηγοριών σε βάρος 14 εκλεγμένων και εταίρων της FIFA.
Σύμφωνα με το ABC, ο Σεπ Μπλάτερ βρίσκεται στο μικροσκόπιο του FBI και των αμερικανών εισαγγελέων για πράξεις διαφθοράς και δωροδοκίες που οδήγησαν στις συλλήψεις της 27ης Μαΐου.
«Τη στιγμή που όλος ο κόσμος προσπαθεί να σώσει το τομάρι του υπάρχει σίγουρα κάποιος που αλλάζει πρώτος γνώμη» δήλωσε μία πηγή στο ABC. «Ίσως να μην είμαστε σε θέση να αναποδογυρίσουμε όλη την οργάνωση, αλλά μπορεί και να μην χρειάζεται», δήλωσε άλλη πηγή, αναφερόμενη στις ανακριτικές τεχνικές που ωθούν τους κατηγορουμένους να αποκηρύξουν τους ανωτέρους τους.
Στις 27 Μαΐου η Λορέτα Λιντς ανακοίνωσε ότι οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες απήγγειλαν κατηγορίες σε 14 αξιωματούχους της FIFA και του αθλητικού μάρκετινγκ σε μία υπόθεση που αφορά καταχρήσεις ύψους 150 εκατομμυρίων δολαρίων.
Ο Γιόζεφ Μπλάτερ, που εξελέγη στις 29 Μαΐου για πέμπτη θητεία, ανακοίνωσε χθες την παραίτησή του έπειτα από 17 χρόνια στην ηγεσία της οργάνωσης. Η απευθείας εμπλοκή του δεξιού χεριού του και δεύτερου στην ιεραρχία της FIFA, Ζερόμ Βαλκ, επέσπευσε την παραίτησή του.
Μέχρι τώρα δεν έχει ενοχληθεί απευθείας από τις έρευνες που πραγματοποιούνται στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες και στην Ελβετία για το σκάνδαλο διαφθοράς που συγκλόνισε τον κόσμο του ποδοσφαίρου και αφορά γεγονότα στη διάρκεια μιας περιόδου που υπερβαίνει τα 20 χρόνια.
Ο Μπλάτερ, ο οποίος εισήλθε στη FIFA το 1975 ως διευθυντής προγραμμάτων ανάπτυξης, ήταν επικεφαλής της από το 1998. Διήλθε κρίσεις όπως το σκάνδαλο Mastercard σχετικά με τις αναθέσεις των Μουντιάλ 2018-2022 και η υπόθεση ISL, με αποτέλεσμα να θεωρείται από πολλούς άφθαρτος.
Nick Xenophon says Australia has been treated “like a mug”.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon wants to see a refund of the $46 million spent by Australia on a lost World Cup bid
There have been calls for a refund on the millions spent by Australia to win a ‘rigged’ World Cup bid.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon claims Australia was “treated like a mug” after corruption charges were laid on nine former and current FIFA officials and four marketing executives on Wednesday.
Australia spent $46 million in the hopes of winning the 2022 World Cup. Qatar controversially won the bid.
“There must be a re-opening of that bid,” Mr Xenophon said. “It’s not too late. At the very least Australia deserves a refund.”
FIFA has closed the door on reopening the bidding, while Qatar has already started on building facilities to house the competition.
Australia only received one vote for the bid, while the United States, South Korea and Japan also made unsuccessful bids.
“Really, Australia has been treated like a mug in the way that it spent tens of millions of dollars in a failed bid, where it never had a chance because it seems the fix was in early on with FIFA,” Xenophon said.
Les Murray wants to see Australia bid again
Football commentator Les Murray believes FIFA doesn’t have a choice and must re-do the bid.
“If it comes to pass and the courts rule that in fact, some manipulation was made and bribes were taken, then I don’t believe there’s any other choice but to have a re-vote,” he said to the ABC.
“If there is a re-vote, I think Australia should bid again.”
As a former member of the FIFA Ethics Committee, Murray says it’s good for the game that the governing body is being finally investigated.
“It’s obvious that FIFA was not capable of cleaning things up,” he said.
“It’s good that outside forces like the Swiss police and the FBI got involved to clean it up.
“It’s good news for the game.”
FFA abandons Blatter
Australia’s own football governing body has revoked its support for FIFA president Sepp Blatter and has voted against his re-election.
“FFA believes that profound change within FIFA is needed as soon as possible to address issues of governance and transparency,” FFA chairman Frank Lowy said in a statement.
The only person challenging Blatter for the presidency is Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, after Luis Figo, Michael van Praag and Jerome Champagne withdrew.
Blatter, who was re-elected on Saturday, has stood defiant despite a chorus calling for his resignation.
Australia will also investigate what happened to the FFA’s payment to Jack Warner in 2010. Warner, who was FIFA’s vice president at the time, was paid $500,000 for football stadium upgrades, which he allegedly kept and deposited into his personal bank account.
The Australian Federal Police say they might also investigate the matter.
When SBS Radio debuted on the airwaves, the first language that was heard was Greek.
Back then, it was a language per day, and the Greek programme with Takis Kaldis launched SBS Radio in 1975.
The program was one of a kind. Devoid of advertising, it spoke to Greeks about issues at the heart of the migrant plight in Australia and did so in their language. While other Greek radio stations and programs existed before SBS Radio, it was SBS that became the journalistic vanguard.
A journalist with SBS from the early days is current 3XY broadcaster Rena Frangioudaki. She remembers the Greek program striking a chord with Greeks from all walks of life at the time.
“Back then the program was like a religion,” she tells Neos Kosmos.
“Our listeners were even late for work so they could stay and listen to the program.”
The topics covered in the first years of SBS were much more community-based, with weekly segments covered by various groups in the community.
“We had shows for the young, the old, Cypriots, Cretans,” Ms Frangioudaki says.
Most of the staff who worked at SBS back then were volunteers, and would go out of their way to get news to the community.
The lack of technology didn’t help either. Ms Frangioudaki remembers being frustrated having to wait for days and weeks for the Greek dailies to arrive in Australia by ship.
The program really developed into what many recognise today back in the ’90s.
Coming to SBS in 1990, Sydney’s senior producer Efthymios (Themi) Kallos says the program developed at the same time as SBS matured as a broadcaster.
“As the years went by, the station and the programs we produced became more orientated towards information and current affairs and less about community announcements,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
“If you ask the top SBS officials they would say we became more professional.”
Now, SBS Radio has grown to include 74 language programs, a digital and online presence and is across all social media platforms.
As a go-to place for news in the Greek community, it’s no surprise that SBS and Neos Kosmos have a long history of working alongside each other.
Neos Kosmos’ publisher Dimitiris Gogos was given the first license for what was to become SBS, then called 3EA (Ethnic Radio) in Melbourne. The Sydney licence went to a Neos Kosmos contributor, Takis Kaldis.
Editor-in-chief of Neos Kosmos, Sotiris Hatzimanolis, still works at SBS Radio in Melbourne on a casual basis, and was on air with fellow Neos Kosmos journalists, the late Kostas Nikolopoulos, Babis Stavropoulos and sports editor Elias Donoudis in the 1970s.
“It’s a team effort,” Mr Kallos says.
“Neos Kosmos has been very supportive of SBS and its principles.”
Back in the 1970s, SBS Radio’s establishment was a risky investment. The Whitlam government gave Al Grassby, from the Commission of Community Relations, $67,000 to start 2EA and 3EA to pay for two full-time staff for three months.
The investment paid off, and SBS Radio launched some months later, broadcasting in seven languages.
Now as SBS looks to the future, their principles are still at the heart of everything they do.
“We remain dedicated to connecting to the communities, through multilingual conversations across all platforms and devices always in order to inspire social cohesion in Australia,” Mr Kallos says.
Owner of Nikos cakes in Oakleigh, Denise Paras prepares for changes in the gay marriage laws. Photo: Joe Armao
Legalising same-sex marriage could pump $1.2 billion into the Australian economy, complementing the government’s high priority small business agenda rather than distracting from it.
Fairfax Media analysis shows that the reform would double as a stimulus package, especially for the small business sector, despite Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s rhetoric that legislating the budget is more urgent.
Small Business Minister Bruce Billson, who recently compared the rumbling of an airplane overhead to the “roar of small business” responding to the budget, told Fairfax Media that “the roar might take on a different tone” if there was marriage reform.
“It might take on more of a celebratory tone where celebration and commerce come together in a delightful symphony, but that’s hard to pick at the present time,” Mr Billson told Fairfax Media.
According to Bride to Be magazine’s Cost of Love survey, the average cost of a wedding is $65,482. The 2010 Not so Private Lives report found that 54.7 per cent per cent of same-sex couples would choose marriage as their preferred recognition. According to the 2011 census, there are 33,714 such couples.
Based on these figures, the value of same-sex marriage to the economy could be $1.2 billion.
Mr Abbott has said that same-sex marriage is a significant issue but that the government’s “fundamental priority” is legislating the “small business budget boost”.
Myriad businesses – many small – are involved in weddings. From bakers and tailors to celebrants and jewellers, marriage was worth $7.3 billion last year.
While Mr Billson is “thrilled to see anything that energises enterprise”, he is cautious about accepting these findings and remains uncommitted but open to legalising same-sex marriage.
“I have seen some research referenced out of the United States suggesting that there may be some economic boost,” Mr Billson said, “but I have also seen some research suggesting that same-sex couples actually spend less on weddings than other people.”
He welcomes that there is “lots of celebration happening at the moment for same-sex couples through [civil unions]. Whether there’d be more spent or more economic activity if that designation was changed, that’s unclear at this stage.”
Denise Paras, owner of Oakleigh Quality Cakes in Melbourne, said cakes for commitment ceremonies were a growing business and expects a surge in orders if same-sex marriage is legalised.
“The gay community have been waiting so long to get married so I believe there will be an influx of people wanting to have fabulous weddings and they’ll all need cakes.”
Sydney celebrant Stephen Lee agrees: “I’ve had two inquiries just this morning so I think I’m going to be very busy.”
Various factors would diminish the estimated boost including overseas destination weddings, LGBTI couples who have had commitment ceremonies and others who lack financial support from parents. However, the actual number of same-sex couples is also considered to be far higher than the census indicates.
Rodney Croome, national director of Australian Marriage Equality, says the reform “costs nothing and returns a massive economic dividend”.
“If Tony Abbott really wants to give the small business sector a boost, one of the best ways to do that is to allow a free vote on marriage equality.”
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.
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
Arturo Vidal shut down the Spain midfield in the summer.
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
Luis Suarez will have a chance to put some demons to rest.
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.
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.
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 