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European finance ministers piled pressure on Greece to open its books and follow through with pledges agreed to in its rescue package, as the country tries to avoid running out of cash as soon as this month.

Greece will resume talks with its creditors in Brussels on Wednesday, alongside technical talks in Athens to comb through data. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Greece will make “all necessary” data available.

As Greek officials struggle to meet the euro area’s demands, the government’s cash supplies are running low. One official from the currency bloc, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Monday that Greece’s funding might last for one, two or three weeks, though it was difficult to be precise.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi took a personal hand in persuading Greece to allow new visits from technical experts, according to two officials familiar with Monday’s talks. After the meeting, Varoufakis — who described Draghi as “a very skilled central banker” — said he was confident negotiations would resume in good faith.

“I believe that we are doing our job properly and they will do their job,” Varoufakis told reporters in Brussels. “Our job is to start the process which is necessary for the European Central Bank to have confidence.”

Greece could gain access to some of its remaining bailout money if Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras delivers his nation’s pledges, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said after finance ministers met Monday in Brussels.

Recent debate about who would meet where and when had been “a complete waste of time,” Dijsselbloem said.

“If there is time pressure for financing needs that should be helpful for getting the package back on track,” he added.

Concerns about the pace of talks helped send the Greek ASE stock index down 4.2 percent in Athens, its lowest level in more than three weeks, with Piraeus Bank SA down more than 12 percent. Greek three-year yields rose 191 basis points, or 1.91 percentage points, to 15.95 percent at 4:52 p.m. New York time.

Financing Issues

The euro-area finance ministers reprimanded Greece for dragging its heels during the two weeks since they reached an agreement to extend Greece’s bailout. Tsipras, whose anti-austerity government was elected in January on a promise to renegotiate terms of Greece’s 240 billion euro ($260 billion) bailouts, now has through June to reach a broader agreement on further support.

Euro-area creditors are willing to help solve Greece’s financing issues once talks resume, a Greek government official said in an e-mail to reporters. Greece will add to its list of proposed reforms and sees progress in the most recent talks, the official said, asking not to be named in line with policy.

Varoufakis declined to comment on Greece’s cash position, saying instead that the country liquidity would be guaranteed by the government with the EU institutions.

Back in Athens

Euro-area finance ministers welcomed the decision to allow technical teams back to Greece for more research. “Most discussions will take place in Brussels, but supporting people will go to Athens to find the right number so that there is no misunderstanding on that,” Dijsselbloem said.

While the negotiations continue, the ECB is effectively financing the Greek private sector because of its support for its banks. In a bid to raise the pressure on Greece to reach a deal with authorities, ECB officials will increase the scrutiny on the Emergency Liquidity Assistance extended to Greek lenders with an extraordinary review this week, two officials familiar with the matter said.

As long as Greece remains unlikely to regain market access soon, the ECB probably won’t allow its banks to post more T-bills as collateral because that would effectively be monetary financing, another euro-area official said. Monetary financing is banned under European law.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that while Greece wasn’t the main focus of Monday’s meetings — which also discussed national budget plans — Greece must work with the euro-area institutions and not on its own.

Time to Implement

“The Greeks must implement now what they promised to do and must especially refrain from taking one-sided measures,” Schaeuble told reporters.

Greece is seeking the disbursement of an outstanding aid tranche totaling about 7 billion euros. Without access to capital markets, its only sources of financing are emergency loans from the euro area’s crisis fund and the International Monetary Fund.

The country’s ability to win over its euro-area counterparts will depend on whether it can produce budget data and a clearer understanding of the country’s financial situation, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

“The time comes when what’s needed is not declarations of intention or slogans, but figures and verifiable data,” Sapin said.

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has hit back at Tony Abbott’s claim Australians are “tired of being lectured to by the United Nations”, saying his organisation deserves respect.

“I’m sorry that the Prime Minister believes that we lecture,” Juan Mendez told Fairfax Media on Tuesday.

“We don’t believe so. We try to treat all governments the same way and deal with specific obligations and standards in international law as objectively as we can.”

Mr Mendez is a human rights lawyer who survived torture under Argentina’s military junta in the 1970s.

In 1975 he was blindfolded and shoved in a car and taken for nearly three days of questioning by Argentinian intelligence officials. Interrogators gave him electric shocks and at one point put a gun in his mouth to try to force him to reveal information about his work and associates.

He presented his report examining cases of torture and mistreatment by governments to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

Of the 200 cases in the report involving 68 different countries, four refer to Australia and each of those examines claims of torture or cruel or degrading treatment in immigration detention.

Mr Abbott triggered a widespread outcry after he dismissed the report on Monday and attacked the UN for not giving his government credit for stopping boat arrivals.

“I think the UN’s representatives would have a lot more credibility if they were to give some credit to the Australian government for what we’ve been able to achieve in this area,” the Prime Minister said.

Among the concerns raised by the report was that escalating violence on Manus Island, and the “intimidation and ill-treatment of two asylum seekers” who gave statements about last year’s violent clashes at the centre was in breach of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The report also found that recent changes to the Maritime Powers Act to give the government the power to detain asylum seekers at sea and return them violated the convention.

“I think people who are detained in the high seas and subject to prolonged detention on the basis of their status and not given a fair opportunity to make their case that they should not be sent back to a country where they might face torture,” Mr Mendez said on Tuesday.

“I think it is my duty to tell Australia that, at least in that respect and in respect of keeping children in detention, that policy needs to be corrected.”

He added that the government’s response to concerns he had raised about the alleged mistreatment of two asylum seekers on Manus Island had been “insufficient”.

“I called on the authorities to investigate and see if someone is being mistreated,” Mr Mendez said.

“The government just said it’s going through the courts. I think that is insufficient. What I want to know is if the investigation has singled anybody out for investigation or prosecution for torture.”

Mr Mendez said the UN and the Abbott government disagreed about the extent to which Australia’s asylum seeker policies complied with international law.

He described Mr Abbott’s response as combative and invited Mr Abbott to have a constructive conversation.

“I appreciate the government has responded to the four cases I submitted, I just disagree that we are lecturing,” Mr Mendez said.

“We are treating every government with a lot of respect.

“I think we in the United Nations also deserve respect and I wish the Prime Minister had taken my views on this more seriously and engaged with my rapporteurship more constructively.

“That is what I have always tried to do and I am still available for a constructive conversation.”

Mr Mendez was appointed the UN special rapporteur on torture in 2010.

Prior to his appointment, he was a special advisor on crime prevention to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and co-chair of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute.

source:smh.com.au

Guy Sebastian ready for the kitschness. Photo: AAP/Dean Lewins.

Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian will be representing Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 33-year-old was announced as the Australian act on Thursday, and will be finalising his song selection in the coming days.
Sebastian said he’s “incredibly excited” to be heading to Austria to represent the country and our long-running love of the competition.

“It is the biggest music event in the world with an amazing history and tradition and I’m truly honoured to be invited to represent Australia in its first time ever in the competition,” he said.

Sebastian admitted his song selection will work to his strengths, and he will most likely choose to sing a ballad.

Sebastian has prior experience of global song contests, having finished seventh at the 2003 World Idol final.

This is the first time Australia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest with an entry and the ability to vote.

Last year Australia was asked to provide an interval act, which saw Jessica Mauboy take to the stage and represent the country.

The performance was a catalyst in the European Broadcasting Corporation (EBU) agreeing to give Australia a spot at this year’s 60th anniversary show.

While Guy Sebastian readies for his Eurovision act, Greece and Cyprus have also chosen their representatives.

Greece will be represented by Cypriot-born Maria-Eleni Kyriakou, who many recognise from Greece’s version of The Voice.

She will be performing a pop-ballad, called One Last Breath, that she co-wrote.

Cyprus, who return to the contest this year having missed the 2014 edition in Copenhagen, will be represented by singer/songwriter Giannis Karagiannis.

He will be performing the ballad One Thing That I Should Have Done.

Greece and Cyprus will perform in the semi-finals of the song contest on May 21 and 22.

Because Australia’s entry is a one-off, it will participate in the final of the contest on May 23.

source:neos kosmos

It’s predicted new migrants will add $1.6 trillion to the economy of an ageing population.

Australia will need more than 250,000 new migrants a year to raise living standards, a recent study by the Migration Council of Australia reveals.

To reap the benefits of the reported $1.6 trillion that new migrants will add to the economy of an ageing population, treasurer Joe Hockey says it will require adequate planning.

“You’d need to build more infrastructure to cope and that means government spending more money, so that’s a good debate to have and we welcome the debate,” said Mr Hockey.

It’s something that Professor Anastasios Tamis believes has been lacking for the newly arrived Greek migrants and repatriating Australian citizens.

“I don’t think the Australian government has done enough to accommodate those incoming immigrants and Australian citizens,” Professor Tamis told Neos Kosmos.

“We were not well prepared to accommodate this incoming arrival. We didn’t have the infrastructure.”

This is amongst the many topical issues covered in a book that was launched last night at the Greek Community Centre, entitled New Migration To and From Greece.

The book is compiled by the University of Crete’s Professor Michalis Damanakis, an expert on the history of the Hellenic diaspora, along with a cohort of 10 scholars and researchers, which has put together a study on the new migration trends of Greece from 2009 onwards following the financial crisis.

“The book covers the consequences of the new migration to and from Greece, and the consequences emerging from the hundreds of thousands of new immigrants settling in Greece during a period of crisis,” said Professor Tamis, co-editor of the book.

Since the crisis first struck Greece in 2009, it is estimated that 145,000 Greeks have migrated abroad and many of them have ventured down under.

Yet according to Professor Tamis, officials have found it difficult to say exactly how many have started to call Australia home.

With a large percentage of Greeks born in Australia and living in Greece from the early 1980s, upon returning with their Australian citizenship they were not recorded as Greek migrants.

Although the Intergenerational Report proves that countries like Australia can benefit from skilled and educated inhabitants of countries such as Greece seeking opportunities abroad, the Professor also highlights the negative impact this can have on the home country, referring to the movement as a ‘brain drainage’.

“Greece is experiencing a brain drainage and thousands of Greeks are leaving, which is to the calamity and misfortune of the social structure of Greece for years to come, not only the present,” he says.

source:neoskosmos.com

Σε φωτογραφία που έδωσε στη δημοσιότητα ο Πτηνολογικός Σύνδεσμος, ένα πουλί προσπαθεί να ξεφύγει από ξόβεργα στην περιοχή της Αμμοχώστου

Για μια ακόμα χρονιά, η παράνομη εξόντωση αποδημητικών πτηνών στην Κύπρο γίνεται είδηση σε ξένα μέσα ενημέρωσης.

Το περασμένο φθινόπωρο, περισσότερα από δύο εκατομμύρια τσίχλες, κοκκινολαίμηδες και απειλούμενα πτηνά εκτιμάται ότι πιάστηκαν παράνομα με δίχτυα και ξόβεργες, και τα περισσότερα κατέληξαν σε ταβέρνες που επιμένουν να σερβίρουν το πιάτο της ντροπής.

Η περυσινή σεζόν «ήταν η χειρότερη όσον αφορά τα επίπεδα της παγίδευσης από τότε που άρχισε το πρόγραμμα παρακολούθησης το 2002» δήλωσε στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων η Κλαίρη Παπάζογλου, εκτελεστική διευθύντρια του Πτηνολογικού Συνδέσμου Κύπρου, εταίρου της διεθνούς οργάνωσης Birdlife International.

Το διάστημα Σεπτέμβριος-Οκτώβριος, όταν εκατομμύρια πτηνά φτάνουν στην Κύπρο από βορειότερες χώρες για να περάσουν το χειμώνα, ο σύνδεσμος εντόπισε πασσάλους για παράνομα δίχτυα που εκτείνονταν σε συνολικό μήκος 16 χιλιομέτρων. Εντόπισε επίσης πάνω από 6.000 ξόβεργες, κλαδιά καλυμμένα με κόλλα για την παγίδευση μικρών πτηνών.

Με αυτά τα επίπεδα παγίδευσης το φθινόπωρο του 2014, ο Πτηνολογικός Σύνδεσμος Κύπρου εκτιμά ότι πάνω από δύο εκατομμύρια πουλιά ενδέχεται να σκοτώθηκαν σε όλη την Κύπρο» αναφέρει ο σύνδεσμος.

Τα άτυχα πτηνά, γνωστά ως «αμπελοπούλια», σερβίρονται ξιδάτα ή βραστά στα κυπριακά εστιατόρια, όπου πωλούνται έως και 80 ευρώ ανά δωδεκάδα.

Ακόμα και ο μελισσοφάγος, ίσως το ομορφότερο πτηνό της Ευρώπης, δεν γλιτώνει από τους λαθροθήρες (Πηγή: Πτηνολογικός Σύνδεσμος Κύπρου)

Η Υπηρεσία Θήρας και Πανίδας εκτιμά ότι η παράνομη αγορά παγιδευμένων πτηνών και εμπόριο των πτηνών αποφέρει κέρδη 15 εκατομμυρίων ευρώ το χρόνο.

Περίπου 150  είδη, ανάμεσά τους 60 απειλούμενα, καθώς και πτηνά που δεν θεωρούνται βρώσιμα, επηρεάζονται καθώς περνούν κάθε χρόνο από το μεταναστευτικό διάδρομο της Κύπρου. Μαζί με τις τσίχλες μαυροσκούφηδες και τους κοκκινολαίμηδες, δίχτυα και ξόβεργες πιάνουν μελισσοφάγους, αηδόνια και ενδημικές κουκουβάγιες θουπιά (Otus scops cyprius).

Το πρόβλημα παραμένει μεγάλο και στην περιοχή της Κυρίαρχης Βρετανικής Βάσης στη Δεκέλεια. Ο Τιμ Στόου της Βασιλικής Εταιρείας για την Προστασία των πτηνών καλεί το βρετανικό υπουργείο Άμυνας να επιδείξει μηδενική ανοχή στους παράνομους κηνυγούς.

Το κυνήγι με παγίδες απαγορεύτηκε πριν η Κύπρος γίνει χώρα-μέλος της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης το 2004 -οι μη επιλεκτικές μέθοδοι παγίδευσης απαγορεύονται από την ευρωπαϊκή Οδηγία γιαα τα πτηνά. Έκτοτε, όμως, τα μέτρα έχουν ατονήσει και η μαζική εξόντωση των πτηνών λαμβάνει και πάλι μεγάλες διαστάσεις.

Ο Πτηνολογικός Σύνδεσμος προειδοποιεί τώρα ότι, χωρίς τη λήψη δραστικών κατασταλτικών μέτρων, η Κύπρος θα επιστρέψει στην κατάσταση που επικρατούσε τη δεκαετία του 90, όταν σε κάθε σεζόν σκοτώνονταν 10 εκατομμύρια πουλιά.

Η απαράδεκτη κατάσταση στην Κύπρο έχει απασχολήσει ξένα μέσα αρκετές ακόμα φορές στο παρελθόν, όπως το 2013, το 2010, το 2009 και το 2008.

Πηγή:in.gr

Σπηλαιολόγοι στο Ισραήλ ανακάλυψαν έναν μικρό θησαυρό από νομίσματα και κοσμήματα της εποχής του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου που, όπως πιστεύουν οι αρχαιολόγοι, πιθανότατα τα είχαν κρύψει εκεί άνθρωποι που εκτοπίστηκαν λόγω κάποιου πολέμου.

Ο θησαυρός, ηλικίας 2.300 ετών, είναι ο πρώτος του είδους του που εντοπίζεται στο Ισραήλ και ανάγεται στην περίοδο του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου, ανέφερε ο Άιταν Κλάιν, της Ισραηλινής Υπηρεσίας Αρχαιοτήτων.

Μόλις τον περασμένο μήνα, δύτες είχαν βρει στα ανοιχτά του Ισραήλ έναν ακόμη μεγαλύτερο θησαυρό, αποτελούμενο από περίπου 2.000 χρυσά νομίσματα του 11ου αιώνα.

Οι αρχαιολόγοι ελπίζουν ότι το εύρημα αυτό θα ρίξει κάποιο φως στις συνθήκες ζωής που επικρατούσαν την εποχή εκείνη στην περιοχή.

Στο σπήλαιο, στην περιοχή της Γαλιλαίας, οι εξερευνητές βρήκαν χωμένα σε μια στενή ρωγμή δύο αργυρά νομίσματα της εποχής του Μ. Αλεξάνδρου καθώς και διάφορα ασημένια κοσμήματα όπως δαχτυλίδια, βραχιόλια και σκουλαρίκια.

«Αυτά τα πολύτιμα είδη μπορεί να τα έκρυψαν στη σπηλιά κάτοικοι της περιοχής που προσπαθούσαν να διαφύγουν κατά τη διάρκεια κάποιας αναταραχής, ως αποτέλεσμα του θανάτου του Μ. Αλεξάνδρου. Πιθανότατα τα έβαλαν στην κρυψώνα αυτήν περιμένοντας να έρθουν καλύτερες ημέρες» ανέφερε η Υπηρεσία σε ανακοίνωσή της.

Πηγή:in.gr

The judicial council of the Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that 64 defendants are being indicted to stand trial in the large-scale political bribery case of the so-called 8002 contract to digitize OTE telecom’s network in 1997. According to the case file, Siemens allegedly paid 70 million euros in kickbacks in order to sign the deal.

Among those ordered to stand trial are ex-Siemens Hellas executives Michalis Christoforakos, Christos Karavelas, Ilias Georgiou and Prodromos Mavridis, former PASOK MP Theodoros Tsoukatos, and 13 former OTE executives and former German Siemens executives.

The defendants are facing charges of money laundering and passive and active bribery, among others.

Christoforakos and Karavelas left Greece in 2009. The former was arrested in Germany but a court there refused Greece’s extradition request as the former Siemens Hellas CEO also had a German passport and the judges deemed the statute of limitations applied to allegations he bribed politicians.

The whereabouts of Karavelas, a financial manager, are not known. The judicial council also ruled that Karavelas’s three children were acquitted of all charges.

source:ekathimerini.com

The European Central Bank will hold an extraordinary review of the emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) extended to Greek lenders this week, two officials familiar with the matter said, as the Frankfurt-based institution is raising the pressure on Athens to meet its bailout commitments.

The Governing Council of the ECB decided to hold a weekly review of the liquidity needs of Greek banks, instead of the regular biweekly process, in its meeting in Cyprus last one of the officials said.

The council decided to monitor ELA provision for Greece more closely, the official said, adding that the review will take place either on Wednesday or Thursday.

A Bank of Greece official said that no decision has been made yet on whether the country’s central bank will ask for an increase in the ELA ceiling during this week’s review.

The ECB has already lent 100 billion euros to Greece’s banks, or 68 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, President Mario Draghi said on March 5.

The ECB Governing Council increased the available pool of ELA, which constitute the bulk of that lending, by 500 million to 68.8 billion euros, he added.

source:ekathimerini.com

A technical team from Greece will open talks about economic reforms this week with experts from its international lenders, the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, EU officials said.

“They are planning to meet in Brussels on Wednesday,” said one EU official after eurozone finance ministers held only a brief discussion on Monday about Greece’s financial problems and reform efforts. A Greek official confirmed the date.

Ministers have been pressing Athens’ new leftist government, which jad vowed to end austerity and stop cooperating with the so-called “troika” of lenders, to engage in detailed talks on completing its EU/IMF bailout program.

source:ekathimerini.com

Κουόκα: το χαμόγελό του είναι μετατοδικό

Πηγή: in.gr