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THE two words uttered by fisherman Denis Rivers when he hauled in this massive beast will be left to your imagination but there is nothing fake about the bull shark in this story.

The Port Macquarie fisho, who true to the sport refuses to give away his favourite spot to drop a line, was left cut and bleeding after a one hour struggle with the monster.

With nothing between him and the prize catch but his rod and a sturdy line, Denis fought for what felt like hours from the banks of the Hastings River before he got his first glimpse of what he had actually landed.

When the three metre bull shark emerged into the shallows, Denis could do nothing more than call out for help.

“There was a fellow up the road in a campervan. When I got it onto the bank I had to yell out and wake him up to come down and help me,” Denis said.

“When he first saw it he said ‘holy f*#k’ and we tried to move it but couldn’t.

“I called my mate Howie Griffin who drove down to where we were and we pulled it out of the river with his car.”

Denis said there are plenty of large bull sharks in the river with his average catch between 1.5 and 1.8 metres. But he says this is not the biggest he has caught.

“It’s not uncommon, I’ve caught heaps of sharks in the river – I have hooked fish bigger than this one.”

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The shark is estimated to have weighed an impressive 250 kilograms and by the size of its girth, Denis believes it may well be pregnant.

“They often come in from the ocean and swim up the river to drop their pups and then go again,” he said.

Yesterday, Denis was still recovering from the physical struggle with his prize catch, which was released soon after being caught.

“She put up a bit of a fight. I’m still sore now. All my hands are cut up,” he said.

While he remains coy about just where on the Hastings River he caught the ‘big one’, Denis is happy to share his bait of choice.

“I just use a bit of eel – they love it,” he said.

Bull sharks are not uncommon in local rivers.

The Department of Primary Industries says bull sharks penetrate far into river systems for extended periods where they sometimes breed. Females normally give birth in estuaries and river mouths and the young can remain in the river for up to five years. Bull sharks by nature are aggressive and prefer to swim in shallow, murky inshore waters. According to the DPI, they’ll eat ‘almost anything’.

source:theherald.com.au

A SEASON that started brightly for Newcastle Jets is rapidly approaching crisis point after a 4-0 hammering from Melbourne City at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.

Adding to the sense of alarm are reports that defender Lee ki-Je will be returning to his native Korea in the January transfer window to join Ulsan Hyundai. A Newcastle spokesman said no deal had been struck but Jets officials were aware of “interest” in the 24-year-old.

Lee’s possible departure, combined with speculation that midfielder David Carney is considering a move to Qatar, cast a further cloud over a dark day for the Jets.

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Newcastle produced their most disappointing defensive display of this campaign after the interval, conceding three goals in the space of six minutes.

“That is a challenging thing to take at the time, but if I allude to last week against Sydney [a 1-0 loss] it could have been 3-0 at half-time,’’ Jets coach Scott Miller said afterwards. “We got our just desserts today, in a sense, because that could have happened away to Sydney.’’

​Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy and Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli each scored twice for the visitors, who have now racked up 14 goals in their past three games.

Since Newcastle’s memorable 3-2 comeback win against City in round four, the fortunes of the two teams could hardly have experienced a more startling turnaround. At that point, the Jets were flying high and growing in self-belief after winning three of their first four games under Miller.

They have not won since, after losing two and drawing three of their ensuing games before Sunday’s rout.

City, meanwhile, have taken their game to a new level, posting four wins, a draw and a loss from their past six outings.

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In the process, City have climbed rapidly to third on the points table, while Newcastle have slipped to two points behind the top six.

“The playing group, although it was a challenging day, they worked right until the end . . . I can’t fault their commitment,’’ Miller said.

The loss continued Newcastle’s home-ground hoodoo of the past two years.

Since the start of last season, the Jets have won only two of 19 games at Hunter Stadium. Yet the magnitude of the scoreline came as a surprise, considering how competitive Newcastle have been in every other game this season. It was the first time in 2015-16 that last season’s wooden spooners have lost by more than a goal.

Newcastle’s cause was not helped by the belated withdrawal of skipper Nigel Boogaard, who missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.

Mooy struck a psychological blow when he drew first blood in the 43rd minute, beating Jets goalkeeper Mark Birighitti from close range.

With nonchalant ease, Fornaroli (56th minute), Mooy (59th) and Fornaroli again (62nd) found the net with ruthless precision.

City coach John van’t Schip said his players were in no mood to allow Newcastle back into the game, as they did in round four. “We had that in the back of our minds, that we had to put something right here,’’ he said.

source:theherald.com.au

The NSW government will push ahead with controversial vocational training reforms, forcing TAFE to compete with the scandal-ridden private sector for half of its funding next year.

A document seen by The Sun-Herald shows direct NSW government funding will be reduced to half of TAFE’s income in 2016, according to formal estimates prepared by the department.

To fill the gap, the 10 TAFE NSW institutes will have to compete with private colleges to attract state government funding based on enrolment numbers, strike private training deals with companies, and earn revenue from full-fee paying international students.

The acceleration of the Smart and Skilled reforms by NSW Skills Minister John Barilaro comes despite the alleged rorting of billions of dollars in Commonwealth subsidies by training colleges, recently exposed by the consumer watchdog.

The Turnbull government has frozen the level of student loans, known as VET FEE HELP, that can be pocketed by private training colleges next year, after it was revealed the colleges paid recruiters thousands of dollars to sign up disadvantaged students who weren’t capable of completing courses.

The NSW Greens and Labor claim that reducing TAFE’s guaranteed funding from three-quarters of its income in 2014, to half next year, risks repeating the TAFE collapses seen in Victoria.

“At the exact time that Australians are discovering that unrestrained public funding of private providers leads to large-scale rorting and exploitation, Skills Minister John Barilaro is throwing TAFE into competition with non-government providers for a rapidly growing share of its income,” said Greens MP John Kaye.

“The Baird government is handing almost half of the public system’s budget to a market that will attract the same dodgy private providers who have comprehensively rorted the federal scheme.”

“TAFE can’t operate without secure funding,” said Labor’s skills spokesman David Harris.

He compared the increase in government funding for private training colleges to the Rudd government’s discredited “pink batts” scheme.

“You have the good, the bad and the ugly turning up. The good guys get driven out,” he said.

Multiple private colleges are facing court action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for collecting Commonwealth subsidies based on thousands of enrolments, despite only 5 per cent of students graduating in some cases.

A spokesperson for Mr Barilaro said: “The NSW Budget for 2015/16 commits a $1.99 billion investment into TAFE NSW. Decisions regarding future budget allocations will be made as part of the regular government budget process.”

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into vocational training will report its findings next week.

Mr Barilaro has refused to tell to the inquiry how much of the vocational training budget will be “contestable” between TAFE and private trainers next year, citing “commercial in confidence contracts” with the training organisations.

But the former TAFE managing director, Pam Christie, told the inquiry “the expectation of the government is that we reduce our reliance on operational base funding”.

Ms Christie said the funding TAFE received under Smart and Skilled “puts pressure on our budget and the amount of time we can allocate to delivery”.

To compete with private colleges, TAFE NSW has reduced its class hours, increased class sizes and slashed fulltime teacher numbers by a third, said Mr Harris.

“Some head teachers have been in tears because they have been asked to sign off that a student has completed competencies that they haven’t. I am hearing about 40-minute videos being shown in plumbing classes.”

Mr Barilaro’s spokesman said that unlike the reforms made in Victoria, NSW regulates training prices and won’t allow private colleges to undercut TAFE fees.

Around 400 private colleges have been vetted by the NSW government for inclusion in Smart and Skilled.

The NSW government deregistered eight private colleges from the funding scheme in 2015, including one with links to Careers Australia, which was the second-biggest recipient of VET FEE HELP loans worth $146 million.

The NSW department of industry and skills has identified 61 colleges receiving Smart and Skilled funding that also received the Commonwealth subsidies, and will audit them to assess their financial stability in light of the recent restrictions placed on the Commonwealth scheme.

source:smh.com.au

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 12: Romeo Castelen of the Wanderers is challenged by Daniel Georgievski of Melbourne Victory during the round 10 A-League match between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory at Pirtek Stadium on December 12, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Second half goals to Mark Bridge and the excellent Romeo Castelen has spurred Western Sydney Wanderers to a 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Pirtek Stadium on Saturday night.

In an action-packed clash befitting a top-of-the-table contest, the Wanderers continued their incredible winning streak to suggest there’s a new favourite for the title.

Bridge struck nine minutes after the break to send the home side on their way before man-of-the-match Castelen made the points safe 11 minutes from the end

It’s now seven wins in a row for the Wanderers while Victory drop to third on the back of two straight defeats.

GOALS

1-0 Bridge (54’) – Scott Neville’s defence-splitting pass released Romeo Castelen in behind the Victory defence, the Dutchman unselfishly squaring to Bridge for a simple tap-in at the far post. A well-worked goal.

2-0 Castelen (79’) – Picking up possession about 30 yards from goal, Castelen played the ball one side of Georgievski before racing around the other side and regaining the ball. He tried his luck from a tight angle and it was too hot for Danny Vukovic to handle, sneaking in at the near post.
In a pulsating first half which ebbed and flowed from end-to-end, Victory had a couple of great chances to edge in front.

First following an Andrew Redmayne fumble, Daniel Georgievski hit a pile-driver towards goal which hit Besart Berisha and smashed onto the crossbar and down…but not over the line.

Less than 10 minutes later Kosta Barbarouses – after a brilliant one-two with Berisha – almost beat Redmayne, with Scott Neville clearing his poked effort off the line.

The Wanderers made the most of their next chance after the break and the three points was theirs.

OPTA DATA KEY STATS

The win was the Wanderers first against Melbourne Victory in their last five meetings dating back to the 2013-14 season.

It’s also the first time Victory have lost back-to-back matches in the A-League since Australia Day in 2014.

Bridge’s goal means he has now scored in each of his last four starts.
HIGHLIGHTS REEL

What a cracking 90 minutes it was at Wanderland.

The Hyundai A-League’s top two put on a show for the 17,000+ fans in a contest that lived up to the pre-game hype.

The match had a bit of everything. Sublime football, great atmosphere, missed chances, a couple of penalty shouts and some great skill.

No doubt these two are destined to meet again at some point during the finals.
COACH KILLER

Vukovic has been one of the form goal-keepers in the A-League for a number of seasons now but he came up with a shocking error for the Wanderers second goal.

Sure Castelen’s strike had plenty of venom behind it but the experienced gloveman should have done better than parry it into his own net.

Once that goal went in, it was always going to be a bridge to far for Victory to mount a fightback.

THE FINAL WORD

Another week, another win for the Wanderers. With each victory it’s starting to feel a lot like it was in the club’s debut season where they went all the way to the Premiers’ Plate. Tony Popovic’s side has now opened up a four-point gap at the top of the ladder ahead of a trip to Perth Glory next Saturday night.

That’s now two losses on the spin for Victory. While it’s nowhere near a crisis yet, it hasn’t be the same high standards we’ve come to expect from Kevin Muscat’s side over the last 18 months. They get a chance to rectify things on Wednesday night with their rescheduled clash, also away at Glory.

TEAMS:

Western Sydney Wanderers: Redmayne (gk), Neville, Alberto, Topor-Stanley (c), Jamieson, Andreu, Dimas, Nichols, Castelen (Mebrahtu 84’), Vidosic (Sotirio 72’, Bridge (Santalab 74’)

Melbourne Victory: Vukovic (gk), Geria (Howard 87’), Broxham (c), Delpierre, Georgievski, Mahazi (Gallifuoco 77’), Bozanic, Barbarouses, Finkler, Ben Khalfallah (Pain 67’), Berisha

Scorers: Bridge 54’, Castelen 79’

Red cards: Nil

Yellow cards: Nichols 20’, Ben Khalfallah 43’, Andreu 56’, Geria 66’, Barbarouses 70’, Santalab 85’, Mebrahtu 86’, Sotirio 88’

Conditions: 19C, Overcast

Attendance: 17,073 @ Pirtek Stadium

source:a-league.com.au

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s governing majority is looking fragile as crunch time approaches for a pension reform that will test his resolve to impose painful measures to satisfy Athens’ international creditors.

The coalition of Tsipras’ leftist SYRIZA party and the right-wing nationalist Independent Greeks has a majority of just three seats in parliament, and pro-European opposition parties that voted for Greece’s latest bailout are publicly refusing him any help on the toxic pension issue.

The overhaul, which must deliver savings worth 1 percent of gross domestic product or 1.8 billion euros next year, is the most sensitive of a raft of reforms demanded by the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund in return for up to 85 billion euros in aid in the country’s third bailout since 2010.

Trade unions have staged two 24-hour general strikes against further pension cuts and Tsipras has promised there will be no across-the-board reduction in benefits for retirees.

Tsipras says most of the savings will be achieved by ending early retirement under a law enacted last month, leaving about 600 million euros more to be saved.

“Hell, there must be ways to find those 600 million euros. It’s not 6 billion, it’s 600 million,” he said in a television interview this week after critics said he would struggle to avoid a new round of unpopular pension cuts.

Instead the government is proposing to increase social security contributions, mostly by employers – a move the lenders warn would deter job creation and set back economic recovery, setting the stage for tough negotiations next month.

Wars of words

As the deadline approaches, Tsipras launched an attack on the IMF this week, saying it was making unconstructive demands on both sides and should make up its mind whether it wanted to stay in the Greek program.

That in turn triggered another war of words with Germany, the biggest European creditor, which insists the global lender must stay in the program to enforce tough discipline and to reassure German lawmakers.

Sources in SYRIZA say some deputies are unhappy at the prospect of a reform that will entail merging the country’s multiple underfunded pension funds and reducing state subsidies to the system and is bound to lead to lower benefits for many.

No one knows how many, if any, of the grumblers may refuse to back the law.

Aides say Tsipras will negotiate hard with the lenders but ultimately will face down any opposition in his own party and push the pension reform through parliament so that Greece can start negotiations with the euro zone on debt relief in March.

Tsipras dismissed talk of a wider coalition in the state TV interview, saying his 153 seats in parliament were more solid than the 225-seat majority which had initially supported a 2011-12 interim government of technocrat Lucas Papademos, which crumbled within six months.

Political sources say the prime minister has put out feelers to a small opposition party, the Union of the Center, which has hinted its nine lawmakers might let the legislation pass.

Despite their tough public stance, other opposition parties could well abstain or absent themselves in sufficient numbers to ensure passage of the pension bill, the sources said.

“No one has an interest in having another election now,” said a senior political source, noting that the conservative New Democracy is in disarray ahead of a leadership election next week, and the center-left PASOK party is wary of taking any new responsibility for unpopular austerity measures.

The source said that while his “central scenario” was that Tsipras would ram the pension reform through, there was a risk that the prime minister would decide to play for time, delaying any reform until pressure mounted and the threat of another destabilizing Greek crisis began to affect financial markets.

A source on the lenders’ side said creditors could also play things long to increase reform leverage over Greece and push back debt relief talks until after sensitive regional elections in Germany and a general election in Slovakia in March.

While Tsipras remains Greece’s dominant politician, with no challenger in sight, Athens is awash with rumors of an “ecumenical government” combining technocrats with consensual politicians if he loses his majority.

source:ekathimerini.com

Police, protesters and media converged on the Sydney suburb of Cronulla on the 10th anniversary of violent race riots as a group of self-described patriots held a “halal-free” barbecue.
More than 100 officers took to the streets on Saturday, many on horseback, after the NSW Supreme Court and the Federal Court in Sydney both made rulings to prevent a rally commemorating the riots being held.

Instead of a rally, anti-Islam protesters held a barbecue on Saturday.

Counter-protesters were also in the area, although the heavy police presence kept the opposing groups separated for the most part.

Two people were arrested from groups of anti-racism protesters, with some people holding banners including “Anti Fascist Action Sydney” and “Cronulla Welcomes Muslims”.

Later, police funnelled the bulk of the counter-protesters onto city-bound trains, with riot police accompanying them onto the carriages.

The procedure was completed without major incident, barring some verbal scuffles.

Barbecue held in place of ‘memorial rally’

Party for Freedom chairman Nicholas Folkes was ordered not to hold a “memorial” rally on the grounds that it would stir up racial hatred.

He branded the decisions “sharia” law before pledging to hold the “halal-free” barbecue.

Today, about 50 supporters of a self-described patriots organisation gathered near the suburb’s sand dunes for the meal, which included a pig on a spit-roast.

Speaking at the barbecue, Mr Folkes criticised the court’s decision.

“When you do speak up today, and you’re a patriot and you love your country, the political establishment and those useful idiots on the left think there’s something wrong,” he said.

“It’s not just people here, there’s millions of Australians that feel the same.”

Earlier in the day, Folkes appeared on commercial television to show his car tyres, which he said had been slashed the night before.

On December 11 2005, racial tensions in the area exploded when Middle Easterners and other people of non-Anglo appearance were set upon by crowds of white Australians, many of whom had been drinking heavily.

The weekend of violence followed weeks of simmering racial tensions in the beachside suburb between locals and visiting groups of youths.

The bloody weekend shocked Australians of all backgrounds, leading to years of soul-searching and community programs aimed at mending bridges between Sydney’s communities.

source:abc.net.au

The Federal Government looks likely to reject a United States request to send more military assets to the Middle East.

US secretary of defence Ash Carter made the request earlier this week to all countries involved in the coalition battling Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria and Iraq.

“Along with, as I understand it, 40 other or so nations we have received correspondence from the US secretary of defence which we’re considering at the moment,” Defence Minister Marisa Payne said.

“We of course are making a very significant commitment in the Iraq and Syria conflict at the moment, one which we are pleased to see other nations joining in more recently as well.

“We know that the British government, for example, has recently increased their engagement.

“The United States, in pursuing that with a number of the coalition partners, is exploring other opportunities.”

The request, at this stage, does not extend to putting Australian troops on the ground.

“We’ve been asked to, along with as I said 39 other nations, to look at what we’re already contributing and what more we might do,” Senator Payne said.

“Where we can play very important roles is perhaps in command positions, and we’re responding to the United States in relation to that as well.”

She highlighted Australia was already making the second largest contribution to the coalition campaign, suggesting Australia may be more likely to wait for other nations to intervene before expanding its own efforts in the region.

“We will respond to the United States in due course,” Senator Payne said.

“But if you bear in mind what we’re already doing in our air operations and our building partner capacity work … these are significant undertakings, and Australia is already making a very significant commitment.”

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) jets were deployed to the region to carry out airstrikes against terrorists in Iraq in October 2014.

In September this year, then-prime minister Tony Abbott announced an expansion of that campaign to Syria.

Earlier this month, the UK Parliament voted in favour of its air force joining military operations in the region.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since a popular uprising against dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and an estimated 4 million have been forced from their homes amid fighting between Mr Assad’s forces, IS and other Islamist militants, and other rebel groups.

Australian troops are also involved in training Iraqi forces who are fighting Islamic State in that country.

source:abc.net.au

Από αριστερά, οι κ. Χριστίνα Δεσποτέρη (αντιπρόεδρος Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee (LGCC), Cr Amanda Stevens (δήμαρχος Port Phillip), κ. Lee Tarlamis (πρόεδρος LGCC), κ. Jim Claven (γραμματέας LGCC) και κ. Peter Corlett, OAM (γλύπτης του μνημείου). Φώτο: Christina Despoteris

Φιλοξενεί άγαλμα αφιερωμένο στην συμβολή της Λήμνου στην εκστρατεία της Καλλίπολης

Ύστερα από εκτενή ενημέρωση που έτυχα όσον αφορά τα τελευταία πεπραγμένα της Αυστραλιανής Επιτροπής «Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee» με έδρα την Μελβούρνη, από την αντιπρόεδρό της, κ. Χριστίνα Δεσποτέρη (λημνιακής καταγωγής), με χαρά δέχτηκα το άκουσμα της πρωτοβουλίας της Επιτροπής για μετονομασία άλσους της Μελβούρνης σε … «Πλατεία Λήμνου».

Συγκεκριμένα, η πρόταση υποβλήθηκε διαμέσου του πρόεδρου της, κ. Lee Tarlamis (λημνιακής καταγωγής) και του γραμματέα της, κ. Jim Claven (Αυστραλού φιλέλληνα και ιστορικού ερευνητή) στον παραθαλάσσιο Δήμο της Μελβούρνης City of Port Phillip, στα όρια του οποίου έχει αναγερθεί περίτεχνο άγαλμα-μνημείο με κύριο σκοπό την προαγωγή της συμβολής και συνδρομής της νήσου Λήμνου κατά τον Α’ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο («Μάχη Καλλίπολης»).

Τα επίσημα αποκαλυπτήριά του έγιναν στις 8 Αυγούστου τρέχοντος έτους.

Εφόσον το εν λόγω μνημείο παραδόθηκε και επισήμως στις 5 Νοεμβρίου 2015 από την Επιτροπή στον οικείο Δήμο για τη φύλαξη, συντήρηση και ανάδειξή του, θεωρήθηκε αυτονόητο να προταθεί η μετονομασία του ευρύτερου χώρου που «φιλοξενείται», από Foote Street σε «Lemnos Square» ή «Lemnos Gardens».

Σημειωτέον, η ευρύτερη περιοχή έχει και έναν πρόσθετο συμβολισμό (και) για τους Λημνιούς, μιας και παρακείμενα βρίσκεται ο χώρος της αλλοτινής προκυμαίας άφιξης μεταναστών (Station Pier) κατά τις προηγούμενες δεκαετίες… ως πύλη εισόδου σε μια νέα ζωή !

Η κ. Χ. Δεσποτέρη ενημέρωσε ότι πιο αναλυτικές πληροφορίες για τους στόχους της Επιτροπής για τη νέα χρονιά (π.χ έκδοση βιβλίου στα αγγλικά και ελληνικά, συμμετοχή σε εκθέσεις, συνέδρια κ.λπ.) θα υπάρξουν τις επόμενες ημέρες κατά την ετήσια Απολογιστική Γενική Συνέλευση 2015 (Αnnual General Meeting).

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες μπορείτε να μεταβείτε στον ιστότοπο της Επιτροπής http://lemnosgallipolicc.blogspot.gr/

Πηγές: (1)http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/station-pier/station-pier-gateway-to-a-new-life/a-better-pier/

(2) http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/Lemnos-Gallipoli-Memorial-gifted-to-the-Ci…

*O Ανδρέας Κολαΐτης είναι πτυχιούχος ΤΕΙ Αθήνας και μέλος Συλλόγου «Οι Φίλοι των Anzacs από τη Λήμνο».

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Πρόκειται για τον Λεονίντ Κουλικόφσκι

Ένας δισέγγονος του Τσάρου Αλέξανδρου Γ’ της Ρωσίας, που άφησε την τελευταία του πνοή στο Ντάργουιν, τάφηκε στο οικογενειακό κοιμητήριο μιας ελληνικής οικογένειας, της οικογένειας Πασπάλη που είναι και η πλουσιότερη οικογένεια του Ντάργουιν.

Πρόκειται για τον Λεονίντ Κουλικόφσκι, ο οποίος πέθανε στα 72 του χρόνια, ενώ έβγαζε τον σκύλο του βόλτα σε πάρκο, στις 27 Σεπτεμβρίου. Ζούσε μόνος στο Ντάργουιν. Βρέθηκε νεκρός κάτω από ένα δέντρο στην πόλη Κάθριν της Northern Territory και δίπλα του ο πιστός του σκύλος.

Μετά τον θάνατό του, μέλη της οικογένειας Πασπάλη, ζήτησαν από τον διπλωματικό εκπρόσωπο της Ρωσίας, Σάιμον Αντρόποβ, να επιτρέψει την ταφή του Λεονίντ στο οικογενειακό τους κοιμητήριο.

«Είναι καλό που ο Λεονίντ Κουλικόφσκι αναπαύεται σε ελληνικό νεκροταφείο. Ο παππούς του διέφυγε από τη Ρωσία στην Ελλάδα και οι Έλληνες τού πρόσφεραν αμέριστη φιλοξενία» είπε.

Μέλος της εξορισμένης οικογένειας των Ρομανόφ, ο Λεονίντ Κουλικόφσκι ήταν ο γιος του Γιούρι, η μητέρα του οποίου ήταν η πριγκίπισσα Όλγα, η νεαρότερη κόρη του Αλέξανδρου Γ’, του προτελευταίου Τσάρου.

Η ταυτότητά του αποκαλύφθηκε όταν ο επικεφαλής της Ρωσικής Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας Αυστραλίας επισκέφθηκε πρόσφατα τη Μόσχα, όπου τον ενημέρωσαν ότι ένα μέλος της οικογένειας των Ρομανόφ πέθανε στη Βόρεια Αυστραλία. Η κηδεία έγινε στο Ντάργουιν, σε Σερβική ορθόδοξη εκκλησία, μετά από αίτημα της αδελφής του Κουλικόφσκι, η οποία ζει στη Δανία.

Ο Λεονίντ Κουλικόφσκι μετακόμισε από εκεί στο Σίδνεϊ το 1967, αλλά γενικά πέρασε απαρατήρητος.

Εργαζόταν στην εταιρεία διαχείρισης ύδατος, μέχρι πριν από επτά χρόνια, όταν και πήρε σύνταξη.

Τα επόμενα χρόνια ταξίδευε σε όλη την Αυστραλία με ένα τροχόσπιτο, το οποίο του το έκλεψαν όταν βρέθηκε στην πόλη Κάθριν, οπότε αποφάσισε να εγκατασταθεί εκεί.

Στην πόλη τον ήξεραν ως ο «Γέρο-Νικ» – ίσως αναφορά στον Νικόλαο Β’, τον τελευταίο Τσάρο της Ρωσίας, ο οποίος εκτελέστηκε μαζί με την οικογένειά του το 1918.

«Τα πήγαινε καλά με όλους. Αγαπούσε τον σκύλο του και τον φρόντιζε πολύ. Διάβαζε πολλά βιβλία και είχε πολλά που αναφέρονταν στους Βίκινγκς» είπε ο Πίτερ Μπάιερς, που τον γνώριζε.

Πηγή:Νέος Κόσμος

Οι σχέσεις Βελιγραδίου -Σκοπίων δοκιμάζονται εξαιτίας της ανάρτησης στη νότια Σερβία, πινακίδας που αναφέρει ως ΠΓΔΜ (σερβικά:BJRM) το γειτονικό κράτος. Η πινακίδα παρέχει πληροφορίες για την κατασκευή τμήματος του αυτοκινητόδρομου Ε-75 στη νότια Σεβία, σχετικά με το μήκος του υπό κατασκευή δρόμου, το κόστος, τον χρηματοδότη και την ημερομηνία παράδοσης του έργου.

Εκείνο που ενόχλησε τα Σκόπια είναι το γεγονός ότι στην κορυφή της πινακίδας αναγράφεται: «Κατασκευή αυτοκινητόδρομου Ε-75, Διάδρομος 10, Βελιγράδι- Σύνορα με ΠΓΔΜ».

Τα Σκόπια ζητούν να αναγραφεί αντί για ΠΓΔΜ το όνομα «Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας». Όπως ανέφερε το σερβικό υπουργείο Εξωτερικών «η Πρέσβης της Σερβίας στα Σκόπια, Ντούσανκα Ντίβιακ-Τόμιτς κλήθηκε στο ΥΠΕΞ της ΠΓΔΜ όπου της επιδόθηκε προφορική νότα διαμαρτυρίας με την απαίτηση να διορθωθεί η ονομασία και να αναγραφεί Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας».

Ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Σερβίας αντιδρώντας στην απαίτηση των Σκοπίων δήλωσε στην εφημερίδα «Νόβοστι» του Βελιγραδίου ότι «η πινακίδα θα παραμείνει ως έχει».

«Τώρα τους ενοχλεί η πινακίδα και ότι ψήφισαν πρόσφατα υπέρ της ένταξης του Κοσόβου στην UNESCO, εμάς δεν πρέπει να μας ενοχλεί. Είναι καιρός να πάψουμε να δουλεύουμε εναντίον των δικών μας συμφερόντων. Αλήθεια είναι ότι τους αναγνωρίσαμε με το όνομα Μακεδονία αλλά αυτό έγινε από τον Μιλόσεβιτς την δεκαετία του ΄90» σχολίασε σε έντονο ύφος ο Ντάτσιτς υπενθυμίζοντας ότι τα Σκόπια αναγνώρισαν το Κόσοβο παρά τις αντιρρήσεις της Σερβίας.

Το τμήμα του αυτοκινητόδρομου Βλαντίτσιν Ηαν – Ντόνι Νεράτοβατς όπου στήθηκε η πινακίδα χρηματοδοτείται από την σερβική κυβέρνηση και την κατασκευή του έχει αναλάβει η ελληνική κατασκευαστική εταιρεία «Τέρνα».

Πηγή:in.gr