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Μια ακριβή επέμβαση στα δόντια ήταν αφορμή για να ξεκινήσει ο 73χρονος πλέον Όθα Άντερς από τη Λουιζιάνα των ΗΠΑ να μαζεύει κέρματα ενός λεπτού του δολαρίου.

Μετά από 40 χρόνια αποφάσισε να τα καταθέσει στην τράπεζα για να τα χρησιμοποιήσει.

Για να το καταφέρει αυτό τα έβαλε σε 15 μεγάλα πλαστικά μπουκάλια και τα μετέφερε με αγροτικό.

Τελικά, όταν οι υπάλληλοι της τράπεζας μέτρησαν τα χρήματα, τα βρήκαν λίγο περισσότερα από 5.000 δολάρια.

Ο ίδιος ο Άντερς δήλωσε πως έφτασε η στιγμή για να κάνει την επέμβαση στα δόντια.

Πηγή:madata.gr

Σύμφωνα με αυστραλιανή ταξιδιωτική εταιρία.

Η Ελλάδα παραμένει ένας από τους πιο αγαπημένους προορισμούς για τους Αυστραλούς που θέλουν να πάνε «μακρινές διακοπές».

Αυτό προκύπτει από έρευνα που έκανε η εταιρία Webjet Australia και δημοσιεύθηκε στο International Business Times.

Σύμφωνα με την έρευνα αυτή, οι Αυστραλοί δήλωσαν ότι θα ήθελαν να πάνε διακοπές στην Ελλάδα, την Ισπανία και την Ιταλία (με αυτή τη σειρά).

Από την ίδια έρευνα προκύπτει ότι κατά το εξάμηνο Ιανουαρίου-Αυγούστου 2015, οι κρατήσεις από Αυστραλούς στην Ελλάδα παρουσίασαν αύξηση κατά 162%!

Το στοιχείο αυτό προκαλεί ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση, αφού άλλη έρευνα (ελληνική αυτή τη φορά), που έγινε πρόσφατα, έδειξε ότι το 2014 οι αφίξεις Αυστραλών τουριστών στην Ελλάδα παρουσίασαν αύξηση κατά 9,8% τον προηγούμενο χρόνο (2014).

Όλοι οι δείκτες, πάντως, οδηγούν στο ίδιο συμπέρασμα, ότι η τουριστική κίνηση από Αυστραλία προς Ελλάδα παρουσιάζει ανοδικές τάσεις τα τελευταία χρόνια.

Ενδεχομένως, σε αυτό να συνέβαλε και η οικονομική κρίση αφού είχε ως αποτέλεσμα να μειωθούν οι τιμές των παρεχομένων υπηρεσιών.

Η πτώση που σημείωσε η αξία του δολαρίου Αυστραλίας τους τελευταίους μήνες, κάνει, όμως, πιο ακριβό πλέον το ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα (και σε άλλους προορισμούς του εξωτερικού).

Στην Ελλάδα, πάντως, οι τιμές σημειώνουν μικρή πτώση και, σε συνδυασμό με τη σταθερότητα που υπάρχει στη χώρα (σε σχέση με τα όσα συμβαίνουν στην περιοχή π.χ. Μέση Ανατολή, Β. Αφρική και Τουρκία), ολοένα και την επιλέγουν περισσότεροι τουρίστες.

Πηγή:neos kosmos

It was as news came through that another 11 children had drowned trying to reach Greece that Benedict Cumberbatch finally cracked.

“Fuck the politicians,” the usually painfully polite upper-class actor told a theatre audience in London last week after playing Hamlet, before making a despairing plea on behalf of thousands of refugees arriving daily on Europes beaches.

The “Sherlock” star has been making impassioned speeches in support of migrants from the stage of the Barbican since August, raising £150,000 (212,000 euros, $230,000) for Save the Children from nightly collections.

All across Europe, artists are similarly rallying to the migrant cause, determined not to let anger at governments squabbling over the crisis drift into indifference or hostility towards refugees fleeing war and misery.

An Austrian artist topped the iTunes music charts with a minute of silence to symbolise deafness to their plight, “performing” it later in front of 150,000 people at an open-air Vienna concert, while a theatre backed by some of Britain’s leading directors has opened in the Calais “jungle” to lift the spirits of those stuck in the squalid camp on Frances north coast.

Austria’s Nobel prize-winning writer Elfriede Jelinek has even updated her 2013 play “The Wards” to castigate the “smugness and cynicism” of Europe’s response to suffering on its doorstep. But with the crisis falling off the front pages, Cumberbatch felt they were raging against a tide of apathy as he told the audience how 5,000 migrants a day were arriving on Lesbos, in a video of the speech posted on social media.

“No one puts children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land,” he said, quoting from a poem called “Home” by the Somali poet Warsan Shire.

Twenty more babies and children have drowned in the Aegean since Cumberbatch lost his temper last week, according to an AFP count, bringing their number to an estimated 110 since the pictures of Syrian toddler Aylan washed up on a Turkish beach first pricked the world’s conscience in September.

The Oscar-nominated British actress Samantha Morton this week offered to put up refugees on land she owns, while James Bond star Daniel Craig told AFP: “There is a human tragedy going on. It is up to European governments to step forward and get this sorted.”

Morton said history will not be kind to governments like Britain’s which has offered to take only 20,000 refugees over five years – a gesture “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling slammed as “utterly shameful” with the UN expecting up to 1.35 million refugees and migrants to have entered Europe by February.

“People will look back and they will judge,” said Morton as film-makers led by Michel Hazanavicius, director of the Oscar-winning “The Artist” lobbied Brussels to act decisively, warning of growing xenophobia stirred by the EUs inability to tackle the problem.

“Europe seems to want to do crisis management, we want a Europe that shouts its values loud and clear,” he said as he presented a petition signed by some of cinemas biggest names to officials last month.

“The only way Europe can hope to block the dangerous progress of populism and demagogy is by remaining both political and human,” he added. But it is not just the EU that is failing – the Arab world must also shoulder the burden, conductor Daniel Barenboim insisted this week.

“Europe alone can’t deal with Syrian refugees… The Arab world should also take them,” he told reporters.

Not all artists however have rallied to the migrant banner. Graffiti artist Dan Park last month caused outrage in Sweden – which after Germany has taken the largest number of migrants – with posters declaring, “Terrorist Welcome, bring your own weapons.”

And Swedish pop singer Christer Sandelin also questioned its open-door approach in a post on Facebook: “Is there anyone who believes we can help 2,000 refugees who enter our country daily (but not Norway, Denmark, nor Finland). What is going on???” However, singer Carola, who won the Eurovision song contest for the Nordic country in 1991, claims they do not represent the Swedes and has been putting migrants up in her own home.

Fellow Eurovision winner, bearded Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst – a former choirboy – has supported the Popes call for Catholic parishes to take in refugees and also appears with Peter Gabriel in a video for a new song called “Do Something” by British singer Charlie Winston.

The video, supported by the Red Cross, was shot in refugee camps across Europe including Calais’ “jungle”, and warns, “There is only so long this can keep going on…”

source:ekathimerini.com

FOR ambush predators, there have been a few great white sharks have been making a bit of a scene along sections of that big hole in the ground known as Lake Macquarie.

Dorsal fins slicing through the glass-like water off Warners Bay, flashes of white bellies under boats near the Swansea Channel entrance, circling off the jetty at Murrays Beach and powerful breaches off Marmong Point and Pulbah Island.

But do the sightings, and they are almost being reported every other day, mean there is an increase in shark numbers or an increase in the awareness.

The Department of Primary Industries shark expert, Dr Vic Peddemors, said there were at least two great white sharks enjoying themselves in Lake Macquarie right now.

But there may be more.

‘‘It is absolutely a massive ecosystem and it is varied. The power plants pumping in warm water would inevitably change the system there a bit,’’ Dr Peddemors said.

‘‘There is such a variety of habitats within the lake and the positives that come from that is things like the resident pod of dolphins, and the number of sharks.’’

Dr Peddemors’ first trip to Lake Macquarie was last year after the Newcastle Herald revealed footage of a great white cruising in very shallow water off the popular swimming spot at Murrays Beach.

He was impressed by the place.

‘‘I didn’t realise how big the lake actually was,’’ Dr Peddemors said.

‘‘Our aim at that stage was to come down and locate the shark to see if we could catch it and lead it out to sea.’’

It didn’t happen and the shark disappeared, although news that a fisherman caught it and killed it remain unconfirmed and unlikely.

It probably just swam out and moved on.

Since then, there have been dozens of sightings of various-sized great whites, all appearing to be in good health and inquisitive.

Theories for the sightings have included the banning of professional fisherman from the lake in 2002, allowing fish stocks to increase and, in turn, allowing it to support apex predators such as great whites.

‘‘Historically we had thought great whites were coastal, then we found them travelling immense distances by using tracking devices,’’ Dr Peddemors said.

‘‘We are also finding out more and more that they go into the shallow water areas like Lake Macquarie, like Port Stephens, like Sydney Harbour and the Hawkesbury River.

‘‘If you said that 20 years ago, people probably would not have believed you.’’

He later said: ‘‘I am a great believer that animals only move for food or reproduction. So if there is a lot of food around, there is no need for them to move.’’

The invention of the smartphone has also helped gather credible information, with most people now in possession of a camera and video player in their pocket or their purse.

‘‘And pretty much everyone is on social media,’’ Dr Peddemors said.

‘‘It is a totally new world out there.

‘‘The rule that social media has got on reporting shark sightings and shark bites is going to be very difficult to untangle.

‘‘I don’t think there are more shark bites than 10 years ago, I think we just hear about more of them.’’

But are there more sharks.

‘‘I would like to believe there is; they have been protected since 1990,’’ he said.

‘‘But sharks are like mammals, they reproduce very slowly.

‘‘It takes a long time to recover from a depleted state.’’

And do they pose a threat to lake users in the lead-up to summer?

‘‘They are all juvenile white sharks. Although 2 metres, to most of us, is a really big fish, these guys are just juveniles,’’ Dr Peddemors said.

‘‘However, they do have the potential to be dangerous.

‘‘Fortunately no one has been bitten, touch wood, but obviously it is going to be on the top of everyone’s mind when the lake is used by so many people.

‘‘It is a worry but we can’t catch every fish.

‘‘There are bull sharks in there, there is everything in the lake.

‘‘Just because there is a white shark in there does not automatically put people onto the menu of food selection.’’

In fact, Dr Peddemors said the well-versed theory that all great white sharks moved on from fish to larger prey, such as seals, once they reached the size that have been seen in the lake, is now being questioned.

In fact, some tests on shark tissue suggest some sharks never graduate from fish to mammals.

‘‘This is all relatively new understanding.

‘‘Everyone has heard from people, including me, that there is a change in diets of white sharks,’’ Dr Peddemors said.

‘‘From fish to seals, for example.

‘‘But to be accurate it is going from solely fish to mainly fish with possibly a few seals.’’

source:theherald.com.au

More charges are expected over the disappearance of a newborn baby and her teenage mother from a Victorian hospital.

Amanda Clay, 17, and her one-day old daughter Phoebe went missing from the special care unit of the Northern Hospital on Thursday, sparking a state-wide search.

Police were afraid that Ms Clay, who gave birth to Phoebe via caesarean only hours earlier, and her baby both needed urgent medical attention.

The mother and baby returned to the hospital on Friday afternoon.

CCTV footage revealed that three women, believed to be family and friends of Ms Clay, had taken the baby before Ms Clay left of her own accord.

A 27-year-old Mill Park woman has been charged with child stealing and reckless conduct, and has been bailed to appear in court at a later date.

Police say investigations are continuing and more charges may be laid.

source:skynews.com.au

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person by Forbes magazine, followed by German chancellor Angela Merkel and US president Barack Obama.

This is the third year in a row Mr Putin has taken out the top spot, and this year’s results mean Mr Obama is the first sitting US president to slide out of the top two power rankings.

The magazine published its seventh annual ranking just weeks after Mr Putin opened a new front in the Syrian war by conducting air strikes, then Mr Putin hosted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Moscow.

“As Obama enters the final year of his presidency, it’s clear his influence is shrinking, and it’s a bigger struggle than ever to get things done,” Forbes wrote.

“At home, his approval ratings are perpetually stuck under 50 per cent; abroad, he’s outshined by Merkel in Europe, and outmanoeuvred by Putin in the Middle East.”

In August, Mr Putin’s domestic approval rating soared to 87 per cent, the highest level in six years, according to an independent polling centre.

His intervention in Syria has seen Mr Putin seek to muscle his way back to global influence after months of Western isolation over Ukraine.

“Putin continues to prove he’s one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants — and get away with it,” Forbes said.

Despite international sanctions imposed after Moscow annexed Crimea and over the conflict in Ukraine, Mr Putin has made the US and NATO look weak, and helped rebuild Russian influence abroad, Forbes said.

“Sure, there were some international sanctions that were put on Russia [after the annexation of Crimea] but they don’t seem to have affected Putin at all, he’s really established that there’s no checks to his power within Russia, and increasingly there’s ineffectual checks around the world,” contributing editor at Forbes David Ewalt said.

Pope Francis, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump make list

The German chancellor, jumped up three places to grab second spot, last year occupied by Mr Obama.

“Merkel is the backbone of the 28-member European Union, and her decisive actions dealing with the Syrian asylum seeker issue and the Greek credit crisis helped bump her up the list,” Forbes said.

Pope Francis was number four and Chinese leader Xi Jinping number five, falling two spots from last year. The 2015 list ranks 73 powerbrokers among 7.3 billion people on the planet.

Among the eight newcomers were Saudi Arabia’s new monarch, King Salman number 14, and US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at number 58 and 72 respectively.

Thirty on the list come from the US, eight come from China, and four each from Japan and Russia.

Nine women made the cut.

The youngest on the list are 31-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at number 19, and North Korea’s 32-year-old leader Kim Jong-un at number 46.

The Forbes Magazine list looks at four factors — control over large numbers of people, financial resources, multiple realms of power, and willingness to use that power.

source:abc.net.au

Από την παρουσίαση της μελέτης στο «Σπίτι των Καστελοριζίων»

Παρουσίαση 45χρονης επιστημονικής μελέτης στο «Σπίτι των Καστελοριζίων» στη Δυτική Αυστραλία

Μία νέα και ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρουσα επιστημονική μελέτη που εκδόθηκε πρόσφατα από τον εκδοτικό οίκο Arts Naked παρουσιάστηκε πριν από μερικές μέρες στο «Σπίτι των Καστελοριζίων» στο Perth της Δυτικής Αυστραλίας. Η παρουσίαση της μελέτης έγινε από τον επίσης ομογενή πρώην Κυβερνήτη της Πολιτείας Dr Ken Michael.

Η διαχρονική αυτή μελέτη (άρχισε το 1964 και ολοκληρώθηκε το 2007) εξετάζει την πορεία των Ελληνογεννημένων γυναικών από την ημέρα που έφτασαν στην Αυστραλία παρουσιάζοντας τις κοινωνικές, οικονομικές και πολιτιστικές προκλήσεις που αντιμετώπισαν ως νέες μετανάστριες, εργαζόμενες, μητέρες ή σύζυγοι.

Για τη διεκπεραίωση της επιστημονικής αυτής μελέτης συνεργάστηκαν πανεπιστημιακοί ερευνητές από το Αυστραλιανό Πανεπιστήμιο Curtin, αλλά και από την Ελλάδα. Τη μελέτη συνέγραψε ο Επίτιμος Καθηγητής του πανεπιστημίου University of Western Australia Reginald Appleyard.

Οι άλλοι δύο επιστήμονες που συνέβαλαν στην ολοκλήρωση της μελέτης είναι ο ομογενής καθηγητής του Τμήματος Μεταπτυχιακής Έρευνας του Τμήματος Ανθρωπιστικών Σπουδών του πανεπιστημίου Curtin Δρ. Τζον Γιαννάκης και η κοινωνιολόγος, κοινωνική λειτουργός, ερευνήτρια και πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Εταιρείας Κοινωνικής Συμμετοχής, κ. Άννα Αμηρά.

Στην παρουσίαση εκτός από μέλη και φίλους του Συλλόγου Καστελοριζίων Δ. Αυστραλίας έδωσαν το παρών ο νέος πρόξενος της Ελλάδας στο Perth κ. Τζέιμς Λήμνιος αλλά και πολιτικοί παράγοντες της πολιτείας.

Όσοι θα ήθελαν να προμηθευτούν το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο μπορούν να αποταθούν στο «Σπίτι των Καστελοριζίων».

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici is guided in the archaeological site of Acropolis, in Athens, Greece, 04 November 2015. Photo: AP

The European Commission autumn report is optimistic.

The European Commission in its autumn report titled “Uncertainty reverses economic recovery,” said that the Greek economy built up positive momentum in 2014 and will return to recession in 2015.

Overall, the Greek economy is forecast to contract by 1.4% in 2015. Recovery is expected in the course of 2016, supported by a rebound in confidence, the stabilisation of the financial sector following the banksʼ recapitalisation expected at the end of 2015, and the consequent re-launching of investment and privatisation projects. Nevertheless, the economy is projected to contract by 1.3% in 2016 amid negative carryover effects from 2015. In 2017, GDP growth is set to gather speed and is projected at 2.7% as implemented structural reforms strengthen aggregate demand.

The projected improvement in Greeceʼs current account deficit in 2015 is due to the decrease in imports, while it is expected to turn into surplus in the forecast horizon as past and ongoing structural reforms create new opportunities.

The decreasing trend of unemployment, followed since the peak in 2013, is expected to be interrupted in 2015 and 2016, before resuming in 2017. Compensation per employee is projected to decline further in 2015, before starting to rise again in 2016. HICP inflation is expected to be negative in 2015, as the impact of lower oil prices and the weak demand outweigh the impact of VAT reforms raising many items to the standard rate.

Inflation is expected to start increasing from 2016 onwards in line with the economic recovery. Upside risks to the growth outlook are related to the public sector settling arrears and the full absorption of EU structural funds by the end of the year. On the downside, failure to adequately recapitalise the banking sector within the agreed timeframe or to fully deliver on the reform programme would undermine growth prospects. Adjusted fiscal dynamics with swift action. The prolonged uncertainty and the turnaround in the economic cycle also had a negative impact on public finances in the first half of 2015.

The Greek economy is projected to slip back into recession by the end of the year, after a period of heightened uncertainty culminated in a bank holiday and introduction of capital controls. The implementation of the new ESM programme will enable a rebound in confidence and investment that is set to support positive growth and the reduction in the general government deficit to below 3% of GDP in 2017.

The 2nd Adjustment Programme, the referendum called in June 2015 and the itroduction of capital controls raised uncertainty sabotaging the country’s previous efforts towards financial growth.

Both the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) and the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) plummeted to historically low levels in July and August 2015.

Real GDP, however, grew by 1.0 per cent in the first half of 2015, and as trade credit tightened significantly imports also saw a reduction.

The report does stress that the broken deadlines for tax payment, the standstill of investment and the poor availability of credit have taken are yet to take a heavy toll on economic activity. On the positive side, the tourism sector and net trade which in spite of all odds performed exceptionally well for the second year in a row have given Greece a reason to hope.

The fiscal policy measures agreed with the authorities in the 3rd adjustment programme that were partly implemented already in July and August 2015 are expected to yield savings of over 1% of GDP in the second half of 2015 and up to 4% of GDP cumulatively through 2017. With this significant fiscal consolidation, the primary balance is projected to record a small deficit in 2015 (0.25% of GDP) before returning to surplus in 2016 (0.5% of GDP).

Moreover, the Greek government has committed to legislating in autumn 2015 an additional fiscal package to ensure a primary surplus of 1.75% of GDP in 2017. Based on this primary balance path, the headline deficit is projected to fall from 4.6% of GDP in 2015 to 2.2% of GDP in 2017.

Downside risks include increased spending due to the marked migration inflows whose impact is still being assessed.
The fiscal projections do not include the return of SMP and ANFA profits to the Greek Government, reflecting the Eurogroup statement of 27 June 2015 to suspend these transfers, and the forthcoming recapitalisation of the Greek banking sector, that will have a substantial but temporary negative impact on the general government balance, which cannot be determined before the operations take place. The full bank recapitalisation envelope of up to 25 billion euros (14% of GDP) envisaged in the ESM programme has been included into the public debt figures starting in 2015, although it remains to be seen if all funds need to be drawn.

The general government debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to peak in 2016 at 199.7% before declining in 2017 to 195.6%.

source:Neos Kosmos

Greek owned shipping fleet has seen an increase in stock in the past year, after an extra 202 ships entered the mould, taking the total to 4,909 – an increase of 4.3 per cent.

The jump is the largest the Greek fleet has seen since 2009, despite the country’s economic woes.

Whilst the fleet has grown, so has the sizing of the individual ships, meanwhile the average age has declined from 13.2 years last year to 12.7 years.

It is thought shipowners are taking advantage of lower purchasing costs.

The statistics gathered by Petrofin Research in Athens earmark the industry’s ability to remain durable despite the turbulent economic and political environment, a sentiment supported by Petrofin MD Ted Petropoulos.

“Greek owners are committed to building up their eco fleets, as the vessels of the future and in the expectation that they will reap rewards in time, when conventional tonnage shall either be scrapped or shunned by charterers,” he said.

“In light of the continuing Greek political and economic crisis and the huge uncertainty surrounding the future of Greek shipping being operated out of Greece, due to the expected increase in taxation, the growth in vessels’ capacity and improvement in age comes as a surprise.

“Greek owners are renowned for their ability to pick the right time to invest and disinvest. Time will show if they got it right once again in these unprecedentedly challenging times.”

The fleet is predominantly made up of dry-bulk carriers and tankers.

source:Neos Kosmos

A PURCHASE made at a South Australian bag store could be a vital clue in the ongoing double murder investigation of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce.

Detectives have identified a purchase made from Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s bank account at a Strandbags store in Mount Gambier on November 17, 2008, reports The Australian. The chain was the only Australian stockists of the dark grey Lanza suitcase in which Khandalyce’s remains were found near an Outback highway in July this year.

They type of clothing and suitcase Khandalyce was found in.

Police believe 20-year-old Ms Pearce-Stevenson was murdered in mid-December, weeks after the purchase was made, and have previously said they think Khandalyce was slain shortly after.

Hundreds of purchases made on Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s bank cards between November 2008 and 2012 are being scrutinised by investigators, which was accessed hundreds of times after she was killed.

A man known to Ms Pearce-Stevenson, Daniel James Holdom, 41, has been charged with her murder. No charges have been laid against anyone over Khandalyce’s death.

South Australian police refused to comment on the possible suitcase link, when they planned to speak to Strandbags management, or if they have established a clearer timeline of events concerning the mother and daughter’s movementsin late 2008.

“We will not be providing any further comment at this time,” a spokeswoman said.

Both Ms Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce were known to be in the company of Holdom and his then partner Hazel Passmore, 33, in the last half of 2008. Photographs of Khandalyce in November show her wearing clothes that were found in the tattered suitcase, The Australian said.

One of the many unanswered questions in the double murder inquiry has been how Khandalyce’s remains were found more than 1000km from her mother’s, in NSW’s notorious Belanglo State Forest.
That discovery was made in 2010, almost two years after police believe she was killed. It is also unclear if Khandalyce was buried and then exhumed and what link, if any, an old man seen in Wynarka carrying a similar suitcase has.

Meanwhile, South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has told an Adelaide radio station the high profile search for Khandalyce’s identity led directly to police intervention in four at-risk children’s lives.

Mr Stevens told ABC891 police uncovered cases where children were “in circumstances of concern” and authorities were able to take action.

“We’ve had three or four kids that we’ve been able to intervene in terms of their current circumstances because of the fact that we’ve been looking for this one individual child, so there’s offshoots of this investigation that have proved to be of benefit as well,” he said.

“We’ve been able to make sure that the right measures were put in place to ensure the safety of those children as well.”

source:perthnow.com.au