My Journey To Corfu}

Submitted by: Irina Korneeva

I always have been attracted by the idea of visiting Corfu. When i thought of this island i remembered scraps of Odyssey Travel, the fighting under the command of Admiral Ushakov, the Turkish battleships, the Republic of Venice and the Empress Sissi.

The spectacular views of the mighty monolithic bastion of Corfu and Venetian style houses is opening approaching to the island. Corfu welcome us with a lack of parking places and 35-degree heat, so we hurried to hide from the sun in the shade of the narrow streets.

Once in the old town, we forget that we are in Greece. Typical Italian courtyards with laundry hanging to dry in the sun, peeling red-orange walls and green shutters instead of Greek blue.

The tower with a clock of St. Spyridon’s church is a kind of landmark in the Old Town. St. Spyridon especially revering in Russia. Pausing at the temple, we hurried to have a look at the famous old fort. When we arrived the ticket office was closed, and they allowed us to pass with the dog and for free, and there was virtually no visitors. We were lucky enough to watch the sunset from the city walls. So, of course, we were not upset at all!

For the trip we took our Ruffy, which obviously promoted to the popularity of the breed all over the world, because where are so many tourists from all corners of the earth, and for every second one i had to explain what breed it is. Tired of impressions and Ruffy’s popularity, we moved for the night.

It turned out to be a convenient and inexpensive choice in favor of renting the house as opposed to the usual hotel rooms.

The view of the tiny island with white Blachernae monastery and even smaller nearby Mouse Island seemed to me the most Greek looking image on Corfu. There is the airport nearby the island and the planes fly directly overhead, almost touching the bell tower.

While certain regions of the island have succumbed to overdevelopment, particularly those close to Corfu Town, Corfu is large enough to make it possible to escape the crowds. Venture across cypress-studded hills to find vertiginous villages in the fertile interior, and sandy coves lapped by cobalt-blue waters.

The nature of Corfu impressing even someone who accustomed to the beauty of the Greece. Spectacular hilly terrain, small islands, the abundance of greenery and trees, azure sea … all these beauties irreversibly make working up an appetite. In Greece, I really like the way of cooking – the dishes are seasonal, always fresh, and the taste is not masked by the abundance of sauces and spices. I don’t eat meat, and i don’t feel left out in the gastronomic pleasures – seafood, vegetables, fruits, cheeses.

We stocked up some cheese on the way home in the mountain village Metsovo, famous for its cheese makers and wood craftsmen. Cobblestones, which are washing every morning, the roofs covered with flat stones, and everywhere – the smell of wood.We came back tired but full of images.

About the Author: The nature of Corfu impressing even someone who accustomed to the beauty of the Greece.

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Strong earthquake near Solomon Islands, tsunami reported

Sunday, April 1, 2007

A magnitude 8.1 undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that has killed at least fifteen people, including six children, in the Solomon Islands. Tsunami warnings have been issued for parts of Australia as well.

According to the US Geological Survey, the magnitude 8.0 quake struck Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 20:39:56 (UTC) about 45 km (25 mi) south-southeast of Gizo, New Georgia Islands, Solomon Islands, at a depth of 10 km.

Contents

  • 1 ‘Disaster’ declared in the Solomons
  • 2 Region on alert
  • 3 Related news
  • 4 Sources

Harper snubs breakfast club visit to Ottawa; all other Canadian parties represented

Thursday, February 15, 2007

CityTV reporter Dwight Drummond accommpanied a diverse crew of Toronto public school students to Ottawa, with intentions of meeting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

While students, part of an inner-city breakfast club, had the opportunity to tour the Parliament Buildings at length, Harper stayed far away from the quick, scheduled hello. He failed to even send an MP in his place, to the event, scheduled as part of Black History Month.

Every other political party with seats in Parliament sent a representative to greet the visitors. Present was the deputy leader of the Liberal opposition party, Michael Ignatieff, and prominent NDP MP Olivia Chow, who is the wife of NDP leader Jack Layton.

While Chow and Ignatieff both hold office in Toronto, where the Citytv broadcasts to, and the Conservatives were shut out of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), even those without self-interest dropped by. Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe spoke to the students, despite the fact his party only runs candidates in Quebec.

City’s coverage of the tour focused on what the students did see, rather than what they missed.

Harper seems to have made a regular practice of ignoring or delaying scheduled visits. Canadian Auto Workers union leader Buzz Hargrove mentioned he has yet to talk to the Prime Minister. Hargrove represents over 265,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada.

Ford’s US auto sales spike, surpassing GM

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Ford Motor Company said on Tuesday that its sales in the United States rose 43% in February compared to the same period last year, as the automaker outsold rivals Toyota and General Motors.

The strength of our new products … are resonating with customers

Ford said that total sales improved to 142,285 units, compared to 141,951 units sold by GM. Additionally, Ford said that its share of the total US car market rose to 17%, up from 14% a year ago. The increase was better than analysts had predicted, and Ford’s stock rose to a five-year high in morning trading, before declining later in the day. Ford’s sales were significantly influenced by a 74% increase in fleet sales to businesses. Rental car agencies alone accounted for around 30,000 units sold. Sales to retail consumers increased only 28%.

The increases were led by sales of two sedans, the Fusion and Taurus, which rose 166.5 and 93.3% respectively, although sales of other models such as SUVs and pickup trucks also increased. Both models were significantly redesigned last year, and analysts said that improved quality from such cars were driving the increases.

Other companies also reported February sales today, nearly all reporting sales gains as well, although none as large as those of Ford. Toyota was the sole exception to the sales gains, as their sales declined 8.7%, as the company was faced with a global recall during the month that led to a temporary stoppage of production for some models.

“The strength of our new products … are resonating with customers,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s vice president of sales and marketing. However, he believed that traditional Toyota customers were not buying rival autos, but rather awaiting the results from the recalls.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO apologies for financial planning scandal

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.

Photoessay: The Idiotarod: When Good Shopping Carts Go Bad

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Washington, D.C. — When you mix a shopping cart, six team members, bar hopping and bonus points for schmoozing bar hostesses and sabotaging your enemies, you get the annual Washington, D.C. Idiotarod race. On Saturday, this bizarre fund raising event, which originated in San Francisco 13 years ago, pitted teams of “sleds” together to race from bar to bar in Washington, D.C.’s fashionable Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan neighborhoods. Each “sled” consists of a “borrowed” shopping cart and six human dogs to pull the cart. Points are given for originality, the best time and best sabotage of another sled.

The race is held to benefit the Arlington Food Assistance Center and is organized by Ellen Shortill and Kristen Heatherly. Their organization, called “SMASHED” or “Society for Mature Adults Seeking to Help, Entertain and Donate”, takes the position that donating small amounts many times ultimately benefits the smaller charities. Said Shortill, “Our goal is simply to have fun and raise money for those charities that don’t really get any attention.”

The race this year consisted of 22 teams. Although team “Save NOLA” got to the last bar first, teams can win bonus points for (among other things) flirting with bar hosts and hostesses at any of the five bars along the route. The route is approximately 3 miles long, and each team is required to spend at least 20 minutes in each bar. Heatherly noted that “it doesn’t matter who got here first, ultimately its the team with the most credits and the best time that wins.”

Unique among the participants are brothers Pete and Chris Magnuson who are attempting to get on the 10th edition of Amazing Race on CBS. Their team called “Pick Pete and Chris” ran through the streets with t-shirts hawking their website and their fervent desire to be chosen for the next edition of the television show.

“Its not really about who wins, its that we get to have a blast and raise some money,” said Shortill. The charity event raised about $500 and various canned goods for the food pantry.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.
This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

CNN founder Ted Turner calls Fox News Bush’s propaganda machine

Friday, January 28, 2005 Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, last Tuesday accused Fox News of being a propaganda mouthpiece for the Bush administration. He likened the network’s current popularity to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in pre-war Germany, and criticised the “dumbing down” of news which left the public uninformed of crucial issues.

Turner said, “Adolf Hitler was more popular in Germany in the early 1930s than people that were running against him.”

Fox News in turn accused CNN of simple sour grapes.

In a statement, the channel claimed that Ted was “understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind – we wish him well.”

Turner resigned from his post as Vice President of AOL Time Warner in January 2003. He remains one of America’s largest private landowners, possessing approximately two million acres of land.

Fox News remains the highest rating 24-hour news channel on US cable – but has been highly criticised for its perceived right-wing bias.

Recent House Committee on Government Reform figures by the US Democrats show that the US Administration spent over $US88 million on public relations contracts in 2004, of which 41 per cent were awarded on a non-competitive basis.

WTO calls meeting on trade finance and economic crisis

Friday, October 10, 2008

The head of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, has called for a meeting to assess the trade finance situation, including the impact on developing countries. The meeting, which is schedule for November 12, will allow credit institutes and government officials to review the current trade credit situation.

“A number of WTO members, in particular developing countries, have flagged the problems they are facing in arranging trade financing,” wrote WTO Director-General Lamy.

“The purpose of our next meeting will be to review how the international market for trade-financing is faring in view of the current very difficult conditions on international financial markets,” he continued.

Credit is vital to trade with around 90 percent of the US$14 trillion in world trade financed by credit. While this market has done well compared to other credit markets, bankers are suggesting that problems might occur shortly. Rates on these trade loans have increased by 3 percent.

Developing countries have seen several recent years of positive growth but the effects of the global financial crisis on these countries have pushed growth levels down.

Lamy has asked that the heads of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other regional development banks to attend. He also invited the five leading commercial banks in trade finance: Citigroup, Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Scotland, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC.

Lamy also said that work on the Doha Development Round of trade is continuing but did not say if it would be finished this year.

Rhino Roof Racks Safe And Secure Accessories For Your Automobile}

Rhino Roof Racks – Safe And Secure Accessories For Your Automobile

by

Charles Manfredi

Every family with an automobile requires a roof rack for their vehicle. There’s load’s of stuff to be carried. Cycles, kayaks, skies, tents, fuel cans, camp chairs and not forgetting vehicle accessories required to pull the vehicle out of tough spots – in fact, a family outing into the Australian outback would probably be carrying enough luggage to fill a mini-van.

Fact is, a roof rack can come handy even during routine shopping expeditions e.g. buying a ladder. You can’t shove a ladder into the car it will have to go onto the roof. Ditto buying a cycle or kayak or anything too big to fit inside the car. So now that we settled that you require a roof rack for your automobile, the question is which one is best suited to your needs?

There’s more than one type of roof rack out there. In fact, there’s dozens of different types of roof racks. Some roof racks are especially designed to carry bikes or Kayaks or Skies they have clamps that make it easy to clamp down the bikes. Then there are what is known as ‘trays’ (because they look like a giant trays). These are popular general purpose roof racks. You can just chuck all sorts of things into it, strap it down and drive off.

So, roof racks can be general purpose (like the tray we mentioned above) or, specifically designed to carry certain things. After from this, they are also engineered for weight. For example some are classified as light-duty and other’s heavy-duty and so forth. Obviously, these pertain to the weight they are designed to carry which by the way, in turn depends on your automobile’s weight carrying capacity (refer your vehicle’s manual).

When you actually visit the automobile accessory store, you will not only notice many type of roof racks, you will also notice many brands of roof racks. From cheap Chinese imports that will probably break on your first use, to expensive World Class roof racks that surpass all Australian safety standards.

One of the premier brands in roof racks is the Rhino roof rack. These are beautifully designed, safe and secure accessories for your automobile. There are several different models of Sydney Roof Rack. In fact, there are also variations depending on the make your automobile.

So what you’ve got to do is to figure out what you will be carrying on the roof rack, the weight of the stuff you will be carrying on the roof and whether your automobile can safely carry that much weight (refer your vehicle’s manual). Also, you need to decide whether you would want it to be permanently fixed on your vehicle or you want it fixed only as and when you require to use a roof rack. Once you’ve got all that worked out, select a Rhino roof rack that is suited to your vehicle’s make, your purpose and weight category.

You just can’t go wrong in selecting a 4WD Tow Bars and the best place to buy these would be http://www.barsnracks.com.au

Situated in Sydney’s northern suburbs, Bars N Racks are the premier retailer for all your passenger tow bar, roof rack, 4WD equipment, caravan and RV, tradie ute and van accessory needs – with some of the world’s best brands and products available.

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