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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Friday, November 16, 2012

Greek prosecutors appeal publisher's acquittal for naming alleged Swiss ...


Daily Mail

Greek prosecutors appeal publisher's acquittal for naming alleged Swiss ...
Washington Post
ATHENS, Greece — A Greek publisher faces a new trial under privacy laws for printing an alleged list of Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland after prosecutors appealed his acquittal. The Athens prosecutors' office argued Friday that Costas ...
Greek journalist to be tried again over Swiss bank listReuters
Greek Journalist to be Tried Again over Swiss Bank ListsVoice of America (blog)
Greek journalist who published list of 2000 'tax dodgers' is made to stand ...Daily Mail
Sky News -Financial Times
all 92 news articles »

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Argentina's Euro Bonds Now Seen as More Risky Than Greece's


Argentina's Euro Bonds Now Seen as More Risky Than Greece's
Businessweek
Argentina's bond yields are eclipsing those of Greece for the first time since the European nation's debt restructuring in March, as speculation increases the South American country will opt to default rather than settle with its so-called holdout ...

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Greek publisher faces new trial on Swiss bank list

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek publisher faces a new trial under privacy laws for printing an alleged list of Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland after prosecutors appealed his acquittal.

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Greek publisher faces new trial on Swiss bank list




ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek publisher faces a new trial under privacy laws for printing an alleged list of Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland after prosecutors appealed his acquittal.

The Athens prosecutors' office argued Friday that Costas Vaxevanis' acquittal in a closely followed trial earlier this month was based on legal error.


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China weighs into Europe's austerity battle

Top official at China's £300bn sovereign wealth fund said that the depth of public anger in the eurozone could lead to a 'complete discarding' of austerity programmes

Opposition to Europe's austerity programmes intensified on Friday as a top official at China's £300bn sovereign wealth fund warned that the public are at "breaking point" and protesters demonstrated in solidarity against the International Monetary Fund in Manila.

Jin Liqun, chair of the supervisory board of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), said that undue harshness risked a backlash which could end with necessary economic reforms being abandoned. Jin, who has previously argued that Europeans should work harder, repeated an earlier warning that governments had spent unsustainably in the past and need to be more fiscally responsible, but added that the depth of public anger could lead to a "complete discarding" of austerity programmes.

"The fact the public are taking to the streets and resorting to violence indicates the general public's tolerance has hit its limits," he said.

"Unions are now involved in organised protests; demonstrations and strikes. It smacks of the 1930s," he said.

"The general public's tolerance of austerity has been stretched to breaking point."

Speaking to the Guardian, Jin said the key was to balance fiscal cutbacks with growth strategies. "So there should be some tolerance, but the determination to carry on austerity should not be relaxed."

Jin's comments came two days after the eurozone saw the biggest anti-austerity protests since the financial crisis began, with riot police clashing with demonstrators in several cities.

Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, received a taste of the global concern over the eurozone during a trip to the Philippines. Protesters gathered in Manila dressed as zombies, carrying placards bearing slogans including "IMF is an economic zombie" and "IMF is dead. A walking dead".

Plastered with fake blood, the group lay down on the road outside the presidential palace and said they were acting in solidarity with the people of Europe,

The euro crisis overshadowed Lagarde's trip - which is already being truncated so she can return to Europe for another meeting of finance ministers next Tuesday. The IMF managing director said it was essential that the eurozone agrees a way to put Greece on a sustainable debt path.

"It is not over until the fat lady sings, as the saying goes," Lagarde told a press briefing. "It is a question of working hard, putting our mind to it, making sure that we focus on the same objective which is that the country in particular."

Gary Jenkins, analyst at Swordfish Research, predicted that the IMF and the eurozone will agree a deal to give Greece its next slice of funding, after failing to reach agreement last Monday.

"The alternative is to risk a disorderly default and a potential meltdown of the eurozone," Jenkins added.

The latest trade data showed a drop in goods being brought into the eurozone, a day after it fell into recession. Imports fell 4% in September while exports rose by 1%, resulting in a euro area trade surplus of €9.8bn (£7.8bn) in September, up from just €1.7bn a year ago.


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Greek Insolvency Overwhelmed by Argentina's Default Risk


Greek Insolvency Overwhelmed by Argentina's Default Risk
Bloomberg
Argentina's bond yields are eclipsing those of Greece for the first time since the European nation's debt restructuring in March, as speculation increases the South American country will opt to default rather than settle with its so-called holdout ...

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Earn your haircut Greece is told


euronews

Earn your haircut Greece is told
euronews
As Greece waits for the release of 31 billion euros of emergency loans one top official has said the country will have to earn any, “haircut” on its debt. Jens Weidman a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank believes a writedown ...
IMF's Lagarde says important for euro zone to forge deal on GreeceChicago Tribune
Lagarde Cuts Asian Trip Short to Attend Euro Meeting on GreeceBloomberg
Lagarde: 'Not over in Greece until fat lady sings'Telegraph.co.uk
ShareCast -NASDAQ
all 499 news articles »

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Greek exports jump, swell euro zone trade surplus


PublicServiceEurope.com

Greek exports jump, swell euro zone trade surplus
Reuters
Sponsored Links. Greek exports jump, swell euro zone trade surplus. Tweet · Share this · Email · Print. Related News. IMF's Lagarde says important for euro zone to forge deal on Greece. 2:27am EST. Global shares sink on global economic worries; oil ...
Greek debt — a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigmaReuters Blogs (blog)
'Exhausted' Greeks start to see extremism as a way out of crisisPublicServiceEurope.com
Policymakers at odds over Greek debt fixEurActiv
Kathimerini
all 75 news articles »

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Greece lays charges of blasphemy over gay Jesus play


CBC.ca

Greece lays charges of blasphemy over gay Jesus play
CBC.ca
The actors and creative team behind a play that depicts Jesus Christ and his apostles as gay face charges of blasphemy in Greece, according to court officials. The production of Corpus Christi, a 1997 play by U.S. playwright Terrence McNally, was ...
Blasphemy charges filed over gay Jesus play in GreeceReuters
Greek prosecutor charges blasphemy over Jesus playLexington Herald Leader

all 138 news articles »

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US Embassy warns Americans about the possibility of racist attacks in Greece


US Embassy warns Americans about the possibility of racist attacks in Greece
Washington Post
ATHENS, Greece — The U.S. Embassy in Athens updated its travel advice Friday for American citizens visiting Greek cities, warning them to beware of the possibility of “unprovoked harassment and violent attacks” against people who could be mistaken for ...
US Embassy warns Americans of attacks in GreeceBoston.com

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EURO GOVT-Greek, US worries buoy safe-haven Bunds


Kathimerini

EURO GOVT-Greek, US worries buoy safe-haven Bunds
Reuters
Although Athens is expected ultimately to secure the cash and avoid default this year, something which has helped push Greek bond yields lower in recent sessions, analysts and traders say a lasting solution may prove elusive. Euro zone finance ...
Spanish Yields Drop From 6-Week High on Schaeuble Greek CommentsBusinessweek

all 45 news articles »

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US Embassy warns Americans of attacks in Greece


Greek Reporter

US Embassy warns Americans of attacks in Greece
Boston.com
Your article has been sent. ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The United States has advised American citizens visiting Greek cities to beware of the possibility of ''unprovoked harassment and violent attacks'' against people who could be mistaken for foreign ...
US embassy in Greece warns citizens of rise ofEurope Online Magazine

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Facebook recovers despite end of share lockup, but UK shares slump to lowest level since July

Social network giant defies expectations of further falls, but investors elsewhere cautious on eurozone and US economies

After a near 50% slump in value following its much-hyped flotation in May, Facebook has recovered some of its poise despite the prospect of a wave of selling by company insiders.

On Wednesday, a restriction on Facebook employees and early investors selling around 800m of their shares was lifted, and traders were braced for the company to come under further pressure.

In the event Facebook shares jumped 11% on Wednesday and Thursday and added another 5% in early trading yesterday. Tim Ghriskey, investment manager at Solaris Group, told Reuters:

While the lockup is expiring there is nothing requiring anyone to sell. Given the low price these long-term holders are deciding to hold the stock, and that is lifting it as the fear of the expiration subsides.

It was not such a good week for other investors.

In the UK, leading shares fell to their lowest level for more than three and a half months on Friday, after a week of worries about the eurozone and US economies.

Greece managed to avoid defaulting on a €5bn loan payment after raising sufficient funds in a series of bond auctions, but its long term fate depends on the release of €31.5bn of funding from the EU and IMF, with another meeting due to take place next week. Meanwhile Spain continued to resist a bailout, and the eurozone officially went into recession as protests against austerity swept across Europe. Investors were also concerned about US spending cuts and tax rises due to come into effect next year, with discussions between President Obama and congress to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff likely to drag on.

The FTSE 100 closed 72.16 points lower at 5605.59, a level not seen since 26 July. The index has now risen just 30 points since the start of the year and is some 6% off the peak of 5965 reached in the middle of March.

With investors shying away from risk, mining groups and banks were among the leading fallers. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation lost 14.8p to 259.6p and Rio Tinto fell 65.5p to 2934.5p.

Royal Bank of Scotland closed 4.8p lower at 277.4p while Lloyds Banking Group lost 1.725p to 43.975p. On Thursday a group of MPs on the public accounts committee said the £66bn of taxpayers money used to buy shares in Lloyds and RBS may never be recovered. In a sell note on Lloyds, Investec analyst Ian Gordon said:

We agree with the conclusion that the tax-payer will never get out clean, but why did UKFI [which manages the stakes in nationalised banks] fail to sell a few shares when Lloyds peaked at 78p in 2010, and why not sell a few now, while, in our view, Lloyds trades above fair value? Four months of falling UK house prices and 12 months of falling UK commercial property prices suggest that it may prove wise to reduce positions now.

Many Lloyds staff appear to adopt the same philosophy as the Public Accounts Committee when managing their own shareholdings, patiently waiting for the shares to rebound towards the 990p level at which (tax-free) profit-share allocations were distributed to employees over a decade ago. Sadly, we will all be dead before they get there.

Even a one time haven such as water company Pennon came under pressure. The company warned on profits on Thursday due to a slowdown at its waste business Viridor, and its shares fell another 29p to 599.5p.

Melrose, the industrial group, was the day's biggest faller in the leading index, down 27.1p to 208.9p as it cautioned about the outlook for 2013.

But outsourcing group Serco added 5.5p to 550p after it said new contract wins should help a revival in revenues after a first half decline. Earlier in the week rival Capita, down 4p to 713p, had said it expected a pick-up in UK public sector work ahead of the next election.

But G4S, down 1.9p to 244.1p, continued to suffer from the fiasco surrounding its London Olympics contract, when it failed to provide enough security staff for the games. Mark Hamilton, the managing director of its Olympics contract became the third director to leave the company in the wake of the problems.

Elsewhere Next dipped 8p to £35.42 despite Credit Suisse beginning coverage of the fashion retailer with an outperform rating and a target price of £42. The bank said Next's ability to add on extra space was slowing, it had a number of other ways to maintain its growth. These included service improvements to its Directory division to attract more customers, increasing the number of credit customers, expanding overseas and building sales of homeware products. It said:

Service levels are a key differentiator: The extended late cut-off (from 7pm to 9pm) has been responsible for around 4% growth at Directory over the last eighteen months and Next has a raft of service improvements being rolled out over the next year. We cautiously expect it to deliver an additional 2% growth next year but the impact could be considerably higher.

Next has run its credit book very conservatively through the downturn. Although it has started to increase account numbers over the last two years, receivables per account have been flat for the past six years. Given very low bad debt levels and high profitability, we would expect Next to steadily accelerate its credit book into a recovery.

Next has finally found a (very) profitable and scaleable route overseas, again driven by high service levels.

Homeware sales have risen from 10% to 20% of sales over the last decade, despite significant market weakness. Moreover, the middle market has been hollowed out by discounters and mass merchants. Given the high credit attachment rates, we believe Next's Home sales will accelerate over the next two years.

SuperGroup, the company behind the Superdry brand, lost 51.5p to 638.5p after analysts at Numis moved from hold to sell.

BP dropped 8.8p to 416.6p. Barclays issued an underweight recommendation after the oil giant was hit with a $4.5bn fine, the largest in US history, over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Reports of price fixing in the gas wholesale market pushed energy companies lower, even though they all denied any wrongdoing. Centrica closed 3p lower at 313.5p yesterday while SSE slipped 26p to £13.64.

Finally Aim-listed South African miner DiamondCorp jumped 14% to 4p after it agreed a $6m loan with prestigious New York jeweller Tiffany & Co to fund development of its Lace mine. As part of the deal, the Fifth avenue based business - associated with the Audrey Hepburn film Breakfast at Tiffany's - will get first choice to buy diamonds from the mine. DiamondCorp's chief executive Paul Loudon said:

Their decision to provide project finance in return for access to a long-term supply agreement is testament to the quality of the Lace diamonds and an expression of confidence in DiamondCorp's development strategy.

Analysts at the company's broker SP Angel said:

The offtake agreement suggests that diamond buyers are prepared to help fund mine development in order to secure better quality stones on a long term basis. This is great news for DiamondCorp and for jobs in South Africa.


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Kostas Vaxevanis, Cleared of Privacy Violations, Faces Retrial

Kostas Vaxevanis, a magazine owner, was acquitted after publishing a list of Greeks who held Swiss bank accounts, but the prosecutor has appealed the verdict, calling it “legally mistaken.”

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Greece May Need 2nd Writedown After Reforms, Weidmann Says


The Associated Press

Greece May Need 2nd Writedown After Reforms, Weidmann Says
Bloomberg
“One should ask if it would create trust if Greece were to receive a debt writedown today,” Weidmann said at an event in Berlin today. “Would it not make more sense to give the prospect of a writedown that one would need to regain market access when ...
Bundesbank: Greece will need haircut, but laterThe Associated Press
German central bank chief: Greece will eventually need debt haircut, but can't ...Washington Post
UPDATE 1-ECB's Weidmann says Greece would have to earn haircutReuters
RTE.ie
all 129 news articles »

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Greek banks face extra monitoring in return for aid


PBS NewsHour

Greek banks face extra monitoring in return for aid
Reuters
In 2012 Reuters has published several in-depth reports on alleged mismanagement at Greek and Cypriot banks, including Proton Bank (PRBr.AT), Piraeus Bank (BOPr.AT) and Marfin Popular Bank, now renamed Cyprus Popular Bank CPBC.CY. In May ...
Recapitalized Greek banks to face strict monitoring: bankerCNBC.com

all 15 news articles »

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France blows up at Economist's 'ticking time-bomb' cover

French elite reacts angrily to special report warning that the dire state of the French economy could be the next biggest threat to the eurozone

French government ministers have reacted angrily to the front cover of the latest issue of the Economist magazine's latest front cover - which features a bundle of French baguettes with a lighted fuse, under the headline "The time-bomb at the heart of Europe". The special report warned that the dire state of the French economy – with its high unemployment, lack of competitiveness, dying industry and high public spending – could be the next biggest threat to the eurozone, dwarfing the problems of Greece or Spain.

The magazine warned François Hollande's reforms did not go far enough to address the country's economic woes and if these were not resolved, France could jeopardise the future of the euro.

"Honestly, the Economist has never distinguished itself by its sense of even-handedness," the industry minister Arnaud Montebourg told French radio, likening it to the satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, which recently sparked criticism for publishing cartoons depicting a naked prophet Muhammad.

The French finance minister Pierre Moscovici called the report an "absurd and groundless" exercise in "French bashing" while prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault accused the Economist of sensationalism. "You are talking about a newspaper which is resorting to excess to sell paper. France isn't at all impressed," he told French TV.

This is not the first time that the Economist's front page, and the suggestion that France was not looking hard enough at the need for reform, has ruffled feathers in Paris. During the election campaign, when a cover showed Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy reclined on the grass in Manet's painting Déjeuner Sur L'herbe with the headline "France in denial: The west's most frivolous election", Laurent Joffrin editor of the left-leaning weekly the Nouvel Observateur called it the "Pravda of finance" and a "little Taliban of liberalism".

Laurence Parisot, head of the employers' organisation Medef, said there was justice in the latest Economist piece because "if France collapses, the whole of Europe collapses." But she said that since the piece was written, the government had begun to take measures to restore French competitiveness.

John Peet, the Europe editor of the Economist, said: "The point of this cover and the article is to encourage France. Other countries ... have conducted many reforms. This is not yet the case in France."

He added: "The government ... has finally recognised the competitiveness problem in the past few months. But it is only a diagnosis, words. Now they must act."


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Blasphemy charges filed over gay Jesus play in Greece


Moneycontrol.com

Blasphemy charges filed over gay Jesus play in Greece
Reuters
ATHENS (Reuters) - Actors and the producer and director of an American play in Greece that depicted Jesus Christ and his apostles as gay have been charged with blasphemy, court officials said on Friday. A production of "Corpus Christi" in Athens was ...
Greek prosecutor charges blasphemy over Jesus playBellingham Herald

all 119 news articles »

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Greek prosecutor presses blasphemy charges over protest-marred gay Jesus play


Moneycontrol.com

Greek prosecutor presses blasphemy charges over protest-marred gay Jesus play
Washington Post
ATHENS, Greece — A Greek prosecutor is pressing blasphemy charges over a troubled Athens performance of an American play that portrays Jesus as gay. Court officials say no one yet specifically faces the misdemeanor charge, as is allowed by Greek law.
Blasphemy charges filed over Greek gay Jesus playRTE.ie
Blasphemy! Greek court condemns play for potraying Jesus as gayDaily Bhaskar
Blasphemy charges filed over gay Jesus play in GreeceDaily News & Analysis

all 104 news articles »

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Bundesbank chief: more Greek debt cuts foreseeable

The head of Germany's central bank has said he wouldn't categorically rule out further debt 'haircuts' for Greece. While agreeing that now is not the time to do that, he thinks it is probably inevitable at some point.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.de

Cal State Chico suspends Greek groups after student alcohol death


CBS Local

Cal State Chico suspends Greek groups after student alcohol death
Los Angeles Times
Cal State Chico President Paul Zingg announced Thursday that all fraternities and sororities are barred from recruiting students, hosting social events and displaying their Greek letters on their houses until the spring semester, according to the Chico ...
Chico State suspends Greek activities after deathSan Jose Mercury News
Chico State University president suspends Greek activitiesEnterprise-Record
Chico State Greek activities suspended by president after alcohol overdose deathDaily Democrat
Lake County News -CBS Local -KCRA Sacramento
all 67 news articles »

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