How the world sees Greece
Spoleto Opera Festival 2013 Promises Greek Tragedy And Graphic Novels In ... Huffington Post CHARLESTON, S.C. — The new season of the Spoleto Festival USA will feature one of its largest and most varied program lineups in recent years, with performances ranging from Greek tragedy to Shakespearean comedy to modern graphic novels. There is ... |
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 Business Recorder | Greek PM: bond buyback going 'very well' MiamiHerald.com (registration) ATHENS, Greece -- Greece's prime minister says the bond buyback scheme aimed at lessening the crisis-hit country's debt load is "going very well" and that he will have definite results Monday or Tuesday, according to state TV NET. Antonis Samaras ... Greek PM: Debt buy back procedure went "very well" Greek PM on Bavarian charm offensive |
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Greek Deal Done, Italy Vote Tests EU Leaders Yet Again Businessweek European Union leaders, gathering in Oslo tomorrow to collect the Nobel Peace Prize, were set to check an item off their to-do list with the completion of a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) Greek debt buyback. At the same time, former Italian Prime ... |
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 Greek Reporter | Greece's Samaras: Can Say With 'Great Certainty' Debt Buyback Has Gone Well Wall Street Journal MUNICH--Greece's ambitious plan to buy back tens of billions of euros worth of debt "has gone well", Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Sunday. "I can say with great certainty that it has gone well," he told reporters following a dinner with the ... Greek PM: bond buyback going 'very well' Samaras Visits Bavaria For Fresh Start |
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 Wall Street Journal | Italian Parties Look to Monti as a Candidate Wall Street Journal ROME—Italy's political parties were jockeying for position on Sunday after Prime Minister Mario Monti said he planned to resign, prompting some lawmakers to step up their efforts to recruit him as a candidate in the coming elections. Mr. Monti's decision to ... Italy faces vote as Monti quits, Berlusconi returns Italy on 'edge of abyss', says Silvio Berlusconi, offering a hand Italy plunges back into political turmoil |
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 AFP | Greece mulls reopening debt buyback invitation: sources Fox Business ATHENS – Greece may ask additional offers from bondholders in a debt buyback plan that forms part of its international bailout, Greek officials said on Sunday. The invitation might be renewed on Monday to top up the offers already received, three ... Greece Is Close to Reaching Debt Buyback Target, Official Says Greece Debt Buyback Falls Short of Target Greece set for bond buyback |
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 Economic Times | Greece Considers Reopening Debt Buyback Wall Street Journal ATHENS—Greece's plan to buy back tens of billions of euros of debt—a move demanded by the country's official creditors in exchange for fresh aid—has fallen slightly short of its target, people familiar with the deal said on Sunday, and may require local ... Greek opposition leader calls for European debt conference Greece mulls reopening debt buyback invitation: sources Greece Is Close to Reaching Debt Buyback Target, Official Says |
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Italy Vote to Test EU Nobel Winners After Greek Buyback Bloomberg European Union leaders, gathering in Oslo tomorrow to collect the Nobel Peace Prize, were set to check an item off their to-do list with the completion of a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) Greek debt buyback. At the same time, former Italian Prime ... |
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Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras says only viable solution to debt crisis is 'a haircut for Greece and entire southern periphery'
Only weeks after the EU and IMF announced a third plan in as many years to rescue Greece from insolvency, the country's most popular party – its radical left opposition – has called for a European debt conference to "finally" settle a crisis it claims is no nearer to being solved.
In an exclusive interview, Alexis Tsipras, who heads the stridently anti-austerity Syriza, insisted that with the debt drama spreading it was vital that foreign lenders take a leaf out of the history books by dealing with the eurozone's crisis-hit southern periphery in much the same way that Germany had been treated after the second world war.
"It is quite clear that the latest agreement was a compromise that will only perpetuate the uncertainty … Merkel has to say to her people before [the 2013 German] elections that the programme is not working," he told the Guardian.
"The only viable solution is a haircut not only for Greece but the entire southern periphery," said the leader, emphasising that the longer creditors postponed writing off a significant portion of Athens' staggering debt the greater the cost both socially and economically.
"That is why we are proposing a conference along the lines of the one that took place in London in 1953, which relieved Germany of around 60% of its debt. We want to agree with our lenders on a credible solution. It doesn't matter where it takes place but it should happen as soon as possible."
As an allied power, Greece, ironically, had been present at the conference whose debt agreement would go on to lay the foundations for Germany's post-war economic miracle. The pact had allowed Hitler's destroyed country to not only repay its debt over a 30-year period but had also stipulated that its financial obligations would also be dependent on Germany's economic performance.
If Greece's shattered economy was ever to recover, Tsipras said it was crucial that it, too, was also given "a growth clause" that would likewise tie the repayment of Athens' debt load to its ability to pay. "We are also asking for time, a moratorium, of servicing the debt so that we can redirect that money to growth," he said, adding that the suspended interest payments, projected to amount to about €13 every year, would be used to kick-start the moribund Greek economy. "It would be a win-win solution."
The charismatic politician, catapulted into the spotlight when his party received a fivefold rise in support in elections in June, insisted that the piecemeal approach of international creditors to resolving the crisis would not only destroy Greece but the entire continent.
"There are two pillars to Europe's economic problem, the first being the debt which has to be made viable and the second being austerity which has to finish. If we continue with such measures it is like putting oil on the fire," he said.
Tsipras's economic policies have often been ridiculed by the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, as "dangerous and half-baked". But the 38-year-old left-winger has also been vindicated. Greece's pursuit of austerity in the name of brutal fiscal adjustment has created record levels of poverty and unemployment, trapped it in recession and repeatedly resulted in missed budget targets that have plunged the country into an ever-deeper death spiral. It had opened up bottomless pits in Europe's south that taxpayers in the north were then called to fund.
Although the latest rescue includes a complex bond buyback scheme, which will shave about €30bn from the country's €340.6bn debt pile, it was, he argued, still a case of creditors "buying time" and, as such, was far from adequate.
"When the crisis began in 2009 our debt stood at 120% of our GDP. This year it is projected officially to be 175.6 %. And now they [EU-IMF] say that to make the debt viable we must hit 124% of GDP by 2020," he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Let's suppose they are right – but how do they want to get there? After 12 years of catastrophic austerity and measures totalling €19bn Greece will have become a no-man's land."
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 The Guardian | Italy Trumps Greece Business Insider News that the Greek bond buy scheme did not get sufficient takers to reach the 30 bln euro target set the commentariat ablaze. This may prove to be a minor technicality as Greek banks initially offered 75% of the Greek bonds but were prepared to pitch ... Does Berlusconi Want to Turn Italy Into Greece? |
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AFP | Greece mulls reopening debt buyback invitation-sources Reuters ATHENS Dec 9 (Reuters) - Greece may ask additional offers from bondholders in a debt buyback plan that forms part of its international bailout, Greek officials said on Sunday. The invitation might be renewed on Monday to top up the offers already ... Greece Is Close to Reaching Debt Buyback Target, Official Says Greece Debt Buyback Falls Short of Target Greece set for bond buyback |
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AFP | Greece Is Close to Reaching Debt Buyback Target, Official Says Bloomberg Greece is near to reaching its target in a buyback of sovereign debt that will unblock aid from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, according to a Greek government official. The amount offered in the buyback of Greece's bonds “is ... Greece mulls reopening debt buyback invitation-sources Greece Debt Buyback Falls Short of Target Greece set for bond buyback |
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CHARLESTON, S.C. - The new season of the Spoleto Festival USA will feature one of its largest and most varied program lineups in recent years, with performances ranging from Greek tragedy to Shakespearean comedy to modern graphic novels.
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 Greek Reporter | Three Children Die in Greece House Fire Daijiworld.com Athens, Dec 9 (IANS): Three children died early Saturday in northern Greece after a fire broke out at a farmhouse, authorities said. The accident occurred at a small village on the outskirts of the city of Kavala. The boys, aged 15, 7 and 5, got ... 3 brothers die in northern Greece when wooden stove burns down grandparents ... Three Boys Burned Alive Inside their Family Home in Greece |
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 International Business Times | Greece Debt Buyback Falls Short of Target Wall Street Journal Greece's ambitious plan to buy back tens of billions of euros worth of debt--something demanded by the country's official creditors in exchange for fresh aid--has fallen short of target and may require local banks to up their pledges to ensure its success. Greece set for bond buyback Is Greece In Default Again? Greece closing on buyback deal: source |
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BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble declined to rule himself out as a candidate to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as chairman of euro zone finance ministers, in an interview published on Sunday. Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister, said he would step down as Eurogroup chief at the end of this year or early next, leaving policymakers just four weeks to find a successor to fill a potential power vacuum. He has headed the group since 2005. ...
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ECB's Weidmann: No Debt Writedown for Greece Until It Delivers Reforms Capital.gr (press release) Now isn't the time for Greece's official creditors to start forgiving its debts, Germany's central bank head said in an interview published at the weekend, only days before euro-zone officials hold a crucial meeting on how to keep the country's rescue ... |
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Greek specialty foods hot commodity for economy USA TODAY Inspired by the global success of Greek yogurt brands such as Fage, Athenians are leaving urban life, where opportunities are getting scarce, and moving to rural towns and island villages to start an agrarian lifestyle as farmers, factory workers and ... |
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From Greek tragedy to Shakespeare and pulp novels: Spoleto USA unveils 2013 ... StarPhoenix CHARLESTON, S.C. - Next spring's Spoleto Festival USA will be one of the largest in recent years, offering everything from Greek tragedy to a performance based on a modern graphic novel. On Sunday, the festival announced the lineup for its 37th season. |
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Greek Hospitals Short on Supplies, Drugs Greek Reporter As Greece prepares to give its banks 50 billion euros ($64.6 billion) and pay some eight billion euros ($10.34 billion) in back bills to creditors, the country's hospitals are suffering dire shortages of critical equipment, including gloves and gowns ... |
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