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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Greece has to sell Eurobank to foreign investor, might keep emergency property ...


Greece has to sell Eurobank to foreign investor, might keep emergency property ...
Kathimerini
Greece might have to keep the unpopular emergency tax on property next year and will have to sell a stake in Eurobank, one of its four so-called systemic lenders, to a foreign investor, according to the finalized version of Greece's memorandum of ...


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Greece's Unemployed Young: A Great Depression Steals the Nation's Future


Greece's Unemployed Young: A Great Depression Steals the Nation's Future
Businessweek
Greece's jobs crisis is a window into a wider emergency that threatens the future of Europe. Across the continent, a prolonged slump has disproportionately affected the young, with nearly one in four under the age of 25 out of work, according to the ...


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Labour calls for investigation into rise in deaths of older people

Official figures show 23,400 more deaths of older people than expected in 18 months, with many in poorest parts of country

Labour is calling on the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to mount an urgent investigation into a sustained rise in deaths of older people over the past 18 months.

There have been 600 deaths a month more than expected throughout the last year. The rise began at the end of 2011 and has only this month dropped back to the level that would normally be expected.

Over the past 18 months, there have been 23,400 more deaths than expected, which is a 5% increase.

The extra deaths are mostly of women over the age of 85 and predominantly in the poorest parts of the country, leading to concerns that they could be linked to the government's austerity measures. Public Health England is investigating the reasons for the rise.

Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, has written to Hunt to ask for an urgent response to the data, which was compiled month by month by the Office for National Statistics.

Burnham said: "These figures raise major concerns about deteriorating levels of care and support for older people, and demand an urgent response from the government. Labour has been warning for some time about the collapse of social care and the growing number of older people left alone and at risk. We now need to see action from the government.

"This year we revealed a shocking 66% increase in people over 90 going into A&E in blue-light ambulances – a sure sign of something going seriously wrong in the way we care for older people.

"In light of today's revelations I am asking Jeremy Hunt to commission an urgent investigation into the causes of this increase in mortality since 2012.

"The government must be honest about the impact of cuts to local authority budgets that pay for social care, and bring forward urgent improvements in support for older people."

Statisticians have been watching the figures for some time and the data was mentioned in Public Health England's flu report for last winter, which noted that "the number of deaths during 2012-13 was high". The increase was found within the oldest group and was often attributed to respiratory causes.

But the high levels of deaths throughout the year, and even up to last month, suggest cold weather was not the main issue, and flu levels this winter were low.

Danny Dorling, professor of human geography at Sheffield University, who has been studying the numbers, said the most important thing was whether the numbers continued to fall.

"The point is that it does fit austerity," he said. "The key is the suddenness of this. If it does drop now and go back to levels that have been normal in recent years, it doesn't look like a cuts thing. But my guess is that the biggest thing will be cuts."

Several factors could be present, he added. One was the possible return to Britain of elderly pensioners who had been living in the warmer climates of Spain or Greece because of the value of the euro.

Another factor could be the reduced staffing and financial pressures in care homes and hospitals, which might threaten physical health but could also have a psychological impact. Most of the excess deaths were of elderly women, who tended to live in care homes because they outlived their husbands.

"This is a big, long-term, story," Dorling said. It would be important to watch where the figures went now, he said. If the extra deaths continued, "we could be looking at a slightly falling life expectancy".

That happened in the OECD only in Japan, because of the tsunami, and in the US in 2008, where life expectancy dropped slightly at the end of George Bush's cuts.

Public Health England said it was looking at the trend. "We are currently undertaking further work to understand why there was a rise in mortality rates during the earlier months of this year and the causes behind this," a spokesperson said.

"The weekly number of deaths are currently within levels expected for this time of year."


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Golden Dawn plays Nazi anthem while handing out food parcels


Haaretz

Golden Dawn plays Nazi anthem while handing out food parcels - to Greeks only
Haaretz
A Greek version of the Nazi Horst Wessel song – known as "keep the banner flying" in Greek – was played on loudspeakers outside the central Athens offices of the Golden Dawn party, where members handed out bags of food and clothing. Horst Wessel was ...
Greek Far Right Faces Charity Drive BanABC News
Greek police prevent neo-Nazi food handoutHurriyet Daily News
Greek neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn hails poll boost among the youngThe Commentator
Europe Online Magazine -Windsor Star -IBTimes.co.uk
all 23 news articles »

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.haaretz.com

Xiropotamos Opens In August

International Folklore Festival Xiropotamos 2013 which will take place at the picturesque town of Xiropotamos near Drama the first weekend of August. The Educational and Cultural Association of Xiropotamos in co-operation with the Drama Regional Unit and the Municipality of Drama organize the festival. The first day of the festival includes rich music and dance events performed by four Greek ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.greekherald.com

Crisis Pushes 40000 Out of Nursery Schools

Greek government cuts across the board in most areas will mean some 40,000 pre-school children won’t be able to go to nursery schools because of a lack of money for local municipalities. From now until August 2, families can submit applications for hosting their children in subsidized positions in nursery schools but there aren’t nearly as many this coming year. The Minister of ...

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France?s First Lady Greek Luxury Holiday

The First Lady of France, Valrie Trierweiler, went to the 5-Star Hermione hotel on the Peloponnese for her summer vacation, bringing her three sons. According to the site easyvoyage.com, she also went on holiday to Barcelo Hydra Beach, while her partner, French President Francois Hollande, stayed in Paris. While Trierweiler stayed in luxury, Hollande was telling his ministers that their ...

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Fitch Updates Greek Mortgage Assumptions No Rating Impact Expected

Fitch Shakes up Rating Agency Rankings For the first time, Fitch has overtaken Moody's in structured product market share in the U.S. and is close behind front-runner ...

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Greek Electricity Co. Readies For Privatization

The restructuring and privatization of Public Power Corporation S.A., the biggest electric power company in Greece which is controlled to an extent by the government, will be implemented in three stages. The whole process will be completed by the first trimester of 2016, according to the plan. The plan, which was prepared by the competent deputy minister of the Ministry of Environment, Energy ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.greekherald.com

Around 300000 people in Greece infected with hep B

Some 300,000 people in Greece are believed to be infected with the hepatitis B virus and another 200,000 with hepatitis C, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) said on Thursday.In a report published ahead of World Hepatitis Day on Sunday, KEELPNO said that Greece is among the countries with moderate endemicity of the disease, which assaults the liver and is believed to kill 1 ...

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Greece picks up silver in open-water team race

By George Georgakopoulos Greece earned its second medal in the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona on Thursday when the national open-water team finished second in the team event to claim silver.Three days after the gold medal in the individual 10-kilometer race by Spyros Gianniotis, he and his teammates, Antonis Fokaidis and Kelly Araouzou covered the distance of five kilometers in 54 ...

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No Greek Cypriot leader ever wanted to reach an agreement in Cyprus

Turkish Cypriot president said Turkish Cypriots and guarantor state Turkey are running out of patience on Cyprus problem President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Dervis Eroglu on Saturday said that "no Greek Cypriot leader ever wanted to reach an agreement with the Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus".President Eroglu`s remarks came after a luncheon he attended at the Adiyaman ...

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Greek pharmacists threaten to strike over states debt

Pharmacists warned on Thursday that they may go on strike next month because they are still owed 75 million euros by the state, a debt that allegedly dates back to 2010.The head of the Panhellenic ...

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Europe Looks Fine Now, But A Political Perfect Storm Is Brewing

lightning

Economic data out of Europe has been improving, showing that the eurozone is stabilizing.

And concerns of a major European crisis have been fading.

The OMT program, open market transactions, a bond buying program the ECB launched following Mario Draghi's promise to do "whatever it takes," has not yet been tested.

But Nomura's Alastair Newton thinks that the time could come in the fall when the OMT will come into play.

"We think that it would probably take several ‘bad’ events occurring simultaneously for there to be a significant possibility of OMT having to be activated," said Newton. "The multi- dimensional nature of the eurozone crisis appears to allow for this possibility, as illustrated by the following non-exhaustive list of ‘issues’ which could flare up in September/October."

Here's a quick look at what Newton's worried about:

  • France - The government commission on pension reform will report at the end of July, this is ahead of the introduction of new legislation in August. "With left-wingers in President François Hollande’s Parti Socialiste threatening a revolt and the unions girding themselves to take to the streets, the government is facing what markets see as an acid test of its ability to deliver reform," Newton writes. Meanwhile, if France fails to do more to reduce the deficit, it risks criticism from Berlin and Brussels and from peripheral European countries pointing out double standards.
  • Germany - German policy isn't expected to soften after the general elections scheduled for September 22. But "pressure from the peripherals and from France for a shift may increase, risking open disagreement between Berlin and other eurozone capitals,' warns Newton.
  • Greece - The troika — European Commission, IMF, and the ECB — will review Greece in October, and talks of foreign debt restructuring may surface again. "Although this would hardly come as a surprise to markets or German voters, the prospect of official creditors (including Germany) taking a hair-cut over Greece could raise concerns over similar steps proving necessary for Cyprus and already troubled Portugal."
  • Italy - The ruling coalition in Italy should struggle but stay in power going into 2014. But if there are still differences going into fall, the property tax will complicate "what promises in any case to be a contentious 2014 budget process."
  • Spain - An upward shift in Italy's yield curve could cause a similar move in Spain's yield curve. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is still caught up in a slush fund scandal, former People's Party treasurer Luis Barcenas is said to have run a slush fund and sent money to party officials including Rajoy. All of this could see Spain being pushed to a bailout.

Amid all these, the 2014 European Parliament elections will also be weighing on Europe's biggest players. Newton thinks "conditions are ripe for extremist parties to make significant gains in these elections," making policy decisions even harder.

Join the conversation about this story »

    



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Little Greek restaurant expanding to New Tampa


Little Greek restaurant expanding to New Tampa
Northwest News and Tribune
NEW TAMPA - Little Greek, a thriving Tampa-based restaurant chain, is set to open its 13th location today near Publix Supermarket in the New Tampa Center shopping plaza. The Mediterranean-themed, fast-casual dining establishment's newest outlet is at ...


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Dirty secret of trendy Greek yogurt


MyNorthwest.com

Dirty secret of trendy Greek yogurt
MyNorthwest.com
No food is more trendy these days than Greek yogurt. But it has a dirty little secret. The secret is not in the yogurt itself, but the by-product of the yogurt-making process. It's whey, a thin watery substance with the acidity of orange juice. Some ...
Soft-serve that's good for youBend Bulletin
Home-made Yogurt: Healthy Miracle in a JarPatheos (blog)
Creamy Yogurt Curry SauceGo Dairy Free

all 4 news articles »

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Protest Against Olympic Air Route Cuts

Olympic Air's decision to stop the connection between three main airports of Greece in Thessaloniki, Iraklio on Crete, and to Rhodes beginning Oct. 13 has met with resistance from representatives of local administration, local chambers of commerce who say it will be a big economic blow and transportation hardship. The Professional Chamber of Thessaloniki with its announcement denounced ...

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Thessaloniki Gets A Tourist Boost

For the first time in four years the number of overnight stays in hotels in Thessaloniki, Greece, for the first semester in 2013 of Greeks and foreign tourists has increased. Russians are the biggest foreign visitors to Greece’s second-largest city, even more than Cypriots. According to data by the Thessaloniki Hotels Association, the increase percentage compared to previous years reaches ...

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Patras? Governor Meets Austria?s Ambassador

The governor of the Region of Patras Apostolos Katsifarasheld a meeting with the Ambassador of Austria in Greece Melita Schubert to discuss co-operation between Western Greece and Austria. The Honorary consul of Austria in Patras Fanis Georgopoulos was also present at the meeting that took place at the Region's headquarters. Katsifaras presented Schubert the comparative advantages of ...

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Religion in Turkey: Erasing the Christian past



Sinful paintings on the ceiling?
ON JULY 5th the mufti of Trabzon gathered with other citizens for the first Friday prayers of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, not at a mosque but at an ancient Byzantine church. The gathering was a symbolic re-enactment of the conquest in 1462 of this ancient Greek Black Sea port by Mehmet II, the Ottoman sultan who had wrested Constantinople from the Byzantines in 1453. He marked his victory by converting the Haghia Sophia cathedral of today’s Istanbul into a mosque.Haghia Sophia’s sister of the same name in Trabzon is less grand. Yet with its dazzling frescoes and magnificent setting overlooking the sea, the 13th-century building is regarded as one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture. As with other Christian monuments, the Haghia Sophia in Trabzon has become a symbol in the battle between secularists and Islamists. It was converted into a mosque around the 16th century and, after other incarnations, became a museum in 1964. But the Islamists won the last round in 2013, when a local court accepted the claim by the General Directorate of the Pious Foundations, the government body...


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Festival major remnant of Middletown?s once-thriving Greek community

Middletown’s Greek Fest this weekend invites everyone to “Go Greek for a Day” — but it’s one of the few major remnants of a Greek community that has shrunk considerably over the years, festival organizers said.

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Greece Acts to Ensure Next Loan


Greece Acts to Ensure Next Loan
Wall Street Journal
By voice vote, parliament passed legislation enacting tax reforms, as well as an amendment to a previous law detailing the transfer of several thousand public servants into a special labor reserve—measures that had been demanded by the Greece's troika ...


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Greece clears last hurdle to unlock EU/IMF bailout funds

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece adopted on Thursday the last piece of legislation its international lenders required to release the next batch of rescue loans, ending two months of wrangling over unpopular measures ...

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Syrian Refugees Not Wanted In Greece

(Photo/Reuters) Greek police patrol the border with Turkey. The erection of a fence on the Greek/Turkish border has forced Syrian refugees to try to enter Greece by sea. Like so many Syrians fleeing their war-shattered country, Mohamad Alkhalil did not think it could get any worse. In the space of two years, the 26-year-old had survived a bullet in his foot, severe shrapnel wounds and a long ...

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