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Thursday, August 22, 2013
Robert Oppenheimer Did All The Work On Black Holes But John Wheeler Took All The Credit
Germans biggest tourism spenders in Greece
Orlando Photog Shows Ancient Greek Beauty
Greek hospital staff to strike for four hours
Artists? books from Teriade Collection go on display at the Byzantine Museum in Athens
Greek Gastronomy Goes to TIF
Greek winger Charis Mavrias signs three-year Sunderland contract for undisclosed fee
Greece Needs More Financial Aid
Schaeuble says Greek aid shocker was designed to bring clarity
Yanni's The Little Greek keeps things real
Eurogroup chief becomes latest to admit Greece on course for third bailout
Jeroen Dijsselbloem's comments cast shadow over news that eurozone companies are reporting strong growth
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, is the latest senior politician to concede that Greece may yet need a third bailout, casting a shadow over news that eurozone companies are reporting their strongest growth for more than two years.
Dijsselbloem, who heads the eurogroup of finance ministers, told Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad: "The problems in Greece won't be solved in 2014, so something more will have to happen." He said the form and scale of another rescue would depend on Greece's progress with economic reforms.
His admission echoed that of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, who told an election campaign event earlier this week that the bailed-out country still needed more aid. The International Monetary Fund has suggested that there is an €11bn (£9.4bn) shortfall in the current rescue package for Greece.
The spectre of destabilising negotiations over a new bailout, though they are unlikely to get under way until after German elections next month, were a reminder that the eurozone is still not out of the woods, despite an upbeat survey suggesting economic recovery in the 17-member zone is gathering steam.
The monthly purchasing managers' indices, which test the confidence of firms across the 17 member-states, showed both manufacturing and services expanding at their fastest pace since summer 2011.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at data provider Markit, which compiles the indices, said: "The euro area's economic recovery gained momentum in August."
Apolline Menut, of Barclays, said: "The readings confirm that recovery is on track and that GDP should continue to grow in the third quarter."
However, while Germany scored a PMI reading of 53.4 – well above the 50 level which marks expansion, suggesting recovery in the eurozone's largest economy is gathering speed – output in France declined, and at a faster pace than during July, according to the survey, with both manufacturing and services output falling. Williamson said: "A big question mark still hangs over France's ability to return to sustained growth."
Across the eurozone as a whole, export sales rose for the second month in a row, Markit said, and new orders for manufactured goods jumped at their fastest pace since May 2011.
However, some analysts remain more sceptical about whether the nascent upturn – after an 18 month recession – is set to last, particularly if the US Federal Reserve's plan to "taper", or start reducing, its $85bn a month quantitative easing programme continues to push up government bond yields on this side of the Atlantic, raising the cost of borrowing.
A research note from City consultancy Fathom said: "The fundamental structural problems facing the euro area have not gone away. In addition, the potential spillovers from Fed tapering pose a threat to debt sustainability in the periphery … we are a long way from calling an end to the euro area crisis."
Investors were cheered by a similar survey of China's manufacturing survey, published by HSBC, which suggested output may be stabilising, after growth deteriorated sharply at the start of the year. The reading on the purchasing managers' index rose to a stronger-than-expected 50.1 for August, from 47.7 in July – the largest monthly jump in three years.
Analysts said there were hopeful signs that China is succeeding in shifting its growth model away from exports, towards consumer spending.
"Domestic demand is strong enough to support 7.5% [growth] in 2013," said Ken Peng, senior economist at BNP Paribas in Beijing. "Almost all of China's economic data since July has shown improvements and suggests a rebound is under way."
Fears about a so-called hard landing in China have exacerbated recent jitters in financial markets over the fate of emerging economies when the Fed withdraws from QE.
Yields on US government bonds hit a fresh two-year high, as minutes from the Fed's latest meeting, released on Wednesday night, confirmed that QE could start to be phased out as soon as next month.
However, the dollar's relentless rise was briefly checked after a worse-than-expected labour market survey, which suggested new claims for unemployment benefits had risen by 13,000, to 336,000, in the past week.
"The Fed tapering theme continues. The minutes reinforced expectations that the Fed will taper its quantitative easing programme in September and Thursday's jobless claims didn't really change that," said Greg Moore, currency strategist at TD Securities in Toronto.
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Italian archaeologists have grape expectations of their ancient wine
Scientists plant vineyards with the aim of making wine using techniques from classical Rome described by Virgil
Archeologists in Italy have set about making red wine exactly as the ancient Romans did, to see what it tastes like.
Based at the University of Catania in Sicily and supported by Italy's national research centre, a team has planted a vineyard near Catania using techniques copied from ancient texts and expects its first vintage within four years.
"We are more used to archeological digs but wanted to make society more aware of our work, otherwise we risk being seen as extraterrestrials," said archaeologist Daniele Malfitana.
At the group's vineyard, which should produce 70 litres at the first harvest, modern chemicals will be banned and vines will be planted using wooden Roman tools and will be fastened with canes and broom, as the Romans did.
Instead of fermenting in barrels, the wine will be placed in large terracotta pots – traditionally big enough to hold a man – which are buried to the neck in the ground, lined inside with beeswax to make them impermeable and left open during fermentation before being sealed shut with clay or resin.
"We will not use fermenting agents, but rely on the fermentation of the grapes themselves, which will make it as hit and miss as it was then – you can call this experimental archaeology," said researcher Mario Indelicato, who is managing the programme.
The team has faithfully followed tips on wine growing given by Virgil in the Georgics, his poem about agriculture, as well as by Columella, a first century AD grower, whose detailed guide to winemaking was relied on until the 17th century.
"We have found that Roman techniques were more or less in use in Sicily up until a few decades ago, showing how advanced the Romans were," said Indelicato. "I discovered a two-pointed hoe at my family house on Mount Etna recently that was identical to one we found during a Roman excavation."
What has changed are the types of grape varieties, which have intermingled over the centuries. "Columella mentions 50 types but we can only speculate on the modern-day equivalents," said Indelicato, who is planting a local variety, Nerello Mascalese.
"To sweeten up their wine, which could be vinegary, the Romans added honey and water to it," he said. "They made better stuff for nobles and cheaper, more vinegary stuff for slaves. We will try and make both types."
The drinking habits of Romans have also changed in two millennia. Whereas Italians today drink moderately with meals, their ancestors were more given to drunken carousing.
"An edict was issued in the first century AD halting the planting of vineyards because people were not growing wheat any more," said Indelicato.
"The Romans took the concept of getting together for a drink from the Greeks after they conquered the Greek-controlled Italian city of Taranto in the third century BC.
"They drank at festivals to mark the pending harvest, after the harvest. In fact, any occasion was good for a drink."
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ROSENBERG: Here Are The 10 Things That Worry Me Most
Sure, David Rosenberg might have been turning increasingly bullish recently. But there are still things that concern him.
In his latest Breakfast with Dave note, Rosenberg identifies 10 global economic and political concerns.
We paraphrase here:
Emerging market balance of payments/currency problems that are reminiscent of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Looming debt ceiling debate in Washington. Fed tapering isn't a sure thing for September, " but if not, it speaks to weakening economic backdrop." A third Greek bailout and that while Europe might have emerged from a recession, there is no catalyst for a recovery. U.S. GDP estimates are being revised down. Recent economic data shows that Canada has hit a "rough patch." "Some countries are contracting now (Thailand, Mexico and Netherlands)." "Sharp bond spasm… spillover effects to other markets? Long bond is -17.5% in total return in the past 3+ months (which only happened twice before)." Poor earnings for American retailers and a weak start to the back-to-school shopping season. The "leadership vacuum at the Fed." The absence of a Bernanke speech at Jackson Hole also makes the policy backdrop unclear.If these prove to be correct, they "point to a near-term drop in bond yields, weaker commodities/resource currencies, more volatility equity markets and an overall better tone of the rate-sensitive equity sectors (SIRP), and likely put a bid into the USD, yen, Swiss franc, Sterling (defensive currencies)," he writes.
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German lawmakers cite major errors, security service biases, in probe of neo-Nazi killings
BERLIN (AP) — A German parliamentary investigation into a far-right murder spree that went undetected for years has found that security services made scores of errors, partially because of institutional bias against immigrants.
The nearly 1,400-page report released Thursday follows a 19-month review of how police and intelligence agencies failed to stop the National Socialist Underground group killing eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.
The group was only linked to the killings after two main members died in a murder-suicide after a botched 2011 bank robbery. The third suspected main member is now on trial.
The cross-party committee says authorities didn't properly consider the possibility that the killings were racially motivated, partly because of their own biases. It calls for more minorities in the security services.
News Topics: General news, Neo-Nazism, Nazism, Government and politicsPeople, Places and Companies: Germany, Western Europe, Europe
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This article is published under the terms of the News Licensing Group, LLC. privacy policy, in addition to the terms of use and privacy policy for this website.
Is standing up for European values too great a risk in Germany?
No wonder voters seem apathetic: Germany's political elite has shied away from answering key questions about the the future
It has been a hot summer in Germany. It appears that temperatures have been too high for a heated election campaign. The debates have been sluggish and drawn out. And even if the major TV duels are yet to be fought: what are the issues that will jolt the Germans from their summer lethargy and make them flock to the polling stations?
Arguments over equitable taxation or the merits of the state and its institutions have been exchanged for ages. Likewise, the price of abandoning nuclear power and achieving the energy transition is perceived as a permanent topic. So far, none of these disputes have really hit home. Nothing has truly gripped the public and sparked the kind of debate that captivates the mind beyond the evening news and comment pages.
The only issue to defy the general weariness is the discussion about civil liberties and democracy triggered by whistleblower Edward Snowden's actions. Of course, the runup to an election is not a time that would allow for an objective investigation of programmes such as Prism or Tempora. But the debate on secret services, surveillance and civil rights should indeed be pursued – now more than ever.
No other country in the European Union has benefited more in terms of its democratic development from being firmly rooted in the EU than Germany. When, if not now, is the time to defend the shared values that allowed this country to evolve after 1945, and again since 1989? If the European commitment to freedom, democracy and justice is to carry any weight, the debate about data privacy and civil rights must be a central campaign issue.
The word from Berlin is that the German public remains largely unmoved. But voters are left indifferent because the debate has been absurdly reduced to the question of whether Merkel or the SPD's Frank-Walter Steinmeier (who was previous in charge of foreign affairs) knew more or less about the collaboration between the NSA and the German intelligence agency BND, and acquiesced in it. If you want to engage the citizenry, then the real argument is about how we can meet Snowden's request for asylum in a democratic country.
Engaging the people means contesting some of the alarming approaches adopted by western security policy since 9/11. Getting the people involved means defending the European way, which is not anti-American, but seeks to realign the relationship between liberty and security. The prerequisite for this, however, is that we place greater belief in, and demand more of, our common European way.
Is standing up for European values too great a risk in Germany, nearly 25 years after reunification? In Brussels, necessary decisions have been put off for quite some time. As the date of the German election draws nearer, the more openly it is admitted that nothing will happen before the end of September.
Many Europeans were expecting the German campaign season to spawn precisely those heated debates on EU policy. They do not want philosophical musings, but clear answers: what will happen in Greece? What can we learn from the failure of a strategy that relied solely on austerity measures? How can Europeans escape the debt trap? How will we correct the design flaws of the euro? How must a banking union be constructed to safeguard states and citizens against repeated bankruptcy through speculation and other shady dealings? How can we achieve economic recovery and the long-term renewal of Europe's industries? How will we make good on the European promise of a better life in the face of growing poverty and unemployment, particularly in the union's southern and eastern regions?
These are vital questions – for Germany and for Europe. There has been a tendency to steer clear of these questions in this federal election campaign. Germany's political elite is given to a certain fear of the electorate whenever the EU crops up as an issue. Yet it is the same elite that has long neglected to explain to the public how valuable the EU is for us in every way, and has instead never missed an opportunity to proclaim that the community is costing us too much. That is why Germany again lacks an impassioned debate about the rights and wrongs of the future European path.
As a German European, I am disappointed by the mixture of incapability and carelessness back home. After all, in today's EU a lot, albeit not everything, depends on Germany. And Germany itself has enjoyed great economic success over the past 50 years, thanks to debt cancellation, the Marshall plan, German reunification and above all, thanks to Europe. The existence of the European Union has also allowed German society to evolve and has made the country one of the most popular destinations.
The debate about our shared European future is an existential one. It requires passion and attractive ideas. That would be good for the German electoral campaign – and for the reputation of German politics in Europe.
• Translated by Jan K Schwing
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Premier League
Schalke criticizes police action against its fans during Champions League match against PAOK
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Schalke is criticizing local police for using pepper spray and batons against Schalke fans displaying a Macedonian banner during its Champions League qualifying match against the Greek club PAOK.
The police say they used violence because the situation had threatened to escalate as PAOK fans felt provoked and threatened to attack rival supporters.
But Schalke says the police response was "disproportionate" and condemned it.
Police say 30 people needed medical attention and had to have their eyes washed out.
Greece has a long-running dispute with Macedonia over the former Yugoslav republic's name and says only its northern province can be called by that name.
Some Schalke fan groups have a friendly relationship with supports of the Macedonian club Vardar Skopje.
Wednesday's match ended in a 1-1 draw.
News Topics: Sports, Men's soccer, Professional soccer, Soccer, Men's sportsPeople, Places and Companies: Germany, Macedonia, Western Europe, Europe, Eastern Europe
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This article is published under the terms of the News Licensing Group, LLC. privacy policy, in addition to the terms of use and privacy policy for this website.