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How the world sees Greece
Monday, January 6, 2014
Photo man warming self in D.C. reunites son with family in New York
GREECE, N.Y., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A New York man, missing since New Year's Day, was found in Washington after a photograph of him ran in nationally distributed newspaper, the man's family said.
Food labelling should be priority for Greek presidency
Food labelling should be priority for Greek presidencyFoodManufacture.co.ukThe Greek presidency of the EU Council should make industry consultation on new food labelling rules one of its four key priorities, says the European food manufacturers' organisation FoodDrinkEurope. Industry consultation on new food labelling rules ...and more »
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Greek official admits corruption on procurements dating to 1980s
Greek official admits corruption on procurements dating to 1980sIHS Jane's 360Former Greek deputy director general of the Armaments Directorate Anthony Kantas has admitted to receiving over EUR10 million (USD13 million) in bribes from acquisition programmes dating back to 1989 as part of a guilty plea in a Greek court, returning ...
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Orthodox Christians and Greek Catholics celebrate Christmas Eve
Kyiv PostOrthodox Christians and Greek Catholics celebrate Christmas EveKyiv PostThe Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, Russian, Jerusalem, Serbian, Georgian Orthodox Churches and the monasteries of Mount Athos, as well as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and several other Eastern Catholic Churches, celebrate Christmas on ...Orthodox Christmas 2014: Russian, Serbian And More Churches Celebrate The ...International Business Timeshristmas Eve for Serbian Orthodox communitySteubenville Herald StarOrthodox patriarchs arrive in Bethlehem to celebrate ChristmasJNS.orgall 20 news articles »
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Greek architecture inspires art project for Nelson students
Greek architecture inspires art project for Nelson studentsThe Daily ProgressARRINGTON — Dressed in oversized purple art shirts to protect their clothes, a group of third-graders at Tye River Elementary School is prepped to continue working on a special project inspired by Greek architecture. The atmosphere in a recent session ...Greek architecture inspires art project at Tye RiverLynchburg News and Advanceall 2 news articles »
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Greek Finance Minister Blames Eurozone
Greek ReporterGreek Finance Minister Blames EurozoneGreek ReporterWithin the context of research by the European Parliament (EP), focusing on the role of the Troika in the Greek crisis, Greek Finance minister Yiannis Stournaras described mistakes and missed opportunities by the EP, which played a decisive role in the ...
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Der Spiegel Lashes Out Against Greece
The popular German magazine Der Spiegel, lashes out against Greece, specifically targeting the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. The magazine refers to the Greek Prime Minister as a “liar” and “out of touch with reality.” Next to the ...
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Eurozone
Last year was the least tumultuous for the euro zone since Greece revealed a vast hole in its books back in 2009.
The consensus is that 2014 will be just as calm - a view held by some who were predicting the currency bloc's demise little more than a year ... ...
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Gay couples protest against Bishop Seraphim at Epiphany ceremony in Piraeus
Epiphany, a public holiday in Greece, was marked by a traditional religious ceremony at Piraeus, where gay couples protested against the port city’s ultra-conservative bishop, Seraphim.
Accoridng to Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper, several gay couples k... ...
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Life imitates art: Syrian refugees stage Greek tragedy in Jordan
Life imitates art: Syrian refugees stage Greek tragedy in JordanUNHCR (press release)AMMAN, Jordan, January 6 (UNHCR) – Syrian director Omar Abu Saada has turned to a Greek tragedy written more than 2,400 years ago to tell of the female suffering in his blighted homeland. His staging in Arabic of "The Trojan Women" by Euripides ...and more »
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Samaras, Venizelos Confront Complaints
ATHENS – As Greece is poised to formally assume the symbolic, rotating six-month European Union Presidency with a ceremony this week, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partner, PASOK Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos will meet on Jan. 6 to discuss how to quell growing political unrest over a growing number of issues. Samaras, the […]
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Greek Sports Funding Cut 50%
ATHENS – Hopes of fielding an Olympic team for 2016 that will do better than the disastrous performance at the 2012 London games have likely been dashed after the government said it would cut funding in half for the sports federations. The agencies overseeing athletes will receive state funding of 12 million euros for 2014, […]
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Greece Vows Corruption Punished
ATHENS – After years of impunity for high-profile wrongdoers, the Greek government has sworn once again that it will not tolerate corruption, with officials pointing to a series of prosecutions and jailings as proof, including politicians from both the ruling parties of Prime Minister and New Democracy Conservative leader Antonis Samaras and his partner, the […]
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Why Hunky CEOs Make for Hot Stocks
Want to boost your company’s stock price? Hire an attractive CEO. That’s the conclusion University of Wisconson economists Joseph T. Halford and Hung-Chia Hsu came to in a recent paper entitled, “Beauty is Wealth: CEO Appearance and Shareholder Value.” Halford and Hsu used a sample of 677 CEOs from companies in the S&P 500 index, ranking their attractiveness based on facial geometry–which they argue “has been well documented to relate to beauty and attractiveness” since the time of ancient Greece. They then measure how this attractiveness correlates to a CEOs compensation, their company’s stock performance on their first days on the job, how well the stock performs after mergers and aquisitions are announced, and how much it appreciates following days they appear on television. They find that in all of these cases, attractive CEOs perform better than their more homely peers, bolstering Halford and Hsu’s theory that investors are more likely to buy the stock of a company run by an attractive CEO, and that good looking CEOs more often get the better end of merger and acquisition negotiations. From this success, they hypothesize, hotter CEOs are able to extract higher pay.
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Weber reads "The Odyssey": Tale of ancient Greek warrior subject of community ...
Weber reads "The Odyssey": Tale of ancient Greek warrior subject of community ...StandardNetThe tale of this ancient Greek warrior has fascinated listeners for centuries, whether told in stories around the campfire, read on the printed page or re-enacted -- in modern day -- on the silver screen. Now "The Odyssey" comes to life again as the ...
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Casinos’ Turnover Down by 60% in Five Years
Total turnover in Greece’s casinos has shrunk by about 60% in the last five years, inflicting a blow on state revenues. In 2013 casinos had a turnover of some 300 million euros, posting a decline for the fifth year in succession. The best year for casinos was 2008, when turnover had reached 744.5 million euros. […]
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Greek Building Stars in American Series
The reputation of the old Italian Consulate building in Thessaloniki has traveled abroad, crossing the Atlantic to the USA. The producers of the television series “American Horror Story,” starring Jessica Lange, have chosen the Salem Residence on V. Olgas street 20, to use in one of the series’ posters. As expected, there was no mention of […]
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Greek God Program: Review Released Examines Greg O'Gallagher’s New Muscle Building and Nutrition Program
Shane Michaels releases a review of the Greek God Program by Greg O'Gallagher, the top selling muscle building program that teaches regular people a little known formula on how to sculpt a proportionate physique like a Greek god. (PRWeb January 06, 2014) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/greek-god-program/review/prweb11462981.htm
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Missing Greece Man Found Thanks to Newspaper Photo
WROC-TVMissing Greece Man Found Thanks to Newspaper PhotoWROC-TVAnd then someone actually seeing the photograph in the paper," said Captain Patrick Phelan, Greece Police Department. The family notified Greece police. It confirmed, the man in the photo was Simmons. After contacting police in D.C., Simmons was found ...
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Crisis: Simitis, Europe is sacrificing Greece like Iphigenia
Wall Street JournalCrisis: Simitis, Europe is sacrificing Greece like IphigeniaANSAmed(ANSAmed) - ATHENS - "Europe is sacrificing Greece like Iphigenia", wrote yesterday Greek former Prime Minister of Greece, Kostas Simitis, in an article in the newspaper 'To Vima,' commenting on the role of Greece in the European crisis and the future ...Euro Zone: Reasons To Be Wary In 2014malaysiandigest.comall 27 news articles »
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5 Reasons To Be Wary Of The Euro Zone In 2014
LONDON (Reuters) - Last year was the least tumultuous for the euro zone since Greece revealed a vast hole in its books back in 2009.
The consensus is that 2014 will be just as calm - a view held by some who were predicting the currency bloc's demise little more than a year ago.
The political will to keep the show on the road has held firm, the European Central Bank's pledge to underpin the euro continues to stave off bond market pressure and there is the prospect of economies growing at least a little.
Spain, Italy and Portugal are all emerging from recession and Greece should follow suit this year.
Yet there are plenty of reasons to be cautious.
EU ELECTIONSHigh unemployment, austerity fatigue and still anemic growth offer the perfect backdrop for fringe parties to prosper at May's European parliamentary elections.
Some pundits predict a group of anti-euro parties including the National Front in France, Britain's UKIP, Syriza in Greece and the Dutch Freedom Party could capture 20 percent or more of the seats.
That could pressure the EU's main party groups to tack right and challenge Europe's ability to integrate further given new powers the parliament will have to rule on the majority of EU legislation.
"It could pull mainstream parties into more euroskeptic positions and complicate both the appointment of a new European Commission (due later in the year) and the task of passing banking union-related legislation," said Alastair Newton, senior political analyst at Nomura Securities.
BANK STRESSThat the EU has fallen short of its initial plans for a banking union to prevent future financial crises is plain.
For several years at least, the buck for a failing bank will ultimately stop with national governments, leaving the "doom loop" ensnaring weak banks and indebted sovereigns unbroken.
The ECB will publish health tests of Europe's biggest banks prior to taking over their supervision in November.
The scope for a major shock is limited given the extent to which banks have already recapitalized. Still, lending is likely to remain constrained until the tests are complete - hampering economic recovery - and the structure of banking union as it now exists could allow a future crisis to blow up.
GERMAN COURTThe main reason to be cheerful about the euro zone is the markets' unwillingness to test the ECB's safety net. Any hole in that would change the terms of the game at a stroke.
Germany's Constitutional Court will rule soon on the ECB's bond-buying program, its as yet unused mechanism to protect the euro zone.
The history of the Karlsruhe-based court has not been to reject outright any crisis-fighting measures though it has bestowed greater levels of scrutiny upon Germany's Bundestag.
But if it did take the nuclear option, the bond market could declare open season on the currency bloc's weaker members once more, pushing it back into crisis.
REFORM ZEALThe ECB has consistently said it is buying time for countries to put their houses in order by curbing debts and enacting economic reforms needed to thrive in the 21st century.
The main flashpoints are Italy, which has stagnated for a decade and has a coalition government which may lack the cohesion to respond, and France which is teetering on the edge of a new recession.
"France remains the only major European economy which is beset by serious health problems and has not yet done much about it," Berenberg Bank said in its annual review of the euro zone.
President Francois Hollande used his New Year address to offer companies lower labor taxes if they hire more workers. But with his popularity levels at record lows, a radical leap is unlikely.
Austerity fatigue is most potent in Greece, the country that sparked the debt crisis.
Its coalition government refuses to countenance more cuts and will need some form of debt relief to put its finances on a sustainable path at a time when its parliamentary majority is down to just three seats and the anti-bailout Syriza opposition is ascendant in the polls.
DEFLATIONIf deflation took hold - a big if - that would pose the direst threat of all, raising the prospect of a Japan-style lost decade and making national debts even harder to pay off.
A plunge in euro zone inflation to just 0.7 percent prompted the ECB to cut interest rates in November but many of its members are viscerally opposed to the sort of money printing that finally breathed life into Japan's economy.
"We must take care that we don't have inflation stuck permanently below 1 percent and thereby slip into the danger zone," ECB chief Mario Draghi said last week.
Even without deflation, any slippage in debt-cutting and structural reforms may require further action from the ECB.
The history of the euro zone crisis shows that while policymakers lose their sense of urgency when the pressure diminishes, they rush to bolster their defenses when the heat comes on and have consistently done so just in time.
"2014 stands to be more challenging and dangerous for euro zone financial markets than the surprisingly calm 2013," said
Russell Jones, economist at Llewellyn Consulting in London.
"(But) predictions of the euro area's imminent demise have proved systematically wide of the mark."
(Editing by Susan Fenton)
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Forget the fads: Ancient Greek diet may be healthiest
WASHINGTON - There are lots of diets out there. But the healthiest of all may be a nutritional lifestyle that dates back centuries. Studies have shown the traditional Greek diet is one of the healthiest on the planet -- in sharp contrast to the modern-day ...
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Greece: Samaras and Venizelos to meet before troika return
(ANSAmed) – ATHENS, JANUARY 6 – Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos are to hold their first meeting of the New Year on Tuesday, just over a week before the troika is due to return to Athens and with a ...
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Student death commemorated by Greek community
VarsityStudent death commemorated by Greek communityVarsityThe brothers of Beta Theta Pi mourn the recent loss of member Hugo Chan, who fell to his death outside the fraternity house located at 131 Lowther Avenue around 3:00 am on Saturday December 14. Twenty-four-year-old Chan was returning to the house, ...
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People News: East Lansing man named Archon of Greek Orthodox Ecumenical ...
People News: East Lansing man named Archon of Greek Orthodox Ecumenical ...Lansing State JournalFrangos has been a member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Lansing since 1966. He served on the parish council for 25 years and as its president for several years. He has assisted the parish priest, Father Mark Sietsema, in parish activities ...
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Photo leads family to missing Greece man
13WHAM-TVPhoto leads family to missing Greece manWGRZ-TVIn a strange coincidence, family members in Greece told local police investigators they saw a man in a photograph published by USA Today in Sunday's Democrat and Chronicle who looked like Simmons. The photograph ran with a package on cold ...Missing Greece man found in DC13WHAM-TVMissing Greece man found in Washington, DCNews 10NBCMissing Greece Man Located in DCWROC-TVWXXI News -W*USA 9all 81 news articles »
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UK manufacturing tipped for strongest growth in Europe
EEF predicts sector will grow 2.7% this year, compared with 1.6% in Germany and 0.7% in France
Britain's manufacturers will enjoy faster growth than those in Germany or any other western European economy this year from rising demand at home and abroad, according to a report.
In its annual survey of companies, manufacturers' organisation EEF found 70% of firms forecast an improvement in the economy in 2014, while just 5% thought conditions would deteriorate. The balance of 65% compares with the sombre outlook at the same time last year when the reading was just 7%.
The balance expecting a good year for manufacturing is 52% – up from zero this time last year.
"Manufacturers are telling us they expect to make a greater contribution to growth, investment and jobs this year," said EEF's chief executive Terry Scuoler.
The EEF, along with the thinktank Oxford Economics, has forecast that the British manufacturing sector, which accounts for 10% of the economy, will grow 2.7% this year. That puts it ahead of all other western European countries in the thinktank's forecasts. German manufacturing is expected to pick up by 1.6% with France at just 0.7%, level with Spain and just of Greece at 0.4%.
Austria and Belgium are also expected to pick up strongly with growth of 2.4%
Manufacturers' caution at the start of last year now appears justified however with the sector now forecast by the EEF to have contracted 0.1% during 2013. The sector is still some 9% below its pre-recession level, said the group's chief economist Lee Hopley. "We are not yet where we want to be," she said. "There is still lots to do."
But the evidence from the sector was more positive for this year, including signs the pick-up in momentum was broad-based, she said.
"The sectoral difference is not as stark as a year ago. We were quite reliant on the transport sector to do a lot of the heavy lifting for the manufacturing sector over 2013... This year it should be more evenly spread," she said.
But the manufacturers' group also warned of risks from many sides as the sector strives to make up for the sharp contraction in recent years. The survey of 200 senior executives said uncertainty had become the "new normal" after the shocks of recent years when demand dwindled in the UK's key export market, the eurozone.
For the year ahead they are worrying about energy prices, being held back by the prolonged hollowing out of the UK's supply base and pressure for pay rises as skills shortages continue to bite.
The survey also suggested business investment will finally start to grow again this year.
Some 60% of companies said they planned to invest moderately or significantly in the UK. Signs that large companies are ready to start spending some of the cash piles they have been sitting on while smaller firms are prepared to borrow to expand reflect a brighter outlook for sales. Two-thirds of companies expect domestic sales to increase and, 55% of companies expect their exports to increase. The Middle East stands out as an increasingly favoured market for UK manufacturers while they are also more upbeat about the eurozone.
Despite the generally positive outlook painted by the survey and other recent indicators from the sector, the EEF said three quarters of manufacturers believe "economic uncertainty is the new norm".
Manufacturers' general optimism was echoed in a separate report suggesting Britain's biggest companies plan to increase investment and hire more workers in 2014.
The latest poll of 122 chief financial officers by consultants Deloitte also found almost half of respondents – 49% – said Bank of England governor Mark Carney's policies had boosted confidence in the UK's economic outlook. Just 3% said confidence had been dented and the rest saw no effect.
Companies' appetite for risk was the highest since the quarterly survey started six years ago and 70% of those surveyed said they expect businesses to increase hiring in 2014.
Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, said the survey showed finance chief were starting 2014 "in buoyant mood with a focus on expansion, investment and hiring.". This bodes well for the broad-based recovery policymakers hope to see in 2014."
"Large corporates have good access to capital and CFOs are more positive about financing their business with equity and bonds than at any time in the last six years. But in a sign that banks are lending once again CFOs rate bank lending as the most attractive form of finance for their business for the first time since 2008."
Manufacturing sectorEconomicsKatie Allentheguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds |
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Diving for tradition: Greek Orthodox celebrate
For some, diving for the cross on Sunday at Mother’s Beach was a chance to show off athletic skills and celebrate Jesus. For Nikos Ninos, the ceremony was all about tradition. Ninos, 59, traveled to Long Beach from Jerusalem to dive for the ...
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Lebanon: Protests over Attack on Greek Orthodox Priest's Library
Greek ReporterLebanon: Protests over Attack on Greek Orthodox Priest's LibraryGreek ReporterHundreds of Lebanese people rioted on the streets of Tripoli, northern Lebanon on Saturday, January 4 protesting over the torching of a historic library owned by a Greek Orthodox priest. The protestors held up banners that read “Tripoli, peaceful town ...Angry Lebanese protest over attack on priest's libraryAl-ArabiyaBookstore owner priest forgives arsonistsThe Daily StarLebanon Christian Library with 80000 Books Is Burned Down After Owner Was ...TheBlaze.comAlgemeiner -RTall 53 news articles »
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Global House Prices: Castles Made Of Sand
Monetary policy may call an end to the house-price party
House prices are now rising in 18 of the 23 countries we track across the globe, compared with just 12 a year ago. America tops our table: the Case-Shiller index released on New Year’s Eve reported price increases of 13.6% in the year to October 2013. Homes have risen in value by 24% since their March 2012 trough, but they remain 20% below their peak in April 2006.
Builders started work on over 1m new homes in America in the year to November, for only the second time since the financial crisis ended. But this is far short of the 2.3m recorded in January 2006, and below the long-run average of 1.5m. In all, American property is enjoying a recovery but not a bubble.
The Federal Reserve’s decision to start tapering its buying of bonds with newly-created money (ie, to scale back the policy commonly known as quantitative easing, or QE) by $10 billion to $75 billion a month from January may take some wind out of house sales. Although mortgage rates are rising, thanks to higher bond yields, housing remains affordable. Prices are now at or around fair value according to The Econo mist’s measure, which compares prices with the long-run average of rents and personal incomes.
Prices in Britain increased at their fastest rate for three years in October, fuelling fears of a housing bubble (and subsequent crash), particularly in London where prices increased by 12%. Although by our measure housing is overvalued against both rents and income, Britain did not suffer a housing crash on the scale of America’s, largely because supply is so tight. Britain’s government scrapped house-building targets in 2010. Projections of new-household formation suggest 290,000 new homes will need to be built every year through to 2031. But in the 12 months to March 2013 housing completions fell to 135,000, their lowest level since records began in 1949.
The north-south divide in the euro area continues: in Greece, Spain and Italy house prices declined by between 5% and 10%. However, the market has finally bottomed out in Ireland: after halving over six years, prices are now 9% above their March low. Prices in Germany, which has the lowest home-ownership rate in the EU at 53%, are rising at the fastest rate since reunification, although housing is still undervalued against both rents and income.
Brazil, which hosts the football World Cup in June, is also having a housing boom. Prices increased 13% in the 12 months to November and in Rio, which hosts the Olympics in 2016, they have trebled since 2008. Fears grow of a bubble in China, led by overdevelopment and low occupancy. According to The Economist’s index, based on official figures from 70 Chinese cities, prices increased by 8.7% in the year to November 2013. India may follow suit: prices across 15 cities with a total population of 100m increased 7% in the third quarter of 2013. But Canada appears to have been successful in cooling its market: its house-price inflation has reduced to 3.4%, though homes still look expensive.
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Pessimism rules in Greece
Pessimism rules in GreeceNeos KosmosThis pessimism over the country's future is also illustrated elsewhere in the findings, since 56 per cent of those who took part in the survey stated they would emigrate if they had the opportunity, contrary to 39 per cent who would chose to remain in ...
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Etihad signs Greek partner
Etihad signs Greek partnerNeos KosmosEtihad will place its flight code on Aegean Airlines-operated flights to 16 regional Greek destinations - including Alexandroupolis, Chania, Chios, Heraklion, Ioannina, Kavala, Cephalonia, Corfu, Kos, Lemnos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini ...and more »
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Olympic courting three Greek superstars
Olympic courting three Greek superstarsNeos KosmosGreek national team greats, Angelos Charisteas, Pantelis Kafes and Sotirios Kyrgiakos are set to join national premier league club Sydney Olympic in late January if all things go well, and could be playing on our shores this year. The three greats are ...
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Olympiakos Owner Feels the Love
ASTORIA – The Greek soccer team Olympiakos soccer team, based in Piraeus, is renowned in the soccer world and naturally has fans throughout Greece and the Hellenic diaspora. On January 3 its owner and president, Greek ship owner Evangelos Marinakis visited the team’s clubhouse in Astoria, thanking its fans and sketching the team’s plans for […]
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Special Needs Students Bridge of Life
ATHENS – For kindergarten teacher Sophia Fokianou, 48, a new after-school volunteer program to help students with special needs, such as her 18-year-old daughter, has been a life saver. “It was a big relief for me … a dream come true,” Fokianou told Southeast European Times. The Bridge of Life volunteer center opened in the […]
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Exploring Athens: the Brettos Distillery in Plaka is a Century-Old Tradition
Hundreds of colorful bottles propped up against the walls of cozy Brettos Distillery in Plaka set the mood for a special drinking experience. Founded by Michael Brettos in 1909, the distillery is known for producing ouzo, brandy, and various liquors using old-fashion recipes from Smyrni, including classics like masticha, cherry, and peppermint flavors. Here, visitors […]
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Simitis Says EU Sacrified Greece
ATHENS – Former Greek Prime Minister and one-time PASOK Socialist leader Costas Simitis, who ushered his country into the Eurozone, now says it’s been sacrificed to preserve the financial bloc and said that the debt – to which his party contributed with needless hirings – can’t be sustained. In an interview with the newspaper To […]
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ND Deputy Faces Breach of Duty Charge
ATHENS – Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ shaky coalition government, that has only a three-vote majority, faces another challenge after one of his New Democracy Conservative party lawmakers has been charged with breach of duty in a case involving a bad loan given to a company by prefectural officials when he was serving with them. […]
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Hospital Fee Flap Tests Greek Coalition Standing
ATHENS – After surviving a series of crucial tests over unpopular austerity measures, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ shaky coalition now faces a battle as his partner, PASOK Socialist chief Evangelos Venizelos, is under siege from critics in his party, and a possible vote over whether to reverse a 25 euro hospital admission fee that […]
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Travel and Pack Like a Designer: A Week in Greece
Condé Nast TravelerTravel and Pack Like a Designer: A Week in GreeceCondé Nast Traveler"Greece taught me how to be on vacation," says jewelry designer Irene Neuwirth, who chose the small island of Patmos for a recent weeklong getaway. "My days involved drinking ouzo by the water, swims in the Aegean, and reading for hours." It's no ...
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Tackling Smog with Discount on Electricity
In order to deal with the smog problem, the Greek government is providing discounts on the cost of electricity consumption, for residential customers, during periods of increased smog. Greece’s Joint Ministerial Decision was signed by the Environment Minister, Yiannis Maniatis, the Deputy Environment Minister, Asimakis Papageorgiou and the alternate Minister of Finance, Christos Staikouras. The […]
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Missing Greece man found in DC
13WHAM-TVMissing Greece man found in DC13WHAM-TVGreece, N.Y. - Police confirm that a missing Greece man was found in Washington D.C. today after his photo appeared online. According to the Greece Police Department, Nicholas Simmons, 20, has been missing since he left his home on Cider Creek Lane ...Photo in USA TODAY leads family to missing NY manUSA TODAYMissing Greece Man Located in DCWROC-TVMissing Greece Man Found With Help Of Newspaper PhotoWXXI NewsNews 10NBCall 5 news articles »
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'American Property Is Enjoying A Recovery But Not A Bubble'
Monetary policy may call an end to the house-price party
House prices are now rising in 18 of the 23 countries we track across the globe, compared with just 12 a year ago. America tops our table: the Case-Shiller index released on New Year’s Eve reported price increases of 13.6% in the year to October 2013. Homes have risen in value by 24% since their March 2012 trough, but they remain 20% below their peak in April 2006.
Builders started work on over 1m new homes in America in the year to November, for only the second time since the financial crisis ended. But this is far short of the 2.3m recorded in January 2006, and below the long-run average of 1.5m. In all, American property is enjoying a recovery but not a bubble.
The Federal Reserve’s decision to start tapering its buying of bonds with newly-created money (ie, to scale back the policy commonly known as quantitative easing, or QE) by $10 billion to $75 billion a month from January may take some wind out of house sales. Although mortgage rates are rising, thanks to higher bond yields, housing remains affordable. Prices are now at or around fair value according to The Econo mist’s measure, which compares prices with the long-run average of rents and personal incomes.
Prices in Britain increased at their fastest rate for three years in October, fuelling fears of a housing bubble (and subsequent crash), particularly in London where prices increased by 12%. Although by our measure housing is overvalued against both rents and income, Britain did not suffer a housing crash on the scale of America’s, largely because supply is so tight. Britain’s government scrapped house-building targets in 2010. Projections of new-household formation suggest 290,000 new homes will need to be built every year through to 2031. But in the 12 months to March 2013 housing completions fell to 135,000, their lowest level since records began in 1949.
The north-south divide in the euro area continues: in Greece, Spain and Italy house prices declined by between 5% and 10%. However, the market has finally bottomed out in Ireland: after halving over six years, prices are now 9% above their March low. Prices in Germany, which has the lowest home-ownership rate in the EU at 53%, are rising at the fastest rate since reunification, although housing is still undervalued against both rents and income.
Brazil, which hosts the football World Cup in June, is also having a housing boom. Prices increased 13% in the 12 months to November and in Rio, which hosts the Olympics in 2016, they have trebled since 2008. Fears grow of a bubble in China, led by overdevelopment and low occupancy. According to The Economist’s index, based on official figures from 70 Chinese cities, prices increased by 8.7% in the year to November 2013. India may follow suit: prices across 15 cities with a total population of 100m increased 7% in the third quarter of 2013. But Canada appears to have been successful in cooling its market: its house-price inflation has reduced to 3.4%, though homes still look expensive.
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Photo in USA TODAY leads family to missing NY man
WROC-TVPhoto in USA TODAY leads family to missing NY manUSA TODAYA New York man missing since Wednesday has been located in Washington, D.C.. Nicholas A. Simmons, 20, was last seen leaving his home on Cider Creek Lane in Greece, N.Y., on New Year's Day, and family members began a search for him by contacting ...Missing Greece Man Located in DCWROC-TVPolice: Family finds missing son after seeing photo in newspaperNews 10NBCall 3 news articles »
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Epiphany 2014: Dates, Customs, Scripture And History Of 'Three Kings Day' Explained (PHOTOS)
The Feast of the Epiphany, marking the end of the 12 Days of Christmas, is observed on Monday, January 6, 2014.
Epiphany -- which is variously known as Theophany, Three Kings Day and El Dia de los Tres Reyes -- is a Christian celebration of the revelation of the birth of Jesus to the wider world. This is embodied most in the story of three wise men visiting a newborn Jesus with gifts, found in the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12.
In this story, Magi (wise men) from the east follow a star to Jerusalem, where they ask the presiding king, Herod, what he knows about a newly born "King of the Jews." This sounds like a challenge to Herod, who gathers his priests to learn where and who is this king. They relay a prophecy that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, and Herod sends the Magi there, saying: "Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." The wise men -- Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar -- eventually find Mary and her son, Jesus, to whom they bow and worship. The Magi give Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and then return home, for a dream told them to bypass Herod.
While Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity focuses on the story of the Magi, Eastern Christians, like the Greek Orthodox, celebrate the baptism of Jesus on Epiphany and consider the day to be more important than Christmas.
Traditionally, Epiphany is observed by blessing the home (recalling the Magi's visit to Jesus' family), blessing water (especially the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized), exchanging gifts, performing "Magi plays" (to tell the story of Jesus' childhood) and feasting, most notably on a "King Cake."
Read or listen to T.S. Eliot's poem Journey of the Magi here.
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