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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

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Greeks and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is so deeply embedded in American culture that it withstands the portion of our Constitution’s First Amendment regarding limitations on governmental “establishment of religion.” Even though its very foundation is on occasion on which to give thanks to God – it is so intricately woven into the fabric of our nation’s history that, […] The post Greeks and Thanksgiving appeared first on The National Herald.


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Pepsico seeks to disengage from Greek market

Soft drinks manufacturer Pepsico-Ivi is seeking a bottler in the Greek market to take on the exclusive rights of production and sale of its brands, as the Pepsico group wishes to disengage from its loss-making activity in Greece. However despite holding t... ...


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As Athens awaits troika reply, PM warns of 'unreasonable' demands

There had been no official response by Tuesday night from the troika to the Greek government’s proposals for breaking a deadlock over the program review as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told an audience in Athens that he would not give in to “unreasonabl... ...


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Garden of the Greek Gods to remain on Muzik property through the winter

The 20 sculptures comprising the Garden of the Greek Gods will remain trapped on Muzik nightclub's outdoor bar patio through the winter, according ...


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Greek teams under threat of exclusion from international competitions

The FIFA and UEFA threatened Tuesday to exclude Greek soccer teams from international competitions if the Athens government approves a bill the ...


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Greek PM Calls Troika Demands ‘Irrational and Unjustifiable’

ATHENS—Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Tuesday the country’s ongoing negotiations with its international creditors are the toughest yet and added the government won’t accept any “irrational and unjustifiable” proposals. “We are ready ...


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Samaras Rejects Troika On Austerity

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras refused demands by rescue lenders for more austerity saying the cuts would be "catastrophic" and derail recovery. The post Samaras Rejects Troika On Austerity appeared first on The National Herald.


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Greek justice minister denounces gay marriage

Haralambos Athanasiou accused of homophobia after saying same-sex unions pose dangers to societyGreece’s justice minister has been accused of homophobia after unequivocally denouncing gay marriage.In an outburst that startled human rights defenders and activists in the country’s increasingly visible LGBT community, the minister, Haralambos Athanasiou, said he was virulently opposed to same-sex marriage as it posed dangers to a society that “respected traditions”. Continue reading...


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Greek Anarchists Burn Cars, Clash With Police

Rioters in Athens burn bus, cars and clash with police after large anarchist protest


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Greek premier: Deeper austerity demand rejected

Greece's conservative government rejected demands by rescue lenders for deeper austerity measures, the prime minister said late Tuesday, describing calls for further cuts as "catastrophic" for ...


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'World's First Computer' May Be Even Older Than We Thought

For more than a century, scientists have been scratching their heads over a strange clocklike device recovered from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901. The so-called Antikythera Mechanism is made up of a series of bronze gears and is believed to have been used to predict eclipses and the positions of the planets and to track the dates of the Olympics. Still, scientists have continued to debate when the "world's first computer" was made--and who made it. A 2006 study dated the device to 150-100 B.C. But a new analysis of the mechanism's eclipse-tracking dial by scientists at the University of Puget Sound in Washington and the National University of Quilmes in Argentina indicates that the device's built-in calendar likely began at 205 B.C. This suggests that the Antikythera Mechanism must be at least 50 to 100 years older than previously thought. If that's the case, the researchers say, the device could not have relied on trigonometry, which emerged during the 2nd century B.C. Instead, it was probably based on arithmetical principles the Greeks borrowed from the Babylonians. For now, the mystery of who built the device remains unsolved. While some experts have linked the mechanism to legendary Greek thinkers like Archimedes and Hipparchus, the new study suggests it's too early to say for sure. “We know so little about ancient Greek astronomy,” study co-author Dr. James Evans, a professor of physics at the University of Puget Sound, told The New York Times. “Only small fragments of work have survived. It’s probably safer not to try to hang it on any one particular famous person.” The research was published online on Nov. 15 in the journal Archive for History of Exact Science.


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IFC Examines its Return to Greece, Vice President Says

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank Group, examines its investment return to Greece, Dimitris Tsitsiragos, Vice President of IFC, said on Tuesday during a meeting with the Federation of Hellenic Enterprises (SEV). Tsitsiragos said that the IFC could focus on the financial sector, cooperating with banks and financial organizations offering funding access to small and medium-sized enterprises, commerce and infrastructure such as renewable energy sources and the logistics business. “The aim is to support export activity and the development of Greek enterprises in the wider region (Balkans, Middle East and North Africa), in order to undertake a leading role using the advantage of their geographical position,” Tsitsiragos stated. SEV President Theodore Fessas said that gaining access to funding and liquidity was a basic precondition for the recovery of Greece’s economy, adding: “The presence of IFC in Greece confirms the investment interest that the country was presenting lately and highlights the need to create a full toolkit of funding solutions for Greek enterprises. IFC is a credible international organization and SEV was already working closely with them to take advantage of its services towards Greek enterprises.” (source: ana-mpa)


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Greek FinMin Venizelos in Brussels NATO Meeting

Greek government Vice President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos participated earlier today in the meeting of NATO member-states’ Foreign Ministers. The proceedings of the meeting began with a NATO-Ukraine Council and continued with the North ...


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European landfills fine smaller than feared

The European Court of Justice on Tuesday imposed a 10-million-euro fine on Greece for failing to close down dozens of illegal landfills and comply with European waste management directives and ordered the country to pay an additional 14.5 million euros fo... ...


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Onus on EU after Moscow drops South Stream plan

Kristalina Georgieva, the European budget commissioner, said on Tuesday the European Union would speed up work to help provide more energy security for Southeastern Europe, including by financing gas connectors between Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, after ... ...


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Paulson freezes further Greek investment plans

Hedge fund manager John Paulson, whose company Paulson & Co holds a 5 percent stake in EYDAP and Eurobank, told the 16th Capital Link Invest in Greece Forum in New York on Monday that he is freezing his plans to invest further in the country due to the po... ...


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Greek, Tunisian olive oil production seen rising as output elsewhere slides

World olive oil production will fall to the lowest in 15 years in the season through September 2015 on plunging output in Spain and Italy, the biggest growers, the International Olive Council predicted on Tuesday. However in Greece, the third-biggest oliv... ...


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Conservative MPs submit proposals for constitutional review

A committee of New Democracy MPs asked by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to propose changes to the Greek Constitution suggested Tuesday that the number of lawmakers in Parliament should be reduced from 300 to 200 and that the president of the republic sho... ...


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Greek 10-year yield falls 22 bps to 7.80 percent

Greek bonds rose for a third day on Tuesday as Athens was reported to be considering a role for the International Monetary Fund after all in its next aid deal with its creditors. Greece’s 10-year yield fell 22 basis points to 7.80 percent, after dropping ... ...


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MTV reality show suggests Greek-Americans are in-bred, violent

“Growing Up Greek” is set in the very-Greek Florida city of Tarpon Springs. Here's MTV's description of the place, and show: “[A]n idyllic and ...


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The Conversation Starts Here

Welcome and thank you for being with us today at the launch of The Huffington Post Greece. Around the globe everyone recognizes the innovative ...


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Greece to ask for help with refugees in Syntagma

Greece will ask Northern European countries if they are willing to grant asylum to some 200 Syrian refugees camped out on Syntagma Square but does not expect to receive a positive response, Interior Ministry general secretary Angelos Syrigos told Kathimer... ...


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Daycare consolidating in Greece

Care-A-Lot says it will be able to accomodate 80 percent of the children from the North Greece location facility at its South Greece facility on Pinewild ...


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Greece Moves Closer to Deal With EU On Bailout Exit

Greece is edging closer to a political agreement with its European partners next week on how to exit its €240 billion financial support package and ...


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Bullish Movers: Nestle SA Reg Shs. (OTCMKTS:NSRGY), National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG ...

Nomura downgraded shares of National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday ...


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Greek's in Zionsville opens party room

Mike Cole (center), Julie Johns-Cole (center right), Zionsville Town Council president Jeff Papa (left) and other members from the Zionsville Chamber ...


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Grexit Deja Vu? Political Uncertainty Could End Greece's Economic Recovery

Last week, Joerg Sponer, a partner at Capital Fund, is said to have sent a memo (subsequently leaked to the Greek media) describing in hilarious ...


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Greece, Cyprus and Israel to explain Med pipeline vision to EU

Energy ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Israel will hold talks with the EU next week to try to advance a plan for a pipeline linking newly-discovered gas riches in the eastern Mediterranean to Europe, Cyprus's ...


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Greece's retail bondholders complain of post-PSI woes

Almost one in three of some 15,000 retail bondholders who lost around 75 percent of their savings when Greek sovereign debt underwent a haircut in 2012, known as the Private Sector Involvement (PSI), are now unable to pay their bank loans or tax bills, ac... ...


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Quotes from voters in this week's Associated Press Global Football 10

by  Associated Press Quotes from AP Global Football 10 voters Associated Press - 2 December 2014 12:24-05:00 LONDON (AP) — Manos Staramopoulos, Dimocratia, Greece "Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti leads Real Madrid from success to success. He has achieved a new record high: 16 consecutive wins. 10 in the league, five in the Champions League and one in the cup after an away 2-1 win against Malaga." ___ Mike McGrath, The Sun, England "Sergio Aguero may have drawn a blank against Southampton, but his performance was still superb. So too was his hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek. Even if they are accused of being a one-man team, Manchester City were the top performers." ___ Cedric Rouquette, CReaFeed agency, France "Miralem Pjanic played a terrific role in Roma's thrilling victory vs Inter Milan. He was all you can ask from a modern midfielder. Aggressive in the pressure from midfield, great in passing and efficient in front of the goal." ___ James Porteous, South China Morning Post "Real Madrid for team of the week as they made it a new club record of 16 wins in a row with victories in the Champions League and La Liga. It's also hard to look beyond Messi yet again for player of the week as he broke the Champions League all-time scoring record in typical fashion - with a hat trick." ___ Tom Timmermann, St. Louis Post-Dispatch "What a week for Sergio Aguero, with a hat trick against Bayern Munich and then two assists in a big Premier League match against Southampton. Manchester City may be the one team that can catch Chelsea if Aguero keeps this form." ___ Paolo Condo, Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy "It was a big records week for Real Madrid (16 victories in a row) and Messi (top goalscorer in Champions League history), but I prefer Manchester City as top spot for the comeback versus Bayern Munich." ___ Aurelio Capaldi, RAI Sport, Italy "Miralem Pjanic scored a double against Inter Milan and showed a great piece of his fantastic talent last Sunday at the Stadio Olimpico when Roma beat Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan side 4-2." ___ Marco Monteverde, News Corp. Australia "Manchester City finally found form in the Champions League against none other than the great Bayern Munich, before easily beating Southampton to remind Chelsea that the race for the Premier League title is well and truly alive." ___ Tito Puccetti, ESPN, Argentina "Juventus had a very good week, reaching the knockout stage in the Champions League and also won in thrilling fashion against Torino with a great goal from Andrea Pirlo." News Topics: Sports, Men's soccer, Men's sports, Professional soccer, Soccer People, Places and Companies: News Corp, Carlo Ancelotti, Sergio Aguero, Roberto Mancini, Roberto Jimenez Gago, Manchester, Italy, United Kingdom, Southampton, Munich, Missouri, England, Western Europe, Europe, Germany, United States, North America Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Nazi Butcher of 44,000 Thessaloniki Jews Officially Dead

Wanted for almost 70 years by German and international authorities, Alois Brunner, the Nazi war criminal who sent 44,000 Thessaloniki Jews to death camps, died four years ago in Syria, according to investigator Efraim Zuroff. Brunner was the right-hand man of Adolf Eichman, one of the Jewish Holocaust organizers. The SS officer had sent a total of 128,500 Jews to death camps. He is responsible for the deaths of 47,000 Jews in Austria, 44,000 in Greece , 23,500 in France and 14,000 in Slovakia. In Greece, he became known as the “butcher of Thessaloniki” because in the period between March 15 and August 10, 1943, he essentially sentenced 44,000 Jews from northern Greece to death by sending them to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp. (The first gathering of Jews by the Germans at Eleftheria Square in Thessaloniki)  Zuroff is the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem and had been hunting Brunner for years. He described the Nazi criminal as a “human monster” because he never showed any sign of regret for his actions and had said that his only regret was that he didn’t kill more Jews. After the war, in the 1950s, he escaped to Syria where he allegedly became advisor to President Hafez-Al Assad, father of current Syrian President Bashar-Al Assad. He managed to escape two assassination attempts by members of the Israeli intelligence. After years of research, Zuroff was recently informed by a German intelligence official that Brunner had died of natural causes and buried near Damascus in 2010 but the Syrian civil war prevented German officials to perform an autopsy to confirm his identity. However, Zuroff told BBC that he was “99% sure” Brunner is dead. He would have been 102 years old today.


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Greek Football Teams Could Be Banned from International Competitions

FIFA and UEFA sent a joint letter to the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), warning that if the government’s proposed sports legislation proceeds, it will mean the end of Greek football teams’ presence in international competitions, underlining that such a proposal constitutes an unacceptable involvement of the state in football. EPO has already expressed its disagreement over the draft legislation, highlighting that if the proposed changes are implemented, the organization’s independence would be put under threat. In fact, EPO was the one that brought the new sports law to the attention of FIFA and UEFA, who both agreed that a state involvement of such degree in football would consist a violation of the sport’s self-governance that the organizations are keen to defend. With the threat of Greek teams’ exclusion from all levels of international competitions, EPO is now planning to pass the letter to Deputy Sports Minister Giannis Andrianos, while the two organizations are allegedly preparing to send their representatives to Greece in order to hold meetings with state officials on the matter.


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Putin scraps South Stream, Turkey, Greece new destinations

by  Kostis Geropoulos Following opposition from the European Commission, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 1 that Moscow is scrapping the multi-billion dollar South Stream gas pipeline and will increase gas supplies to Turkey across the existing pipeline. Later Russian gas monopoly could build a new link and possibly work with Turkey on creating a gas hub on the border with Greece, Putin added. South Stream would have run under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further on to Serbia and Hungary before reaching Austria and Italy. Alexei Kokin, a senior oil and gas analyst at UralSib Financial Corp, told New Europe by phone on December 2 that Russia’s decision is final. “It’s irreversible,” he said, adding that the reason is that the EU consolidated its opposition to the project and particularly Bulgaria, which is the point of entry. Gazprom now plans to build a new gas pipeline to Turkey, with an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic metres. “It looks like it’s going to be a huge pipeline with the same capacity as South Stream,” Kokin said. Turkey would use 14 billion cubic metres of the new pipeline’s capacity, with the rest shipped to the border between Greece and Turkey, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said. Gazprom and Turkish gas firm Botas signed a memorandum of understanding to build the new pipeline during Putin’s visit. Putin said that Russia would re-direct gas flows to other markets, with European customers getting less gas than if South Stream had been built. He said that such a development was to EU’s detriment and damaging to bilateral relations. Russia has also created a new and important relationship with Turkey. Ankara now joins China as a significant beneficiary of the western sanctions against Russia. “It is a classic case of bartering energy access for political and economic cooperation,” Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Moscow’s Macro Advisory, wrote in an e-mailed response on December 2. “Putin is obviously hoping that an expanded relationship with Turkey will go some way to compensate for the more difficult trade relations with the EU. Turkish companies will undoubtedly find it much easier to gain access to the Russian market and that may make it more difficult for EU exports to get back in,” Weafer wrote. Kokin told New Europe that Turkey will become an even bigger gas hub for Russian gas. Turkey wants to be an oil and gas hub and definitely welcomes any transit routes through its territory. “It’s always happy to have a Russian pipeline going through Turkey because it fits with its strategy. I suspect that what Turkey really wants is to be a sort of hub for gas coming from Russia, from Azerbaijan, for Iran so that it will enter the Turkish system and then get exported to Europe,” Kokin said, adding that Turkey could be a huge physical hub that would mix all that gas and then resell it. “Sanctions or no sanctions Turkey has always wanted to be the candidate country for gas and oil so it’s very much in line with their strategy. I’m not sure it’s in line with any of Russia’s long-term visions because Russia has obviously more than one vision,” Kokin said. Gazprom already has invested nearly $5 billion in building the pipeline on Russian territory, about half of its projected cost. But Weafer wrote that the decision to drop what was clearly going to be a very expensive project for Gazprom is a positive for the company and its shareholders. It probably also reflects the reality that Gazprom needs to prioritise its cash resources rather than opening up too many projects. “The China pipeline is a greater priority because, unlike the EU, China is very eager to receive Russian gas,” he wrote. South Stream has not only been a contentious issue between Russia and the EU but risked creating a rift between the European Commission and the member states which would have benefited from the direct gas flows. “So the decision to cancel it may be viewed as a concession to Brussels and perhaps an indication that the Kremlin is now looking at ways to start improving its relationship with the EU,” Weafer wrote. By cancelling South Stream Russia is also, de facto, accepting that it will continue to use the pipeline across Ukraine. “That also is a positive overture to the government in Kiev. Moscow is no longer looking to by-pass Ukraine and cut its transit fees. It means that Ukraine will remain an important part of the transit system to Europe and that should give Kiev some comfort that it will be able to work out a new contract with Gazprom after this temporary deal ends,” Weafer wrote. The European countries which had expected to boost their energy security by directly importing gas from Russia via South Stream will have to continue relying on the Ukraine transit or a new transit via Turkey. None of them can be happy with the pressure from Brussels to cancel this project. “You’d think they [the EU] would have learned from the problems with Ukraine transit. The Germans did and built their own direct pipeline from Russia,” Weafer wrote, referring to the Nord Stream pipeline from carrying Russian gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. The European Commission’s objection to South Stream was always difficult to understand. Russia was willing to build a new 63 billion cubic-metre pipeline into Europe and free up the Ukraine pipeline to take gas from the Caspian and eventually from Iran, Weafer wrote. “Greater supply options would have given the EU greater pricing power coming into the next decade. That’s just simple supply versus demand economics. The Chinese understand that and this is why they are building pipes from Russia, from Central Asia, and from Myanmar along with multiple LNG terminals. It is a crazy long term strategy form Brussels to have blocked this pipe,” Weafer wrote. “My personal view is that it is the people in the EU Commission who have allowed political prejudice to override common sense economics,” he wrote. “Energy security comes from multiple supply options rather than restricting them because of political paranoia.” See also: Turkey, Russia look to shake up gas market EU Energy Union Chief To Tackle South Stream Putin Pushes South Stream In Belgrade, Milan


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SYRIZA Leader Tsipras: We Demand Debt Haircut

If main opposition SYRIZA comes to power in possible snap election next year, it will demand a reduction in Greece’s debt from its bailout program, party leader Alexis Tsipras said earlier today during a financial conference in Athens. According to the left-wing opposition leader, Greece’s economy is impossible to recover unless the money owed to its international partners is cut significantly: “We demand the immediate end of austerity, an agreement for debt haircut and a significant cut in the annual cost of servicing the debt,” Tsipras said, according to Associated Press. Tsipras statements come amid speculation that he might soften anti-austerity position ahead of the possibility of snap election, if a new President of the Hellenic Republic is not elected in February as scheduled. So far, SYRIZA is leading consecutive polls ahead of the Presidential vote. On the contrary, the New Democracy-PASOK coalition government insists that the country’s debt is sustainable, despite reaching almost 175% of its GDP and the obligation to repay some 240 million euros in bailout loans. With the government currently trapped in dead-end negotiations with the country’s international creditors over further cuts in exchange of the final loan installments under the bailout program, Tsipras accuses it of caving into the lenders’ demands to impose new unpopular measures, including pension cuts.


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Greek Professor Chasing Antiquity Thieves Around the World

tsirogiannis Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis has been working as a Research Assistant in the Scottish Center for Crime and Justice Research at the ...


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Capital Link Forum Spotlights Opportunities for Investors in Greece

Words: 830 PHOTOS: http://photo.ekirikas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/02153500/DSC_0295.jpg (R-L) Nicolas Bornozis, Founder, Capital Link, Konstantinos Skrekas, Minister of Development & Competitiveness of Greece, John Paulson, Founder, Paulson & Co. Inc., Asimakis Papageorgiou, Deputy Minister, Environment, Energy & Climate Change of Greece. http://photo.ekirikas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/02045037/CAPITAL-LINK-INVEST-IN-GREECE-FORUM-DSC_0657.jpg Amb. Christos Panagopoulos presents the 2014 Capital Link Leadership Award to George Logothetis as Nicolas Bornozis looks […] The post Capital Link Forum Spotlights Opportunities for Investors in Greece appeared first on The National Herald.


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Greek mayor visits Our Big Kitchen

Sydney's Our Big Kitchen has acknowledged the input into its foundation by the Greek community in the presence of the mayor of Thessaloniki.


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The Greek Communist Revolt At 70, And Its Legacy

Today marks 70 years since the day the Greek Communist Party first attempted to seize control of Greece by force. Though they were defeated, ...


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Consideration of Greek system at UMW on hold

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — The University of Mary Washington's consideration of establishing a Greek fraternity and sorority system is on hold.


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Greece says it cannot help protesting Syrian refugees

ATHENS, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Greece's government said on Tuesday it could do little to help about 300 Syrian refugees camped outside parliament for weeks because none of them had applied for asylum or shelter. The Syrian refugees, including women and children ...


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AP PHOTOS: A gallery of top AP pictures from Europe and Africa for week of Nov. 23-30, 2014

by  Associated Press AP PHOTOS: Top pictures from Europe and Africa Associated Press - 2 December 2014 10:55-05:00 LONDON (AP) — Bomb blasts and gunfire in Nigeria this week killed more than 100 people at the main mosque in the northern city of Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city. Islamic group Boko Haram is suspected in those and other recent attacks, which have prompted thousands of people to flee their homes and seek shelter in camps for internally-displaced people. Pope Francis went on a three-day trip to Turkey, where he met with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians. Francis bowed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and asked for his blessing "for me and the Church of Rome," a remarkable display of papal deference to an Orthodox patriarch that underscored Francis' hope to end a nearly 1,000-year schism. Bartholomew kissed Francis' head. French shepherds brought flocks of sheep to the Eiffel Tower to demonstrate against a government policy that protects wolves they say attack their herds. A freighter carrying nearly 600 migrants, including families with children, lost power in international waters in the Mediterranean and drifted at sea until it was towed for 40 hours by a Greek navy frigate to Crete. Many of the migrants were fleeing to Europe from the conflict in Syria. French President Francois Hollande brought a message of hope to Guinea, saying there is a commitment to ending the Ebola epidemic. He was the first Western leader to visit a country hard hit by Ebola. Residents greeted Hollande with clapping, drumming and dancing. American actor Mickey Rourke returned to the boxing ring at age 62 and defeated an opponent less than half his age in an exhibition bout. News Topics: General news People, Places and Companies: Pope Francis, Francois Hollande, Mickey Rourke, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Europe, Africa, Western Europe, West Africa, Middle East Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.neurope.eu

Austria: Getting to Know Greece Through the Radio

archaeological sites A public Austrian Radio Broadcaster presented a beautiful tribute to various historical sites in Greece, entitled “The Navel of the ...


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Investors Alert: National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG), BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP), Hormel Foods ...

Shares of National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently ...


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American Indian Village in Northern Greece

  Jomaqua is only 103 kilometers from Thessaloniki but it is an American Indian village. It is near Elatochori in the prefecture of Pieria in northern Greece but once there, you can live as an American Indian for a few hours, or days. The Indian village has been “established” in 2009 by two friends, “Johnny” Yiannis Touliaris and Makis Tsigkaropoulos. The two men put their names together and formed the name “Jomaqua” for the resort/camp that aims to duplicate an authentic American Indian village and offer guests a glimpse of the Indian spirit and way of life. In Jomaqua visitors will find tepees, animals and people with painted faces and Indian feathers who will act as guides and coordinators. The hosts offer a variety of American Indian cultural activities such as horseback riding, archery, climbing, sledge riding, hiking, Indian carriage riding, or tend the animals of the camp. People can go there for the activities alone, but they can also stay there in one of the tepees. Jomaqua is an alternative tourism family business. Johnny’s wife Litsa is the camp cook and his son Sotiris has general duties. The camp restaurant serves roasted meats in the traditional American Indian way. The camp/resort is a dream made reality for “Johnny” Yiannis Touliaris who was a sailor since age 15. His childhood dream was to travel and see the American Indian villages he used to admire in movies. His work brought him to Indian villages in Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, where he gathered experiences that helped him build his own Indian village upon his return in Greece.


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Greece summer holidays guide

Jane Foster is a travel writer based in Athens and Dubrovnik. She has written guidebooks on the Balkans, Croatia, and Greece and writes for various UK and US newspapers. She has a degree in Architecture and speaks English, Italian, Croatian and Greek.


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Skiathos: the hidden gem of the Greek islands

Everyone from Kim Kardashian to John Legend, Lindsay Lohan to Cristiano Ronaldo have visited the Greek islands in recent months. And with a new year just around the corner and the Greek islands set to be among the hottest destinations for 2015, what better ...


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With prices barely rising, preventing deflation becomes key concern in European policymaking

by  Associated Press Deflation looms as Europe's economic bugbear by PAN PYLAS, Associated Press - 2 December 2014 09:10-05:00 LONDON (AP) — It's the D-word that's pushing the European Central Bank into a corner. But it's not debt — Europe's main economic problem in recent years — that is driving speculation the ECB will switch on the printing press to help the economy. It's deflation. At first glance, deflation, which is generally defined as a sustained drop in prices, sounds good — getting goods cheaper surely warms the heart of any consumer. The problem lies when prices fall consistently over time, as opposed to temporary declines, which can give economic activity a boost. The recent sharp fall in the oil price, for example, is expected to help growth. Longer-term deflation encourages people to put off spending and can prove difficult to reverse because it requires altering people's expectations. It can lead to years of economic stagnation, as in Japan over the past two decades, or at worst, into something more pernicious, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s. The determination to avoid another Great Depression was largely behind the U.S. Federal Reserve's activist response to the financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing recession. Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spent much of his academic career studying deflation and in a major speech in 2002 — before taking the helm — he laid out a strategy to counter deflation should it rear its head again. Much of his prescription was put into action during the financial crisis — slashing interest rates to near zero, injecting new money into the economy through a program of government bond purchases. The ECB has long held off the last bit — the large-scale bond-buying — but as the risk of deflation grows in the 18-country eurozone, it is finally considering it. "Sustained deflation can be highly destructive to a modern economy and should be strongly resisted," Bernanke said in his speech. "Prevention of deflation is preferable to cure." Deflation in Action Deflation has been a rarity in modern economic times compared with high inflation, in which the price of goods spirals higher. However, both can cause economic havoc. A consistent drop in prices chokes an economy mainly by enticing consumers to delay big purchases beyond everyday needs such as food and energy in the knowledge that they will cost less down the line. Keeping money under your mattress suddenly becomes an appealing investment strategy. And faced with lower prices, businesses also make less profit and start looking to reduce costs. That means job losses, wage cuts and a growing reluctance to invest and innovate. The economy is weighed down further, prompting businesses to cut costs further, exacerbating the deflationary spiral. Deflation can also worsen public debt and that's not what Europe needs. Though the nominal amount of debt remains the same, it in effect grows because prices are lower. Europe on the Deflation Edge Unlike the Fed and many other major central banks, the ECB has held off massive bond-buying to fight deflation, not least because it is technically more difficult across a bloc of countries. However, ECB President Mario Draghi has hinted recently that the bank is ready to launch such a program, called quantitative easing, if needed to get inflation back toward target. The eurozone is not witnessing deflation at the moment though several member countries, notably Greece, are seeing sustained price falls. At 0.3 percent in the year to November, consumer price inflation in the eurozone is perilously low and way below the ECB's target of just under 2 percent. In effect, a central bank creates new money when doing quantitative easing. By buying the bonds, it can keep a lid on longer term interest rates and the value of the currency, helping exporters. And financial institutions, awash with cash after selling their bonds, can lend the money on to households and businesses. All in all, the hope is such a program stokes activity and gets rid of the deflation. In Germany, the idea is met with caution. As well as conjuring up images of the 1920s hyperinflation, there are more immediate concerns — bond-buying could lead to German taxpayers being lumbered with the debts of countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal. A belief in sound finances is as German as Bavarian beer. "What Germans are worried about right now is the cancellation of southern European debt," said Albrecht Ritschl, a professor of economic history at the London School of Economics. Deflation Stickiness What historical bouts of deflation do show — from the U.S. experience in the 1930s to Hong Kong after the Asia crisis of 1997 — is that, once embedded, it can be awfully difficult to get rid of. Cue Bernanke's warning that preventing deflation is better than curing. In theory, the best option available to a central bank to deal with deflation is to cut interest rates to stimulate demand and stoke inflation. Lower borrowing costs can boost consumption and help increase demand for credit. But when interest rates are already at rock-bottom levels, as they are currently in the eurozone, other methods have to be pursued. And that is where bond-buying comes into play. Its effectiveness, however, is a matter of debate. Proponents say it helped in the U.S. and Britain, where growth has rebounded. Not so in Japan, the country that can best testify to deflation's stickiness. Two decades on from when deflation took root following a stock and real estate collapse, Japan is still trying to rid itself of deflation. Over the past couple of years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has launched Japan's most sustained effort to combat deflation. So-called "Abenomics" involves huge amounts of stimulus from the Bank of Japan, heavy government spending and wide-ranging economic reforms. The jury is out on whether it will work — Japan fell back into recession in the third quarter. News Topics: Business, General news, Prices, Inflation, Economy, Central bank interest rates, Financial crisis, Deflation, Recessions and depressions, The Great Depression, Government programs, Central banking, Government debt, Government spending, Monetary policy, Economic policy, Government business and finance, Government and politics, Government policy, Financial markets, Events, Banking and credit, Financial services, Industries, Government finance, Fiscal policy People, Places and Companies: The Bank Of Japan, Ben Bernanke, Mario Draghi, Shinzo Abe, Europe, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Western Europe, East Asia, Asia Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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