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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

Friday, July 31, 2015

OIL DROPS, STOCKS FALL: Here's what you need to know (DIA, SPX, SPY, QQQ, IWM, TLT, CVX, XOM, USO, OIL, WTI)

Friday was another tough day for oil as stocks finished in the red. Both Chevron and Exxon Mobil reported earnings sharply down from the prior year as crude oil fell below $47 a barrel.  First, the scoreboard:  Dow: 17,691.5, -54.5, (-0.3%) S&P 500: 2,104.1, -4.5, (-0.2%) Nasdaq: 5,128.3, -0.5, (-0.01%) And now, the top stories on Friday: Wage growth hit a record low in Q2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that wages grew by only 0.2% — the smallest quarterly gain since the series began in 1982. The employment cost index rose 2% year-over-year following a 2.6% gain in Q1. Wall Street was expecting the year-over-year gain to be 2.4%. This is the final ECI report before the September Fed meeting, and could play a significant role in whether or not the central bank decides to raise interest rates for the first time in nine years. The Athens Stock Exchange will finally open again on Monday after being shuttered for five weeks, according to the AFP. The AFP quoted a source from the Greek finance ministry who said the decision has already been signed. Greece's main stock exchange was closed on June 26 amid capital controls that stemmed from the Greek debt crisis. Oil ended its worst month since October 2008, falling about 21% in July. On Thursday, oil hit a new low, falling below $47 a barrel. Meanwhile, supply keeps growing as the Baker Hughes US oil rig count rose by 5 this week to 664. This marks the 4th increase in the past five weeks. Chevron reported a 90% drop in profits year-over-year as oil continues to crash. Net income was down to $571 million from $5.67 billion during the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil reported a 52% drop in profits year-over-year, with net income down to $4.2 billion. The company earned $8.8 billion during the same quarter last year. A report from the Wall Street Journal said that Uber is now valued at more than $50 billion, following its latest round of funding. According to the Journal, the company raised nearly $1 billion from investors such as Microsoft and Indian media company Bennett Coleman & Co. Uber is the second company, after Facebook, to ever have a valuation this large before going public. Don't Miss: A $600 million coal mine just sold for less than $1 »Join the conversation about this story »


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Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis wore this outrageous shirt to Greek parliament

Here's the shirt former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis wore to Greek parliament on Friday. It's really something else.  As for other problems dogging Varoufakis, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras doesn't think he ought to be tried for treason for his role in devising an emergency plan to introduce a new currency in Greece were the country to fall out of the euro.  "You can blame him all you want for his comments, for his political plans, for his bad taste in shirts, for his holidays on the island of Aegina," Tsipras said Friday, according to Bloomberg. "But you can't say that he is a crook, you can't say that he stole the money of the Greek people, you can't say that he had a secret plan to lead the country onto the rocks." Back in February, we crowned Varoufakis the most interesting man in the world. With reason.  SEE ALSO: Greek parliament must decide whether to try Varoufakis for treason Join the conversation about this story »


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New Democracy Raises Questions Following Greek PM’s Plan B Comments

Greek main opposition New Democracy was not satisfied with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ responses to questions about former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ Plan B for the Greek economy. Earlier on Friday, Tsipras admitted he had asked Varoufakis to look into alternative solutions in case of an emergency situation. New Democracy found Tsipras’ answers to be too vague and said they


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Greek FinMin Tsakalotos: Negotiations with Creditors in Good Climate

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that talks with creditors on Friday were in a good climate and there was convergence on some issues. Tsakalotos and Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis met today with the representatives of Greece’s creditors, Declan Costello from the European Commission, Rasmus Rueffer from the European Central Bank (ECB), Nicola Giammarioli from the


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Greek Unemployment Highest in Europe, Again

Greece unemployment was the highest in Europe for the month of June with 25.6% of its potential workforce unemployed, showed the latest figures released by Eurostat. The total number of unemployed people in Europe reached 23.3 million, with 17.8 million of them belonging to Eurozone countries. More than 4.7 million are young under 25 years old, with 3.2


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Recapitalizing Greek banks a priority

#economy


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Greece's stock market to reopen as bailout talks progress

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's government announced that the Athens Stock Exchange will reopen Monday, a big step toward normalcy as talks with international creditors shifted into high gear.


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‘Bad taste in shirts, but no crook’

Greek PM defends the reputation of his famously casual former finance minister.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.politico.eu

Greece news live: as it happened

… from the richest Greeks. Instead, creditors have … . From Jennifer: If Greece undershoots the growth … manage emergency situation #greece— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) July 31 … not Greek gov't, ask the Commission #greece— Kathimerini English …


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Is the IMF Threatening to Scuttle the Greek Debt Deal?

Two weeks ago, as negotiations on a bailout plan were being completed and the Greek parliament was preparing to vote on whether or not to accept it ...


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Greece's Current High-Wire Act

Six months after the January 2015 elections and after Greek society lived through the novel experience of a referendum that posed misleading questions and gave self-defeating answers, the country is in much worse shape than the that which it found itself before the notice of elections at the end of December 2014. The cost of the last six months is enormous, no matter how one calculates it: as a return to the recession, as a negative consequence to the dynamics of public debt, as a need for new loans from the EU and the IMF, as a leak of deposits, as an explosion of non-performing loans, as the obligation of a new recapitalization of banks with a greater public debt burden to avoid cutting deposits, as an undermining of healthy entrepreneurship, etc. The situation in Greece now, however, is not only burdened economically and socially but also politically and institutionally. After five years of sacrifices, we slipped as a society into a spiral of questions concerning the European identity of the country, a crisis of self-consciousness that went beyond the question of "euro or drachma" and took us to the defining question: East or West. This spiral has already caused a deep crisis of democratic legitimacy with which we are attempting to deal by stubborn insistence on the possession of power around which the forces of SYRIZA unite, though they are fundamentally divided when it comes to the substance of the governing policy in place. They deeply disagree as to the party line, but passionately agree as to the need to maintain the government. As if they received a carte blanche mandate to exercise power independently of the program's content. The left is justified -- in its own opinion -- to act like it owns the government due to moral and historical precedent, even if the policy it is putting forward is opposite to the mandate received! It is not about institutional absurdity but a brutal questioning of the democratic principle, the rules and ethical sensitivities of which seem to not apply for the left, of which Mr. Kammenos is now an honorary member. On paper it appears to be a government with a parliamentary majority of 162 MPs who are prepared to give a passionate vote of confidence to their left/nationalist and populist government as soon as a constitutionally similar issue arises, so as to implement the "memorandum three." This is the same memorandum that 39 MPs of the majority reject with disgust, as a product of either a European coup against the Greek Republic or a betrayal of the ideological standards and programmatic commitments of the ruling parties by the prime minister and government. But the government does not act as a minority government that is looking for the tolerance of an opposition that is friendly to Europe. It considers that the positive vote of the opposition on difficult bills is mandatory. Otherwise, the opposition would take responsibility in the impasse that it has reached in its relationship with its partners and bankruptcy. That is, the responsibility for the situation created by the government itself! The dissenting members of the ruling majority agree not to participate as ministers in the government, but passionately demand property of the SYRIZA parliamentary group and underline their support of a government with the policies of which they are, supposedly, in terms of values and ideology, in complete opposition. The Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament declares that the government is acting out an international extortion and that the House is passing laws in violation of the constitutional order. She votes against government bills as a member of the House; clashes on the basis of her personal views that contradict the overwhelming majority of the House with the President of Republic and the Prime Minister, but characterizes this conflict as "institutional;" remains undeterred on her stance and states that this is how she supports the Prime Minister and the government. The Prime Minister, for his part, mumbles something about 'institutional imbalance,' but accepts the situation. In public debate the dominating question is of SYRIZA's consistency and the early elections in conjunction with internal developments in the government majority. The opposition, for its part, insists that the possibility of early, and especially immediate, elections must be ruled out. Smaller parties of the pro-European opposition postulate the matter of the immediate replacement of the Speaker and the change of the electoral system in order to remove the first party's aid -- irrespective of election rates -- with 50 parliamentary seats. However, though the opposition party threatens with the possibility of submitting a censure motion against the Speaker, it has not placed itself in favor of changing the electoral system. Opposition parties say -- albeit implicitly -- that they are ready to vote on the subsequent difficult and unpopular bills, but ask or at least accept that responsibility for the negotiation, even now, belongs only to the government that failed miserably, with tragic consequences for the country, in the negotiations so far. It is reasonable to wonder, hypothetically: If Mr. Tsipras says that he will continue until the end of the four-year period of this Parliament and therefore to the end of the new three-year memorandum with the situation as it stands today, what would be the reaction of the opposition parties? To where and until when can the country keep going with a SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government, with an alternating parliamentary majority, with the the artificial unity of SYRIZA? How much longer can the economy withstand control on capital movements, hostility towards entrepreneurship, the removal of any investment interest, inertia in whatever is related to the growth and development of not only private but also public funds derived from the NSRF (National Strategic Reference Framework) and the CAP? And if it is neither democratically normal, nor nationally advantageous, nor cost effective, nor reasonable, then what should be the alternative solution? Within this parliamentary and political framework, the necessary national unity cannot be achieved. Nor can the necessary political consensus, regenerative mobilization of civil society, the bringing together of the productive forces around a national reconstruction plan that exceeds "Memorandum three" and allows Greece to recover lost ground and once again become an equal member of the Eurozone. We need rational, transparent and generous function from all political forces that move within the context of European identity and the country's outlook. SYRIZA, which holds the government and first party of this House, must finally say, as soon as is it possible, what its clear and definitive position is as to the identity and future of the country. Maintaining internal party conflict and ambiguity in SYRIZA does not get us far and has the side effect of political vulgarity fueling existential refutation of the ANEL believers' vote on "Memorandum three" by shouting nationalist and populist cries along with the majority of SYRIZA, without the advantage of SYRIZA dissidents voting against the difficult measures but saying they support the government because they want to be members of the government. In this state, the country cannot negotiate nor be governed, let alone reconstructed. All the causes that led to the lost six months -- the closed banks, the loss of the primary surplus, and the return to recession are maintained and reproduced, under the imposing memorandum, which promises tough conditions for another three years at least. Those responsible for this situation have captured the institutions and a large section of public opinion. After all, Mr. Tsipras openly says that the foremost issue for him is to maintain power, the "fortress" of the government. He neither wants to lose, nor even share the power he holds, with the formation, for example, of a national unity government. He does not want to accept an electoral system that makes necessary the wider cooperation that the country needs so much right now. This perception leads to maintaining abeyance in SYRIZA and therefore across the country, with the first victim being the economy and the most vulnerable groups. But there is only one case in which SYRIZA can be unified again politically: if the prospect of leaving the memorandum, the euro, and the European framework returns. Mr. Tsipras maintains his internal party abeyance, supposedly, to implement the memorandum, to ensure the Grexit does not return, that Greece become a normal country of the Eurozone. But this leads to a defining cleft in his party and a change in correlations within both the radical and the nationalist/ populist space. If he wants to keep his party united, with its contradictions, and to hold election-wise as much anti-European, radical and nationalist/populist forces in a versatile SYRIZA that will absorb ANEL, then the only way is to restore the abeyance regarding the euro and the European orientation of the country. This is a fatal pending matter to the national strategy and the prospects of the country. Therefore the foremost duty for responsible democratic forces is to make impossible the maintenance and reproduction of this supposedly creative but nationally undermining, ambiguity. Mr. Tsipras owes the people a direct and official clarification, as soon as it is possible, as to the nature of his government and his relationship with the party members who disagree with the axis on government policy and the framework of national strategy itself. Based on this fundamental clarification he must say what it is that he asks of the opposition and in what institutional and strategic framework. This requires, in any case, certain basic institutional safeguards relevant to: The function of Parliament (to replace the Speaker of the House is one of them). The electoral system. Ensuring neutrality of justice, independent authorities and public administration. The seriousness of the negotiation with the EU and IMF. The timetable according to which the country is moving under extremely difficult conditions, which he himself aggravated in some areas. The formation of this clear framework constitutes an overriding national duty of all political forces and a requirement of all citizens. Only after achieving this can there be serious talk of a national plan for reconstruction that surpasses logic and the horizon of the latest memorandum, which was neither fated nor inevitable for us to enter, and for which some, more than others, bear responsibility. This post originally appeared on HuffPost Greece and was translated into English. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


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Alexis Tsipras on Yanis Varoufakis: You can question his taste in shirts, but not his honesty

The Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, leapt to the defence of his embattled former Finance Minister, admitting that Yanis Varoukakis may have “made mistakes” on austerity reforms, planning a Greek exit from the euro – and even his taste in shirts.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.independent.co.uk

Don't Blame Germany for Greece's Debt Crisis

It's hard not to empathize with the people of Greece; The country's GDP shrank by a staggering 25 percent in just five years. But the prevailing ...


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The Greeks are not taking ownership of bail-out reforms

EVER since Greece and its European creditors reached a deal to keep the country from defaulting out of the euro zone in early July, two questions ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.economist.com

Reports of return of land to Greek Cypriots overshadow Cyprus peace talks

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı (L), the United Nations envoy Espen Barth Eide (C) and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades leave their ...


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Greek Financial Markets to Reopen After Five-Week Shutdown

Greek traders will be able to buy stocks, bonds, derivatives and warrants only if they use new money such as funds transferred from abroad, cash-only ...


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Greek bailout talks with auditors begin as market to reopen Monday

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Senior EU-IMF auditors on Friday held their first meetings with Greek ministers to finalise a new three-year bailout as the ...


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Italy's youth unemployment just hit a new record high — here's what's going wrong

Italian youth unemployment broke a new record today, hitting the eye-watering level of 44.2% in June's figures. That's despite the fact the eurozone is clearly now recovering (slowly) from years of recession and stagnation. Only two European countries have higher youth unemployment than Italy. Greece's rate is 53.2% and Spain's is 49.2%. So what's going wrong for Italy's young people? Here's how it looks: Italian unemployment overall is higher than eurozone unemployment, at 12.7% — the figure for the whole bloc is 11.1%.  The eurozone's youth unemployment, at 22.5%, is about twice as high as the overall level. In Italy's case it's nearly 3.5 times higher than the headline rate, suggesting a pretty brutal future for the country's young people — and that something is seriously wrong with the labour market. Take a look at the different rates in comparison to one another (up until the end of 2013, when the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' data seems to end): In the grand scheme of things, the Italian and eurozone total unemployment rates aren't very far apart. In fact, Italian unemployment was below the eurozone in general until 2012.  But youth unemployment levels have very clearly separated from one another  — Italy's was always higher, but more than 20 percentage points separate the two now. So what's going on with Italy's young people? A recent publication by Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) suggests at least three potential causes: The sort of contracts young people work with: Part of the problem is the country's dual labour market, something that's not unique to Italy. Young workers tend to get temporary contracts and veteran company insiders get the more rigid, long-term deals. When it's time to let some workers go (in a recession), you can guess who's first out of the door. Some go to university instead of working. More young people often choose higher education during a recession, as an alternative to a touch jobs market. As the CEPR article says "the decline in the participation rate of the young mechanically increases the measured youth unemployment rate." Young Italians have struggled to get into work at the best of times. As the chart below shows, even during 2002-2010, a period in which the eurozone was generally growing, Italy stood out with the highest NEET (not in employment, education or training) level in the EU. It's followed closely by Greece and Spain. All in all, Italy's young people are in a pretty bad place. Though Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has pushed for reforms that would liberalise the country's labour market, that's likely to be a slow process.  What's more, the economy is still pretty weak. Without the effect of the weaker euro and oil prices declining, Italy would still be in recession, according to French investment bank Natixis. In short, without any significant economic growth, don't expect that eye-watering rate to tumble any time soon.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 6 mind-blowing facts about Greece's economy


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Alexis Tsipras: I ordered Varoufakis to 'defend Greece'

Opposition parties in Greece have also called for the former Essex University economist to have his parliamentary immunity from criminal charges ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.telegraph.co.uk

Greece crisis: IMF won't back Greek deal without reforms

The International Monetary Fund can participate in discussions over the latest financial rescue for Greece but cannot officially join the talks until after the fiscally beleaguered nation has agreed to comprehensive reforms, the 'Financial Times' reported ...


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Greece to auction T-bills on August 5

Cash-strapped Greece sold 813 million euros of three-month T-bills earlier this month to refinance a maturing issue, managing to keep its public ...


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Alexis Tsipras defends Yanis Varoufakis over secret Grexit plan

PM objects to mounting criticism of controversial ex-finance minister as Greece meets quartet of creditors for bailout talksAlexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has launched a staunch defence of his former right-hand man Yanis Varoufakis following revelations that the ex-finance minister drew up secret plans to ditch the euro if bailout talks failed.Varoufakis, who was a controversial figure during his tenure in Athens, courting publicity and provoking his eurozone counterparts, has admitted he formulated a scheme for leaving the euro, which involved hacking into the Greek tax system. Continue reading...


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Day Ahead: Greece, and China, again...

As the saga continues, the International Monetary Fund is now saying that Greece's high debt levels and poor record on carrying out reforms make the ...


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Investment in Greece collapses

#economy


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If Greek trades in US are any guide, Athens bourse may have rocky re-start

While traders cautioned that it was hard to predict what the opening prices might be when the volatile Greek exchange resumes business, they said ...


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Greek Financial Markets Will Reopen Monday With Restrictions

… . For more Greece news and data, click here.) Greek traders will be … market comes from Greek stocks with listings outside of Greece. American depositary receipts of National Bank of Greece SA …


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Investment in Greece grinds to near halt

Greenfield investment into Greece has all but ground to a halt as the country teeters on the brink of bankruptcy and flirts with ejection from the ...


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IMF Gets Smart About Greece

By hesitating to play a full financing role in the latest bailout program for Greece, the International Monetary Fund risks alienating both the Greek ...


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Through it all, this Greek church in Mattituck endures

It's 3 p.m. Monday and Father Constantine Makrinos is behind his desk at Transfiguration of Christ Greek Orthodox Church in Mattituck. A priest of 30 ...


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Through it all, this Greek church in Mattituck endures

It's 3 p.m. Monday and Father Constantine Makrinos is behind his desk at Transfiguration of Christ Greek Orthodox Church in Mattituck. A priest of 30 ...


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Greek FinMin on meeting with Quartet

Greek proposals on privatization Fund


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Athens Stocks Exchange to reopen Monday, August 3rd

Short after  3 pm on Friday, the Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Capital Market Commission sent their recommendations for the reopening of the Athens stock Exchange to the Finance ministry. Euclid Tsakalotos is expected to sign today the relevant decree so that investors in Greece and abroad are analytically […]


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Lagarde-List: Prosecutor summons ex PM Samaras’ aide over alleged €5.5million on HSCB bank

“I wish we had ten Papastavrou!” It was former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who had praised the morals of his close aide Stavros Papastravou, a lawyer consultant at the Prime Ministry, during a speech in the Greek Parliament. Now, one of the ‘ten’ the real Stavros Papastavrou has been summoned […]


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Greece bailout talks held on higher level

Greece and the European Union (EU) have been in talks to secure a bailout for Greece. Above, EU and Greek flags fly in central Athens, July 4, 2015.


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Italy's south is worse off than Greece

This was an especially poor performance when compared to Greece's economy, which grew by 24 percent during the same period. The figures paint a ...


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Investors need holiday after trying July

Markets were rocked by Greek debacle and falling Chinese shares


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Only one major currency has strengthened against the dollar in the last 4 years

The dollar has been on an absolute tear recently. And, in the last four years, it's appreciated by 25% on a trade-weighted basis (compared to the countries the US trades with). Almost every country in the world has contributed to that, except one: China. Here's how that looks, with a chart from Deutsche Bank analysts on Friday: The Chinese renminbi is pretty much the only major currency that has appreciated against the dollar over this period. More recently, it's declined against the dollar, but over the past 10 years the Chinese currency has appreciated considerably. In fact, here's how the dollar-to-renminbi exchange rate has slumped during that period: Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 6 mind-blowing facts about Greece's economy


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.businessinsider.com

Greek PM Tsipras Reveals He Had Knowledge of Varoufakis’ Plan B

Yanis Varoufakis was not acting behind his commander’s back. Speaking in parliament on Friday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras unequivocally admitted that he knew of the former Finance Minister’s now infamous Plan B. “Of course, Ms. Gennimata. Obviously, I had personally given the order to the Finance Minister to form a team that would examine a defense


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

German Media Focuses on IMF Hesitation to Participate in Greece’s Bailout Program

Following reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will abstain from taking part in Greece’s third bailout program, German media assessed the fragile situation on Friday. German financial newspaper Handelsblatt noted that Eurozone countries will generally tend to postpone problems for the future and questioned how that might affect the IMF’s decision. The newspaper also argued that while Germany had insisted


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Moody’s: Greece Remains Eurozone’s Biggest Threat

Despite the fact that the tension between Greece and its creditors has smoothed out, the country still poses a threat to the Eurozone, said Moody’s. Now that European Union officials state that the danger of a Grexit is almost eliminated, political uncertainty in Greece remains the biggest threat to the Eurozone stability and growth prospect, noted


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Greece, EU need to take urgent, bold action to tackle refugee crisis in Greece: UNHCR officials

ATHENS, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Greece and the European Union need to take urgent and bold action to tackle the refugee crisis unfolding in the country, ...


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Greece Tops Eurozone Jobless Rate

Among Eurozone countries, battered Greece has the highest level of unemployment, at 25.6 percent, Germany the lowest at only 4.7 percent. The post Greece Tops Eurozone Jobless Rate appeared first on The National Herald.


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So Now How Does Greece Adjust to New Reality?

The Greek people, through their democratically-elected representatives, looked over the brink and decided to stay in the Eurozone, but at what cost? The post So Now How Does Greece Adjust to New Reality? appeared first on The National Herald.


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We can't stop the flow of migrants to Europe. Rehousing them is our only option

Europe’s population stands at 740 million, so housing an additional 1 million refugees is possible without major social impact – and it’s been done beforeRarely since 1558, when Queen Mary lost the town to the French, can Calais have ruffled as many British feathers as it has this July. British lorry-drivers, British holidaymakers, and British booze-runners – they’ve all had their journeys wrecked by a recent rise in refugees attempting to break into the Calais end of the Channel tunnel. Without wanting to entirely dismiss their experiences, it is nevertheless useful to remember that the Calais crisis is just a tiny part of a wider one. Of the nearly 200,000 refugees and migrants who have reached Europe via the Mediterranean this year, only 3,000 have made their way to Calais. This means that the migrants at Calais constitute between 1% and 2% of the total number of arrivals in Italy and Greece in 2015. Continue reading...


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Universal Lessons From An Ongoing Greek Tragedy

What are the lessons that the rest of the world can draw from Greece?


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Tsipras: I won't defend his shirt but Varoufakis's Plan B was not covert, I ordered it

… for the reopening”. #Greece stock market to … to imagine. Germany and Greece? Impossible. The conceit … to manage emergency situation #greece— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) July 31 … not Greek gov't, ask the Commission #greece— Kathimerini English …


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A Mediterranean touch

White-washed cubist structures, terracotta floors, blue-green waters and full-bodied red wine. Welcome to Santorini, Greece, one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. The romance and drama of the Mediterranean — be it the culture, cuisine or climate — has enthralled the world for long. No wonder the region attracts approximately one third of the world’s international tourists. Why not bring the Santorini, aka Greek, look home? The look evokes the colours of the sea — deep blues, bright aquas and vibrant...


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Greek Debt Crisis Adds to a Spike in Burglaries and Robberies

Fleeing the banks for fear of losing their euro deposits, many Greeks have stashed cash and valuables under the proverbial mattress, making them vulnerable to thieves.


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Weekend in Istanbul: Greek music, a rock festival and a silent concert

Istanbul gets set to offer a wide range of events this weekend ranging from Greek music to a silent concert and a rock festival


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EU Extends EUR 91,000 to Help Macedonia Cope with Migrant Tide  

The European Commission said on Friday it is extending close to EUR 91,000 in humanitarian funding to Macedonia to help tackle a migrant influx. The funding that will cover basic needs such as food, water, hygiene kits and primary health care services will be provided to Macedonia’s Red Cross Society to help the organization assist some 4,600 people over the next three months. “Assistance will primarily go to the Reception Centre for asylum seekers in the capital Skopje and at the main train stations at the southern and northern borders of the country,” the EU Commission said in a statement. Thousands of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa have been crossing into Macedonia from Greece in recent months, in the hope of entering the European Union via Hungary. From Macedonia they are travelling to Serbia, which also is one of their transit countries on the so-called ’Balkan route’, before they try to enter Hungary and then proceed farther north in the EU. They are coming mostly from conflict-torn Syria, Eritrea, Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. Serbian authorities say some 61,000 illegal migrants have been registered in transit through the country. To stem the swelling flow of migrants Hungary has started building a wire fence along its border with Serbia.  


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.novinite.com