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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, April 17, 2015

German Press: ‘Greece Might Have to Leave the Eurozone’

Once again, the German press is reporting about Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. The most worrying report came from German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. There will be no solution for Greece’s fiscal problem in the near future, said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung. However, as the newspaper reported, that is the only way for Greece to avoid bankruptcy, therefore the decision has pretty much been made. “It appears that Greece might have to leave the Eurozone,” the article concluded. Meanwhile, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is predicting that Greece will have to take on another bailout program, in an article entitled: “Ad calendas Graecas – The crisis will last.” The newspaper referred to the various scenarios regarding the developments in the Greek debt crisis. “It is likely that the conflict between Greece and its European partners will continue until autumn and it may result in an election,” noted the article. “Even if a solution for the liquidity problems faced by Greece is found, the debate regarding the country’s future is still pending. The fact that Athens will need a new support program in mid-2015 is almost certain.” “As long as the Chancellor considers Greece’s stay in the Eurozone to be an option without alternatives, then she can be pushed and the Greeks know this,” said a European diplomat. With this in mind, many EU countries are hoping that the SYRIZA government will fall due to its inner conflicts and that the new government will be willing to cooperate, noted the German newspaper.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Former Asteras Tripolis Midfielder: ‘In Greece I Never Paid for my Speeding Tickets’

Words straight from the horse’s mouth, specifically from former Asteras Tripolis midfielder Pablo De Blasis who graphically described the differences in life between Greece and his present situation in Mainz, Germany. De Blasis was the main reason Asteras Tripolis made it to the Europa League group stage for the first time in its history this season. His performance in the playoff matches against Mainz 05 also awarded him a transfer to the German club with a highly privileged contract. What he wasn’t expecting, was to find himself having to pay for parking citations and speeding tickets. Rural punishments that the mass needs to pay for, while the “famous” get away with them. “Twice I was ticketed for driving above the limit in a 30km/h zone”, he stated in an interview. “They send a photo straight to the club’s offices and the fee is deducted off your salary. In Greece, it wasn’t like this, it was like back home in Argentina. Once the cops realized who you are, they let you go.” Nevertheless, the former Asteras player had nothing bad to say about his experience in Greece except from being a less appreciated athlete compared to his new club. “Soccer-wise, it was beautiful there and I got to meet a new society. In Greece, people are educated and they won’t steal from you, and their temper is similar to ours. Fanatic fans clash with each other. In Germany, it’s as if they come to watch a theatrical play, they appreciate and acknowledge your efforts even if you lose.”


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Russian Tourists Expected to Show Increase in Attica Region

The number of Russian tourists arriving in Greece and Athens in particular is expected to increase during this summer season, according to associate tourism consultant Thodoris Angelopoulos. The information was released after the latest contact with tour operators during the Greek Prime Minister’s visit as well as the MITT tourism exhibition in Moscow. The Russian Sailing Association made the decision to organize the International Sailing Race “Upper Volga Race” in Greece, starting from 2016. According to Angelopoulos, several Russian sailing specialists are expected to visit Greece in the coming months in order to make the process run smoothly, always in cooperation with Greek authorities, and determine the sea routes that will be used for the competition. In fact, the Russian Sailing Association is planning to organize the race in Greece every two years.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Numerous Strong Aftershocks in Crete

Numerous aftershocks have shaken Crete after the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that occurred on April 16 at 9:07 pm east of Crete and near the Greek island of Kasos. The strongest aftershock measured 5.4 on the Richter scale and it occurred at 5:05 am in the morning of April 17. The National Observatory of Athens’ Institute of Geodynamics considers the strong tremor to be an aftershock. According to a statement, the earthquake originated 415 kilometers southeast of Athens and the epicenter was located in the coastal area 26 km southwest of Kasos. The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that occurred last night was followed by several tremors ranging from 3.1 to 5.4, eight of which measured higher than 4. The majority of the tremors were felt throughout eastern Crete, where no damages have been reported yet.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Rescuing Migrants at Sea Might Not Be a Permanent Solution, but It Will Save Lives

Doctors Without Borders' recent announcement that they will begin search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean has created some media controversy, since sea rescue is not a part of the organization's usual activities. The decision was made because the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean is getting worse every year, and the European Union does not show any sign of changing the policies that created it. Saving lives is our mission, whether on land or at sea. Over the last 15 years, the Mediterranean has turned into a cemetery for at least 20,000 migrants and refugees in search of protection and a better life in Europe. At least 3,500 people drowned off of the European coast in 2014, many of them coming from Syria, Eritrea, or Sub-Saharan Africa. This year alone, 500 lives have been lost at sea -- even before the summer, the time when most people attempt this dangerous crossing. Migration by sea is a complex phenomenon, influenced by both geopolitical and socioeconomic factors (including conflicts, extreme poverty and the violation of human rights of entire populations), but also by the lack of a system of protection, linked to the fact that many people remain stranded for an indefinite amount of time in refugee camps that fall short of every standard. The number of migrants to Europe by sea reached 218,000 in 2014, an increase of 60,000 from the previous year. The ongoing war in Syria and rise of instability in Libya suggest that the number of people who choose the sea route this year will reach record heights. Given the lack of safe ways to enter Europe, the sea remains the only option for many refugees. The mass exodus from Libya will be remembered as one of the worst in recent history. Europe, however, will be remembered for how little it has done to assist the current 3.8 million refugees from the Syrian conflict, 95 percent of whom are currently located in countries that border Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, testing the limits of both local and international aid. Instead of alleviating this burden, the EU is encouraging these countries to take in even more refugees and is building walls to keep these people out of Europe. Only 4 percent of Syrian refugees have succeeded in settling in Europe. As of now, the European Union has established a quota of 36,300 Syrian refugees they are able to accept. Germany is offering the most spots (30,000), while Great Britain is accepting only a shameful 143 Syrian refugees. The public outrage incited by the Lampedusa shipwreck back in October 2013 died out long ago. While refugee organizations and asylum experts are discussing better ways of preventing deaths at sea by opening new, secure legal channels, the members of the European Union are looking at the situation from another angle. Consumed by fear of "pull factors," they are not interested in saving human lives, but in keeping these people far away from the public eye. At the beginning of March, the European Commission announced the launch of the Joint Operational Team Mare. In contrast to the Italian operation Mare Nostrum, which attempted to aid people in danger in the Mediterranean, Joint Operational Team Mare a maritime intelligence center to combat human trafficking on the ocean -- another result of the closing of the EU's land borders. Today, Joint Operational Team Mare's energies and resources are devoted to cutting off the flow of migration, but cutting it off without offering people other escape routes has only resulted in more suffering and death. In line with this approach, the Italian government has proposed increasing the rescue-at-sea capacities of countries like Tunisia and Egypt, so that people who are rescued can be taken back to north African shores rather than be brought to Europe. Our patients in Sicily tell our teams horrible stories of abuse suffered at the hands of their exploiters, but also of being exposed to maltreatment in transit countries such as Egypt and Libya. Syrian and Palestinian refugees who attempt the sea crossing from Egypt to Europe are arrested and detained in horrible conditions. Human rights associations have denounced cases of deportation by the Egyptian authorities, seeing as the detained are forced to purchase airplane tickets to other countries, even Syria. Furthermore, in some cases the corruption of state authorities supports the growth of trafficking networks. The measures in place to stop migrant boats ignore the most basic underlying concept of the so-called "migration crisis": the people who need protection have no choice but to flee. At least 10 percent of Doctors Without Borders' patients in Sicily have been victims of violence in their countries of origin or during their long journeys. If the dangerous sea route has now become the principal means of entry to the European Union for refugees, it is because the land borders are closed. At the end of 2013, Bulgaria began construction of a 9.6 million euro fence to keep out Syrian refugees. As the conflict in Syria escalated, the number of refugees entering Bulgaria dropped from 3,626 in October 2013 to only a few hundred in January 2014, after the start of this border project. Even the agency for border control Frontex admits that this operation has simply diverted the flow of refugees towards the sea. Greece closed its land borders with Turkey back in 2012, diverting the major part of the flow of refugees towards maritime entry points. The conditions in refugee centers on the Greek islands are deplorable, and the Doctors Without Borders teams working in the Dodecanse Islands have denounced the lack of support from the Greek government in guaranteeing basic aid to the refugees on multiple occasions. Next month, the European Commission will present a new agenda on the subject of migration. Whether the program takes into consideration the lessons learned over the course of the last few years remains to be seen. Concentrating on keeping people out and ignoring the human lives that make up these "flows" has only resulted in increasing death and suffering. We need to make this clear: we are talking about a humanitarian disaster caused by politics. Concrete measures must immediately be adopted to guarantee the safe passage of refugees to European territories, to stop turning people away and guarantee minimum standards of acceptance. Appropriate search-and-rescue mechanisms must be implemented by the member countries of the EU to save the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who will risk their lives this year in search of safety and protection. The policy of keeping people out of Europe must be replaced by an approach that offers safe and legal channels for those who need a safe haven. Since 2002, our teams in Lampedusa and in Sicily have been caring for survivors--treating them for dehydration, hypothermia and trauma resulting from the sea voyage. But they are not able to prevent deaths. This is unacceptable for a humanitarian organization like Doctors Without Borders. Even if sea rescues are not the solution to migration by sea, they are absolutely essential so people don't die while waiting for more humane policies. Until these are in place, the way that European leaders treat refugees continues to show their double standards, the way they are not practicing what they preach to the rest of the world about human rights. This post was originally published on HuffPost Italy 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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Brussels Group due to meet in wake of Obama’s call for Greek reforms

Greece and its lenders are due to get back down to business on Saturday with a meeting of the Brussels Group that Athens hopes will result in an interim agreement by the end of the month at the latest.


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Komotini mosque damaged by fire, arson suspected

Representatives of the Muslim community in Komotini, northeastern Greece, asked authorities on Friday to investigate the causes of a pre-dawn fire at the city’s largest mosque amid suspicions it was caused by arsonists.


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ECB examines possible Greek IOU currency in case of default, sources say

The European Central Bank has analysed a scenario in which Greece runs out of money and starts paying civil servants with IOUs, creating a virtual second currency within the euro bloc, people with knowledge of the exercise told Reuters.


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Greece, Cyprus hope for progress in peace talks

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades expressed optimism on Friday after their meeting in Athens that reunification talks on Cyprus could soon be back on track.


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Industrialists warn on mine intransigence

Industrial associations across Greece have expressed grave concern regarding the investment climate in the country following developments at the Skouries gold mines in Halkidiki, central Macedonia.


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Opinion: Gazprom

Gazprom is turning away from the EU at the same time that Russia is starting work on a pipeline to Greece. It’s no contradiction, but rather part of a geopolitical strategy, says DW’s Christian F. Trippe.


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Schaeuble : No deal expected in 24 April Eurogroup

Germany's Finance Minister Schaeuble said on Friday that no deal with Greece is expected to be taken at the April 24 Eurogroup in Riga. "There's no news," Schaeuble said. "And I doubt that there will be any by next week". Schaeuble added ...


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Obama: Greece needs to initiate reforms

President Barack Obama said Greece needs to make some "tough decisions," as he warned that the eurozone shouldn't rely on America to drive the global economy. During a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, ...


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First Take: Posturing over Greece is dangerous

It's hard to tell who's bluffing and how much in the standoff over Greece's bailout.         


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Greek 'day of reckoning' shakes stock markets

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are broadly lower in afternoon trading Friday following steep declines in Europe. Investors are worried that Greece may default on its debt and exit the eurozone. Shares of several big U.S. companies, including American Express, dropped after disappointing results.


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Global finance leaders see economy strengthening

WASHINGTON (AP) — Financial officials from the world's major economies are welcoming modest improvements in the global economy while side-stepping fears rattling global financial markets that Greece will default on its bailout loans.


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The Power of Investing in People

"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." Throughout the course of history, it has been proven that investing in a country's human capital contributes to economic growth, often alleviating the effects of economic depressions or recessions. We saw this happen after the First World War in Britain; the Great Depression and then World War II in the United States; and, more recently, around the globe from the Great Recession of 2007. But today, in Greece, we wonder: Can it happen here? As Greece finds itself entering its seventh year of a crippling national recession, the hardship suffered by our citizens is evidenced in skyrocketing unemployment (nearly 26 percent), shuttered storefronts and dwindling social services. The cost of two government-sanctioned bailouts -- one in 2010 and another in 2012 -- came with a very high price tag, as Greek leaders reluctantly agreed to severe austerity measures that led to massive layoffs of government employees, along with reduced wages and higher taxes for all. Greeks are painfully aware that recovery can happen only when spending begins to rebound. But how does a country reverse the course of seven suffocating years? To start, Greece must look to its most valuable asset: its citizens. Greece's unemployment rate -- the highest in the European Union -- is a direct consequence of the shortfall of demand. Unemployment is not high because of structural changes or because workers aren't trying to find jobs. It is high because we are not producing at anywhere near a normal level. We must look to our friends in the United States as an example of what can -- and needs -- to be done in order to escape the grips of recession. It is essential that policymakers take steps to help generate private demand and growth by offering stimulus packages. It is not enough that output and employment grow; we need to spur robust growth that will speed the return of output and employment to more normal levels. With the recent announcement that 200,000 small to medium-sized businesses in Greece may close, we need to create and pass legislation aimed at supporting growth and innovation, including initiatives aimed to help small businesses get the credit they need to grow. We need to offer payroll tax cuts and other incentives for businesses investing and hiring. In short, we need to invest in the potential of our entrepreneurs who envision a better, stronger Greece. More aid to state and local governments needs to be provided. The dire condition of state and local budgets is one of the most difficult challenges Greece faces on the road to recovery. Finding the funds to keep teachers in the classroom and to maintain essential services is one of the most effective things we can do to support families, communities, and local businesses. We must invest in social safety net programs that will help the more than six million Greeks living below the poverty line. We need to fund programs like The Solidarity Centers, an initiative of the Open Society Foundations and SolidarityNow, which address the lack of access to comprehensive services for the most vulnerable populations in our nation. Located in Thessaloniki and Athens, the Solidarity Centers offer space to new and existing civil society organizations in Greece, facilitating community solutions to pressing social and economic problems. Solidarity Centers address the unique needs of the local communities they operate within, Services cater to all regardless of their nationality or legal status. The essential services provided at Solidarity Centers include health, legal aid, job-seeking assistance, and support for vulnerable groups including the elderly, the sick, migrants, and asylum seekers. To emerge from this crisis, Europe must reclaim its vision of a community based on solidarity. And that can only begin by first investing in its people. About Solidarity Now Established by Open Society Foundations, Solidarity Now is a collaborative funding initiative that supports civil society groups working in Greece. The organization has created two Solidarity Centers -- places for everyone in Greece affected by the crisis to convene and find solutions to shared problems. Offering space to new and existing civil society organizations in Greece, the Centers facilitate community solutions to pressing social and economic problems and address the unique needs of local communities they operate within and cater to all regardless of their nationality, origins and social status. Essential services provided at Solidarity Centers include health, legal aid, job-seeking assistance, and support for vulnerable groups including the elderly, the sick, migrants, and asylum seekers. -- 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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Stocks are getting destroyed (DIA, SPX, SPY, USD, EUR, GREK)

Stocks are having their worst day of the year. After a chaotic morning in global markets, US stocks have been getting buried and taken another turn lower near 2:00 pm ET.  Near 2:00 pm ET, the Dow was down 337 points, the S&P 500 was down 28 points, and the Nasdaq was down 85 points. All of the major averages were off more than 1.3%, with the Dow and Nasdaq falling more than 1.7%.  Earlier on Friday, stocks in China were rocked, falling more than 5%, and stocks in Europe sold off. In China, stock-index futures were down more than 5% in after-hours trading, with the move set off by regulators clamping down on the use of shadow financing to buy stocks and expanding the supply of shares available for short sellers, according to Bloomberg News. This means, basically, that it just got harder to buy Chinese stocks and it's easier to bet against them. Tough for a market that's almost doubled in the last year.  Stocks in Europe also got crushed on Friday, with indexes in Italy and Spain falling more than 2%, while the Dax in Germany lost 2.6%, the CAC in Paris lost 1.5%, and the FTSE in London fell 0.9%.  And, of course, there were headlines out of Greece. According to a report from Kathimerini, one of Greece's largest newspapers, central banks in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have all forced the subsidiaries of Greek banks operating in those countries to bring their exposure to Greek risk — including bonds, treasury bills, deposits to Greek banks, and loans — down to zero. To top it off, there was also a massive outage in Bloomberg terminals on Friday morning.  On the economic data front, US consumer prices rose less than expected in March, consumer confidence rose to the second-highest level since 2007, and in corporate news US conglomerate General Electric reported earnings that missed on revenue and American Express were down almost 5% following a disappointing earnings report. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: The Truth About Those Crazy Calendar Trends Stock Market Gurus Always Talk About


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Looming Greek 'crunch' threatens fresh global crisis, warns Osborne

The warnings came as Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis prepared to meet US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to explore a possible 12th-hour ...


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Review: Alt-J rocks fans at the Greek in Berkeley

Review: Alt-J rocks fans at the Greek in Berkeley. By Jim Harrington. jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com. Posted: 04/17/2015 03:15:07 AM PDT# ...


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Junk-Bond Risk Rises in Europe as Greek Default Concern Mounts

“Greek government bonds and Greek corporates have come under significant pressure in the last few days as its ongoing involvement in the ...


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IMF Official Sees Greek Bailout Needing Several More Weeks of Talks

A Greek Finance Ministry official in Athens said technical talks between the country and institutions overseeing its bailout would resume in Paris on ...


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Fraternity brother: Bad headlines about Greek life are good for us

For centuries, Greek letter organizations have operated under a guise of secrecy. The actions of each fraternity and sorority have been privy to only ...


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It's all Greek: the modern restaurants serving more than moussaka

For decades, Greek food in the UK was rubbish. As a Greek Cypriot and long-time reviewer of Hellenic restaurants, I got used to stodgy flagstones of ...


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Greek Creditors Search for Scenarios to Prevent Euro Exit

Chancellor Angela Merkel will go a long way to prevent a Greek exit from the single currency, though only so far, one of the people said.


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Greek Workers' Only Real Hope is Fearless Action

The first act of the Greek drama ended swiftly. Entering “negotiations” with no strategy and no real threat in hand, the new Greek government of Syriza ...


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Greece running out of time to avoid collapse

Markets are starting to freak out again over Greece as the government runs out of time to unlock the funds it needs to avoid default and stay in the euro.


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Osborne warns Greek crisis hasn't lost its bite

The Greek financial crisis has helped make the mood at international financial talks in Washington this week “notably more gloomy,” British finance minister George Osborne said on Friday.


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Week ends with Athens bourse losses of 6 pct

Athens’s lack of progress in its negotiations with the country’s creditors and increasing talk of a Greek eurozone exit weighed heavily on local stocks on Friday, forcing losses of exactly 3 percent on the benchmark. Trading volume rose on the increase in sales.


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Greece: Decision time

With creditors playing hardball and the leftwing of the ruling Syriza party determined not to compromise, Athens needs fresh help to avoid default


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Euro exit fears raised as IMF rejects Greek payment delay

Top European officials and Greece’s finance minister have been forced to play down fears the country is poised to exit the eurozone, after the IMF rejected suggestions that Athens would postpone loan repayments. But the perilous state of Greece’s ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theaustralian.com.au

IMF urges EU to slim down its demands on Greece

Intervention by main lender follows mounting fears of Greek exit from eurozone as UK chancellor George Osborne warns of global economic threatThe International Monetary Fund has urged EU negotiators to slim down their list of demands in debt talks with Greece amid fears that time is running out to reach a deal, as the British chancellor warned that the impasse posed the biggest immediate threat to the global economy.Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s European department, said the reforms being demanded from Athens in exchange for a vital €7.2bn (£5.2bn) in rescue funds should be “simplified” and “slimmed down”.“We are not talking about nothing. We are talking about things, but now we need to make progress”. Continue reading...


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Arson feared in mosque blaze in northern Greece

A fire broke out at a mosque just before Friday prayers in Komotini city in northeastern Greece that left the roof and interior damaged.


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OPAP to sign 20-yr horse race betting contract

Asset Development Fund, Greece's privatization agency, has invited OPAP Investments Ltd to sign a contract for the exclusive operation rights to horse race betting  for a period of 20 years. OPAP Investments Ltd has won an international tender by offering the highest ...


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Wall Street tumbles, hit by weak earnings, China

(Reuters) - Wall Street tumbled on Friday, with the major indexes down one percent or more, on investor concerns over new regulations in China, Greece's debt negotiations and disappointing earnings reports from U.S. corporations.


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Greek reserves just enough to pay wages, pensions

Greece will need to tap all the remaining cash reserves across its public sector - a total of 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) - to pay civil service wages and pensions at the end of the month, according to finance ...


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Krugman: Greece wrong to join euro, but leaving now would bw 'hell'

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, in a lecture he gave in Athens Friday, said Greece made a wrong decision to join the euro in 2001. However, Krugman said, an exit at this moment would lead the country to "hell." Krugman had once ...


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Poul Thomsen: IMF doesn't expect a Grexit

The International Monetary Fund "doesn't expect a Greek exit from the euro", Poul Thomsen, one of its top officials, said a press conference today. However, he added that risks of a Grexit should "not be underestimated". "It's important that ...


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US stocks drop in noon trading following a slump in Europe

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling broadly in midday trading on Friday following steep declines in Europe. Investors are worrying that Greece may default on its debt. Several big U.S. companies including American Express fell after reporting disappointing results.


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Euro zone nations not crying for Greece

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, right, says Greece must repay its debt. EPA/THIERRY MONASSE) (Photo: THIERRY MONASSE, EPA) WASHINGTON -- Greece isn't winning much sympathy from its debt-wracked European counterparts as the country draws closer to ...


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Greece’s main lenders not ready to let country leave euro, but conditions apply

Greece’s major creditors are not ready to let the country drop out of the euro as long as prime minister Alexis Tsipras shows willingness to meet at least some key demands, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Chancellor Angela Merkel ...


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Greece or Europe on Trial in Latvia

More pragmatism including further professional advice in goodwill should hopefully produce a better state of mind all around at the Eurogroup's forthcoming gathering in Riga, Latvia, on 24 April. Against a background of Europe's still unfulfilled obligations toward the Greek people. For years now everyone in Greece has been increasingly finding it an uphill struggle trying to reconcile the aura of Europe -- at least as the 2010 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize? -- with a poor record subsequently. Adopting failed "blind austerity" financial and economic policies remarkably inconsistent with the eurozone's prospects for robust growth and prosperity. Also creating in the process, as in the case of Greece, compulsive economic damage running into billions of euros. Which in turn the European Union -- with, alas, successive Greek governments remaining incredibly aloof -- has not yet acknowledged, let alone redressed. But ignoring as well the Union's founding principles of "unity and solidarity" apparently flourishing nowadays only in terms of pure theory. It is well-known that these policies have produced -- albeit "unintended" but freak -- unparalleled levels of unemployment alongside a collapsing level of national income that has been literally eviscerating salaries, pensions, social services etc. in Greece. Driving ordinary tax-paying citizens by the thousands to commit suicide: among them doctors, lawyers and other professionals that include talented people from all levels of (failed) businesses. Made worse by inadequate, almost non-existent, public investment expenditure indirectly contributing to the country's rising indebtedness. Is it not, therefore, pretty futile in the circumstances to expect to normalize the economic landscape in slowly suffocating Greece without first agreeing to compensate the stunningly observable social and economic damage already inflicted upon millions of innocent people? In other words, why put the horse before the cart as has been happening all along? Instead of, as a sine qua non here, scaling down in real terms the country's bulging (by now unserviceable) sovereign debt proportionately adjusting it downward? Correctly reflecting the damage and consequently establishing as €150b the remaining debt of Greece. Particularly as it has been widely estimated privately that this is an important overdue rectification of today's inaccurately publicized level of €350b. And so, why not consider bringing this festering issue before a specially convened European Conference or Synod next to resolve institutionally the issue at last? Europe, in short, is still probably capable of vindicating itself. Giving, as suggested, an honest opportunity to Greece to forge ahead with multiple structural changes it seriously needs in order to transform its economy -- languishing in disarray for too long -- into an engine of progress with sustained growth serving the best interests of a greatly underestimated people. Ah yes -- and fully justifying its creditors, too. ________________ Nicos E. Devletoglou, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Athens, is author of the books Academia in Anarchy: An Economic Diagnosis (Basic Books) written jointly with Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics James Buchanan; and Consumer Behaviour: An Experiment in Analytical Economics (Harper and Row). -- 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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Different Prefixes, Same Meaning: Cyber, Digital, Net, Online, E-, Virtual

This week, the Global Cyberspace Conference takes place in The Hague (16-17 April). In March, UNESCO hosted a conference on Connecting the Dots in Digital Space. The NETmundial Initiative had a meeting in Stanford recently. In early May, the Freedom Online Conference will take place in Ulan Bator (for dates and a list of events see the 2015 timeline). In the Internet field, prefix-switching (cyber/digital/net/online/e-/) does not usually change the meaning of the word or phrase. The Hague conference could have been called the DIGITAL or ONLINE Space Conference; NETmundial could easily be CYBERmundial. Although these events have different prefixes, they deal with the same set of issues defined by the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development as 'international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet'. They address all or some of 40+ issues that can be classified in seven baskets, as illustrated in Diplo's 'IG Building Under Construction'. Why do prefixes matter, if they can be used interchangeably? First, subtle trends in the use and implications of prefixes have started to emerge. 'E-' is used typically for commerce, 'cyber' for security and crime, and 'digital' for development divides, to name a few. These trends are confirmed by a recent DiploFoundation study analysing nine years of Internet Governance Forum (IGF) transcripts. For example, the study shows a clear trend for the use of 'cyber' in discussion on security-related issues. This process is not surprising. Each policy field tends to develop its own vocabulary, and to frame discussion in certain ways. However, there is a potential risk if the entire Internet policy field comes to be framed through one lens, such as security. For example, although the EU has the Digital Agenda as its core Internet-related document, the EU Council introduced the concept of cyber diplomacy. One would have expected digital diplomacy to be a more appropriate name for a foreign affairs representation of the EU Digital Agenda. In the USA one can identify a wide range of prefixes. The e-Diplomacy unit of the US State Department manages its Digital Diplomacy (use of the Internet in diplomatic activities) and runs, for example, a virtual embassy to Iran. On the national level there is a cybersecurity strategy. A similar 'prefix salad' can be found in many other countries worldwide. Survey: What is your favorite PREFIX in the Internet politics? The second reason prefixes matter is that different prefixes could create confusion for governments, companies and organisations that have to deal with Internet public policy issues. Different prefixes may convey subtle - and perhaps incorrect - implications about who should cover different issues. During a recent lecture tour in Asia, I realised how difficult is for governments to decide how to deal with these 'differences'. Who should be in charge of the various issues? Should it be the ministry for communication (digital) or security (cyber) or human rights (online) or...? For small countries with limited resources, this is becoming a real problem. In a way, by creating more possibilities to participate (more events and more modes of participation), we risk of creating a 'paradox of inclusion' (more events, but fewer possibilities for small states to participate actively in most of them). The same challenge of managing the cyber/net/virtual/e- avalanche of events faces companies and the non-governmental sector. Third, this process of covering similar issues under different titles may increase the difficulty of overcoming policy silos. Policy silos create sub-optimal coverage of multidisciplinary issues such as Internet governance. For example, one cannot effectively address cybersecurity without taking into consideration questions of privacy and freedom of expression, or business interests. Describing similar processes using different prefixes (cyber, digital, net,...) can accentuate the existing gap, making it even more complicated to bridge the policy silos. What can be done? One has to be realistic in attempts to make policy-making rational. In spite of all efforts, policy-making is rarely optimal. It will always have an element of irrationality, reflecting our imperfection as a society. Security people will meet in their own circles, while human rights, technical communities, and others will tend to stay in their own spaces. We have to accept this reality, but we should not cease our efforts to have multidisciplinary coverage of issues. In many cases we will fail, but the efforts should be made. A few practical steps: Invest heavily in facilitation of communication among different policy communities (human rights, security, technology). It is not enough to put different communities around a table and expect to have effective communication. Creative and careful facilitation is required. Reduce the 'lost in translation' risk among different professions by providing simple explanations of different concepts. Sometimes this will involve explanation of homographs such as 'protocol'. Protocol in diplomacy is not the same as protocol in Internet technical communication (although both of them include 'handshaking'). Create structural encouragements for communication among different professional groups. The IGF has been particularly successful in fostering diversity in the composition of discussion panels and other activities. In essence, all of these prefixes (cyber, digital, net,..) refer to the same thing - the Internet. While the process of differentiating meanings and claiming terminology is a natural one, we should be aware that we are creating differences, rather than naming differences which already exist. For background reading on Internet governance and digital politics you can consult the book 'An Introduction to Internet governance'. For events and resources you can consult the Geneva Internet Platform and DiploFoundation. You can follow Jovan Kurbalija on Twitter at @jovankurbalija _____________________________________________ Annex - Short Guide for Digital Prefix Etymology The etymology of cyber goes back to the Ancient Greek meaning of 'governing'. Cyber came into use in our time via Norbert Weiner's book Cybernetics, dealing with information-driven governance. In 1984, William Gibson coined the word cyberspace in the science fiction novel Neuromancer. The growth of the use of the prefix cyber followed the growth of the Internet. In the late 1990s, almost anything related to the Internet was cyber: cyber community, cyber law, cyber sex, cybercrime, cyber culture, cyber... You named anything on the Internet and you had cyber. In the early 2000s, cyber gradually disappeared from wide use, remaining alive principally in security terminology. One of the reasons is that cyber was used in 2001 to name the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention. It is still the only international treaty in the field of Internet security. Today we have, for example, the USA's Cyberspace Strategy, the ITU's Global Cybersecurity Agenda; NATO's cyber defence policy, and Estonia's Cyber Defence Center of Excellence. E- is the abbreviation for 'electronic'. It got its first and most important use through e-commerce, as description of early commercialisation of the Internet. In the EU's Lisbon Agenda (2000), e- was the most frequently used prefix. E- was also the main prefix in the declarations of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005). The WSIS follow-up implementation is centred on action lines including e-government, e-business, e-learning, e-health, e-employment, e-agriculture, and e-science. Nonetheless, e- is not as present as it used to be. Even the EU has abandoned e- recently, trying, most likely, to distance itself from the failure of the EU's Lisbon Agenda. Today, the EU has a Digital Agenda for Europe. Digital refers to '1' and '0' - two digits which are the basis of whole Internet world. Ultimately, all software and programmes start with them. In the past, digital was used mainly in development circles to represent the digital divide. During the last few years, digital has started conquering Internet linguistic space. In addition to the EU, Great Britain now has digital diplomacy. Prefix Net almost disappeared after initial popularity, in particular, in Germany (Netzpolitik). It re-emerged with the growing importance of net neutrality discussion and last year with NETmundial in Sao Paolo (April 2014). Future of prefix Relevance of prefix Net will depend on the success of the N. a few years ago after Net was popular in early 2000s Virtual relates to the intangible nature of the Internet. Virtual introduces the ambiguity of being both intangible and, potentially, non-existent. Virtual reality could be both an intangible reality (something that cannot be touched), and a reality that does not exist (false reality). Academics and Internet pioneers used virtual to highlight the novelty of the Internet, and the emergence of 'a brave new world'. Virtual, because of its ambiguous meaning, rarely appears in policy language and international documents. You can find more information in the website 'Emerging Language of Internet Diplomacy'. Please let us know if you would like to receive updates. -- 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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Registered Greek Unemployment Unchanged in February

Registered unemployment was unchanged in February, totaling 864,512 unemployed people, from 864,377 in January, for a 0.02% increase, the Greek Manpower Employment Organization (OAED) said on Friday. From the total of registered unemployed people, 461,000 (53.32%) were long-tern unemployed for more than 12 months, while the remaining 403,512 (46.68%) were unemployed for less than 12 months. The number of unemployed people not seeking work fell by 2.32% in February, while the number of unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits fell by 8.32%. 59.88% of registered unemployed people were women and 93.19% were Greek citizens. Registered unemployment was 1.08% in the 15-19 age group, 9.03% in the 20-24 age group, 14.22% in the 25-29 age group, 40.51% in the 30-44 age group, 21.93% in the 45-54 age group, 12.24% in the 55-64 age group and 1.0% in the above 65 age group. (Source: ANA-MPA)


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Creditors won't allow Grexit; ready to give Tsipras leeway

Greece’s major creditors are not ready to let the country drop out of the euro as long as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shows willingness to meet at least some key demands, according to two people familiar with the discussions.Chancellor ...


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Viand coffee shop will close Upper East Side location

Say goodbye to a great Greek salad and the former mayor’s favorite soft-boiled egg.


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Everyone thought Europe's most powerful man was completely wrong — but he pulled us back from the brink of disaster and is now completely vindicated

Mario Draghi is back. Just a few short months ago, the consensus seemed to be Europe was about to fall into a Japan-style lost decade of inflation, but with higher unemployment and the extra nationalist tension.   Nobody was sure that the European Central Bank (ECB) chief could do anything about it — he was facing crippling opposition within his own board, and from some of the governments in the eurozone. I admit that I fell into that camp of people — I thought more QE was a good idea but I didn't think Draghi either had the desire or the support to really do "what it takes." At the time, all analysts seemed to talk about was the fact that the ECB couldn't do very much (if it was done at all) — it would not be "a panacea", "a silver bullet" or "a magic wand." Of course, nobody had suggested it would be.   And as recently as December, some people even suggested Draghi was about to flee the horrors of the European Central Bank (ECB) and become President of Italy. But Draghi has a lot of reasons to be cheerful now. Even the protester who burst into the ECB and showered him in confetti shouldn't dampen his spirits. For starters, he won the internal battle over the ECB's QE programme. It was about twice as large as analysts generally expected. And opposition to the scheme has evaporated, and even German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble seems to have begrudgingly conceded that the programme seems to be going well. Pretty much every indicator is looking up at the moment: Consumption is particularly explosive at the moment, with car sales up by 13% in the last year, led by a 40% boom in Spain. It's hard to disentangle the onset of QE from the plunge in oil prices, but inflation expectations have now stopped tumbling.  Oxford Economics analysts even said this week that their model "suggests that inflation will not climb much above zero until the autumn, it points to a steep increase thereafter and an average annual increase of 1.6% in 2016, above the consensus and ECB’s own forecasts." (Graph right) But they don't expect that to end the new QE scheme early. BNP Paribas added that the latest survey of private forecasters showed an uptick in inflation for 2016 and beyond, and that the result "supports ECB chief Mario Draghi’s assertion that quantitative easing (QE) is having the desired effect on inflation expectations." When quizzed by the press on Wednesday, Draghi was relaxed and bullish — he rejected the idea that QE would cause financial bubbles, said there was no real risk that the bonds the ECB is purchasing would become too scarce in the market, and reiterated his aim to continue the purchases until at leas 2016. His internal opponents seem nowhere to be seen, and there was no sign of any anti-QE influence in his remarks. It felt like he was back in command of the ship. Credit Suisse's analysts are even more gushing in their praise of Draghi. Here's Credit Suisse: In our view, ECB monetary policy is far more aggressive than that seen at its peak in either Japan or the US, with the implications for global capital flows substantially underestimated in many circles... Like Chairman Volcker in the early 1980s, we feel that Dr Draghi is being truly radical, and that this deliberate policy to force investors out of safe assets has substantially further to run. That's a pretty bold statement. Paul Volcker was US Federal Reserve chair during the early 1980s, and today he's credited with a painful but ultimated successful series of interest rate hikes that whipped the United States' high inflation. Can Draghi do the opposite, and bring inflation back?  The eurozone is still not a pretty picture — the recovery is now five years late, Greece is an albatross around the neck of the whole region and Europe's structural problems can't be solved by monetary policy. But the pictures for both Europe and Draghi are substantially better than they were at the turn of the year.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: You've been doing pull-ups all wrong


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G20 strikes hopeful tone, but officials fret over Greece

By Jan Strupczewski and Randall PalmerWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Group of 20 leading economies struck a hopeful tone on the outlook for global growth on Friday even as officials fretted that Athen's inability to strike a deal with its lenders could upset Europe's tentative recovery.In a draft of a communique to be released later in the day, G20 finance ministers and central bankers welcomed brighter economic signs in rich economies, but lamented over weakness in some emerging nations."Risks to the global economy are more balanced since we last met," the draft said. "Prospects in advanced economies, notably the euro area and Japan, have improved and this could support a stronger global recovery."Still, the group of developed and emerging market nations, which represent around 80 percent of global economic output, warned of risks. "There are challenges, including volatility in exchange rates and prolonged low inflation along with negative interest rates, sustained imbalances and geopolitical tensions," it said.While Greece was not mentioned by name in the communique, it was clearly on the minds of top officials in Washington for the G20 gathering, and the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank."The mood is notably more gloomy than at the last international gathering," British finance minister George Osborne told reporters, adding that discussions on Greece "pervaded" every meeting."It's clear now to me that a misstep or a miscalculation on either side could easily return European economies to the kind of perilous situation we saw three to four years ago."Athens has been trying to strike a deal with its IMF and EU creditors to ease the bailout terms the lenders imposed. Until a deal is struck, bailout cash is on hold.Progress in the talks, however, has been painfully slow and Greece could run out of money ahead of debt repayments next month."It's important that we in the coming days make significant progress, that the process gains momentum," IMF European Department Director Poul Thomsen told reporters."There needs to be a comprehensive package and that will clearly take several weeks or more of discussions," he said.Concerns about Greece contributed to stock price declines in Europe and on Wall Street.The G20, however, sounded guardedly optimistic the global economy was poised for at least a modest recovery.But it pointed to a heightened risk of financial volatility as the monetary policies of major central banks begin to go their separate ways."In an environment of diverging monetary policy settings and rising financial market volatility, policy settings should be carefully calibrated and clearly communicated to minimize negative spillovers," the draft communique said."We will continue to monitor financial market volatility and take necessary actions."The language was evidence of concern over potential disruptions as the U.S. Federal Reserve moves toward a rate hike, even as the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan keep the monetary spigots wide open.The main worry centers on emerging markets, which have been beset by capital outflows as investors placed bets on higher interest rates in the United States."Those who managed themselves well will probably not suffer very much and those who went totally into short term may well suffer for some while they adjust," Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Thursday."We all know the famous Warren Buffet line, that when the water goes out you discover who's been swimming naked."(Additional reporting by Reuters' G20 reporting team; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Andrea Rici)Join the conversation about this story »


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IMF Official Says Greek Talks Need Several Weeks

Talks over fresh emergency financing for Greece likely will take several more weeks, even though cash-needy Athens requires a deal to help it meet debt payments due in June, an International Monetary Fund official said.


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Greek bond yields climb on fears of debt default

LONDON -- Fears of a Greek debt default sent the country's borrowing costs surging Thursday and prompted one prominent U.K. bookmaker to stop taking bets on the possibility of Greece leaving the euro. The jitters were triggered initially by a report in the ...


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