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Thursday, January 7, 2016

EU Jobless Rate Hits Post-2009 Low in November 2015

The unemployment rate in the European Union (EU28) has decreased to 9.1% in November 2015, from 9.2% in October, and from 10.0% in November 2014. “This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since July 2009,” Eurostat announced on Thursday. Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in November fell in 25 member states, with the largest decreases recorded in Spain (from 23.7% to 21.4%), Bulgaria (from 10.6% to 8.8%) and Italy (from 13.1% to 11.3%), the statistical office of the European Union said in a press release. Increases were registered in Austria (from 5.6% to 5.8%) and Finland (from 9.0% to 9.4%). The lowest unemployment rates in November 2015 were recorded in Germany (4.5%), the Czech Republic (4.6%) and Malta (5.1%). The highest rates were registered in Greece (24.6% in September 2015) and Spain (21.4%). The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area (EA19) decreased to 10.5% in November 2015, the lowest level on record since October 2011. The EA19 unemployment rate was 10.6% in October 2015 and 11.5% in November 2014.


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EU Unsatisfied with Turkey’s Cooperation on Stemming Migrant Influx

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans would visit Turkey on Monday to discuss Ankara’s efforts to hold back migrants sailing to Greece’s Aegean islands, Reuters reported on Thursday. In November 2015, the EU pledged cash and other concessions to Turkey in return for Turkish help in curbing irregular immigration into Europe. The latest figures, however, show that the arrivals in Greece have remained “relatively high over the last couple of weeks,” Timmermans told a news conference in Amsterdam, according to Reuters. "We have seen the first results which are encouraging but we are a long way from being satisfied," Timmermans said. About 3,000 people arrived in Greece from Turkey across the Aegean Sea last week, according to UN data. This compared to 2,849 in the last week of November, when the EU struck its deal with Turkey, and daily averages between 3,000 and 3,600 in the weeks between.


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World Press View: Greece’s New Year, Same as Old Year

The new year of 2016 is only days old but Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras began it the same way he did 2015: lying and reneging on his promises. The post World Press View: Greece’s New Year, Same as Old Year appeared first on The National Herald.


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North Wales man's mission of mercy to help Syrian refugees in Greece

… experiences of volunteering in a Greek island refugee camp. Llanelidan man … he decided to go to Greece to see what help he … is planning another trip to Greece this month and he hopes …


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Yonkers group traveling to Greece to help refugees

Staff from the Yonkers-based Afya Foundation will travel to Greece to assess the medical needs of Syrian refugees.


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Greek Bailout Review Needs Months, Not Weeks, Dijsselbloem ...

The first significant review of Greece’s latest bailout program, which is likely to trigger talks on debt relief for the stricken euro-area nation, will ...


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GREEK Airline Apologizes for Booting Arabs From Flight

Greece's Aegean Airlines apologized to Palestinian leaders for urging two Arab travelers to leave a plane after Jewish-Israeli passengers on an ...


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Ancient Greek City of Knossos Was Larger than Previously Thought

Recent fieldwork at the ancient city of Knossos in Crete, Greece, revealed that during the early Iron Age, the ancient Greek city was rich in imports and was nearly three times larger than what was believed from earlier excavations. The discovery suggests that not only did this spectacular site recover from the Bronze Age collapse, but


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Three Greek Public Assets Abroad Advertised for Sale in The Economist

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), the body responsible for selling Greek public property, is attempting to reach potential buyers by advertising three properties located abroad in The Economist, Greek media reported. One of the properties advertised is a five-storey building in the historic district of Rome. With a gross floor area of 1,600 square meters, it used


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GREEK airline apologizes for ejecting two Arab-Israelis from plane

It was not immediately clear why a GREEK airline would apologize to the PA for Israelis' behavior toward fellow Israelis. Claiming the two Arabs posed a ...


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GREECE'S Two Currencies

GREECE today (and Cyprus before it) offers a case study of how capital controls bifurcate a currency and distort business incentives. The process is ...


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EU Far From Satisfied With Turkish Migrant Cooperation

The European Union is increasing pressure on Turkey to reduce the number of migrants crossing into Greece, as the Netherlands takes over the bloc’s rotating presidency.


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EU Says Turkey Not Doing Enough to Contain Migrant Crisis

EU complains Turkey not doing enough to decrease numbers of migrants crossing into Greece


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Greek-Australian Miner Turns Pastry Chef after Terrible ...

Greek-Australian opal miner Ilias Katsapouikidis was working with his grandfather on detonating explosives in 2003, when he had a terrible, nearly fatal ...


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Lenders to review GREEK pension reform proposals, EU sources say

The GREEK government's proposals for reforms in the country's pension system were being examined, European Union sources told Kathimerini's ...


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Eurozone set for better economic growth - China permitting

The gyrations in Chinese financial markets this week have been stoked by worries over the scale of the slowdown in the world's number 2 economy, leading investors to scale back expectations for global growth this year. The transition to 2016 has been marked by positive economic data that has raised hopes of a more buoyant economic recovery. On Wednesday, a survey of the manufacturing and services sectors by financial information company Markit showed growth in the fourth quarter running at its highest level in 4-1/2 years. [...] good news came Thursday from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which said its economic sentiment indicator for the region is also running at a 4-1/2 year-high. Sliding oil and commodity costs have given consumers and businesses more to spend while the lower euro has been a boon to exporters. [...] the European Central Bank has embarked on a monetary stimulus program that is designed to keep a lid on borrowing rates. The great fear at the European Central Bank is that the current era of low, and sometimes negative, inflation rates turns into a debilitating bout of deflation — when consumers start putting off spending in the expectation of lower prices in the future. [...] Greece looks like it's headed for recession again as strict controls on money flows take their toll — withdrawals at ATMs, for example, have been limited for more than six months. [...] France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, is stalling, with sentiment likely undermined by November's attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.


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Greek airline apologizes for pushing 2 Arabs off plane over Israeli security concerns

Greece’s Aegean Airlines apologized to … contacted the PLO representative in Greece for a meeting to further …


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Greece says opposes 'discrimination' after flight protest ...

Greece on Thursday said it condemned all forms of discrimination after Palestinian leaders complained at the removal of two Arab passengers from an Israel-bound flight.


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Plunder and pillage as a Greek deity in Gods of Olympus

The mythology of the Greek gods is enchanting, and a new game on the App Store allows you to walk in their sandals and battle against other deities.


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Greek Govt Spokeswoman: 'Proposal on Pension Reform is ...

The Greek government’s proposal for reforming the pension system is final, spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said in a radio interview on Thursday.


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EU’s Dutch Presidency wants to split the bill without paying its own share on Refugees

It seems to be a decided issue: Refugees and migrants will be trapped in Greece. The new Dutch European Union Presidency vowed a tough line on refugees which translates into keeping refugees and migrants out of the central and north Europe. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the numbers of […]


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Greek Migration Deputy: Tens of Thousands of Migrants Will be Stranded in Greece

Greece’s Deputy Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas stated that tens of thousands of migrants will end up being stranded in Greece and the refugees to migrants ratio is now one to one, while it used to be 80% to 20%. Mouzalas spoke on Greek television saying that there is a great possibility the European Union would shut its borders


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Greek Employer Unions Agree to Increased Contributions to Social Security System

Representatives of Greece’s employer unions claimed they are not opposed to a temporary increase in contributions to the country’s social security system, which is set to be reformed. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with the country’s four employer unions on Thursday afternoon to discuss the government-proposed social security reform. Among the reform’s prescriptions is an increase in monetary contributions to


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Greek Unemployment Eased to 24.6% in September

Greek unemployment rate eased to 24.6% in September, slightly down compared to 24.7% in August but 1.5% down compared to September 2014 (26.1%), Eurostat said on Thursday. EU’s statistical office said in a monthly report that the Greek unemployment rate remained the highest in the EU (including youth unemployment at 49.5%), followed by Spain (21.4% and 47.5%


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Domestic Flights in Greece Cancelled on Friday Due to Strike

A number of Greek domestic flights are expected to be cancelled on Friday due to a 24-hour strike announced by the Federation of Civil Aviation Authority Unions (OSYPA). The strike was announced on the occasion of the Council of State hearing/debate on the action of OSYPA, regions, bar associations and other bodies and trade unions,


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Greek Christians Celebrate End of Christmas with Frigid Swim

Greek Orthodox Christians celebrated the end of the Christmas season in Turkey with a spectacular display, retrieving a wooden cross from the frigid waters ...


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“Trust between Greek and Turkish Cypriots increases”

Nicosia, January 7, 2016/ Independent Balkan News Agency By Kyriacos Kyriacou Surveys indicate that 53% of Greek Cypriots and 29% of Turkish Cypriots trust one another, compared with 19% and 4% respectively in 2006, a press release by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) says. UNDP notes that it has ended a ten year, multi-million dollar […]


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The government just proposed a sea change to American diets, and it could send an entire industry reeling

Pepsi Piggybacking off the FDA's announcement in November, the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday set strict limits on the amount of sugar Americans should eat and drink each day. The new guidelines, which the USDA and HHS puts out every five years, have been decades in the making. Chatter of the need for a cap on sugar has been circulating among consumers, lawmakers, and public-health advocates since research in the early 2000s first linked our excessive consumption of the stuff with obesity, weight gain, and other health problems — especially in children. Not surprisingly, soda and processed-food companies are less than pleased. The American Beverage Association, the soda industry's main lobby group, has since invested millions of dollars fighting laws to tax and label sugary beverages. For its part, Coca-Cola has been accused of pumping money into misleading research that champions exercise over dietary changes for health and weight loss — the company has promised to increase transparency about these research partnerships going forward. But if our diets are any clue into whether a sugar cutback could be useful, they reveal a pretty big area for improvement. IS SUGAR THE ENEMY? PepsiBefore sugar was the enemy, it was fat. Headlines of the 1980s and '90s were filled with missives that butter, oil, and meat were killing us. Soon, grocery store shelves were filled with low-fat alternatives to every rich food: Margarine, skim milk, and eggbeaters lined the shopping bags of every health-conscious consumer. Now we know fat is not the enemy, thanks to an outpouring of recent research showing that in small amounts, probably no single food — be it salt, sugar, or fat — can be targeted as the cause of all of our problems. As several writers and researchers have since suggested, this process of demonizing specific ingredients harkens back to the crusades against Big Tobacco. Pepsi "Soda follows tobacco's playbook to the letter," Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and the author of the book "Soda Politics," which explores the relationship between soda industries, politics, and public health, told Business Insider. While there's no doubt that fat or sugar are anywhere near as bad for us as cigarettes (as Nestle says point-blank: "Sugar is not tobacco") some headlines seemed to suggest as much. And the food and beverage industry reacted accordingly, scrambling to remove fats from foods. Ironically enough, food makers began replacing all this fat with another ingredient: sugar. Hence the makers of yogurt, cereal, and snacks started smacking "nonfat" or "low-fat" labels on all their products. Even candies like Twizzlers and Lemonheads — which each contain roughly 20g of sugar per serving (close to half the FDA's new daily maximum recommended allowance) — were proudly declared "fat free." CONSUMERS, LAWMAKERS, AND A GROWING BODY OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SIDE WITH THE FDA: TOO MUCH SUGAR IS BAD FOR US Pepsi And as far as processed convenience foods go, soda may just as bad of an offender as candy. A systematic review of 50 years of studies published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition in 2006 found a link between the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages people consumed and weight gain and obesity. Specifically, the researchers found "strong evidence for the independent role of the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly soda, in the promotion of weight gain and obesity in children and adolescents," they wrote in their paper. In the years since, the research has continued to pile up. A 2009 study in the New England Journal of Medicine written by seven experts in public health, nutrition, and economics made the links between sugary drinks and America's obesity problem explicit: "The science base linking the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to the risk of chronic diseases is clear," the authors wrote. > The science base linking the consumption of sugar-sweetened > beverages to the risk of chronic diseases is clear. ONE OF THE REASONS SODA MAY PLAY SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OBESITY HAS TO DO WITH HOW SUGAR IS PROCESSED IN THE BODY. All carbohydrates — bread, cereal, or potatoes — are ultimately broken down into glucose, which circulates in our blood and gives us energy. Sugars get broken down quickly and tend to raise blood glucose the most dramatically. But while many foods that are high in natural sugars (fruit, milk, etc.) also contain other nutrients, like protein and fiber, which help build strong muscles and keep us feeling full, soda does not. A traditional 12-ounce can of Coke, for example, has 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar and no protein or fiber to help round out the impact of the sugar. This is part of the reason sugary drinks, like Coke or Gatorade, are called "empty calories" — they most likely contribute to weight gain because they don't fill you up. "The correlations between soda and obesity are extremely strong," said Nestle. According to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly one-third of all the calories Americans get from added sugars are from soda and sugary drinks. They get the other two-thirds from processed foods like snack bars, cakes, breads, and ice cream. And the science suggests that cutting calories, especially in the form of sugary beverages, has the potential to have a far larger effect on weight than exercise. "Studies tend to show that in terms of weight loss, diet plays a much bigger role than exercise," Philip Stanforth, a professor of exercise science at the University of Texas and the executive director of the Fitness Institute of Texas, told Business Insider. EFFORTS TO CURB OUR SODA HABIT In 2013 while still in office, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg tried (and failed) to ban oversized sugary drinks; around the same time, Berkeley, California, passed a tax on sugary beverages. And San Francisco recently slapped warning labels on drinks with added sugar. In all, 33 states have laws taxing sugary drinks. PepsiBut experts have said these taxes are still too low to meaningfully affect consumption, with some going so far as to propose a higher penny-per-ounce amount. And if Bloomberg's XL-soda ban was a test of how far consumers are willing to go to take action on sweetened beverages, the odds of a real shift in consumption aren't looking great. Still, once Bloomberg was mocked for advocating for a different kind of ban — outlawing smoking in restaurants and bars, something that has become the new normal across the US. Anti-obesity advocates are quick to draw comparisons between tobacco and beverage-industry groups, saying that the American Beverage Association creates its own science and misleadingly rebrands products in a way that is reminiscent of Big Tobacco's prior efforts. Now these advocates are attempting to use similar strategies to those that drastically reduced tobacco usage to do the same when it comes to sugar. There are signs that this change is coming, if slowly. Across the board, per capita soda sales are down 25% since 1998, The New York Times reported in October. Juice sales are similarly dropping, with orange-juice consumption down 45% per capita in the same period. On a related note, in November, the University of Colorado School of Medicine gave back a $1 million grant from Coke after discovering that the funds were spent on an advocacy group for that research. SODA COMPANIES ARE TAKING NOTICE, AND EXPLORING WAYS TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOSSES PepsiPepsi and Coke are trying to recoup their lost sales and taking a dual-pronged approach: In addition to trying to reframe products and convince consumers that sweet beverages are ok to drink, they're also investing outside of traditional sweet beverages. Nestle says these moves har ken back to the same strategy Big Tobacco used in the 1980s. "First, they attack the science. Then, they fund community groups, promote exercise as a solution, and say they're self-regulated and don't need to be regulated by an outside source," Nestle said. If soda companies want people to continue to drink sodas, they need to present evidence that the beverages aren't always the sugar bomb that scientific research is presenting. A major way to do that is to cut calories — not necessarily by reworking recipes, but by making serving sizes smaller. Coca-Cola is going "back to its roots" by shifting focus toward smaller cans and bottles. According to the company, retail sales of smaller cans and bottles, including mini cans and glass bottles, were up 17%. So even as per capita consumption of soda by the gallon goes down, sales of smaller packages go up. These changes allow the chains to put a positive, healthy spin on the brands without requiring major changes in sodas' nutritional makeup. For example, when the American Beverage Association pledged in 2014 to cut drink calories by 20%, that doesn't necessarily mean a can of Coke or Pepsi will have 20% fewer calories. It may just be 20% smaller. Last August, Reuters reported that Coke and Pepsi's mini cans — 7.5-ounce versions of the traditional 12-ounce sodas — had been one of the few bright spots in US soda sales in the previous month. "That's the soda industry's response," Nestle said of the mini-can campaign. "They want to be part of the solution, and they charge more for them." Pepsi Still, while Coke and Pepsi are exerting a lot of effort to make sure their namesake beverages stay on the shelves, the companies are also very aware of the need to bring in some lower-sugar options. In October, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi told investors that focusing solely on carbonated soft drinks was "a thing of the past." Instead, noncarbonated beverages are "driving all the growth in the whole industry." Nearly half of Pepsi's beverage sales are now in low- or zero-calorie drinks, juice, or sports drinks, more than double the proportion these drinks represented 15 years ago. In the past few years, Coca-Cola has invested in brands including Monster Energy, coconut-water company ZICO, and organic-focused Suja Juice. Both companies reportedly were in talks to invest in Greek yogurt maker Chobani. "Today, more than 1,000 reduced-, low- or no-calorie options are available in our global portfolio, representing more than 25 percent of the beverages we offer around the world," a Coca-Cola spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. (PepsiCo declined to comment for this story.) "Of our top 20 brands, 18 are now available with reduced-, low- or no-calorie options." Of course, many of these products are still high in sugar. (A 32-ounce bottle of PepsiCo's Gatorade, for example, can easily exceed the 50-gram sugar limit.) However, they do represent a major change in what Americans are drinking. SHOULD YOU QUIT SODA? It's no doubt that exceedingly high levels of sugar are bad for us. Sports drinks and sodas squeeze more of the stuff than we should consume in a day into a single serving. But, as a growing body of research is showing, no single ingredient alone can be blamed. Rather, it's the _amount_ and the types of food we're eating that need to be reassessed. Our portion sizes, for example, have ballooned in recent years, having increased up to 700% in some foods. Giant sodas masquerading as a standard component of any meal are no exception. NOW WATCH: How to know if you're fat


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A French man returning from Syria reportedly warned police in August that terrorists wanted to attack France

REUTERS/Social Media Website via Reuters Months before terrorists slipped into a concert hall in Paris and opened fire on revelers there to see a rock band, a French man returned from Syria and told intelligence officers that terrorists were in the planning stages of an attack, according to a confession published by the French newspaper Le Monde. The man, a young computer technician, is identified as Reda H. by the paper. Over the summer, Reda returned from Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the terrorist group ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh). He reportedly told intelligence officials in August that while he was in Syria, he met with a Belgian jihadist who asked Reda if he was interested in going abroad to mount an attack. According to Le Monde, the jihadist was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who helped organize the November 13 attacks on Paris and was known to European counterterrorism authorities. ISIS-affiliated terrorists killed 130 people in several locations across the city that night. "He said, for example, 'Imagine a rock concert in a European country. If you were armed, would you be ready to shoot into the crowd?'" Reda said, according to an English translation by France24. "All I can tell you is that this will happen very soon," Reda reportedly told intelligence officers. "It’s a real factory out there, and they’re really trying to hit France or Europe." Reda claimed that he traveled to Syria because he wanted to fight the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Investigators noted that the attack in the works that Reda described in August was very similar to the one that was carried out at the Bataclan theater in Paris. Three gunmen armed with AK-47s calmly shot into the crowd that night, killing 89 people, according to French authorities. Abaaoud reportedly personally trained Reda in preparation for Reda returning to France for an attack. Reda was sent back to his home country before his French passport expired. Syrian jihadists reportedly gave him €2,000 in cash and a USB stick with an encryption key that he could download on his computer. They told him to take a return route through the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Belgium — then wait for instructions when he got back to France, according to France24. Abaaoud reportedly told Reda that if he didn't agree to the attack, he would regret it. The jihadists apparently hoped that if they killed many civilians, France would alter its foreign policy. The night of the Paris attacks, terrorists at the Bataclan theater announced that they were killing people because they opposed France's bombing campaign in Syria. Reda told authorities that he never intended to carry out the attack, and that he only agreed to return to France to await instructions because his passport was expiring soon and he wanted to get out of Syria. France24 notes that "as specific as Reda’s testimony was, it was still impossible to pinpoint the exact target of the terror plot." But it's still unclear how Abaaoud managed to slip back into Europe through Greece without raising any alarms that would stop him, especially considering how much French intelligence officials knew about Abaaoud's plans to stage an attack in France. Abaaoud died in a Paris police raid in November after the attacks. NOW WATCH: Jerry Seinfeld interviewed President Obama and it was hilarious


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Hong Kong International Stationery Fair opens on 11 January

Jan 07, 2016 Picture:  Buyers will be able to have a more satisfying sourcing work at the onset of 2016 by taking advantage of Hong Kong International <Stationery Fair. The show is consistently regarded as one of the preeminent and preferred platforms serving the stationery and office supplies industry in Asia Pacific. Held from 11 – 14 January 2016 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the 16th edition is hosting more than 230 quality exhibitors from 15 countries and regions from all over the world. These are the British Virgin Islands, the Chinese mainland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. In addition, with a strong foundation already established in the industry in Asia Pacific, exhibitors from Korea, Taiwan and Thailand have again formed pavilions at this year’s show. They are organised by influential industry organisations: Korea International Trade Association, the Taiwan Association of Stationery Industries and the Thai Stationeries & Office Supplies Association. Year after year, Hong Kong International Stationery Fair offers a compelling gateway for international buyers to do sourcing and explore new business opportunities due to the burgeoning Asia Pacific market as well as the positive impact resulted from the easing of one-child policy in the Chinese mainland. Also, it is the priority platform for a growing number of leading and emerging brands as well as well-established companies which have chosen the show to promote their brands and demonstrate their innovative designs and quality products. Those joining the show in different product categories include 3+ Magi Mags and Le-Seal for gift stationery; MR Pen for pen & paper products; Dr. Kong, Fueki, Golden King-Arts, KIKY, Magruba and Mirage for kids & school items; Flamingo, Inozto and O-LIFE for smart office items and LUNA for DIY supplies. From the perspective of buyers, sourcing for products and navigating for the right suppliers is efficient and easy during the four-day event due to the effective product zoning. The fairground is clearly divided into DIY Supplies, Pen & Paper, Gift Stationery, Smart Office and Kids & School, providing a one-stop sourcing platform for local and international buyers. One of the show spotlights will be placed on the new “Slick and Smart” display area located at the entrance of Hall 5B and it will undoubtedly draw huge attention. The show organisers, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) have carefully nominated 27 stationery items which feature intelligent designs and practical functions. Audience will be thrilled by their high level of capability. Various forums and seminars demonstrate momentum of the show With a top line-up of speakers and most talked-about topics, the fringe programme running alongside the show promises to be informative and inspiring. To name a few, the Sharing Session on: Business Opportunities in Taiwan Market will be hosted by Mr Lin Chung Jen, General Editor for Book & Stationery Magazine. The audience will be able to fully obtain the latest industry trends in the market for mapping out business plans. As a continuously evolving and diverse industry, it is crucial to ensure the business will stay competitive in a global market. The seminar on “Push your Business Forward - Catch the Latest Design Trends and E-Business Strategies” is the solution to stay on track. Elites from multinational companies will offer profound insights into the 2016 design trends. Also, discussions will be centred on how to master the digital age. Speakers include Ms Consuelo Romeo, APAC Brand and Marketing Manager for Moleskine, Mr Raymond Leung, VP of Sales and Client Services for cherrypicks and Mr Stone IP, Founder of HisTrend.HK. The fair will be held concurrently with the HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, the HKTDC Hong Kong Baby Products Fair and the HKTDC Hong Kong International Licensing Show. For further information about the Hong Kong International Stationery Fair, please visit www.hkstationeryfair.com. - end - For media enquiry: Ms Rachel Leung Tel: +852 2230 9225 Fax: +852 2598 7919 rachel.leung@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com - Distributed via http://www.AsiaToday.com Category:  Manufacturing and Production Trade & Exports Event Trade Show FeaturedNews:  Show in Featured News TopPicture: 


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Ancient Greek City Knossos Thrived into the Iron Age

… of Knossos, on the Greek Island of Crete, is steeped in mythology … of imports coming from mainland Greece, Cyprus, the Near East, Egypt …


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Czech humanitarian aid for refugees in Greece leaves Brno

… aid designed for migrants in Greece for which the government set … night of Saturday in Bulgaria. Greece is the fifth country to …


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Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Christmas Day

Orthodox Christians in Russia, Greece, Ethiopia and other countries around the world are celebrating Christmas Day today (Thursday, 7 January). A special midnight mass was held in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill recited a Christmas Eve liturgy at the mass which was attended by hundreds of worshippers and the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.


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Why Thucydides is Irrelevant to the Greek Crisis

By Spyridon N. Litsas. It seems that references to Thucydides, and in general the Greek tragedians, have become a trend again in western media analysis ...


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Greece's fledgling oil sector steps up production

ATHENS, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Greece's sole oil producer, Energean Oil & Gas, has increased daily production by 60 percent since last year, it said on Thursday ...


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Police Break Up Gang Smuggling Iranians To UK

Police in Spain have broken up a smuggling ring bringing Iranians into Spain and then moving them onwards to Britain. Six people have been arrested in Madrid and Fuengirola after a joint operation with British police, the interior ministry revealed. The investigation began when a group of four Iranians, including a child, were detained in Bilbao airport heading to Britain with false Greek passports, El Mundo newspaper revealed.


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Grande Dame of Greek Theater, Anna Synodinou, passes away at age of 88

One of the most emblematic personalities of the Greek theater, actress Anna Synodinou passed away at the age of 88 after a long disease. Anna Synodinou who served also as member of the Greek Parliament was born in the town of Loutraki on November 21st 1927. An actress with a […]


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Greek Actress Anna Synodinou Passes Away at 88

Renowned Greek actress Anna Synodinou passed away on Thursday at the age of 88 at a private hospital after battling health problems over the last years. Synodinou was born November 21, 1927 in Loutraki. She is known for her roles in the films Thanassakis o Politevomenos (1954), Dollaria ki Oneira (1956), O Anthropos tou Trenou (1958), The 300 Spartans (1962), Electra


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Opposition Parties Need to Participate in Dialogue on Pension Reforms, Says Gov’t Spokeswoman Gerovasili

Greek Government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili on Thursday in statements to real.gr stressed the importance of the opposition’s participation in a constructive and of national importance dialogue to decide upon the social security reforms. Gerovasili underlined that the participation of the opposition parties in such a dialogue would strengthen Greece’s negotiating position. She concluded that the


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WSJ: New Democracy’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis Is Greece’s ‘New Year Hope’

Candidate for New Democracy leadership Kyriakos Mitsotakis is “Greece’s Glimmer of New Year Hope,” according to a Wall street Journal analysis. On Sunday, supporters of Greece’s main opposition conservative party will vote in the second round of the New Democracy presidential election where Mitsotakis is running against Vangelis Meimarakis. The former received 27 percent of


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Palestinians call for GREEK action in Aegean flight

The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday demanded the GREEK government act after two Arab passengers were expelled from an Israel-bound flight, ...


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Greek Opposition Vote to Determine Challenge to Tsipras

The race to lead Greece’s conservative opposition is heating up, with days left before voters choose who will challenge Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the ruling left-wing Syriza party.


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Politics in Macedonia has descended into a corrupt soap opera

EPA/Paco Campos There was a time when Macedonia looked like the poster-child of successful anti-corruption in the Balkans. The country’s scores in the various corruption indices were improving and a nuanced anti-corruption infrastructure appeared to be developing. No longer. After a slew of corruption allegations in 2015, an EU-orchestrated deal has helped push the country’s prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, to promise to resign. A success for the EU? Of sorts, but the 28 member block still needs to do plenty of thinking about how it goes about trying to persuade prospective and current members to tackle corruption. Macedonia is a young democracy. Independent since 1991 and a member of the UN since 1993, it is a country that has spent two decades trying to find its political feet. The country is not alone in experiencing problems along the path to democracy, but an ongoing dispute with Greece over the use of the name Macedonia and a political system where power is heavily concentrated in a relatively closed group of elites has done little to help. Nevertheless, by March 2004, Macedonia was doing well enough to apply for membership of the EU and in December 2005 the country was offered candidate status. For a period afterwards many things improved –initial EU Progress Reports in this area noted that the government appeared to be both taking political corruption seriously and trying tentatively to do something about it. THINGS FALL APART But a decade later, Macedonia lurches from one corruption-induced crisis to the next. In February 2015, Gruevski’s political opponents began releasing covertly recorded tapes revealing that members of the governing party appeared to be exerting undue influence on the judiciary and public administration – as well as the media. They have also revealed evidence suggesting that the governing party has rigged election results. Indeed, the tapes indicated that the prime minister and several of his allies (predominantly ministers and MPs) apparently had strong and consistent control over most public institutions. There was also the suggestion that the interior ministry had been party to the alleged cover-up of the death, at the hands of police, of a young demonstrator on election night in 2011. Macedonians in May 2015 carrying a banner reading: #I’m protesting, after revelations of high-level corruption. EPA/Georgi Licovski The ensuing crisis has done little to help Macedonia’s aspirations to join the EU. In the summer of 2015 the EU nonetheless managed to broker a deal between the various parties – the so-called “Prizno agreement”. The two main outcomes of the Prizno agreement are that elections must be held by April 24, 2016 and that the prime minister much resign at least 100 days prior to this – by January 15 2016. The other is the establishment of a special prosecutor’s office with the sole purpose of investigating and prosecuting corruption allegations that stemmed from the tapes. But the process appears to have run into problems. The special prosecutor has since been appointed, but she has faced strong opposition and has been effectively denied the resources promised to her under Prizno. Meanwhile the election of the secretary general of the State Election Commission (which will oversee the mechanics of the forthcoming poll), only took place on January 4, 2016, a good two months later than planned, and opposition parties have complained that the commission won’t be able to organise a free and fair election in time. For its part, the ruling party, VMRO DPMNE, has announced that if the April 24 election is postponed (which is a distinct possibility) then this will be taken as an indication that the Prizno Agreement has failed and Gruevski will not resign. Neither he nor his party will then seek to fulfil its requirements. The situation is a mess. And, as things stand, it is anything but clear how this particular episode will end. TRAGIC FARCE This is a tragedy not just for the Macedonians who have to live in what is tantamount to an ongoing soap opera, but also for the EU. And there are subsequently clear lessons that the EU needs to learn both in terms of how it seeks to tackle corruption and how it encourages prospective member states to move forward in this area. The EU was expected to be the main driving force for positive reforms in Macedonia, but the accession process has been well and truly stalled. The EU has been unable to offer positive incentives for Macedonian politicians to undertake reforms which has given political elites an excuse to maintain the status quo and the corrupt practices that have served them well. VMRO DPMNE has held power in Macedonia for almost a decade. The opposition is weak and has been able to do very little to stop – or even draw attention to – a host of regressive trends in a range of areas of which corruption is just one. If the EU wants to influence and maintain positive trends in the fight against corruption in Macedonia, or indeed any country that is seeking to join, then it needs to provide relevant incentives for reform. After 10 years as a candidate member, Macedonia’s leaders have rationalised that the EU is not serious about letting the country in. Macedonian elites have subsequently shown little interest in undertaking reforms that would be manifestly against their own (economic and political) interests. Only with the events of 2015, and the release of the telephone tapes, have we seen anything resembling an impetus for change. With no compromise in sight with Greece over the name of the country, the EU is in an impossible position. Turkeys, as they say, don’t vote for Christmas – and expecting Macedonia’s bickering politicians to undertake reform is fanciful. Reform takes place when interested parties have an interest in undertaking it – and in this case that means finding a path towards Macedonian membership of the EU. Even then, a whole host of challenges will remain, but there will at least be the prospect of change taking place. Eventually. _Liljana Cvetanoska receives funding from University of Sussex Doctoral School. _ _Daniel Hough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above._


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Pavlopoulos Was The Right Choice

When Prokopis Pavlopoulos was elected the President of Greece in March of 2015 many people questioned that choice, but he's proved them wrong. The post Pavlopoulos Was The Right Choice appeared first on The National Herald.


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For the first time since 1974, Greek Cypriots mark ...

For the first time in decades, Greek Cypriots celebrated Epiphany on the northern side of ethnically-split Cyprus on Wednesday (6 January), as momentum builds for a ...


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EU says Turkish efforts to curb migrants falling short

By Alastair Macdonald AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The European Union is far from satisfied yet with the results of Turkish efforts to hold back migrants sailing to Greek islands and will discuss the problem in Ankara on Monday, a senior EU official said. Frans Timmermans, the deputy head of the executive European Commission, told a news conference on Thursday that data showed arrivals in Greece in recent weeks had shown little change since the EU pledged cash and other concessions to Turkey on Nov. 29 in return for Turkish help in curbing irregular immigration. "Over the last couple of weeks, the figures have remained relatively high, so there is still a lot of work to do there," Timmermans said in Amsterdam, noting that he would travel to Turkey for talks on Monday to address a crisis that has divided EU governments and bolstered anti-EU nationalists.


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The Latest: Finns report tenfold hike in asylum-seekers

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is telling European allies the continent's open-borders system can only work if others share responsibility for the migrant crisis. [...] Merkel has made little headway in persuading many other European Union members to share the burden of people seeking safety and a better life. Merkel said after meeting her Romanian counterpart Thursday: "I don't want to make any concrete threats here ... but I would like to say that a Schengen (border-free travel) system can only work if joint responsibility is taken for refugees and joint responsibility is taken for protecting external borders." Immigration officials said Thursday 32,478 people sought shelter in the Nordic nation in 2015 in comparison to 3,651 in 2014. Finnish immigration officials said earlier this week that recent measures by neighboring Sweden and Denmark to tighten border controls points have substantially decreased the number of arrivals. The countries of the visa-free Schengen Zone aren't supposed to have any internal border controls but member states can temporarily reintroduce them if they face threats to public order or security. The European Union says Turkey is not doing enough to halt the flow of migrants as countries in northern Europe tighten border controls in an effort to manage the arrivals. Turkey agreed in November to do more to stem the flow of migrants into Greece in exchange for billions of euros in refugee aid money, an easing of visa restrictions and the fast-tracking of its EU membership process.


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Rockcastle Florist firmly rooted in Greece

It had always been Donald Rockcastle’s dream to start his own floral business. The Cornell horticulture major and his wife, Eleanor, began developing ...


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A refugee New Year in a GREEK anarchist shelter

In Exarchia, a graffiti-daubed neighbourhood which the locals have dubbed an independent republic within the GREEK capital, anarchists are squatting ...


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The Greek Nightmare: Death by social contributions hikes for self-employed & free-lancers

I thought it was a bad joke or some kind of anti-government propaganda when I read the news yesterday: that self-employed and free-lancers will face hikes of more than 200% in social security contributions. I was wrong. It is not a bad  joke but a bitter reality. According to government […]


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