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Sunday, May 22, 2016

Cyprus parliamentary vote puts far-right in parliament

By contrast ELAM, an extremist party forged on the coat-tails of GREECE'S Golden Dawn, scraped past a newly-imposed 3.6 percent electoral threshold ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com

Tsipras Survives Austerity Vote, Opening Path for Loan Payment

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the main opposition New Democracy party, said he wants a new “truth agreement” with GREECE'S creditors to foresee a ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bloomberg.com

Jan Fabre: “I Supported Greek Artists, But Some of them were a Bit Stupid”

Jan Fabre spoke for the first time for everything that bothered him in regards to the Greek Festival, in an interview with Nea newspaper. “I supported the Greek artists, but some of them were a bit stupid and blind,” Fabre told Nea newspaper, on the ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

GREEK parliament approves reforms in exchange for aid, debt relief

"GREEKS have already paid a lot, but this is probably the first time that the possibility of these sacrifices being the last is so evident," Prime Minister ...


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GREEK MPs approve multi-bill, paving way for lenders to release more loans

GREEK MPs approved on Sunday night a multi-bill containing a range of measures, including another 1.8 billion euros in tax hikes and the framework ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com

There's a big sign that the US economy is about to slow down

The warning signs of a credit slowdown are beginning to appear. Late Friday, the Federal Reserve's weekly H.8 report showed that growth in lending for commercial and industrial (C&I) loans has significantly cooled off in recent weeks. According to Bespoke Investment Group, the annualized quarter-over-quarter growth rate of C&I loans fell to 15.17% based on Friday's data. Just two weeks ago this was 19.34%.  Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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Hedge funds are dumping stocks

Hedge funds sold a lot of stock in the first quarter of 2016. "The top 50 hedge funds sold off US equities for the second consecutive quarter. Funds unloaded nearly $55 billion worth of shares in U.S. equities during the first quarter, which was more than triple the value removed in Q4," said Andrew Birstingl of FactSet in a note Thursday. In aggregate, these funds decreased their exposure to equities by 6.9%, and sold off assets in every sector that FactSet tracks. The most sold-off stock, according to Birstingl, was Apple, while the stock in which funds increased their position the most was Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com

HOUSING IN FOCUS: Your complete preview of the week's big economic events (DIA, SPX, SPY, QQQ, TLT, IWM, XHB)

[colorful houses north carolina] That was a lot of work to go nowhere.  Stocks finished slightly higher last week, breaking a three-week trend of down weeks, but it wasn't without some big swings as Federal Reserve commentary and a final trickle of US corporate earnings gave markets plenty to react to.  The big story last week was the return of "Fedspeak" as a market-moving catalyst.  Meanwhile the retail sector continued to reveal poor results in the first quarter, though Walmart investors rewarded the company handsomely for a better-than-expected first quarter result that sent shares up by about 10% on Thursday. This week's earnings calendar slows down a bit and the economic calendar remains modest, with readings on the housing and manufacturing sectors dominating before the second estimate of first quarter US GDP growth comes in on Friday. TOP STORIES * THE FED CAME ROARING BACK TO LIFE THIS WEEK. After what seemed like months of markets knowing what the Federal Reserve was going to do next — short answer: nothing — a number of Fed officials this week signaled that more aggressive moves to raise interest rates could be coming. And soon. The action started on Tuesday with commentary from Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart and San Francisco Fed chief John Williams, who suggested two or three rates hikes might be appropriate in a conversation with Politico. Then came Wednesday's Fed minutes, which suggested a progressing-as-expected economy might be enough to push the Fed towards raising interest rates in June. On Thursday we heard from Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker and New York Fed president Bill Dudley, both of whom suggested markets are under-appreciating the likelihood that the Federal Reserve moves more aggressively on raising interest rates this year.  In an interview on Bloomberg Radio Thursday morning, Lacker said he supported an interest rate hike at the Fed's April meeting and thinks the case for raising interest rates in June would be "very strong." Lacker is not a voter on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the committee that votes and determines actual policy decisions. Lacker added that he thinks markets took "the wrong signal from us pausing in March and April" as a sign additional rate hikes in 2016 were off the table. He added that he's "comfortable" with four rate hikes this year. Markets are expecting one.   Dudley also emphasized that June is a "live meeting," something Fed chair Janet Yellen has stressed in recent communications though markets by and large discount this idea. Dudley added that if the economy follows his forecast then an additional rate hike in June or July — the Fed meets in both months — "is a reasonable expectation." Dudley is an FOMC voter. Many in markets had become are quick to dismiss jawboning from Fed officials as merely that, but the recent ramp-up in hawkish communication from the Fed is clearly in reaction to a market that had, in the Fed's mind, become too complacent with respect to the Fed's stated intentions.  And as Akin Oyedele wrote on Saturday, the Fed risks getting stuck in a perpetual cycle of reacting to the market's reaction to the Fed. Perhaps a June rate hike would snap us out of the "doom loop" so elegantly outline by Bank of America. [Screen Shot 2016 05 20 at 2.55.47 PM] ECONOMIC CALENDAR * Markit flash manufacturing PMI (Mon.): The preliminary reading on US manufacturing activity in May is set to cross the tape at 9:45 a.m. ET on Monday with Markit's flash PMI expected to hit 51.0. This would be an improvement from the final reading of 50.8 for this measure in April, indicating a continued, but still modest, expansion of activity in the US manufacturing sector. * Richmond Fed Manufacturing (Tues.): The May reading on manufacturing activity in the Richmond area is expected at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index should hit 8 this month, down from 14 in April but indicating an increase in activity during the month. * New Home Sales (Tues.): New home sales likely rose 2% in April to an annualized pace of 521,000 after March's number saw a 1.5% decline in the pace of sales to 511,000. This number from the Census Bureau is due out at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday. * Trade Balance (Weds.): The US trade deficit is expected to have widened slightly in April to $60 billion, up from the $56.9 billion deficit seen in March. * FHFA Home Prince Index (Weds.): The Federal Housing Finance Agency's reading on home price increases in March is expected to show a 0.5% appreciation in prices, better than the 0.4% increase seen in February. This report, due out at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, will also give us data on how much home prices rose in the first quarter of the year. * Markit flash services PMI (Weds.): The preliminary reading on US service sector activity in May is expected to cross at 9:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday, and economists expected this reading will rise to 53.0 from 52.8 at the end of April. * Initial Jobless Claims (Thurs.): The weekly report on initial jobless claims should show new filing for unemployment insurance totaled 275,000 last week, down slightly from the 278,000 seen the week prior and still a slight uptick from recent readings. * Durable Goods Orders (Thurs.): Durable goods orders are expected to rise 0.4% in April, down from the 1.3% increase seen in March. Excluding airline and defense orders, durable goods orders should rise 0.3% in April. * Pending Home Sales (Thurs.): Economists expect the number of homes under contract in April will rise 0.7% from the prior month when the National Association of Realtors' latest pending home sales report comes out at 10:00 a.m. ET on Thursday. * First Quarter GDP, Second Estimate (Fri.): The second estimate of first quarter GDP growth is expected to show the US economy grew 0.9% to start the year, up from the 0.5% indicated in the first estimate of this number. Personal consumption is also expected to be revised up, to growth of 2.1% from 1.9% at first blush, while both GDP prices on a headline and "core" basis — excluding food and energy — are expected to be unchanged.  * University of Michigan Consumer Confidence (Fri.): The final reading on consumer confidence in May from the University of Michigan is expected to come in at 95.5 when the report is released Friday morning. This follows May's preliminary reading of 95.8, which was a huge beat relative to expectations after this measure pulled back some in April. MARKET COMMENTARY Markets are about trust. And the one thing markets are missing right now is exactly that. On Sunday, Linette Lopez summarized all the ways markets right now are sort of almost maybe functioning as well as some would like, but that there's still some little piece missing. And that piece is trust, true belief that markets are working and yielding the sorts of economic outcomes (read: growth) you'd hope to achieve.  Citing commentary from luminaries such as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Bank of England economist Andy Haldane — who is probably the most creative thinker among major central bank officials in the world — Linette outlines a world of confidence, and perhaps even conviction in markets, but one that lacks trust, an ultimate faith that the system works and that the system will hold.  "Evidence has emerged, both micro and macro, to suggest trust may play a crucial role in value creation. At the micro level, there is now ample evidence the degree of trust or social capital within a company contributes positively to its value creation capacity," Haldane said in a speech on Wednesday titled "The Great Divide." "At the macro level, there is now a strong body of evidence, looking across a large range of countries and over long periods of time, that high levels of trust and co-operation are associated with higher economic growth. "Put differently, a lack of trust jeopardizes one of finance’s key societal functions — higher growth."  Economists at the IMF expect the world economy will grow 3.2%. Not great, but not terrible. And while many economists and observers will cite things like political instability or demographic trends as reasons for a lack of robust economic growth, it seems that a missing baseline belief that our current systems are something we can believe is the single-biggest missing ingredient right now.  SEE ALSO: AMERICAN COMPANIES ARE 'MASKING' A $6.6 TRILLION PILE OF DEBT Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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Greek court blocks EU plan to send Syrian refugees back to Turkey

… Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that a secondary appeals panel on the Greek island … million refugees have travelled through Greece since 2015, according to UN … landfall in Europe.   Repatriation from Greece was one of the main …


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT world.einnews.com

Greece passes new cuts to unblock funds

… in parliament on Sunday The Greek parliament has passed new budget … by 153 votes to 145. Greece agreed to a third bailout …


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Greek parliament approves controversial new bailout measures: AFP

Greek lawmakers on Sunday adopted fresh cuts and tax hikes ahead of Tuesday's Eurogroup meeting expected to unlock much-needed bailout funds for the debt-ridden country. The 7,000-page bill and contingency mechanism to further slash spending in case of ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.france24.com

Greek Parliament Vote on Prior Actions Bill

After the heated debate the Greek Parliament voted on Sunday on the multi-bill that includes measures demanded by Greece’s lenders to close the first program review as 153 MPs voted in favor, 145 voted against. Speaking in parliament, government ...


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Greek parliament approves bailout reforms before Eurogroup meeting

Thomson ReutersA Greek national flag flutters atop the parliament building in Athens ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek lawmakers approved on Sunday a bill which increases tax, creates a new privatization fund and frees up the sale of non performing loans in ...


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Greek Lawmakers Narrowly Approve Austerity Legislation

ATHENS — After days of heated debate, Greek lawmakers voted narrowly on Sunday to approve a fresh set of financial measures aimed at ensuring that eurozone finance ministers will decide this week to unlock billions of euros in badly needed rescue loans ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nytimes.com

Greece bailout: MPs approve new cuts to unblock bailout funds

The Greek parliament has passed new budget cuts and tax rises days before a eurozone meeting expected to unblock much-needed bailout funds. The government led by the leftist Syriza coalition passed the unpopular bill by 153 votes to 145. Greece agreed to a ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bbc.com

Greece passes omnibus reform bill to comply with bailout

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's parliament has passed an omnibus reform bill providing for tax hikes, more austerity reforms and a new privatization superfund, which will manage almost all state property. There was one small dent in the left-led ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ksl.com

New University Museum exhibit highlights antiquities collection

Dozens of ancient GREEK and Roman artifacts are coming out of the vault for “Gods and Men: Iconography and Identity of the Ancient World,” the ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.oxfordeagle.com

House Rules' Luke and Cody Cook fail in Brisbane plate smashing contest

Competing in a plate smashing competition at the Paniyiri GREEK Festival in Brisbane on Sunday, the larrikin twins tried their hand at the ...


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

EgyptAir crash: Flight data indicates smoke detectors were triggered

On Friday, the GREEK Defense Minister, Panos Kammenos announced the discovery of a body part, two seats and a luggage from the missing EgyptAir ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.africanews.com

GREEK Cypriots vote at a slow pace

As GREEK Cypriots vote for a new parliament on Sunday, the turnout remains uncertain even a couple of hours before closing time at 6pm, with only ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT in-cyprus.com

Understanding Genocide and Our Remembrance as GREEKS

Last week Pontian GREEKS throughout the world justifiably recognized a tragic day in their history that has come to be known as the Pontian Genocide.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.pappaspost.com

Casual Dining: Swisse CEO goes GREEK with stake in George Calombaris chain

Mr Sali's $250m investment fund has bought a one third stake and wants to take the GREEK street food chain national, and then offshore. Paul Jeffers.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.afr.com

Man sexually abused by former priest sues GREEK Orthodox diocese

He claimed the GREEK Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, its leader Metropolitan Methodios, the GREEK Orthodox Archdiocese of America, based in New ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT bangordailynews.com

GREEK Cyprus ruling conservatives hold slim lead in parliamentary vote exit poll

GREEK Cyprus's ruling conservatives held a slim lead on May 22 parliamentary elections, an exit poll by state television showed after the end of voting.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Several attend 44th annual Oakland GREEK Festival

OAKLAND (KRON) — The 44th annual Oakland GREEK Festival took place on Saturday with several people in attendance, including Mayor Libby ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT kron4.com

Young Gozitan volunteer describes life in a GREEK refugee camp

Refugees and migrants wait to be registered at the Moria refugee camp on the GREEK island of Lesbos last November. Photo: Alkis Konstantinidis/ ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.timesofmalta.com

Germany and the coming GREEK debt default

I believe the financial markets have not priced in the risk of a sovereign GREEK default in July, without an IMF bailout deal. It does not help that the ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.khaleejtimes.com

State formula preserves its rights in OTE

The 2008 deal offers special rights to the GREEK state, such as a higher number of seats on the board despite its relatively low participation in OTE's ...


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Food and fellowship GREEK Festival favorites

MANSFIELD - Fr. Michael Ellis made the claim that the food found at the Sts. Constantine and Helen GREEK Orthodox Church Festival is the best and ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.richlandsource.com

Lisenbee: DEC's deer numbers have more to the story

The numbers released in the 2015 report indicate trends that hunters should be paying attention to. email · print. Comment. By Len Lisenbee. GREECE ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.greecepost.com

Gunshot victim found on West Ridge Road in Rochester

A male gunshot victim is in guarded condition after being found on West Ridge Road. email · print. Comment. By News partner News10 NBC. GREECE ...


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Cyprus parliamentary election gives conservatives slim lead

ELAM, a nationalist party of hardliners with affiliations to GREECE'S far-right Golden Dawn party, was gaining 3.78 percent. If the trend persisted, it would ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.trust.org

ND Leader: The Contingency Mechanism Shows GREECE'S Creditors don't Trust Tsipras

mitsotakis2 The demand for a contingency mechanism shows GREECE'S creditors don't trust Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, New Democracy ...


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The EU and IMF deal over Southern Europe hangs over the Brexit debate

The International Monetary Fund thinks, quite rightly, that GREECE can never repay ... It also thinks that GREECE should not have to pay any interest on its ...


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

GREECE On Backup for EgyptAir Flight Search

GREECE On Backup for EgyptAir Flight Search. Greek authorities remained on standby Saturday to help with the ongoing multinational search and ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.newsghana.com.gh

Athletics-Meeting Rabat men/women results

Konstadinos Baniotis (GREECE) 2.25 3=. Edgar Rivera (Mexico) 2.25 5. Robert Grabarz (Britain) 2.25 6. Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) 2.25 7.


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UN's aid summit is a 'big circus' that won't live up to its ambitions, says MSF head

Refugees in Idomeni, GREECE. More than 60 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide Credit: KOSTAS TSIRONIS/REUTERS. 22 May ...


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Rio Roll Call: GREECE Snags Late Men's Medley Relay Berth At Euros

A last-minute surge has pushed GREECE into a potential Olympic berth in the men's 4x100 medley relay, thanks to a fourth-place finish at the European ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT swimswam.com

GREECE poised to pass fresh austerity measures to secure bail-out cash

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup, said this weekend that he was confident that GREECE'S creditors could agree on a debt relief deal for ...


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

Cyprus Holds 1st Parliamentary Election Since 2013 Debt Bailout

Demonstrators shout slogans against austerity during a protest in support of GREECE, in front of the European Union office in Nicosia, Cyprus, July 4, ...


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PM Tsipras: ND Leader Identifies with the Harshest Positions of the Institutions

He went on to say that GREECE'S problem is that it is negotiating with many parties, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanding very tough ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com

Yield curve shows investors still see short-term risk in GREECE

This means that the market continues to sees an increased risk in GREECE in the short term. Still, prices have covered much of the ground lost in the last ...


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Thessaloniki: A magnificent synagogue revealed from the past

But throughout this long journey, the urge to preserve the Jewish heritage of GREECE was not only an academic pursuit but primarily a dedication to ...


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GREECE to unveil fresh round of austerity to unlock bailout funds

People protest against the bill, part of a package of tax increases and excise duties being introduced by the government to yield €1.8bn in revenue.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com

The IMF, Greece and calling Berlin’s bluff

If Europe wants to continue to ‘extend and pretend’ so be it. But it should be with their own money


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Egypt Sends Submarine to Search for Egyptair Flight MS804 Black Boxes

The plane was traveling from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared with 66 people on board shortly after leaving GREEK airspace at around 2:30 a.m. ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nbcnews.com

American companies are 'masking' a $6.6 trillion mountain of debt

[red mask Laszlo Balogh]Laszlo Balogh/Reuters Debt can be a good thing, it gets the wheels of the economy moving. Too much debt, however, can be a bit of a problem to say the least (see: the financial crisis). Well, American companies may just have a mountain's worth of problems according to a new report from Andrew Chang and David Tesher of S&P Global Ratings. "At the same time, the imbalance between cash and debt outstanding we reported on last year has gotten even worse: Debt outstanding increased 50x that of cash in 2015," wrote Chang and Tesher. "Total debt rose by roughly $850 billion to $6.6 trillion last year, dwarfing the 1% cash growth ($17 billion)." To be fair, Chang and Tesher do mention that the $1.84 trillion in cash that the over 2,0000 companies they analyzed are holding is the largest amount ever. The issue is, a big pile of cash doesn't help mask the much, much larger mountain of debt. Even more worrying, according to the analysts is the distribution of cash and debt among the companies they covered. "Removing the top 25 cash holders from the equation paints an even more concerning picture: Total debt rose $730 billion in 2015, while cash declined by $40 billion," wrote Chang and Tesher. [Screen Shot 2016 05 20 at 3.11.23 PM]Laszlo Balogh/Reuters  Now to be fair, cash isn't the only way to pay off debt. If necessary, companies can liquidate assets or refinance in order to pay creditors beck. Doing so, however, usually means that the company is in big trouble and is much less preferable. In S&P's case, one of the key factors used to determine a company's credit rating is the ability to pay down debt. So as the cash to debt ratio gets even more out of whack, debt problems could be around the corner. "Given the record levels of speculative-grade debt issuance in recent years, we believe corporate default rates could increase over the next few years, especially given diminished growth prospects in China, weak commodity and energy prices globally, and the sizable universe of lower-quality non-financial corporate debt outstanding," said the report. Therefore, the amount of debt and cash on hand to pay for it is not particularly encouraging. How did this happen? According to Chang and Tesher it's all about investor appetite. As we've hit on before, the so-called reach for yield among investors has increased the appetite for higher yielding bonds. These companies have clearly obliged, opting to issue debt in order to fund operations or return cash to shareholders. "This jump in debt reflects the scant resistance borrowers faced from yield-starved investors as companies pursued acquisitions and returned cash to shareholders," said the report. Some have said that this has led to a massive bubble in the bond market, or it could just be a cycle. Regardless of its future ramifications, it is by any measure quite a lot of debt. NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com

Here's the fastest growing city in every state

The US Census Bureau recently released their annual population estimates for 749 incorporated cities with at least 50,000 residents. We previously looked at the fastest growing and shrinking cities across the US, and now we turn to individual states. Using the Census data, we found the city of at least 50,000 residents with the highest population growth rate over the year between July 1, 2014 and July 1, 2015 in (almost every) US state. Unfortunately, Vermont had no cities above the population cutoff, and West Virginia and Alaska's cities in the Census Bureau's set all saw their populations shrink over the year, so they are excluded in the map. Here's the fastest growing city in each of the other 47 states, along with the population growth rate: [fastest growing city in each state]Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from US Census Bureau NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com

In Uniform We Love: Tsipras seeks last minute “equivalent measures” to have Kammenos vote for the omnibus bill

Debate in Greek Parliament reaches its peak as lawmakers get ready to vote the omnibus austerity bill of €5.4 billion, the last prerequisite in order to conclude the Program Review and reach a deal at the Eurogroup on May 24th. Keys points of argument between the coalition government SYRIZA -ANEL […]


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.keeptalkinggreece.com

New Democracy MP trolls his own party in Parliament debate

That was the greatest “OPS!” in the history of the Greek Parliament, I think. New Democracy MP Dimitris Stamatis told lawmakers that ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be Prime Minister of Greece in spring 2017! “The people elect the governments even if they make mistakes as in your case. In […]


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.keeptalkinggreece.com