How the world sees Greece
 WRTV Indianapolis | FBI: Noblesville man took kidnapped son to Greece WRTV Indianapolis In court papers filed last week, agents write that Zagaris took his 12-year-old son to Greece, telling his ex-wife in Noblesville that, “she was dead to him and she would be to (the child) as well.” Agents said his threat mentioned that he and his son ... |
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Do leaders go Greek, or do Greeks take lead? The UTD Mercury One specific quandary would be the large amount of students who are involved both in Greek life and in Student Government on campus. With a current number of 42 senators, 38 percent of them belong to the Greek community, even though Greeks only ... |
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Alabama teen to play on American softball team in Greece The Republic The junior, a starting varsity pitcher since eighth grade, was selected to play with America's Team, a group that will tour Greece and Italy on July 22-30. During four days, she will compete in eight games against the Greek and Italian national teams ... |
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News Summary: Metal robbers on the rise in Greece MiamiHerald.com THE OLD: When Greece adopted the euro, it poured billions into modernizing its infrastructure, building spectacular bridges, highways, and a brand new rail transit network for Athens. THE NEW: Now, locked in recession and crushed by debt, Greeks are ... |
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Syria's Assad meets new Greek Orthodox leader GlobalPost President Bashar al-Assad met on Monday with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Yuhanna X Yazigi, state media reported, a day after the newly-enthroned leader appealed for dialogue and peace in the war-torn Syria. "President Bashar al-Assad welcomed Patriarch ... |
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News Summary: Greek farmers launch daily blockades MiamiHerald.com TOUGH ROW TO HOE: Greece's farmers launched a campaign of highway blockades, as the conservative-led government said deep spending cuts were helping the country beat budget targets. FARMERS MARKET: farmers are protesting a government ... |
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News Summary: Greece govt says deep cuts keep budget on target, but farmers ... Washington Post TOUGH ROW TO HOE: Greece's farmers launched a campaign of highway blockades, as the conservative-led government said deep spending cuts were helping the country beat budget targets. FARMERS MARKET: farmers are protesting a government ... |
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 NBCNews.com | Greek police disciplined over basketball clashes NBCNews.com ATHENS, Greece (AP) -A senior police officer in Greece has been suspended in the wake of extensive clashes at a basketball game that was interrupted for nearly an hour. The Public Order Ministry says a police brigadier general has been suspended, a day ... Mayhem hits Greek Cup basketball final Fan violence halts Greek Cup final Greek Basketball Player Hit in Head, Burned by Flare Shot by Opposing Fans ... |
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Two cardinals from Africa, a Canadian and an Italian are among those being tipped to succeed Pope Benedict XVI
With Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, speculation about who might succeed him when the conclave meets in March has begun. Any baptised Roman Catholic male is eligible for election as pope, but only cardinals have been selected since 1378. Among those who have been mentioned as potential successors are the following:
A TV star, "people's person" and a "wonderful" priest – the Ghanaian cardinal emerging as a strong favourite for the papacy is described by colleagues in glowing terms.
Peter Turkson, who is the president of the Vatican's pontifical council for justice and peace, was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003 after serving for almost 30 years as an ordained priest.
Turkson, 64, was born on 11 October 1948 in Nsuta-Wassaw, a mining hub in Ghana's western region, to a Methodist mother and a Catholic father. He studied and taught in New York and Rome, before being ordained to the priesthood in 1975 and appointed archbishop of Cape Coast – the former colonial capital of Ghana and a key diocese – in 1992.
As archbishop, Turkson was known for his human touch, colleagues said.
"We love him," said Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, the metropolitan archbishop of Accra, who was made archbishop in Ghana at the same time as Turkson and has known him since school. "For Ghanaians he was our first cardinal, and to be made cardinal in his 50s, was a big feather in our cap.
"Since then he has shown himself to be a church leader and a young cardinal breaking new ground."
"Cardinal Turkson is a wonderful person, very down to earth and humble," said the Rev Stephen Domelevo, from the Ghana Catholic Communication Office. "He lived in a simple way, and he was someone people felt very comfortable with. He is excellent at communicating scripture in a way that people really understand. He speaks many local languages – as well as European languages – and uses jokes and humour to really portray messages to people. He has that human touch."
Turkson speaks his native Ghanaian language, Fante, and English, as well as other Ghanaian languages and French, Italian, German, and Hebrew, as well as understanding Latin and Greek.
"Cardinal Turkson likes to be able to joke with people in their own languages," said Domelevo. "It would not surprise us in Ghana if he were to be the next pope. He has what it takes. It would really be a gift to the church."
Turkson's popularity in west Africa has been boosted by his regular television appearances, particularly a weekly broadcast on the state channel Ghana TV from 2006 called Catholic Digest, which airs every Saturday morning. He has maintained strong ties with his native country while carrying out his duties in the Vatican.
"Cardinal Turkson has kept up his links with Ghana," said Palmer-Buckle. "He comes home as and when his duties allow. He has served as chairman of the national peace council, he has been on the board of our university – he is a very Ghanaian cardinal."
However, Turkson has not been without controversy. He sparked outcry last year when he screened a YouTube film at an international meeting of bishops featuring alarmist predictions at the rise of Islam in Europe.
The clip, titled Muslim Demographics, included claims such as: "In just 39 years France will be an Islamic republic."
Pope Benedict XVI also attracted the ire of Muslims after a 2006 lecture in Regensburg, his former university, in which he used a quotation to suggest that contributions made by the prophet Muhammad were "only evil and inhuman".
Ghana, whose population is roughly 63% Christian – including around 11% of which is Catholic – and 16% Muslim, is known for its relative tolerance and peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians.
Colleagues in Ghana voiced approval for Turkson's stance on social matters, but said he would be unlikely to take the church in a radical direction on contentious issues such as abortion and contraception.
In the past Turkson has not ruled out the use of condoms but advocated abstinence and fidelity, and treatment for HIV-infected people above spending and promoting the use of contraception.
"In matters of scripture and morality, no leader of the church comes to change anything," said Palmer-Buckle. "But in pastoral matters, that is where the church has been much improved.
"When dealing with homosexual activity, it is morally wrong. The truth must be spoken but it must be spoken with compassion."
As prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, which oversees the handing out of mitres, the multilingual Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet is one of the most powerful men in the Vatican. The 68-year-old former archbishop of Quebec, who was appointed to the third most important job in the Vatican three years ago, has the power to make or break careers. His position makes him a natural candidate for the papacy, although he was careful to downplay any talk of promotion when he was chosen to lead the congregation in July 2010.
"I'm surprised to be today in this position," he said at the time. "And I don't think that I will become a pope someday, I don't think so."
Born in Quebec in 1944, Ouellet studied at Laval University, the Grand Séminaire de Montréal and the Université de Montréal before being ordained in May 1968. He has spent many years living and teaching in Colombia, which would make him an attractive figure to Latin American Catholics should one of their number again be passed over as pontiff. He was ordained as bishop by John Paul II and is seen as a close ally of Benedict XVI.
Despite his reputation as a traditionalist, in 2007, Ouellet issued an open apology for the church's pre-1960s attitudes, saying they had contributed to "anti-Semitism, racism, indifference to First Nations and discrimination against women and homosexuals" in Quebec. Three years later, however, he caused outrage after telling an anti-abortion conference in Quebec City that aborting a pregnancy was a "moral crime" even in rape cases.
Francis Arinze, who was born in Eziowelle, Nigeria, on 1 November 1932, has long been touted as a possible pope. Although his parents worshipped Ibo deities, Arinze – one of seven children – was sent to an Irish missionary school and soon set his heart on becoming a priest.
He was ordained in 1958 and went on to teach liturgy, logic and basic philosophy at Bigard Memorial Seminary at Enugu in south-eastern Nigeria and study at the Institute of Pedagogy in London. He was 32 when he was consecrated bishop on August 1965, and became archbishop two years later. Arinze witnessed the horrors of conflict first-hand during the civil war between Nigeria and Biafran secessionists, and was later asked by John Paul II to lead what is now the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, which is responsible for managing the Vatican's relationships with other faiths.
His ability to get on with those outside the Vatican has been widely praised, with one colleague remarking of his charm: "The beautiful thing about the cardinal is that he can say the hardest thing with a smile on his face and not offend people."
However, even the great communicator is sometimes unable to read his audience. During an appearance at Georgetown University in Washington almost a decade ago, he was booed for equating homosexuality with adultery and divorce, and claiming such sins mocked the family. John Paul II made him cardinal in May 1985, cementing his rapid rise through the Roman Catholic ranks.
He was hotly tipped to be the first African in 1,500 years to sit on the throne of St Peter in 2005, but was beaten to the post by Cardinal Ratzinger.
The election of Angelo Scola as Benedict XVI's successor would delight Italians keen to see one of their own back on the papal throne after a Polish and German pope. Scola, the son of a truck driver, was born on 7 November 1941 in Lombardy.
Ordained in 1970, he holds doctorates in philosophy and theology and was professor of theological anthropology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He was appointed bishop of Grosseto in 1991, patriarch of Venice in 2002, archbishop of Milan in 2002, and proclaimed cardinal a year later.
In spite of his place at the top of the Vatican hierarchy and academic pedigree, he has urged the church to do more to appeal to the modern world, arguing it needs to build on the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, which proved a landmark moment in Roman Catholic history. An ardent believer in the church's role at the centre of society, Scola has publicly bemoaned its inability to clearly communicate its message on matters such as marriage.
"One reason for the misunderstanding is that we Christians often propose this moralistically instead of giving reasons, instead of convincing," he said in 2005. "This is a weakness of ours."
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 KOMO News | Greek farmers launch daily blockade in protest of spending cuts KOMO News Farmers affiliated with the communist party drive their tractors through city center during a protest in the northern city of Thessaloniki Greece, on Saturday, Feb. 9 2013. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis). ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's farmers ... Greek January Budget Surplus More Than Expected Greek Budget Logs Surplus In January |
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 The Moscow Times | Greek Privatization a Test Case for Russian Popularity The Moscow Times But afraid of the unpredictable consequences of a Greek withdrawal from the European single currency, no western European or U.S. energy company has shown any interest in DEPA and DESFA. "[The Greeks] want to sail between Scylla and Charybdis," ... Russia΄s Sintez makes 1-2 bn euro bid for DEPA |
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Cosmote to sponsor Depeche Mode concert in Greece Telecompaper (subscription) Cosmote Greece will sponsor a concert that will be held by Depeche Mode on 10 May at Terra Vibe Park in the town of Malakassa as part of a partnership between Deutsche Telekom and the British music band. Cosmote gives customers the chance to get a ... |
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Strike Law Change Splits Greek Coalition Greek Reporter Greece's wobbly coalition is showing further signs of strain after the PASOK Socialists and tiny Democratic Left (DIMAR) objected to plans to make it more difficult for workers to strike. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras heads a government that is led by ... |
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The EU's own poverty standards show that Greece is in crisis. But member states won't admit their 'bailout' was to blame
European societies typically assume that humanitarian crises only take place in the aftermath of natural disasters, epidemics, wars or civil conflicts.That such a crisis could happen in a European country, especially one that is a member of the European Union, seems out of the question to many of us.
And yet a number of experts would maintain that Greece is currently in the centre of a humanitarian crisis. The head of Médecins du Monde, Nikitas Kanakis, the largest and most prominent NGO in Greece, was among the first to declare it openly. The port area of Perama, near Athens, in particular, is in the midst of a humanitarian disaster. The Medical Society of Athens, the largest professional body of its kind, has even sent a formal letter to the UN asking for intervention.
If this humanitarian crisis has so far been little talked about, there are political reasons why. By acknowledging the severity of the situation, the Greek government and the EU would also have admitted that the current state of affairs has been brought about by the so-called economic "rescue" of Greece. So the authorities have chosen to keep quiet.
It is true that there is no general agreement on what constitutes a humanitarian crisis. But the definition used by those with experience in the field is practical and straightforward. A humanitarian crisis is usually marked by rising poverty, heightened inequality in education and social protection, and lack of access to social welfare services. Particularly important indicators are loss of access to primary health services, medical examinations, hospitalisation and medication. In other words: when you see a crisis, you will not mistake it for anything else.
Greece never imagined that it could face a humanitarian crisis. According to the UN Human Development Index, in 2008 Greece was ranked 18th in the world. No one in the country really thought that this could change so dramatically.
It was false security offered by the institutions and mechanisms of the EU. Member states had to pay for this imaginary security by meeting demanding economic and political criteria. The paradox is that even the EU, the supposed guarantor of the security and prosperity of member states, has well-defined ways of measuring poverty, both absolute and relative, which show that a humanitarian crisis exists in Greece.
On the basis of the criteria and the data of the EU, Greece is a country in serious poverty. In 2011, 31.4% of the population, or 3.4 million people, lived on an income below 60% of the national median disposable income. At the same time, 27.3% of the population, or 1.3 million people, were at risk of poverty. There is no data yet for 2012, though things have certainly got worse.
Using further EU indicators, a large proportion of Greek households currently live in conditions of "material deprivation". A little more than 11% actually live in "extreme material deprivation", which means without enough heating, electricity, and use of either a car or a telephone. It also means having a poor diet, devoid of meat or fish on a weekly basis, as well as total or partial inability to meet emergency expenses or payments for rent and bills.
The ineffectiveness of European programmes for reintegrating the unemployed into the labour market and the lack of national social protection programmes have pushed Greece even further down the ranks of poverty. The adult unemployment rate stood at 26.8% in October 2012. This level, although huge in comparison to the recent past, still does not give the whole picture.
It misses, for instance, unemployment resulting from the failure of thousands of small businesses. To the unemployed should be added the working poor, ie, workers with such low wages that they cannot meet basic needs. At 13% of the workforce they represent the highest proportion of the working poor in the eurozone.
There are three more indicators that point to a humanitarian crisis. First, the number of homeless people has risen to unprecedented levels for a European country: unofficial estimates put them at 40,000. Second, the proportion of Greek beneficiaries of NGO medical services in some urban centres was recorded at 60% of the total in 2012. This would have been unthinkable even three years ago, since such services were typically provided to immigrants, not Greeks.
Third, there has been explosive growth in soup kitchens and general food distribution. The levels are not officially recorded, but the Church of Greece distributes approximately 250,000 daily rations, while there are unknown numbers of rations distributed by municipal authorities and NGOs. By recent government order, municipal rations will be expanded further because of rising incidence of children fainting at school due to low calorie intake. There will also be light meals provided to young students.
The evidence of poverty, inequality, and inability to access primary services confirms the increasingly desperate statements by people at the frontline. The country has become a field of humanitarian action, and should be treated as such. It is shameful for the Greek government and the EU to turn a blind eye to it. The international humanitarian community should respond with urgency.
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Mayhem hits Greek Cup basketball final Businessweek ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Greek Cup basketball final was struck by violence Sunday, with fans storming the court and tearing seats apart, and police using stun grenades to contain the mayhem. The game was suspended for an hour before Panathinaikos ... |
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 Kathimerini | Eurogroup to check on Greek prior actions; Cyprus and exchange rate also on ... Kathimerini Speaking ahead of the Eurogroup on Monday, Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou suggested that Athens was examining the implications of the troika's admissions regarding miscalculations about the fiscal multipliers of the Greek fiscal ... Eurozone crisis live: Cyprus bailout edges closer Euro-Zone Finance Ministers, G-20 Meetings In Focus |
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A Night in Greece raises $7800 Kawartha Media Group (PETERBOROUGH) On a cold Sunday night in February, a group of Peterborough residents spent A Night in Greece, raising money for affordable housing while dining and breaking plates at the Shish-Kabob Hut. The fifth annual Homegrown Homes event ... |
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 Kathimerini | Greece: Deep cuts keep budget on target, spur protests; farmers block highways Fox News ATHENS, Greece – Greece's farmers launched a campaign of daily anti-austerity highway blockades Monday, as the conservative-led government insisted deep spending cuts were helping the crisis-hit country beat budget targets. Mostly in central and ... Greece cuts investments to hit Jan budget target Greece: Farmers to start highway blockades Tax revenues down but Greece produced January budget surplus |
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Greek media workers go on strike over wage cuts, layoffs Shanghai Daily (subscription) The ongoing debt crisis which started in 2009 in Greece has hit hard Greek media as most sectors of Greece's economy. With advertisement revenues slashed, even leading media outlets struggle to overcome current difficulties, reducing costs and job ... |
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ETF Morning Call IndexUniverse.com Asia drops; Europe mixed and U.S. futures indicate higher opening as EU talks financial aid for Greece and Cyprus. International. Asia. Most Asian stock indexes were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Australia declined due to weaker metal prices ... |
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 Construction Week Online | Qatar to invest $1.34bn in Greek companies Construction Week Online The agreement was reached during a visit by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who was accompanied by his development and defence ministers and a team of Greek business leaders. Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani told a ... Greek Farmers Reject Samaras Concessions |
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