How the world sees Greece
 The Atlantic Wire | New Greek "Brogurt" Makes You Strong, Improves "Sperm Quality" Gothamist I even watched that dumb TV show with her that everyone else is seeing—My Strange Greek Compulsion—and still she refuses to cast her glance at me for longer than a moment! What am I to do? Ares: Well, you have been hitting those Nymph Scout cookies ... Here Comes 'Brogurt' |
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Research shows diet can reduce risk for people who smoke, have type 2 diabetes or exhibit other unhealthy characteristics
Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in either extra-virgin olive oil or nuts cuts by 30% the chances of those at risk of heart attacks or strokes suffering either event or dying of a heart condition, research reveals.
The findings, published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, offer hope to those in danger of a heart attack or stroke because they smoke, have type 2 diabetes or exhibit other unhealthy characteristics.
The study also confirms that the diet common in southern European countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy, which involves consuming a lot of fruit, vegetables, fish and wine, and only small amounts of red meat or dairy products, offers protection against heart problems.
"The results of our trial might explain, in part, the lower cardiovascular mortality in Mediterranean countries than in northern Europe or the United States," the authors conclude. The risk of those on the diet having a stroke was significantly reduced, they found.
Spanish researchers led by Prof Ramon Estruch, a professor of medicine at Barcelona University, studied 7,447 men aged 55 to 88 and women aged 60 to 80 between 2003 and 2009.
None had any cardiovascular disease when they enrolled in the study, but all were at risk of it because they had type 2 diabetes or had at least three risk factors from a list including smoking; high blood pressure; high levels of bad cholesterol in their blood; low levels of healthy cholesterol; being overweight; or having family history of coronary heart disease.
The participants either followed a Mediterranean diet in which they consumed four tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil a day or another version of the diet in which they had to eat about an ounce a day of walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts.
These two groups were also told to eat fruit thrice daily, vegetables twice daily, fish as well as beans, peas and lentils at least three times a week, and have seven glasses of wine a week with their meals. The third group followed a low-fat diet.
When participants were examined an average of 4.8 years later, 228 had suffered a heart attack or stroke or died of heart problems – 96 occurred in the olive oil-heavy dietary group (3.4% of participants), 83 among those consuming a lot of nuts (3.4%) and 109 in the low-fat group (4.4%).
This corresponded to a drop in risk of 30% for those on the Mediterranean diets compared with the low fat diet.
The key components of those diets which improve risk of survival include moderate consumption of ethanol, from the wine, low consumption of meat and meat products, and high intake of vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, fish and olive oil, they said.
The researchers were so impressed with the Mediterranean diet's benefits that they all began following it.
"This large long-term study shows that eating a Mediterranean diet is associated with heart health benefits, including reductions in heart attack, stroke and deaths from cardiovascular disease," said Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation.
"While these findings aren't new they add to our knowledge and confidence that a Mediterranean diet can help cut down your cardiovascular risk. A well-balanced diet low in salt, saturated fat and sugar is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. That said, a Mediterranean diet should not replace your prescribed medication", he added.
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Invest In An Unexpected Greek Economic Catalyst Seeking Alpha Once a niche business, Greek yogurt now accounts for 36 percent of the $6.5 billion in total U.S. yogurt sales, according to investment firmAllianceBernstein (AB). Upstate New York, with its 28 plants owned by Chobani, Fage, Yoplait maker General Mills ... |
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Smoking is ubiquitous in Russia, with 70% of men and 26% of women lighting up regularly. Now Vladimir Putin has signed a ban into law – but will anyone obey it?
Smoking is a ubiquitous Russian habit. Long after much of Europe lost interest, Russians have continued their unhealthy love affair with cigarettes. In restaurants, bars, outside the Bolshoi theatre, and beneath the ornate porticos of Moscow's metro stations, Russians still light up.
But now President Putin – the country's bare-chested paragon of clean living – has signed a new law banning smoking in public places. From 1 June smoking will be outlawed in offices, playgrounds and station entrances, with a ban on restaurants, bars and long-distance trains following a year later.
Putin's ambition, it seems, is to turn around Russia's dismal health statistics. (Some 70% of men and 26% of women smoke; nearly 400,000 Russians die every year from smoking-related diseases. Male life expectancy is terrible too: a paltry 60.1 years. Female is 73.2. The population is shrinking.)
Poverty, fatalism, and unbearably grey six-month winters may explain why Russians cling on to life's simple pleasures, notably cigarettes and booze. And it remains to be seen whether the new "law" will actually work, in a country not exactly known for its judicial system, or its impartial application of official rules. More probable is that the police will seize on the new diktat to fleece – selectively – those caught in the act. The new fine for flouting the law is 3,000 roubles (£65).
Some establishments are already non-smoking. They include Moscow's smattering of hipster cafes frequented by the anti-Putin opposition. Here, activists can enjoy the illusion they live in law-abiding Europe. One favourite is a small, unassuming pancake bar in an underpass beneath Belorussky station.
The big picture, according to the World Health Organization, is that smoking is on the decline in the developed world, while rising in the developing. There are some gender differences: five times as many men as women there smoke. Meanwhile, smoking among women in affluent countries is going up.
But it's not just the Russians puffing away. Smoking remains rampant in eastern Europe and the former republics of the Soviet Union (yes, that's you Estonia, Latvia and Georgia.) There is also a lot of it in China and Greece. Even the Germans have yet to kick the habit – Berlin, so exemplary in other respects, is western Europe's smoking bad boy.
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Nicos Anastasiades must rebuild trust with the international community as a first step to put the island on the road to stability
Cyprus, the country now seen as the eurozone's next flashpoint, has a new president. Fifty-three years after winning independence from Britain, 39 after being invaded and partitioned and barely a decade since it joined the EU, the island nation has elevated Nicos Anastasiades, leader of the conservative Democratic Rally party (Disy), to the most powerful post in the land. Romping home with 57.48% of the vote – a presidential all-time high – will make victory sweeter. Stavros Malas, his communist-backed opponent, came in with 42.52%.
Anastasiades has craved this job longer and more ardently than anyone else in the Byzantine world that is Cyprus's political scene. And yet the saying "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind. The 66-year-old chain-smoking lawyer will replace Antonis Samaras, his equally ambitious colleague in Athens, in holding the eurozone's most unenviable brief when he finally assumes office this week.
Cyprus, like Greece, its closest eurozone partner, is in economic freefall – teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, trapped in recession and, with 50,000 people out of work, mired in record rates of joblessness and despair. Unlike Greece, it doesn't even have a lifeline to make light of the fall. Not since Greek Cypriots were forced to reboot their economy – and lifestyles – in the wake of the Turkish army's incursion in 1974 have they faced such a challenge. And the telltale signs of deprivation and depression – the angry graffiti, soup kitchens and empty shops – are there for all to see.
Anastasiades knows that the hard work begins now. And, with the slightly impatient air of the British-trained barrister that he is, he has been quick to say all the right things in his hour of victory. With one eye to Greece – whose own destiny within the family of eurozone nations is still far from assured – he has announced that his top priority will be clawing back the credibility lost through prevarication and foot-dragging by Demetris Christofias, the communist he replaces.
His second will be stabilising the economy by finally concluding the painstaking negotiations that have held up a rescue programme since June last year. It will be a race against time. Cyprus is shut out of international capital markets and only has enough funds to keep going until April.
In a replay of the Greek scenario, debt repayments loom. An estimated €200m in licence fees – paid by energy companies to conduct exploratory drills for natural gas and oil reserves in the seabed off the island – has helped the economy but not for long. To keep bankruptcy at bay a real lifeline will have to be found. If, as expected, it is in the region of €17bn, the equivalent of the island's annual economic output, it is likely to come with particularly onerous conditions.
That Greece has been largely to blame for Cyprus's plight is an open secret much discussed – and regretted – in the corridors of Nicosia's finance ministry. In private, Greek Cypriots will tell you there is little love lost between them and their cousins in Athens. After all, they say, had they not stood by Greece "in the name of solidarity" when it restructured its debt, Cypriot banks would not have incurred the gargantuan losses – which at €4.5bn are roughly 25% of GDP – that tipped the island into crisis almost overnight.
But Greece can also offer important lessons. And the first is the need to rebuild trust with an international community that until now has been far from convinced that Cyprus will actually do what it says. Indicative of that lack of trust are the accusations – made mostly by Germany – that the island is a haven for Russian oligarchs bent on hiding their ill-gotten gains.
But such charges are overblown. Precisely because the financial services sector is the engine that keeps the Cypriot economy going, Nicosia has actually gone out of its way to crack down on money-laundering since admission to the eurozone in 2008.
Like much of the ill-humour that has sporadically emerged among partners throughout the eurozone crisis, it points to a wider picture – in this case infighting in Berlin ahead of elections in September and the desire to keep German voters happy by piling the pressure on Russia to contribute to a bailout.
Both Berlin and Paris – reflecting creditors at the EU, ECB and IMF – have already made clear, in a statement, that they want Anastasiades to implement painful reforms. He has the mandate to do it. And the clout. Just as in 2004 when he went against the grain supporting the infamous Annan peace plan to reunite the island – and in so doing put his own political career at stake – Anastasiades must now take on the anti-austerity warmongers who will doubtless oppose change.
It is the only way to ensure that Cyprus does not become the eurozone's next flashpoint. And in putting Aphrodite's isle back on the road to normality, it will assure him a much bigger place in history that most leaders would crave.
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Volatile day for investors as markets lose some early gains as polls suggest political return for Berlusconi
On a volatile day governed by the downgrading of the UK's AAA credit rating and - perhaps more significantly - the Italian election, Royal Bank of Scotland managed to hold onto its early gains.
The bank, which reports results on Thursday, rose 9.8p to 354.8p on talk it could use the occasion to signal a partial sale of its US bank Citizens.
Weekend reports suggested RBS was considering a partial IPO to sell up to 25% of the American operation, which analysts value in total at between $9bn and $15bn. RBS is under pressure to continue its restructuring to make it more attractive to the UK government to sell some of its stake in the bank. Analysts at JP Morgan said:
As we have argued for over a year, Citizens offers optionality to boost capital at the cost of dilution of a strategically peripheral source of earnings (US retail) to RBS. We believe that Citizens might eventually achieve an exit valuation of 1-1.3 times net asset value based on comparison with its peer group. Although we prefer Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC in the UK, we see RBS shares as undervalued in a restructuring scenario and believe that the group can address regulatory capital concerns through management action.
Overall the FTSE 100 finished 19.67 points higher at 6355.37, having climbed as high as 6390. The early gains came despite the Moody's downgrade of the UK, which many commentators believed was already in the price, given sterling's recent weakness. Instead investors preferred to concentrate - at least initially - on the prospect of more measures to stimulate the global economy after comments from the US Federal Reserve late on Friday, and talk that the next governor of the Bank of Japan could be Haruhiko Kuroda, an advocate of aggressive monetary easing. On top of that came a survey showing Chinese manufacturing had grown for the fourth month - albeit slipping back from recent two year highs.
But that complacency ended abruptly amid growing signs of Silvio Berlusconi's possible return from the political dead, as evidenced by a number of polls following the Italian elections. The possibility of a centre-right win and a move away from the country's agreed austerity programme or alternatively, a hung parliament or a new election, sent shockwaves through the markets. So earlier gains were lost, and the euro came under renewed pressure. Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads, said:
The threat of an unclear result in the Italian elections spooked investors in the latter part of the session as it looked like the centre-right might take the Senate, but the centre-left the Chamber, with many exit polls conflicting substantially. This uncertainty flushed out some sellers later on as memories of some of the terrible elections that took place in Greece, which inflamed the eurozone debt crisis, have come back to haunt us.
Mining companies moved higher following the Chinese figures, with Antofagasta adding 33p to £11.17 and Anglo American climbing 39.5p to 1981.5p.
But Reckitt Benckiser dropped 135p to £43.81 after the US regulator approved generic competition for its suboxone treatment for heroin addiction.
Publisher Pearson lost 45p to £11.71 after it said this year's earnings would be flat compared to the 2012 figure and unveiled a £150m restructuring plan.
Marks & Spencer slipped 9.7p to 367.9p after weekend reports of further market share losses in clothing. Clive Black at Shore Capital said this prospect did not come as a big surprise, given the retailer's poor general merchandise sales to the end of December. He said:
We believe that there are virtues to the M&S investment case, most notably a good performance from its food division, better thinking in international markets and small but interesting developments in beauty and home categories. The biggest prize to our minds though is the potential for a step up in free cash flow generation as and when infrastructure and store modernisation investment is completed within the next year or so. However, such virtues do need for general merchandise to improve in relative and absolute terms and in particular ladies wear in the UK. We cannot hide our worry lines in this respect but we remain cautiously optimistic that gradual improvement can come through.
Shore Capital believes that if these factors come together then M&S can deliver an improvement in trading profit, sustain dividend growth (it has an attractive yield of around 5% already) and consider other shareholder friendly initiatives as free cash flow comes through such as a sustained share buy-back programme. The revelations of New Year market share do not change our views at this stage on the stock but they do remind the market of M&S recent weakness in their key category.
Still with retail Associated British Foods said first half profits would be ahead of expectations, helped by continuing strength in its Primark discount fashion stores. But investors decided to bank some profits following the company's recent share price performance, pushing it 15p lower to £18.15. Analyst Nick Bubb said:
The interesting aspect [to the Primark report] is that in its last update, for the 16 weeks to 5 January, sales were running up 27% overall and like for like sales growth was said to be about 9%, whereas now it is put at 7% for the full period. Other things being equal etc, assuming an even pace of new space openings, that would imply a slowdown to only 3% like for like in the last 8 weeks, but that may say more about the recently booming area of Germany than the core UK business. Interestingly, ABF say that Primark will see no further margin benefit from lower cotton prices in the second half.
Elsewhere ITV dipped 1.3p to 119.8p. The broadcaster, which has recently been lifted by bid speculation, also reports figures this week and Liberum Capital repeated its buy recommendation following talk of a possible £200m cash return to shareholders. Analyst Ian Whittaker said:
While we think they could do more (our ballpark guess was £250m-£300m), they are likely to be cautious. If they returned cash, it would be around 4%-5% accretive on our numbers but 5%-6% for consensus and should drive a re-rating, especially if ITV states it sees a return of cash as an ongoing feature. ITV is our top pick in media.
Property group Intu, formerly Capital Shopping Centres Group, fell 8p to 347.3p after confirming speculation it was in talks to buy Midsummer Place shopping centre in Milton Keynes from Legal & General. The centre is said to be worth around £250m, and Intu said it was considering various funding options, including a possible equity issue. Analysts at Espirito Santo said:
Even in the event of a placing, we would still consider disposals to be necessary to allow the company to make meaningful commitments to its more than £1bn development pipeline. We continue to believe that disposals in line with or ahead of book value will be challenging, creating the possibility that disposals are dilutive to net asset value as well as earnings per share.
Intu.. consistently fails to deliver total returns which exceed our assumed 8.5% cost of equity hurdle in our forecasts to 2015. Unexciting returns and our long-held concerns over capital discipline mean we remain sellers.
Housebuilder Persimmon said selling prices rose by 6% last year to £175,640 helping it record a 52% increase in profits to £225.1m. The company said it had made a strong start to the new year, with forward sales reaching £1bn, up 9% on last year. Meanwhile smaller rival Bovis Homes reported a 5% rise in house prices to £170,700, with profits up 69% to £54.1m.
Persimmon shares fell 11p to 898.5p while Bovis dropped 12p to 660p.
Domino's Pizza served up record profits last year but since then its business has been hit by the wintery weather.
The takeaway specialist said 2012 profits, including start up losses of £3m from its businesses in Germany and Switzerland, rose 10.8% to £46.7m, with online sales now accounting for nearly 56% of its deliveries.
But like for like sales in the first seven weeks of the new year were up just 1.6% compared to 3.8% during the same period last year, and its shares fell 12p to 525.5p.
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Entertainer's posters with swastika-Star of David logo draws ire of Greek Jews Jewish Telegraphic Agency ATHENS, Greece (JTA) -- Greek Jews want posters featuring a symbol of an intertwined swastika and Star of David to promote a nightclub entertainer's shows to be taken down. The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece has complained to ... Greek Entertainer under Fire for Swastika-Star of David Logo |
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 Business Insider | Media Group Alleges Criminal Charges Filed Against 2 Senior Leo Burnett Execs Business Insider Antenna Group, a small international media and entertainment company, says that a prosecutor in Greece has filed a criminal complaint against a Publicis Groupe svp and the CEO of Publicis' defunct Leo Burnett division in Greece over alleged unpaid ... |
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 Kathimerini | IKEA withdraws meatballs from restaurants in Greece and 13 other European ... Kathimerini Furniture retailer IKEA has said it is removing Swedish meatballs from its restaurants in Greece after traces of horsemeat were found in the same product in the Czech Republic. The company said in a statement on its Facebook page that it would be ... |
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Greek prison guards have foiled a plot to help a convicted killer escape from prison for the fourth time by shooting him and forcing a helicopter full of heavily armed men to land in a car park.
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 Kathimerini | Bank of Greece: Output down 20.1 percent Huffington Post ATHENS, Greece — The recession in Greece has cut output by 20.1 percent between 2008 and 2012, but the country's economy is "clearly improving" after avoiding the dangers of a default and euro exit, the governor of the Bank of Greece said Monday. Bank of Greece chief warns of tough 2013 for Greece before recovery next year Greece Gradually Emerging From Crisis, ECB's Provopoulos Says Bank of Greece Sees Recovery In 2014 If Reform Targets Met |
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Red Cross to send less blood to Greece swissinfo.ch Annual shipments of around 28,000 blood pockets to Greece have been considered part of the SRC's humanitarian mandate. Around ten per cent of the Greek population suffers from thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder that results in the excessive ... |
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Greek and Spanish patients can now read EAU Patient Information in their ... News-Medical.net Greek and Spanish-speaking patients with kidney or ureteral stones can now read EAU Patient Information in their native language. The Endourology, Laparoscopy and Urotechnology Section of the Hellenic Urologic Association (HUA) has provided the ... |
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Furniture store says it has removed meatballs as precaution after Czech food inspectors found horse DNA
Ikea has withdrawn a batch of Swedish meatballs from its 18 UK sites and stopped sales from the same run in 12 other European countries after Czech inspectors found equine DNA in a consignment last week.
The Scandinavian furniture store said the clearance in its Swedish food market section of its store was a precaution as it became the latest company caught up in the Europe-wide horsemeat scandal.
Ikea was told by authorities in the Czech Republic last week and refilled its UK shelves with new stock on Friday, although the country's State Veterinary Administration only announced on Monday that it had found evidence of horse during DNA tests on products labelled as beef and pork meatballs from Ikea in the city of Brno.
The consignment of Kottbullar meatballs had not been distributed to consumers, the government body said. Ikea said the meatballs were made by a single Swedish supplier, which it was not naming at present. Ikea said it took the Czech results "showing indications of traces of horse meat" seriously and "immediately issued a sales stop" of the batch in which indications of horsemeat were identified in Czech Republic.
Consignments from the same batch had gone to the UK, Slovakia, Hungary, France, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland.
The group said it had begun its own DNA tests on the meatball range two weeks ago and 12 samples of different batches showed no traces of horsemeat.
"To validate the test results, we are now initiating further tests on the same production batch in which the Czech Republic authorities found indications of horsemeat. We are expecting test results in the coming days and will then be able to give more information."
The horsemeat was found in 1kg packs of frozen meatballs. A total of 760kg of the meatballs were stopped from reaching the shelves.
The group has 18 stores in the UK, and is established in 44 countries with annual sales of £23.6bn.
Ministers from across the EU are meeting in Brussels to discuss the crisis.
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Greek economy to slump 4.5 pct in 2013, recovery seen next yr-cenbank Reuters North Korea threatens ”final destruction” of South Korea. Sponsored Links. Greek economy to slump 4.5 pct in 2013, recovery seen next yr-cenbank. Tweet · Share this · Email · Print. Analysis & Opinion. Budget 2013: India has no room for a populist ... |
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 CBC.ca | Windsor Greek community defers decision on Grace site CBC.ca Windsor's Greek community will take another month to mull over a "Greektown" proposal for the old Grace Hospital site. Mayor Eddie Francis pitched the idea to community members at a meeting Sunday and said they appreciated hearing the facts. "I think ... |
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 Kathimerini | Greek trade balance deficit down by 17.2pct in 2012, as imports fell and ... Kathimerini Greece's trade balance deficit fell by 17.2 percent last year on the back of a reduction in imports and increase in exports, according to figures published on Monday. The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said that the deficit, excluding oil ... Greek Trade Deficit Widens Sharply In December |
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