How the world sees Greece
British Court Bans Chobani from Using 'Greek' Term Twin Falls Times-News Fage, a yogurt company in the UK that produces some of its yogurt in Greece, brought the claim to the Chancery Division, saying that labeling product as Greek yogurt is deceptive when it is not made in Greece. Chobani, on the other hand, argued that ... Focus: Chobani UK case highlights provenance issue UK High Court bars Chobani from using “Greek” yogurt label Chobani Founder: Why |
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT magicvalley.com |
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nytimes.com |
 New Europe | Hahn: Greece needs to promote growth and jobs New Europe Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn spoke today at the conference on the 2014-2020 programming period held in Athens and stressed the need for Greece to use Regional and Cohesion Policies to boost growth, create jobs and build a better ... Speech: The 2014-2020 programming period: challenges ahead |
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.neurope.eu |
Schumer Secures Commitment from New Greek Peak Owners to Preserve All of ... WBGH Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer secured a commitment from the new owners of Greek Peak in Cortland to preserve the nearly 1,000 jobs at the resort and add new ones during an expansion that is being considered. Schumer has long fought to keep ... |
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 Kathimerini | Ex-SYRIZA leader Alavanos launches party advocating Greek euro exit Kathimerini Former SYRIZA leader Alekos Alavanos officially launched his new “Plan B” party on Thursday, advocating Greece leave the euro and return to the drachma. Alavanos led SYRIZA between 2004 and 2008 but has been mostly on the political sidelines over the ... Greek political veteran launches party to push for euro exit |
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 Greek Reporter | Turkish Akfen Plans to Invest in Greece Greek Reporter 1F5517C55FD65D0D66E8622369CB439E Akfen Holding, a Turkish company, is planning to buy Greek property and to invest in Greece, according to the group's president Hamdi Akin. Akin is particularly interested in Greece's marinas and airports. |
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Holidaymaker Andrew Symeou from London was extradited to Greece to face trial but was cleared of manslaughter
A teenager who was killed on holiday after falling from a stage following a single punch was unlawfully killed, a coroner ruled .
Jonathan Hiles from Cardiff was dancing in a nightclub with friends on the Greek island of Zante in July 2007 when he was hit in the face. Cardiff coroner's court heard the 18-year-old had confronted a fellow reveller who had urinated on them in the Rescue nightclub. He was rushed to a hospital in Athens where he later died – the day before his 19th birthday.
Holidaymaker Andrew Symeou, 25, from north London, was later extradited to Greece, where he spent a year in custody over the killing before eventually being cleared of manslaughter.
On Thursday the coroner, Mary Hassell, ruled that Hiles was unlawfully killed – but not by Symeou. During the hearing, Hiles's father Denzil, 62, confronted Symeou in court calling the university graduate a liar and saying he wanted to "string him up".
Symeou said: "I have never ever hit anyone in my life. And I have never, ever urinated in a public place, that's animal behaviour.
"I sympathise with Mr Hiles's family. To lose a son is the worst thing to happen in someone's life. But I did not kill your son. I am telling the truth."
The inquest heard that Symeou and Hiles did not know each other – and had been holidaying in Zante separately. Symeou and a group of friends had arrived on Zante on 8 July – with two more friends joining them on 12 July. The holiday was the first time the group had been abroad without their parents.
Hiles had flown to the resort of Laganas with a group of friends to celebrate his 19th birthday. The teenager's friends told Hassell they had been dancing on a "chest-high" stage in the club at around 1.30am on 20 July when a reveller urinated on them.
Mark O'Gorman said he saw his friend hit on the left cheek after Hiles had asked: "What are you doing?"
He said he was certain Symeou was the man he had seen hit Hiles.
But friends of the 25-year-old Londoner say they did not arrive at Rescue until 4am. And Chris Kyriacou said he was confident the group had not split up at any point of their night out.
He and another friend, Charlie Klitou, later signed a statement in a Greek police station saying Symeou had "panicked" and fled the club after a fight.
Kyriacou told the coroner the pair had been beaten into signing the statements.
He said: "First they put me in a completely dark room for around 30 minutes. Then they turned the lights on and around six other officers filed into the room. I was very scared and intimidated.
"They kept asking me 'what happened?' and I told them I didn't know.
"One officer went ballistic and grabbed me by my neck. I was then hit around the face and punched to the head.
"My thinking was 'I am just going to have to do what they want me to do'. I needed to get out of the police station for the safety of my own life.
"I did not know what was going to happen to me."
Symeou had already returned to the UK, and he told Hassell the first he was aware of Hiles' death was when he got home.
He also confirmed he had not made any attempt to leave Zante ahead of schedule - and denied suggestions from Denzil Hiles that he "killed my boy" while being heavily drunk.
Symeou said: "I did not drink lots that night, because I was out the night before and still felt ill."
He also said that after being acquitted of manslaughter by a Greek court in 2011, Denzil Hiles had shaken his hand and told him: "I believe you now Andrew. Get on with the rest of your life."
However, Hiles senior disputed this at the inquest, interjecting: "No you did not. I said you killed my boy. You can get on with the rest of your life."
He then later told Symeou: "I put it to you that you are lying - you were drunk and you did not know what you were doing.
"You got up onto that stage and punched someone and they died."
Symeou replied: "I wasn't lying and I did not lie. I know you will never believe me - but it was not me."
Returning a verdict of unlawful killing, the coroner said she was satisfied of Mr O'Gorman's evidence that Hiles had been punched – but was certain it was not by Symeou.
Hassell said: "Jonathan Hiles's death was tragic for his family – but they were not the only ones who suffered."
She added: "I do not know who the person was that punched Mr Hiles, but I am satisfied it was not Andrew Symeou."
Hassell launched a stinging attack on the way the Greek police had conducted their investigation – describing it as a "mish-mash of information lumped together". And when referring to evidence that officers in Zante had assaulted two of Symeou's friends she said: "I find their evidence utterly truthful and accurate. They were not just hit or bruised – they were badly beaten. These statements were concocted by the Greek police in a misguided effort to solve the crime."
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.guardian.co.uk |
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nydailynews.com |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Greece raises £23m from sale of London consul's residence Telegraph.co.uk Greece raises £23m from sale of London consul's residence. Greece has raised £23m from the sale of its consul's residence in London, bringing it a small step closer to its target of raising €11bn (£9bn) from privatisations to pay its debts. Greece ... Greek consul's London villa fetches £23.3m as part of state's fire sale |
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.telegraph.co.uk |
Body overseeing debt-stricken country's privatisation drive says it has raised £41.1m from selling four diplomatic properties
A small corner of Notting Hill is to play a part in reducing Greece's debt mountain, following the sale of the luxury home of the Greek consul for £23.3m.
The 8,700sq ft Victorian villa in west London has nine bedrooms and views of Holland Park, and has been sold to an unknown buyer for £3m more than expected in its initial valuation last September.
The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), which is overseeing the country's privatisation drive, announced on Tuesday that it had raised €41.1m from selling four diplomatic properties, including the London consul's residence. As well as the diplomatic residences, Greece has embarked on a fire sale of its sun-kissed islands, airports, marinas and royal palaces.
The Holland Park property has been in the hands of the Greek state since 1973, but became an asset for sale as the economic crisis took hold. Kensington and Chelsea is the second most expensive borough for property in the UK, behind Westminster.
What the Greek government and the consul have lost, Greece's creditors will gain. The proceeds will go to the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
TAIPED said other sales included diplomatic buildings in Nicosia, Brussels and Belgrade, with respective price tags of €8.3m, €3.24m and €2.075m.
"After all the delays in our privatisation programme, this has to be good news," one Greek insider said.
Independent property developer Julian Bryson said converting the west London property into an "oligarch's London mansion" could cost around £600 per sq ft – a bill of around £5.25m. This would pay for a very "high-end job" to install entertainment systems and ensuite bathrooms and overhaul the layout to turn offices into living space.
That value could easily double, he said, if the buyer wanted to excavate the basement to install a swimming pool and create extra living space, as is becoming typical for London's space-pressed millionaires, who are prevented from building upwards and outwards by planning laws. Costs would escalate again if the owner let loose landscape gardeners on the overgrown wilderness at the back of the property.
Nevertheless, Bryson said someone had made a good buy. "If I had £23m I would have bought it. It is a fantastic property." The unknown buyer's neighbours include Simon Cowell and Richard Branson, according to Marsh & Parsons estate agents.
"From Russian oligarchs to Hollywood celebrities it epitomises the glitzy, but it's also got a residential feel to it which is quite nice," said Bryson.
Although the borough is best known for chic eateries, upmarket boutiques and riding stables in nearby Avondale Park, it also boasts two state secondary schools rated "excellent" by Ofsted, estate agents point out.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.guardian.co.uk |
OSU extends deadline for Greek houses to join first-year housing program Corvallis Gazette Times But Larry Roper, OSU's vice provost for student affairs, said the university received no applications by the deadline, so the university has given Greek houses until May 6 to express interest and June 3 to pay the fee. “The deadlines were extended ... |
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 euronews | Rewarding the richness in Greek cinema euronews Athens played host to the Hellenic Film Academy's fourth annual Greek cinema awards this week. Gathering cinematographers, actors, producers and fans together under one roof, it proved the perfect opportunity to celebrate the new darlings of the Greek ... |
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Greece's Piraeus Bank plans 400 mln euro share offering Reuters ATHENS, April 4 (Reuters) - Greece's No.2 lender Piraeus Bank said on Thursday it will raise up to 400 million euros through a privately placed share offering as part of its 7.3 billion euro recapitalisation, with existing shareholders partially ... Piraeus Bank to raise 400m euros |
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 libcom.org (blog) | Greek islands against the Golden Dawn libcom.org (blog) Other attempts to set up Greek only food distributions on the island met with little or no enthusiasm. In another blow to GD on the Greek islands this week one of their members ended up being thrown into the sea after meeting some antifascists in Hania ... |
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More Than a Myth: Volunteerism in Greece Huffington Post In Greece, volunteerism is more than a myth. We see a sense of solidarity "αλληλεγγύη" and community "γειτονιά" that people are trying to redefine in the face of significant challenges. Volunteering through citizen sector groups is one form of ... |
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 Salon | Greek Economic Sentiment Rises to Highest Since 2009 Businessweek Greek economic sentiment improved in March to the highest since October 2009, when the disclosure of a budget blowout triggered what has become the euro-area financial crisis. An index measuring short-term economic trends climbed for a second month ... Greek coalition divided on emergency tax Greek mood gauge hits best level for more than 3 years Greek coalition leaders reach compromise on property tax as troika returns |
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