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How the world sees Greece
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
This Castle's Toilet Still Holds Parasites From Crusaders' Feces
The Greek s, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Ottomans, British and others all took their turns taking over the island, and each left their mark on the archeological record.
Azerbaijan's SOCAR buys Greek gas operator DESFA
Azerbaijan's SOCAR buys Greek gas operator DESFA EurActiv Greece is set to agree the sale of its natural gas grid operator DESFA to Azeri state energy company SOCAR, a senior official directly involved in the talks said yesterday (18 June). The deal appears to raise the chances that the Trans-Adriatic ... Azeri energy company raises offer for Greek natgas grid operator Struggling Greece Mulls Speeding Up Main Port Sale |
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Greek party leaders to meet Thursday over ERT impasse
Greek party leaders to meet Thursday over ERT impasse Reuters ATHENS, June 19 | Wed Jun 19, 2013 2:42pm EDT. ATHENS, June 19 (Reuters) - Greece's ruling coalition leaders will meet again on Thursday to resolve an impasse over last week's closure of state broadcaster ERT after failing to reach agreement during ... |
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Jean-Claude Juncker on the Greek crisis, then and now
Kathimerini | Jean-Claude Juncker on the Greek crisis, then and now Kathimerini With regard to a recent International Monetary Fund report regarding the Greek bailout which stated that a debt haircut should have taken place back in 2010, Juncker argued that the necessary tools and funds for such a move were not in place in those ... |
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Greek coalition wrestles to avoid collapse
Greek coalition wrestles to avoid collapse USA TODAY The dispute has rekindled anti-austerity protests, and even led to warnings from within Samaras' own conservative party that the dispute was putting sacrifices made by Greek taxpayers at risk. Outside parliament, left-wing opposition leader Alexis ... |
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Greek coalition signals state TV deal near, to meet again
The Guardian | Greek coalition signals state TV deal near, to meet again Reuters Therefore I want to reassure every Greek that our stance is a responsible stance." The leader of the other junior partner in the coalition, Fotis Kouvelis of the Democratic Left party which, like PASOK, was angered that it had not been consulted about ... Greek coalition in emergency talks after shutting down state broadcaster ERT Greek coalition talks drag on to end TV crisis Greek government back in talks to end TV crisis |
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IMF issues Spain unemployment warning
Spain faces the prospect of of high unemployment and sluggish growth lasting years unless the country and Europe take "urgent action" to slash the nation's crippling 27% unemployment rate and free frozen credit to businesses so they can expand, the International Monetary Fund said on June 19.
A report issued by the IMF praised Spain's reforms for stabilizing an economy that almost imploded last year, particularly by propping up public finances, but said the jobless rate is "unacceptably high and the outlook difficult."
After years of recession, Spain will probably start growing economically at the end of this year and into next year but the growth may not be enough to bring down the unemployment rate, said James Daniel, the IMFmission chief for Spain.
"The uncertainty is whether the recovery will be strong enough to generate jobs," Daniel told reporters.
Spain has been in recession for most of the past four years following the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector in 2008. Concerns over its public finances, drained as the government tried to spend its way out of the financial crisis, have also piled the pressure on the government to rein in spending.
The country narrowly avoided taking an international bailout like those accepted by Greece, Ireland and Portugal. But it did receive permission last year from a European-funded program to tap as much as 100 billion euros to save ailing lenders, and has taken 40 billion euros so far.
The IMF said it expects Spain's economy to grow about 1 percent a year over the next five years with "limited gains in employment."
The organization went on to compliment Spain for restoring credibility to its economic policies through a series of harsh and unpopular austerity measures imposed last year by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. These raised taxes and cut cherished government services like education and national health care.
But it said Spain "needs to deliver on its announced program, and indeed go further in some areas. The focus should be on a pro-jobs strategy that allows the economy to grow and hire."
The unemployment rate is among the highest in the 17-nation eurozone, and joblessness for Spaniards under age 25 is 57 percent. Many young and highly educated Spaniards have emigrated in recent years or are seriously considering doing to because the outlook is so bad for jobs. Top destinations include Britain, Germany and Latin America.
The IMF report also urged Spain to embark on more labor reforms for job generation after Spain already passed a host of measures last year making it easier and cheaper for companies to hire and fire workers. Among the other measure the report recommended were for companies to be more flexible with setting shifts, more collective bargaining reforms and further reductions on severance pay following dismissals.
"Spain needs to generate jobs and that probably means more flexibility on wages going forward," Daniel said.
(AP)
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Greek coalition talks drag on to end TV crisis
Greece's governing coalition failed to end a political crisis triggered by the closure of state broadcaster ERT, but said talks would continue Thursday to try and avoid a snap election. Conservative Prime ...
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Greek government back in talks to end TV crisis
Greece's governing coalition parties met for a second time in three days to try and end a political crisis triggered by the closure of state broadcaster ERT. Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras ...
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Greece court orders state broadcaster ERT back on air
BBC News | Greece court orders state broadcaster ERT back on air BBC News A Greek court has ordered that state broadcaster ERT, which was shut down by the government last week, can resume transmissions. However, the court also upheld a plan by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to replace ERT with a smaller broadcaster. |
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Greece's governing coalition in a game of chicken
Greece's governing coalition in a game of chicken EurActiv Yannis Roubatis is the founder and publisher of EurActiv Greece. He is a former MEP from PASOK. "The last thing that Greece needed at this point in time was a political crisis. Shockingly, however, this is exactly what it got after last Tuesday's ... |
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ERT shutdown: Greece puts pressure on Israeli firm over state broadcaster
The Guardian | ERT shutdown: Greece puts pressure on Israeli firm over state broadcaster The Guardian Officials in Athens confirmed that Greece's ambassador to Israel, Spyros Lambrinis, had held talks with the Israeli government after it became clear that RRsat, a privately-owned local company and subcontractor of the EBU, was continuing to transmit ... |
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Greek coalition in emergency talks after shutting down state broadcaster ERT
PM Antonis Samaras stages high-stakes attempt to avoid snap election and to appease the country's creditors
The spectre of Greece reigniting the eurozone crisis hung over an emergency meeting of the country's coalition leaders on Wednesday as the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, sought to defuse the turmoil that followed hisdecision to shut down ERT, the nation's state-run broadcaster.
After 48 hours of high-stakes brinkmanship by his junior partners, Samaras, whose centre-right New Democracy party narrowly won elections last June, went into the talks in reportedly conciliatory mood.
With the alternative being a potentially disastrous snap poll for Greece, aides said it was vital a solution was found. "The other option, putting Greece through fresh elections, would be mad," said one. "A compromise has to be found."
But the row over ERT, closed by Samaras in a bid to get 4,000 employees off the public payroll by the end of the year, has increasingly dominated headlines.
Instead of agreeing with a move that was aimed at placating the EU and IMF, the international creditors on which the debt-stricken country depends, his two junior leftwing allies have stringently opposed it, intensifying the faultlines in an alliance that was uneasy from the outset.
Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the socialist Pasok party, who has seen his own support plunge since he entered the coalition, has demanded that all 2,700 employees be reinstated before the public broadcaster is restructured.
Fotis Kouvellis, leader of the small Democratic Left (Dimar) party, said the state-run channel must be switched back on, in compliance with a high court decision earlier this week, before he even begins to talk about reforms.
Despite mass protests and opposition from striking trade unions, the conservatives have insisted the public broadcaster remain off air until a leaner and more efficient state TV and radio network is set up.
"It's fairly simple: a mistake has been made and it must be corrected," Pasok's spokeswoman, Fofi Gennimata, said before the meeting. "It requires bravery to correct a mistake, but that is necessary. It's not acceptable for an elected government to fail to comply with a high court order."
Samaras has also come under pressure from Germany, the main provider of Greece's €240bn (£205bn) in rescue funds, to end the crisis. Officials say Berlin is in no mood to have Athens reignite the debt crisis "just when Germans are beginning to forget it" in the countdown to the country's own elections in September.
As the only European country in history to have shut down its own state-run television and radio network, the government has also faced pressure from public broadcasters across the continent to reopen ERT.
With Pasok and Dimar badly trailing in the polls, snap elections, are the last thing either needs. "Samaras clearly miscalculated the effect his decision would have," said the prominent political commentator Pandelis Kapsis. "And since then all three [governing] parties have become victims of their own rhetoric. The possibility, this week, of the government collapsing was very real … From the start this was a crisis that didn't need to happen. It was born of mismanagement."
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Bernanke predicts tapering this year, as Cyprus denies seeking bailout changes
Fed chair says asset purchases will slow later this year, if its forecasts are right, as Cyprus's government denies trying to get its bailout obligations overhauled
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Repatriated Pensioners Lose Greek Benefits
Greece’s Ombudsman said that complaints by repatriated Greeks who receive small pensions from the countries in which they formerly live – resulting in them losing Greek pensions – are justified. The Ombudsman’s office found that many elderly repatriated uninsured or pensioners who receive small pensions from their countries or those who have not completed 20 years of ...
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The New Wave of Greek Yogurt
, people, and I know I'm not the only one out there. You too are likely bordering on addiction yourself, and it's people like us who have grown the Greek yogurt industry to 2 billion dollars a ...
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Behold Classical Greek Statues Dressed Up Like Hipsters
symposium on the topic averred, "All descriptions of hipsters are doomed to disappoint." Even so, everyone has the image of a hipster in their head: large sunglasses, stylized haircuts, old-timey barbs, skinny jeans, pastel shirts. Sure, that's reductive and it doesn't necessarily encompass the entire demographic, but you know you know someone (or several people) who fit the ...
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Greek coalition parties meet to try to settle state TV row
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's ruling party leaders met on Wednesday to try to agree when and how to resume state TV broadcasts, two days after a top court ordered the immediate reopening of the state broadcaster ERT, abruptly closed by the government a week ...
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Obama Tabs Costos For U.S. Ambassador to Spain
(Photo/Getty Images) James Costos could be moving from HBO where he is a top executive, to be the U.S. Ambassador to Spain after having been nominated by President Obama. President Barack Obama has nominated HBO executive James Costos, a Greek-American who is a prominent fundraiser for him and whose partner redecorated the White House, to be the American Ambassador to Spain. If confirmed, Costos ...
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Menounos Shines In Big Slim Greek Christening
Beautiful in Greece: Maria Menounos (far right) cut a striking figure in her purple floral frock to attend the christening of her friend's baby girl in Athens, where the American TV host showed her style and said she was happy to be in Greece. It looks as though Maria Menounos has got it right once again. The television personality lent a festive air as she attended the June 15 christening ...
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