Greece Outside In: 10/08/14

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Police in Greece Continue to Investigate Home Invasion Robbery

GREECE, N.Y. -- Police in Greece continue to investigate Tuesday's home invasion robbery on Polo Place. Police said three armed men robbed a ...

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Community Reaction to Armed House Robbery in Greece

Greece, NY (WROC) - Police have not made any arrests yet in Tuesday's violent armed robbery at a house in Greece. Police say three men with guns ...

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WORK HARD, PLAY HARD: The 20 Most Intense Colleges In America

College is about balance — yes, it's important to take your classes seriously, but it's equally as necessary to cut loose and have fun during your undergraduate years. Business Insider has created a list of schools that best embody this dual principle — the "work hard, play hard" mentality that many students look for. We found that there was no typical "work hard, play hard" school, and everything from liberal arts colleges to Ivy League universities to large state schools are represented in the following ranking. To compile this list, we used data from Niche, looking at its rankings of the best party schools and schools with the best academics, smartest students, best Greek life. Niche's college section — College Prowler — features close to 1 million in-depth student reviews on more than 8,000 schools. We've included a few quotes from each school's Niche profile in our ranking to help illustrate what the student body is like.#20 Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri "Amazing nightlife compared to peer institutions. Granted, we are no Arizona State but the students here know when to hit the books and when to party hard. There is a great hook up scene if you're into that." "The academics at WashU are superb. The teachers add fun and an innovative approach to lessons which create an intellectual vibe here at WashU." Visit Niche for more on Washington University in St. Louis. #19 University of Southern California Los Angeles, California "You can find any type of person at one of USC's parties. As long as you are a Trojan, there is no discrimination. Everybody comes together to enjoy the night." "USC is the best academically successful party school." Visit Niche for more on the University of Southern California. #18 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana and Champaign, Illinois "The social party scene is top notch and everyone always has a great time. Students are also responsible and know when enough is enough. The bars are always a great place to be to be social and most events occur there." "The program is great and the advisers and professors are very knowledgeable. The workload is definitely not easy, but my motto is always "work hard and play hard". There are many diverse internship options for students." Visit Niche for more on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Greece’s Holebas out for Euro 2016 qualifiers

ATHENS — Greece defender Jose Holebas has been ruled out of European Championship qualifiers against Finland and Northern Ireland after picking up a groin injury in a weekend Serie A match. The 30-year-old left winger, a World Cup standout for Greece ...

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George Clooney's wife Amal Alamuddin aids Greece's bid for return of Elgin Marbles

When George Clooney issued a plea for the Elgin Marbles to be returned to Greece earlier this year his sudden intervention prompted surprise among many of his fans and consternation among MPs firmly opposed to his view. Now it has emerged the actor’s ...

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Rugby-Greek Olympic officials call for government to back rugby

By Graham Wood ATHENS, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The Greek Olympic Committee (HOC) has urged the country's government to reverse its decision to suspend the national rugby federation's operations and back its bid to become a fully-fledged, professional sport. The state surprisingly withdrew the Greek Rugby Federations' (EOR) authority over the sport last month and placed it under the jurisdiction of the ...

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Turkey summons Greek envoy over Greek Cypriot suspension of talks

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Greek Ambassador to Turkey Kyriakos Loukakis on Wednesday after the Greek Cypriots announced that they ...

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Nederlander Gets Community Endorsement To Continue Operating Greek Theatre

NEDERLANDER, which has operated, managed and booked the GREEK THEATRE since 1976, has teamed up with AEG LIVE for the future ...

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Greece: discussion for the vote of confidence begins today

(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, OCTOBER 8 - The parliamentary discussion regarding the vote of confidence requested by the Greek Prime Minister is scheduled to begin at 6pm on Wednesday, with the procedure set to conclude at midnight on Friday, when the members of ...

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Ebola Prepaedeness on the Alert in Greece

A fully ecquiped Isolation Intensive Unit has been set on the Alert on Amalia Fleming Hospital in Athens Greece, to host any possible Ebola cases that ...

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Scattered treasures recall Greece Memorial Hall

... throughout Greece. (Photo: Provided by Greece Historical Society and Museum ) ... Take the former Greece Memorial Hall, 2595 W. Ridge Road.

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Stock's Buzzers:AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO), National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG ...

National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) along with its subsidiaries, offers diversified financial services first and foremost in Greece. The company ...

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AGORA: Foreign Policy: All the Fit News that’s Not Printed in The Times

From time to time, an issue emerges and inspires various minds to converge, often at odds with one another, to discuss it. Hopefully,collective enlightenment will result from such conversations. The Ancient Greeks did that in the Agora, the original marketplace of ideas, and we, their modern-day descendants, aspire to continue that tradition. We respect one […] The post AGORA: Foreign Policy: All the Fit News that’s Not Printed in The Times appeared first on The National Herald.

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Greece looks to Lockheed to get P-3 aircraft back in the air

Lockheed Martin Corp. is poised to get $500 million to help Greece get its P-3 surveillance vehicles back in the air. The Defense Department notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale to Greece, which would overhaul and upgrade its P-3 Orion ...

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Greek parliament begins talks on confidence vote

The Greek parliament Wednesday began debating a confidence vote on the coalition government as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras tries to battle ...

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The Greek don't want no freaks on Face Off

This week's Face Off was all about Greek mythology. The spotlight challenge was to make a Greek god holding the severed head of a mythological ...

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The IMF Wants To Put Taxpayers On The Hook For New Bank Loans In Europe

The IMF has called on European governments to guarantee bank lending to companies in order to support the region's economic recovery. The plan would put taxpayers on the hook for loans that go bad, loans that banks are either unable to make currently or are too risky to make. In its Global Financial Stability Report released Wednesday the Fund says over six years since Lehman Brothers failed, banks accounting for 40% of total assets held in all banks globally — a number that's in the trillions of dollars — are still unable to provide enough credit to the global economy to support a recovery. Bank loans allow companies to invest in new technology, take on more staff or purchase competitors in order to grow their businesses and help boost the economy more generally. Small firms in particular rely on bank lending as they are too small to access bond markets, where larger firms have been able to get access to a plentiful supply of cheap funds. The problems are particularly concentrated in Europe. The report finds that whereas the US has already seen a substantial improvement in the amount of bank lending, "real credit growth is already lagging behind the average recovery path in past banking crises in the euro area and the United Kingdom." These concerns have already prompted the European Central Bank (ECB) to announce a plan to buy private sector assets from Europe's banks, giving those banks more cash to boost lending across the region. However, the IMF offers an interesting addition to improve the effectiveness of their plan — governments could directly or indirectly guarantee lending. The report says: Targeted fiscal support (guarantees by pan-European agencies) would further encourage this type of market-based funding. What this means is that bank lending across Europe in the aftermath of the Great Recession has fallen significantly behind where is has been at similar stages in past financial crises. In order for Europe to recover, its banks are going to have to change their business models in favour of lending to people and businesses rather than investing money in stocks and bonds. Unfortunately, the countries most in need of these funds in the vulnerable Euro Area are those that are still plagued by high unemployment, distressed loans (where the borrowers are struggling to meet repayments or are already behind on them) and government spending cuts. This creates an uncertain environment into which banks have proven unwilling to lend. So, as the chart below shows, lending to countries like Greece has been contracting sharply: In his opening remarks José Viñals, director of the monetary and capital markets department at the IMF, said: The good news is that banks are much safer now, having increased their capital levels and liquidity. However, this GFSR finds that many banks do not have the financial muscle to provide enough credit to vigorously support the recovery. The IMF is in effect asking European governments to issue taxpayer guarantees in order to overcome the banks' reluctance to lend to vulnerable states. This is unlikely to please German policymakers who have been campaigning vigorously to avoid German taxpayers having to shoulder more responsibility for the future of the euro. The IMF's message to them is this — you may not have a choice.SEE ALSO: Here's The Hidden Footnote That Shows Germany Caved In Its Opposition To Europe's €1 Trillion Rescue Plan Join the conversation about this story »

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Trader's Recap: Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE ...

On 18 September National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) has hired banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to sell as much as 40 percent of ...

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Greek lawmakers launch 3-day debate regarding confidence vote called by the government

Greece's parliament has started a three-day debate on a confidence motion proposed by the government in a bid to rally the support of its own legislators.

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Half the Spanish Olive Oil This Year, Twice the Greek as Prices Climb

Half the Spanish Olive Oil This Year, Twice the Greek as Prices Climb | Olive Greece will bounce back from a disastrous year, to more than double its ...

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Greek Stocks Climb Ahead Of Confidence Vote Friday

The biggest holding in the Greek ETF, the National Bank of Greece (NBG), is up 0.78% today. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) is off ...

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Turkish-Greek relations strained over Cyprus gas row

The Greek Cypriot government on Tuesday suspended talks on reunifying the ethnically divided island in response to Turkish plans to search for oil ...

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Armenian-Greek military cooperation plan for 2015 signed

The current state and development prospects of Armenian-Greek military cooperation were discussed, the ministry's press service reported.

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Greek parliament debates confidence motion

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's parliament has started a three-day debate on a confidence motion proposed by the government in a bid to rally the support of its own legislators.

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IMF warns long period of low interest rates could trigger financial crisis business live

Rolling business and financial news, with the IMF warning that a long period of ultra-low interest rates could trigger a fresh financial crisis by encouraging excessive risk-taking, while the World Bank warned of a $32.6bn hit to west Africa if Ebola spreads further 5.53pm BST Over to Greece where three days of debate on a confidence motion submitted by the countrys prime minister has just begun. The vote is likely to spark fierce denunciations of the governments bailout programme. Helena Smith reports from Athens:For MPs gathered in Greeces 300-seat parliament the choice is simple: either they vote for prime minister Antonis Samaras two-party coalition and allow it to adopt controversial reforms (the price of 24bn in aid from the EU and IMF) or they refuse to give it the mandate required to continue in office. With 154 lawmakers backing his administration, Samaras will almost certainly pass the test. But pundits are in no doubt that he will also get a run for his money. In a climate of high political tension, Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left main opposition Syriza party, has been sharpening his rhetorical sword, declaring that a vote of confidence can only come form the people.Syriza stalwarts say they will use the occasion to not only deliver a stinging rebuke of the governments catastrophic policies, but as a chance to present their own anti-austerity programme.Indicative of the explosive atmosphere, Samaras was rounded on before the debate even began with MPs denouncing his absence. The conservative leader, who is in Milan attending an EU summit called to examine the issue of unemployment, will address the House on Friday in advance of the midnight ballot taking place. With international creditors demanding that Greece steps up its reform process, Samaras hopes the government will be further reinforced with backing from independent MPs a move that would enable it to execute the measures lenders are baying for at a faster pace.Yields on Greek bonds have risen sharply, a reflection of investor fears that Athens is almost certainly in for a period of prolonged political paralysis if, as also looks likely, parliament fails to elect a president in February.Highlighting the dangers that lay ahead, Greeces deputy premier Evangelos Venizelos warned that political uncertainty was not only undermining Athens shaky coalition but its economic achievements at a time when Greece was now plotting its exit from the bailout programme. 5.32pm BST The continuing combination of worries about a slowdown in economic growth, and geopolitical concerns such as the possible spread of the Ebola virus, combined once more to put markets under pressure. But an early rise on Wall Street ahead of the latest Federal Reserve minutes and the start of the US reporting season with Alcoa helped European markets come off their worst levels. The closing scores showed: 4.36pm BST As Italys prime minister Matteo Renzi asks coalition partners to back his labour reforms, Reuters is reporting that the EU commission is unlikely to accept the countrys multi-year budget plan.Renzi is expected to win a confidence vote later on the change to labour laws, but that is not his only concern at the moment. The EU commission is not keen on a proposal to delay achieving a balanced budget by a year until 2017, part of Italys stability programme unveiled last month. 3.40pm BST Oil prices are slipping back after higher than expected US crude oil inventories, up 5m barrels on the week. Brent crude is now down 1.2% at $90.97 a barrel.DOE US #crude oil inventories rose 5 million barrels last week - more than 2.1m expected. This is more bearish news for #WTI ^FR 3.32pm BST Now a quick bit of housekeeping: ECB President Mario Draghis speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington is tomorrow, Thursday, and not today. Heres how the Institute describes the event (details here):The European Central Bank has been at the center of an economic, financial and political storm in the eurozone, the union of 18 (soon to be 19) sovereign nations that share a common currency and which still suffers from high unemployment, slow growth, and inflation below the ECBs target. Its President, Mario Draghi, has on numerous occasions taken initiatives that have come to frame and define the policy debate in Europe, as he did with his recent address in Jackson Hole. How much more can monetary policy achieve in Europe? What lessons have been learned from this extraordinary period? Can the worlds central banks do better at maintaining financial stability than they have in the recent past?On October 9, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings will host a presentation by the ECB President Mario Draghi on the latest developments in Europe and in global central banking. His remarks will be followed by a conversation between Mr. Draghi and Stanley Fischer, vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board. 3.24pm BST Heres an interesting chart from the IMF:IMF: Banking System Exposure to Emerging Market Economies (percent of total claims) pic.twitter.com/CXBHEydC0T 3.01pm BST With this, its time for me to hand over to my colleague Nick Fletcher. Thankyou for all your great comments, and good-bye. 3.00pm BST The press conference is over. IMF chief financial counselor warns of the "Illusion of liquidity" in fixed income markets. http://t.co/C4KYCD02CX pic.twitter.com/Qi04fkDjlT 2.58pm BST IMF: quarter of banks in advanced economies do not have adequate capital buffers http://t.co/dFYIVXZFh5 pic.twitter.com/ArEDc8aJIZ 2.57pm BST Viñals is now talking about the need for more supervision of systemically important banks, across borders. 2.45pm BST Wall Street has started trading: The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 opened 0.01% lower while the Nasdaq was up 0.03%. The FTSE has recovered from earlier losses and is now down only 0.08% at 6490.53. 2.40pm BST The Guardians Larry Elliott asks: What is the next sub-prime going to be?In response, Viñals highlights the growth of the shadow banking system, particularly in the US. Shadow banks that operate outside the tightly regulated banking sector are providing financing where many traditional banks cant fulfill that role. (Shadow banks areinstitutions such as hedge funds, money market funds and investment banks that do not take deposits from the public.) 2.33pm BST Back in London, the Office for National Statistics has confirmed the introduction of new economic well-being release. From December, the ONS will publish a regular set of indicators of economic well-being that supplement more traditional measures such as GDP and, it says, will give a more rounded and comprehensive basis for assessing changes in material well-being.ONS Chief Economic Adviser Joe Grice said:While its right that GDP plays a central role in monetary and fiscal policy, it has long been recognised as presenting an incomplete picture of how our society is doing.The UK will be one of the first countries to bring together official statistics on other measures that will tell us, for example, how households are doing, including how well off people are feeling. This can help inform important decisions by people businesses and policy makers. 2.28pm BST Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at German insurer Allianz, has compiled a to-do list for the IMF and World Bank.FYI,some thoughts on how to improve prospects for the upcoming #IMF / @WorldBank meetings in #Washington @BV @IMFnews http://t.co/igiGQTrKw7 2.25pm BST Took them this long to realize it? IMF: Shadow Banks Could Compromise Global Financial Stability http://t.co/9I09LLxmCyWhy are they called 'shadow' banks if they operate out in the open? http://t.co/klqOYVDCdX 2.23pm BST Viñals called on governments to address the global imbalance on risk-taking and prevent excesses in financial risk-taking. Monetary policy cannot be the only game in town. 2.20pm BST Turning to banks, Viñals says:The good news is that banks are much safer than they used to be a few years back.The not so good news is many banks dont yet have the financial muscle to provide vigorous support to the recovery.Eurozone banks not strong enough to be athletes who can vigorously support the recovery, says the IMF. http://t.co/YjzjZCFiqS 2.16pm BST IMF questions fitness of eurozone banks http://t.co/DcckGrkqHsIMF says banks need to overhaul business to restore profits http://t.co/bRL7KG37Kr 2.15pm BST José Viñals, the Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the IMF, says the world is facing a new global imbalance. There is not enough risk-taking in some areas to encourage business investment but increasing excesses in financial risk-taking which may undermine stability. 2.12pm BST The IMF press conference is under way. 2.11pm BST The Guardians Larry Elliott, who is in Washington, says the Wall Street Journal story about thermometers being handed to delegates at the IMF/World Bank meetings is a bit of an exaggeration. Offered to people coming to meetings from west Africa but not to all. I havent been given one! 2.01pm BST You can watch the IMFs press conference live here. 2.01pm BST The International Monetary Fund has released its global financial stability report, in which the organisation warns that a prolonged period of ultra-low interest rates pose the threat of a fresh financial crisis by encouraging excessive risk taking on global markets. Our economics editor Larry Elliott reports:The Washington-based IMF said more than half a decade in which official borrowing costs have been close to zero had encouraged speculation rather than the hoped-for pick up in investment.Policymakers are facing a new global imbalance: not enough economic risk-taking in support of growth, but increasing excesses in financial risk-taking posing stability challenges. 12.39pm BST More on the World Bank report on Ebola. With the death toll from Ebola now at 3,439 in the three worst-affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the report says that if the epidemic was to significantly infect people in neighboring countries, some of which have much larger economies, the financial impact could reach $32.6bn by the end of 2015.The economic impact could be limited if immediate national and international action stop the epidemic and alleviate the aversion behavior or fear factor that is causing neighboring countries to close their borders, and airlines and other regional and international companies to suspend their commercial activities in the three worst-affected countries, the World Bank said. The successful containment of Ebola in Nigeria and Senegal so far is evidence that this is possible, given some existing health system capacity and a resolute policy response.With Ebolas potential to inflict massive economic costs on Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and the rest of their neighbors in West Africa, the international community must find ways to get past logistical roadblocks and bring in more doctors and trained medical staff, more hospital beds, and more health and development support to help stop Ebola in its tracks. 12.22pm BST At the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, delegates are being handed free thermometers as a precaution against Ebola, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thousands of finance officials, economists, bankers and reps from nonprofit organisations from nearly every nation are gathering in the US capital to debate the darkening economic outlook. They include officials from the West African nations where the outbreak is raging Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. 12.16pm BST Back to Ebola. The Ebola epidemic could cost the west African economy $32.6bn over the next year if officials dont get to grips with it soon, the World Bank warned today.The economic impacts of Ebola are already very serious in the core three countries - particularly Liberia and Sierra Leone - and could become catastrophic under a slow-containment, high-Ebola scenario. 12.05pm BST Germany is stalling, but the risk of a genuine recession is still only 17% according to our "nowcast" models http://t.co/szDjvrhSaH 11.19am BST A group of leading economic institutes in Germany is poised to slash its forecasts for economic growth, newspaper Handelsblatt reported.The institutes, whose analysis is used by the German government to compile its own forecasts, are now predicting 1.3% growth for this year and 1.2% in 2015 compared with 1.9% and 2% previously. They are due to publish the new predictions on Thursday. 11.07am BST Following Tuesdays warning from the IMF, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has chipped in and said that growth in the eurozone is losing momentum. My colleague Angela Monaghan reports:The Paris-based think tanks monthly composite leading indicactors are designed to spot shifts in economic cycles early on. The latest snapshot suggests the German and Italian economies are most rapidly losing steam:In Europe, signs are emerging of a loss of growth momentum in the Euro area, with stronger signals in the case of Germany and Italy, while in France and in the United Kingdom the outlook continues to point to stable growth. 10.50am BST Britains proposed £16bn nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, to be built by French utility EDF, has been given the green light in Brussels. The European Commission said Britain agreed to make significant changes to the terms of the project financing, reducing the burden on taxpayers.The controversial new power station is part of Britains strategy to replace a fifth of its ageing nuclear power and coal plants. The project is a big boost for EDF, giving it a a guaranteed power price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for 35 years, more than twice the current market rate. 10.40am BST It is worth noting, as one reader, NicholasB pointed out, that the IMF did not downgrade the UK on Tuesday. It expects Britain to be the fastest-growing major economy this year, at 3.2% compared with downgrades for the eurozones three biggest economies, Germany, France and Italy. 10.27am BST Time for an update on the markets. The FTSE 100 index is now down nearly 0.6%, or 37.4 points, at 6458.18, while Germanys Dax has lost 0.9% and Frances CAC is off 0.36%.On bond markets, British 30-year gilt prices hit their highest level in more than two years as investors piled into safe-haven assets. 10.12am BST There is more to come from the IMF today, as the organisation holds its autumn meeting in Washington. It will release its global financial stability report at 2pm BST.The OECD is releasing its leading indicators report, looking at the growth outlook, at 11am BST. 9.44am BST KFC owner Yum Brands has warned on profits after a meat scare in China rocked sales. Like-for-like sales in the last quarter plunged 14% in its largest market, after allegations that fast-food chains including KFC and McDonalds were supplied meat past its expiration date. Yum is the biggest foreign restaurant chain operator in China with more than 6,400 outlets. 9.33am BST Back to Spain, where industrial production growth slowed in August, disappointing economists. Output rose just 0.6% compared with a revised 0.9% gain in July. Production of consumer goods remained flat in August while capital goods and energy fell 4% and 1.4% respectively. 9.26am BST Mike Ashley, the founder of retailer Sports Direct and owner of Newcastle United, is now trying to stir things up at Scottish club Rangers where he is a major shareholder.Just six days after doubling his holding in Rangers to almost 9%, Ashley called for an emergency meeting to have the clubs chief executive Graham Wallace and director Philip Nash ousted from the board. More here. 9.06am BST Meanwhile, Air France issued a profit warning in the aftermath of last months two-week pilot strike, one of the longest in the airlines history. It put the cost of the strike at 500m in lost revenue. The French flag carrier was in dispute with pilots over plans to expand its budget subsidiary Transavia to compete with the likes of easyJet and Ryanair (ironically, easyJet benefited hugely from the strike).Air France pilots are demanding the right for future pilots to be recruited on the same conditions (i.e. pay and benefits) as those currently working for the main airline, a point on which management wont budge. It argues it cant run a budget airline at Air France costs. 8.55am BST Shares in travel companies including budget carrier Easyjet, Iberia owner International Airlines Group and cruise company Carnival are down for a second day after a Spanish nurse became the first person outside Africa to contract the deadly Ebola virus. Fears that this could put people off travelling or that travel restrictions could be imposed hit travel companies. EasyJet shares lost nearly 3% this morning, Carnival was down almost 2% while IAG and Tui Travel shed 1.9%. 8.40am BST European shares have dropped to 1 1/2 month lows after the IMF downgrade triggered fresh fears over the world economy. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.6% to 1321.28, marking its lowest level since mid-August.Jonathan Sudaria, trader at London Capital Group, said:The IMF laid it on pretty thick yesterday... and topped it off with the cherry that global growth may never reach its pre-crisis levels ever again.In the short term at least, it appears that traders have also come to the same conclusion as there is no apparent let-up in the selling pressure this morning. 8.21am BST On the corporate front, shares in FirstGroup fell nearly 6% to 108.3p after the Aberdeen-based company lost the contract to operate the £2.5bn ScotRail franchise to Abellio, an offshoot of Dutch national railways. 8.15am BST The Halifax house price index is out: it shows house prices across the UK rising by 0.6% in September, more than expected. In the three months to September, prices climbed 9.6% on an annual basis, down from 9.7% in the three months to August.The mortgage lender reckons annual house price inflation has peaked around 10% and growth is likely to slow in coming months. 8.10am BST European stock markets have opened lower. The FTSE 100 index is down nearly 30 points, or 0.45%, at 6466.28. Germanys Dax has tumbled 0.7%, Frances CAC and Italys FTSE MIB have both shed 0.2% and Spains Ibex is down 0.4%. 8.07am BST UBS global economist Paul Donovan is rather scathing about the IMFs forecasting ability.Markets seem to be exhibiting some signs of concern about the pace of global growth, at least during Asian trading. The cited reason is IMF forecast downgrades, but that does not really make sense. The IMF always lags the consensus on GDP, and is not known for its pinpoint forecasting accuracy. 7.59am BST Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the financial markets, the world economy, business and finance.The International Monetary Funds global growth downgrade has weighed heavily on equity markets around the world. Continue reading...

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Turkey expects Cyprus to swiftly resume peace talks

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey expects Greek Cypriots to quickly reverse a decision to halt reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots and resume their dialogue or risk harming peace prospects in a troubled region, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades froze on Tuesday the latest attempt to negotiate with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu a settlement to end the ...

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Investors Watch List: IsoRay, Inc. (NYSEMKT:ISR), National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG ...

National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) belongs to Financial sector. Its net profit margin is 22.70% and weekly performance is -15.28%. On last ...

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The Greek Director Worshiped in Australia

nadia-tass-660 Greek Australian director Nadia Tass (Tassopoulos) has recently been honored for her exceptional contributions to Australian cinema.

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Greek community gives back for Greek Week

It's Greek Week on campus, but what does that actually mean? For Kenzie Stone, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture, and Austin Townsend, ...

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Greek Products Dominating the US Market

In some product ranges the contribution of Greek exports reaches 73.2% while basic competitors for Greece in this market are Turkey, Italy and Spain.

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The Greek Director Worshiped in Australia

nadia-tass-660 Greek Australian director Nadia Tass (Tassopoulos) has recently been honored for her exceptional contributions to Australian cinema.

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Turkey: Greek ambassador summoned over Cyprus' talks halt

(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, OCTOBER 8 - The Greek Ambassador in Ankara, Kyriakos Loukakis, has been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry ...

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The Greek Civil War Children Refugees to Australia

tba As part of an ongoing series of seminars on Greek history and culture offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne, historian Joy Damousi will ...

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Chobani Greek Yogurt Oats to help #StopSadBreakfast

Chobani Greek Yogurt Oats is a blend of creamy Greek yogurt, with 10g of protein, 8g of whole grain and 3g of fibre from gluten-free, steel-cut oats and ...

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Kostas Katsouranis: from Greece to Pune via Brazil

Kostas Katsouranis (right) and Colombia’s Juan Guillermo Cuadrado during the world cup in Brazil. Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images Kostas Katsouranis, who has been capped 114 times for his country, is a key player in Greek football as we know it today.

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These Russians Made Artwork to Prove Putin Is as Manly as Hercules

Russians organized an art gallery with depictions of Putin as the ultimate Greek hero

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Greece Reaches All Time High Lengthy Unemployment

CE also reported a decreasing Gross Domestic Product in Greece, which fell to 2000 rate, and also increased inequality amid population due to the ...

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Hellenic Gaming Commission Set to Ban TV Phone-In Games

The Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) is set to ban all phone-in games of chance on Greek television after asking Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis to amend Greece’s existing gaming laws. “The ban is recommended in order to protect the public and, in particular, minors and vulnerable social groups,” the gaming watchdog said in a proposal publicized on Tuesday. The statement issued by the Hellenic Gaming Commission adds that the issue has become heavily debated of late. It highlights the fact that TV phone-in games of chance take advantage of children and elders who spend the greater parts of their days at home in front of the television. Commission officials referenced games on certain television channels that attempt to trick viewers by repeatedly asking them to call telephone numbers at high charge rates in order to participate in raffles. Such efforts to trick viewers into paying large amounts of money in phone charges have been the subject of persistent complaints both to the EEEP and the National Broadcasting Council (ESR).

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Priest Arrested In Gun And Drugs Smuggling Case

A priest was arrested along with a dozen other suspects on charges of involvement in a large weapons and drugs smuggling scheme that took place in Athens, Crete, and various regions of central Greece. A major police investigation was launched following the arrest of a 37-year-old Cretan man in Athens who was found in possession of a purported 220 kilograms of hashish. The arrest led to further police investigations in the villages of Vorizia, Kapariana and Aghia Galini in the Herakleion region of Crete. Heavily-armed police forces of the Drug Enforcement and Security Units have conducted searches in houses, warehouses, livestock buildings and sites associated with members of the gang. They have even scoured church basements. Thus far they have seized vast quantities of marijuana and at least 10 firearms. They have arrested several suspects – among them, a priest and his wife. According to sources, the priest has been suspected of illegal activities in the past and resisted arrest. According to police reports, 115,000 euros have been seized, most of it derived from drug trafficking. Police also found a number of watches and several Byzantine icons of immense value. After the completion of the police operation, the authorities will release official information regarding the number of arrests, the identity of the arrested, seizures and details on the case.

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Slavoj iek webchat live now

The Slovenian philosopher, who has applied his inquiries to everything from neoliberalism to Alfred Hitchcock, is answering your questions right now join in the debate below 2.56pm BST jemurphy asks:Is an academic boycott of Israel justified? Do you support a boycott?I do support academic boycott, but only Israel's state institutions. To boycott Israel in the sense of not visiting it, not having contact with people there, I totally reject this. The reason is double. First, there is recently in Europe a new wave of anti-semitism. For example in countries like Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and others. So for a European who remembers the Holocaust, anything to do with boycotting the Jews brings out terrible memories. We are playing with fire here. But nonetheless, the reason why I support a boycott, BDS and all that, is that it is a common project of Palestinians, and Jewish progressive critics of Zionism. This unity is absolutely crucial. The moment we abandon this unity and say oh no, Israel is so bad that we have to be directly against Jews, we all deserve to die. Life is over for me. 2.50pm BST kulusedada asks:Stravinsky or Schoenberg?Of course, this question probably refers to Adorno's book of philosophy on new music. And I agree with it totally. I am against Stravinsky, for Schoenberg. I think that when we get a breakthrough in art, like with Schoenberg, we always get then accompanying it, a figure like Stravinsky. Renormalising the breakthrough. Cutting off the subversive edge of the breakthrough. And I think again the same goes for other arts, for example, in modern painting, it would have been Picasso vs Braque. I think Picasso is Stravinsky in painting, with his eclecticism, while Georges Braque is the thorough modernist ascetism. Even in literature, although the homology is not perfect, I'm tempted to say Joyce vs Beckett. Joyce is I think too bright for his own good. It's too pretentious in this encyclopaedic approach, like using all languages in Finnegan's Wake; the true genius is for me Samuel Beckett. If I were to choose one novel of the 20th century, it's his Unnameable. I think that the three absolute masters of 20th century literature are Beckett, Kafka and the Russian Andrei Platonov. If you put the three of them together, I'm ready to burn, sacrifice all other books just to keep these three. I think even much of high modernist writing is overrated. For example, if I were to choose between Virginia Woolf and Daphne du Maurier, I would immediately choose du Maurier. We shouldn't be afraid to admit this. 2.48pm BST Brandon Jones asks:You seem to be friendly with Peter Sloterdijks ideas about contemporary cynicism. Do you buy his argument about kynicism, more reminiscent of ancient Greek Philosophical Cynicism, as the remedy to contemporary cynicism? If so, what does this look like?Also, how much has Oscar Wildes The Soul of Man Under Socialism influenced your own work? It is my favorite book and I saw that you made direct reference to it in the RSA Animate video First As Tragedy, Then As Farce. I even read your own book of the same name for this reason.I think yes, it has become unhinged from the pursuit of wisdom, and I think it's the best thing that could have happened. Wisdom is basically a conformist stupidity. The best embodiment of wisdom are proverbs, and with them you can justify everything. If you take a risk and then succeed, there is a proverb. If you fail, you have another proverb, like in our language, it is: you cannot urinate against the wind. That's wisdom. The ultimate lesson of wisdom is don't try too much, don't aim too high, at the end everything ends up in dust. But I think for example Christianity, and I define myself as a Christian athiest, Christianity is not wisdom. From a standpoint of wisdom, it is madness. It's the hope that a radical break can happen, we can be redeemed, and so on. So I think that all today's form of wisdom, usually new age wisdom, although they pretend to open up a way, to save us from our crisis, they only deepen the crisis. Wisdom is one of the names of our enemy today. 2.41pm BST Omar Bitar asks:What is the future of philosophy both within academia and in the so-called collective consciousness?I think philosophy will become more important than ever, even for so-called 'ordinary people'. Why? The incredible social dynamics of today's capitalism, as well as scientific and technological breakthroughs, changed our situation so much that old ethical and religious systems no longer function. Think about biogenetic interventions, which may even change your character, how your psyche works. This was no even a possibility considered in traditional ethical systems, which means that we all in a way have to think. We have to make decisions. We cannot rely on old religious and ethical formulas. Like: are you for or against biogenetic interventions? In order to decide, to take a stance, you have somehow implicitly to address questions like: do I have a free will? Am I really responsible for my acts? And so on. So I think that 21st century will be the century of philosophy. 2.40pm BST ID4857742 asks:Professor iek:What is your opinion of this weeks controversy and discussion in the US about the nature of the Islamic threat to Western societies and whether the threat is not only from the radical jihadists, but also includes most--if not all--of moderate Islam, which tacitly supports Jihadists or at least does not oppose their beliefs and intentions, and which supports the subjugation of women in their societies, including genital mutilation. The Quran and most of Islam seems to support censorship and execution of Danish cartoonists and the death penalty for apostasy. First as to the threat to Europe. The real threat to Europe is not an external one. Islamists or other external enemies, it comes from within. It's the anti-immigrant populism which on behalf of defending Europe rejects precisely what is worth fighting for in the European legacy. As for Islam, I think it's basically the same as with other religions, all religions are opportunistic. Their founder usually said some great things about love and tolerance, but then just to make it safe, he added something about the right to kill those who don't believe. Like Christ said, love your neighbour, but then also said I don't bring peace, I bring war. So to be very clear, I do totally oppose today's Muslim fundamentalism. But with a couple of additions: first, we should be aware that we also have in our highly developed societies, our own Christian fundamentalism which can also be violent. According to the FBI, they have 2 million Americans under observation, as potential Christian fundamentalists. So the problem is what is it in today's capitalism that generates fundamentalism? 2.36pm BST DamienEngine asks:Why did you get it so wrong about the UK riots? Why cant the rioters control of the streets and the shops for a night be seen as political? Maybe not to your schema, but nonetheless...?The question asks: why can't the rioters control the streets at least for a night? That's precisely the problem for me. I think it's easy to have this ecstatic carnival-like uprisings, which last for a short time, and then a little bit later things return to normal. The measure of a successful revolution or revolt, is what happens a day after. How do ordinary people feel the difference, when things return to normal? That's why I don't like carnivals. I like order and discipline. I like changes in everyday life, I don't like big ecstatic moments that we then afterwards remember fondly when we return to our everyday corruption. So this is what I was missing in the UK riots. Even a minimal positive vision. To put it in an even more brutal way, if I were to be a member of some secret capitalist organisation, trying to discredit the left, I would have organised and financed precisely such riots. 2.28pm BST BatesBasement asks:Dear Slavoj, How is your recapitulation of Lacans point that desires principal aim is to reproduce itself different from Schopenhauers Will, a philosopher largely absent from your oeuvre? I don't see any continuity between Schopenhaeur and Lacan. I think Schopenhauer is at the origins of the rationalist philosophy of life which has nothing to do with the Freudian unconscious. The Freudian unconscious is rational, articulated, structured like language. Schopenhaeurian drive is life drive, while the Freudian drive is death drive. And in the opposition between life and death, I'm for death. That's why I love Von Trier's Melancholia - all life on Earth disappears, so I think it's a film with a happy ending. 2.25pm BST Vivieen Sanchbraj asks:Is happiness important these days? How can we be happy? What steps do you suggest?Happiness was never important. The problem is that we don't know what we really want. What makes us happy is not to get what we want. But to dream about it. Happiness is for opportunists. So I think that the only life of deep satisfaction is a life of eternal struggle, especially struggle with oneself. We all remember Gordon Gekko, the role played by Michael Douglas in Wall Street. What he says, breakfast is for wimps, or if you need a friend buy yourself a dog, I think we should say something similar about happiness. If you want to remain happy, just remain stupid. Authentic masters are never happy; happiness is a category of slaves. 2.24pm BST ChrisPrendergast87 asks:What do you think we can learn from cats, if anything?Nothing. I like to search for class struggle in strange domains. For example it is clear that in classical Hollywood, the couple of vampires and zombies designates class struggle. Vampires are rich, they live among us. Zombies are the poor, living dead, ugly, stupid, attacking from outside. And it's the same with cats and dogs. Cats are lazy, evil, exploitative, dogs are faithful, they work hard, so if I were to be in government, I would tax having a cat, tax it really heavy. 2.23pm BST Reality14 asks:I am interested in how you would characterise boredom. When large proportions of the population declare themselves bored by, or bored with, or express other forms of ambivalence about politics (that is, liberal democracy - it being all we have), is this suggestive of something other than cynicism (however you might define that)?I think boredom is the beginning of every authentic act. Kierkegaard, one of my favourite thinkers, wrote that it is out of boredom, boredom of being alone, that God created the world. Then Adam was bored, so God created Eve. Then lonely people got bored, they created communities. Then we, Europeans, got bored, we engaged in colonialism. Now we are bored on our Earth, we want to travel into space. Boredom opens up the space, for new engagements. Without boredom, no creativity. If you are not bored, you just stupidly enjoy the situation in which you are. 2.22pm BST Igor Stojanov asks:Do you think that the objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand, especially her ideas on ethical egoism and laissez-faire capitalism should be more widely accepted in the western world?I must say I appreciate Ayn Rand. Of course I totally disagree with her. But what I like about her is what I call over orthodoxy, every ruling ideology can only function if it doesn't say it all. Like no capitalist today will openly say: egotism is good. They try to cover up the position as ethical for the good of community but Ayn Rand goes to the end. She plays the same role with regard to capitalism as for example Malebranche does with regard to Catholicism, or Kleist does with regard to German militarism. They are all an embarrassment for the ruling ideology. Precisely by bringing out its secret perverse core. 2.16pm BST rhythmic88 asks:Thank you Prof. Zizek for taking the time to do this interview.Q: What is it like to be you?I don't know because I am not myself. I do all my work to escape myself. I don't believe in looking into yourself. If you do this, you just discover a lot of shit. I think what we should do is throw ourselves out of ourselves. The truth is not deep in ourselves. The truth is outside.Regarding Zen, this is also the cause of my ethical disagreement with Zen Buddhism. The way Zen Buddhism is perceived today is as telling ourselves we must not throw ourselves fully into reality, that we must not attach ourselves too much to earthly objects. Since external reality is just a flow of appearances. I believe on the contrary, that we should fully attach ourselves to earthly objects. If you write a book, forget about everything else, throw yourself into it. If you are in love, go to the end, sacrifice everything for the object of love. This is why we today no longer want to fall in love. We want it controlled, like safe sex. But what I like in love is precisely the fall. I feel alive only when I fall. And this goes up to the beginning: I think Hegel already knew that Adam's fall was the greatest achievement, the greatest event in history. 2.15pm BST bhanuk asks:Dear Mr. Zizek, is poetry dead? If so, what killed it? If so, what might revive it? In this formulation, poetry becomes a zombie on wheels. Not good. What might reverse the death that poetry knows is coming? Bhanu KapilIt's not dead, but it's heavily wounded and it's its own guilt and responsibility. The more I look at the genesis of modern cases of ethnic cleansing, the more I discover that there always is a poet who did the preparatory work: in Bosnia, Rwanda and so on. Stephen Weinberg said that you need something like religion to make good people do evil things. I think poetry can also do this, with its strong ecstatic vision it can blind you for the horrors of what you are actually doing. So I think when Plato banned poets from the city, he had a point. 2.14pm BST MrSvejk asks:The online battle for the control of news is being fought and won by state and corporate power elites, so that this becomes the accepted historical account of todays reality. How important is wiki leaks and other whistle-blowers in restoring peoples trust that a truthful version of reality can exist? I think that the latest Wikileaks revelations, of so called Disa secret agreement, are crucial here. They show how while we experience ourselves as free, you read what you want, your love life is your own, you can invest your money how you want, but all this free choices take place within a framework which is more and more obscure and out of control. I think that the more we are free as individuals, the more the complex social network controls us. And here is the the role of whistleblowers. Now let me be precise: I am well aware that we suspected what we learned from them, basically we didn't learn many new things, more or less. But in our daily life, we preferred somehow to ignore this knowledge. I want it out of my sight. The greatest achievement of Wikileaks, is that we ordinary people are no longer allowed to pretend that we don't know. 2.09pm BST Slavok iek is here and has started answering your questions. BoldSammy asks:Hi Slavoj. I very much enjoyed your talk on liberty in the West last night. I know you prefer to talk about global themes, but there was one very real opportunity for change recently here in the UK - the Scottish referendum. It may have been change for better or for worse, but people were at least able to imagine the impossible: a radical, if undefined, alternative to neoliberalism. From a post-Yugoslavian perspective, do you think that the lefts willingness to rely on civic nationalism is liberating (as it felt to many of us) or a constraint? You repeated last night that the problems with capital are global. Do you think the solution is global or local?I know there is a division here between leftist thinking that we need local points of resistance, and those who think the solution also has to be global. I unambiguously side with the second option. The solution has to be even more global. Resisting local cultures perfectly feeds global capitalism, they just help local populations to fit better global capitalism. An example: the new PM of India, Modi, he wants India to embrace more radically global capitalism, and he is a Hindu nationalist. That's the paradox we should get. 4.24pm BST Pop philosophy has a whiff of shallowness about it, but Slavoj iek is one of the few thinkers who has broken out of the library without sacrificing his academic and political credibility. For iek, stasis is the enemy. Ideas, and indeed our entire way of being, must instead be batted around until they gradually become sleeker, rather than staying stock still in moral absolutism. In his new book Absolute Recoil, the Slovenian philosopher directs this approach towards Hegel and Marx, wondering if the foundations of their progressive thought which has underpinned his own throughout his career could be rebuilt, or at least updated for an age of fresh sexual and societal problems. In other books, he applies these ways of thinking to film directors like Alfred Hitchcock or David Lynch; he also frequently wades into the cut and thrust of everyday society, be it considering the Occupy movement or the sexual abuse cases in Rotherham. Continue reading...

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Greek ambassador to Turkey summoned over Cyprus hiatus

The Greek Ambassador in Ankara, Kyriakos Loukakis, has been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry following the Greek suspension of peace talks over Cyprus. The move came Wednesday after the Greek Cypriot administration suspended negotiations over ...

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European Stocks Decline: National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NBG), Markit Ltd (MRKT), Rio Tinto plc ...

National Bank of Greece shares are trading -7.94 % above their 52 week low price after the last close and -60.65 % below the 52 week high. Its latest ...

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New Special Beaches for Dogs

Legislation which would allow pets to roam public beaches has found a new supporter in Greek Minister of Shipping and the Aegean Miltiades Varvitsiotis. The regulation, based on recommendations of the Greek Port Authority, foresees the creation of certain beaches and swimming areas designated for pets. According to the regulation, the beaches selected for this purpose must not be crowded and will not require an entrance fee. As part of the initiative, Varvitsiotis met on Wednesday with representatives of the Panhellenic Animal Welfare and Environmental Federation. Among other points, he called out the anachronistic nature of current laws. The Greek minister claims to have taken into consideration social media discussions, as well as concerns voiced by thousands of citizens on the issue. He also researched corresponding legislation in other European countries before drafting the proposal. He also noted that the dispersion of the Greek population and Greece’s vast coastline will help find an equitable solution for both humans and animals The representatives of the Panhellenic Federation of Environmental and Animal Welfare publicly thanked the minister for his initiative.

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The New Syntagma Square

Finally, Syntagma Square, the great cultural focal point of central Athens, Greece, has been fully restored following years of vandalism and rioting. The last few years of political protest have seen the Square’s marble tiles dismantled, its fountains destroyed and its statues covered in graffiti. The recent restoration project has gone a long way in returning to the Square its original beauty and urban grace. The municipality of Athens, together with the financial support of a private sponsor, proceeded with the replacement of all damaged marble, benches, and fountains, including the Square’s great central water sculpture. The vertical sides of the Square have also been restored, as well as the various gardens and shrubbery. The chief financier of the project is Thanasis Laskaridis, owner of the Grande Bretagne and King George, historic hotels located on Syntagma Square.

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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Wednesday, October 8, 2014