Former Greece midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos has admitted that he fears for the future of football in his country following a spate of violence at ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sportsmole.co.uk |
How the world sees Greece
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Stelios Giannakopoulos: 'I fear for football in Greece'
Tsipras in Realnews: Rift with corruption, solution with Europe
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in an interview on Sunday's Realnews newspaper that he sought no rift with Europe after his cash-strapped country submitted a list of reforms to its lenders in a bid to secure much-needed ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
The Greeks, money already stuffed under mattresses, may learn their fate this weekend
The four-month bailout extension that Greece got in February now seems a distant memory, with €7.2 billion ($7.8 billion) in much-needed funds still ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT qz.com |
Greece bitter over sculptures in UK
Greece has criticised the "negativism" of the British Museum in rejecting mediation by UNESCO to help resolve the decades-old dispute over returning ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.3news.co.nz |
The Ordeals Faced by National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG)
National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) is facing a hard time. The bank has gone down by 6% and is now trading at $1.31. The bank has a ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.wallstreet.org |
Of Statistics, Lies, Greek Lies – and SYRIZA Lies
The SYRIZA-led coalition administration led by Prime Minister Alexis “Che” Tsipras is lying so fast you’d need a Cray supercomputer to tally them.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Greece is the word for families searching for a cheap Easter holiday break
But it's not just for beach breaks that Greece looks like the bargain choice - Athens has been rated the cheapest capital in western Europe, with prices ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mirror.co.uk |
Greek PM Tsipras says he seeks no rift with Europe
As Greece races to agree to raise funds, Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis told China's official Xinhua news agency that Athens will sell its ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com |
Der Spiegel: Troika Expects Greece to Miss Primary Surplus Target
BERLIN—. The three institutions representing Greece's official creditors expect Athens could miss its goal of a primary budget surplus this year, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.voanews.com |
Greece Threatens To Stop Servicing It's Debt Unless Receives Aid
Greece on Friday said it will stop serving its debt unless creditors proceed immediately with the disbursement of more bailout aid, according to a ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT leadership.ng |
Greek, Russian Energy Ministers to Meet on March 29-30
Greek Energy Ministry said on Saturday that Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis will pay official visit to Moscow on March 29-30 to discuss ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT sputniknews.com |
Reuters News
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's Power Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis will meet his Russian counterpart and the CEO of power giant Gazprom in Moscow ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sentryreview.com |
Proposal for Greek Signs on Melbourne Streets
melbourne Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has become an “ambassador” for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens, said Greek-Australian ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT au.greekreporter.com |
Inventing the human form
A bronze reconstruction of a lost Greek work, left, a Roman copy of Myron's Discobolus, center, and a marble figure from 438-432 BC, right, are ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.taipeitimes.com |
Greece: The Government Prepares for Battle
Greek banks are also facing hardships. Between November and February, deposits in Greek banks fell by about 15 percent, as more than 20 billion ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.stratfor.com |
Thessaloniki: Freight Train Derailment, Two Injured
A freight train was derailed around 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, March 28, near a village outside of Thessaloniki, northern Greece. As a result both drivers were slightly injured and transferred to the hospital for precautionary reasons. According to Greek news, the heavy rainfall of the previous days caused the ground beneath the rails to subside, resulting in the derailment of 19 of the freight trains’ 27 wagons. The freight train was traveling to Skopje and it was loaded with electronic equipment. The relevant authorities will carry out the necessary investigations to determine the exact cause of the accident.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greek PM to Chair Cabinet Council Meeting on Sunday
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will chair a meeting of the cabinet council in the Parliament building at 7 p.m. on Sunday, the government said Saturday. The council — consisting of heads of ministries, state deputies and the government vice-president — will review recent developments in the economy, especially after the dispatch on Friday of the government’s reforms proposals to its partners in Brussels. The proposals list is being discussed Saturday at the Brussels Group. The Brussels Group consists of representatives of Greece and its creditors (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund). It will forward the proposals to the Euro Working Group on Monday for approval, which would then lead to a meeting of the Eurogroup — the finance ministers of the eurozone — on Tuesday or Wednesday for final approval of the reforms proposals. (source: ana-mpa)
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
44.8% of Greek Pensioners Live Below Poverty Line
It was revealed that 44.8% of Greek pensioners live below the poverty line with pensions that do not exceed 665 euros. Furthermore, the vast majority disability of pensions amount to 250-540 euros, while finally 60% of pensioners in all categories (retirement, death, and disability) receive up to 800 euros with the final amount hardly reaching 700 euros after the relevant deductions. Other data that show the actual pension system situation in relation to benefits for pensioners, are: • 85.6% of pensioners are over 61 years old. • Old-age pensions – individuals over 61 years-amounts to 89.4%. • The total number of pensioners in the country amounts to 2,654,784, decreased by 2,865 pensioners compared to the previous month. • In March a total of 2.3 billion euros was paid in pensions. • 1,286,180 million pensioners receive only one pension, while 954,322 receive two pensions and 334,914 pensioners receive three pensions. • Four Greek pensioners who receive pensions from 10 different funds and 7 Greek pensioners who receive 9 different pensions. The data above reveals the false information that was given to Greece’s lenders from the previous governments in order to achieve a reduction in wages and pensions.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Riot Breaks Out in Central Athens
Tension broke between anti-authoritarians and Greek police officers on Saturday afternoon, in central Athens. The incidents started after a protest held by anti-authoritarian groups in solidarity with hunger strike prisoners protesting against type C maximum security prisons in Greece. About 600 people gathered in Monastiraki to march towards Syntagma Square and then to the Polytechnic School of Athens. The anti-authoritarian group placed barricades on Patission avenue and set fire to bins. Around 4 p.m. the protesters entered the Polytechnic School, while the barricades on Patission avenue were removed. Meanwhile, Greek police officers intervened, making three arrests outside the School. A while later the situation diffused, while the anti-authoritarians left the area.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greece condemns British refusal of mediation on Parthenon sculptures
Greece on Saturday criticised the "negativism" of the British Museum in rejecting mediation by UNESCO to help resolve the decades-old dispute over returning ancient Parthenon sculptures to Athens. The sculptures are part of the collection popularly known as the "Elgin Marbles" which were acquired by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s when he was ambassador to the Ottoman court. The British parliament ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.yahoo.com |
Greek PM Tsipras Irking German Allies
Tsipras Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' German allies are getting exasperated with the Greek government after his visit to Berlin, which led to ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
The readers’ editor on … Athens, 1944
The strong allegation that British troops fired on demonstrators was based on recollections, recounted as factThe Observer Magazine headline was arresting: “Athens ’44 – Britain’s dirty secret” it announced in big black type, alongside a stark photograph showing sprawling bodies surrounded by stunned and frightened demonstrators. “The day that changed history,” read the caption. “Unarmed protesters shot by the police and the British army in Athens on 3 December 1944.”In 6,500 words, spread over nine pages, the piece reflected not only on that terrible event but also on the controversial theory that Churchill’s efforts to stem communism in the Mediterranean had sown the seeds for the rise of the far right in modern Greece. But on the demonstration it included this unequivocal statement: “This was the day ... when the British army, still at war with Germany, opened fire on – and gave locals who had collaborated with the Nazis the guns to fire on – a civilian crowd demonstrating in support of the partisans with whom Britain had been allied for three years.”The reality is filtered through perceptions clouded by a day filled with violence and considerable confusion Continue reading...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
Fears of a new global crash as debts and dollar’s value rise
As Greece puts the finishing touches to its latest round of cuts, some economists are increasingly alarmed about the signals from the world economyGreek ministers are spending this weekend, almost five grinding years since Athens was first bailed out, wrangling over the details of the spending cuts and economic reforms they have drawn up to appease their creditors.As the recriminations fly between Europe’s capitals, campaigners are warning that the global community has failed to learn the lessons of the Greek debt crisis – or even of Argentina’s default in 2001, the consequences of which are still being contested furiously in courts on both sides of the Atlantic.Brazil’s already in great trouble with the strength of the dollar; I dread to think what’s happening in South Africa Continue reading...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
Greek Reforms List Under Brussels Group Microscope
The reforms list presented by the Greek government is currently being examined by the Brussels Group, as part of the negotiations between Greece and its lenders. The Greek side hopes that an agreement will be reached within the week, so that the issue can ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greek reform list met with skepticism
The Greek government expected that the Brussels Group would reach a preliminary agreement by Monday to forward to the Euro Working Group the ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.xinhuanet.com |
Football in Greece: Stelios 'concerned for future of Greek game'
Former Greece midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos says he fears that continued violence at games threatens the future of the sport in his country.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bbc.co.uk |
Finns Party's Soini vows to oppose further Greek bailouts
“Finns party MPs will not vote for a third Greek bailout. Then we will see who becomes the Prime Minister and what kinds of conclusions we arrive at, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT yle.fi |
Greek energy minister starts two-day visit to Russia on Monday
Energy Minister Panayiotis Lafazanis is due to meet his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak and the chief executive of energy giant Gazprom, Alexey Miller, in Moscow on Monday.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Modern odyssey: Migrants from Africa, Asia seek to enter Europe through the Balkans' back door
by Associated Press Migrants' newest route to Europe means an epic Balkans trek by SHAWN POGATCHNIK and DALTON BENNETT, Associated Press - 28 March 2015 11:43-04:00 THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East take many routes to cross illegally into the European Union, and all are fraught with likely disappointment and occasional danger. The newest path, through the EU's Balkans back door, comes with a cruel twist: an epic 250-kilometer (150-mile) walk that is surging in popularity even though most who try it fail. This month, The Associated Press traveled for 10 days and nights with a 45-member group of West African migrants trying to reach Germany and France via Hungary, the terminus of the Western Balkans route. Many trekkers have faced years of failure to reach the heart of Europe by other sea and air routes, and soon discover the new path makes its own peculiar demands on those who try it. Here is the migrants' story from their Feb. 27 assembly in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki through 10 days of mounting agony and, for all but a lucky handful, defeat. ___ SAFE HOUSE The 32 men and 11 women packed into a two-bedroom basement apartment have left West Africa in search of a better life in Europe. It's taken them months, some even years, to reach this moment of hope. Two of the women have brought along 10-month-old children born during the journey; the boy in Greece, the girl in Turkey. Most have come via Turkey and, after paying smugglers around 1,000 euros ($1,100) each, sailed to nearby Greek islands to claim asylum on EU soil. But none wants to stay in Greece, with its unending debt crisis and high unemployment. To escape means heading north to Hungary via the former Yugoslavia, and a key link in the journey — Macedonia — must be covered on foot because of stiff criminal penalties for traffickers. The smuggler, a former soldier who provided AP access to the group on condition of anonymity, sternly tells his clients to be ready for a challenge that will require tents, sleeping bags, cold-weather gear, good shoes and plenty of socks. He promises to deliver them to the Serbian border in 10 days for a price averaging $500 a head. A few are sent to shop for last-minute supplies. All sleep fitfully on the floor. ___ TO THE BORDER It takes half a day for the entire group to board buses at a Thessaloniki central station full of rival groups of Asian and Arab migrants — and a large contingent of immigration police checking IDs. Two of the 45 Africans fall at this first hurdle, facing arrest for failing to carry papers identifying them as asylum-seekers. The rest start their long walk an hour north in the Greek border town of Polikastro. They follow an active rail line over a rickety wooden bridge through woods for 10 hours, reaching the frontier with Macedonia shortly before midnight. It's deemed too late to cross. The weather is cool but fine, and they sleep in the open air. The next night — most hiking will be done after dark to reduce the risk of detection, arrest and deportation back to Greece — they cross the border under the noses of a hilltop police observation post. After running in small groups across a major highway, they pitch 10 tents in Macedonia amid high spirits. ___ PATH TO PERDITION Infighting begins as one migrant, an aide to the smuggler, loses his phone and demands everyone be searched. The group traverses a mountain ridge, a road junction, cabbage fields and streams during a 40-kilometer trek that concludes at 4 a.m. under a freeway overpass. A 34-year-old Malian woman with leg pain forces the group to stop midway. Men carry her for a half-hour, then say she must walk or be left behind. The next morning, suspicions of theft among migrants explode into shouted insults. The smuggler warns he'll march them all back to Athens if they don't make peace. They do. The weather turns increasingly harsh as heavy rains turn into snow. The two 10-month-old infants cannot be consoled in the nighttime cold and, as the group falls two days behind schedule, mounting hunger gnaws at morale. The group is reduced to 42 as a 41-year-old Ivorian who uses a cane cannot keep walking and is left near a village to be sent back to Greece. On the sixth night of walking, the group finally reaches the town of Nogotino, still less than halfway to the Serb border. Morale is rock bottom, with many questioning why they had attempted the trip. Some blame the women and children for slowing them down. Two days later, the snow has worsened and some tents have broken. Afghan and Syrian migrants have beaten the Africans to abandoned buildings for shelter, and the groups don't mix for fear of being robbed. ___ CASUALTIES AND CHAOS On the ninth day, the Cameroonian mother of a 10-month-old boy says she cannot go on and they are left at night at an Orthodox church. The remaining 40 continue to follow the Vardar River north to the first large town on the route, Veles. The smuggler says they must wait until late and stick to the train tracks. But after 145 kilometers (87 miles) on foot, their luck runs out. Youths spot the Africans and shout abuse at them. Two policemen appear and, once they see the large numbers of migrants, use their clubs on stragglers. Five are arrested, including the mother of the 10-month-old girl. Amid the melee, the child is carried away by another migrant. Another woman breaks her ankle as she flees and is hospitalized. The next day, the smuggler and all but 13 of his group are in Macedonian custody and are shipped, with scores of Asian and Arab migrants, back to Greece in trucks. ___ TRYING AGAIN As soon as the migrants are unloaded at the border and ordered to walk back into Greece, many of the Arabs and Asians make a prompt U-turn, dissolve into the woods and try their luck again in Macedonia. Their resilience illustrates the migrants' maxim on this trail: Every time you fall down the map, get climbing up again. The demoralized Africans retreat to their Thessaloniki safe house to reorganize. A few, including the mother of the 10-month-old boy, quit and return to Athens. Ten days after the Veles debacle, the smuggler sets out again with 33 clients, including the mother of the 10-month-old girl. The child is waiting on the Serbian border, part of the 13 migrants from the first trip who reached a safe house on the border with Serbia. Without children to carry, the second mission makes better time — until police arrest all of them south of Veles. The smuggler this week has begun a third attempt involving at least 20 veterans of the first two failures. The mother separated from her child is coming. It's her third try in three weeks to reach her husband, mother and other relatives in Paris. As the hike resumes, a handful of the migrants who evaded police at Veles have sent messages of triumph to their friends: They paid traffickers 100 euros ($110) a head to be smuggled through Serbia and are in Hungary, gateway for borderless EU travel. Given enough chances, the smuggler says, all of them should make it. ___ Bennett traveled with the migrants through Greece and Macedonia. Pogatchnik reported from Berlin. News Topics: General news, Arrests, Law and order, Crime People, Places and Companies: Greece, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Europe, Athens, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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By land or by sea: Huddled masses of Africa, Asia, Middle East use 4 routes to European Union
by Associated Press World's huddled masses use 4 key land, sea routes to Europe by SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press - 28 March 2015 11:47-04:00 DUBLIN (AP) — Most migrants who live illegally in the European Union fly to the 28-nation bloc on valid visas and simply overstay their welcome. But for the poorest and most desperate travelers of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the journey often takes months by sea or land, with payments to trafficking gangs. Frontex, the EU agency that helps member nations detect migrants on the bloc's frontiers, documents the flow of illegal immigration on principal smuggling routes. These keep evolving in response to every government initiative. Ewa Moncure, spokeswoman for the Warsaw-based agency, compares efforts to quell immigration on any particular route to "squeezing a balloon." "You tighten a law in one country, another route swells up elsewhere," she says. Here are the main four smuggling routes listed in order of popularity in 2014 as recorded by Frontex. Each lists the total number of migrants detected in destination EU countries last year, the change from 2013, and the top three nationalities of migrants. ___ CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN: By boat to Italy. Most sail from the anarchic coast of Libya to Italy's southernmost islands or fellow EU member Malta. More than 170,000 reached Italian soil on this route in 2014, quadruple the previous year and a record annual figure for any country in EU history. Numbers have surged since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who had enforced a bilateral agreement with Italy. The overcrowded boats sometimes capsize; an estimated 3,500 drowned last year. Syrians, Eritreans and sub-Saharan Africans are the most common travelers. ___ EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN: By boat or land from Turkey to EU members Greece, Bulgaria or Cyprus. Numbers are soaring because of Turkey's hosting of more than 1 million refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan; its policy of making air travel from Africa easy; and, above all, its intimate proximity to the eastern islands of Greece. While land border controls have been toughened, it's proved harder to stop migrants from completing trips to Greek islands just minutes from the Turkish coast using smuggler-supplied rigid inflatable boats. More than 50,000 used this route last year, double the 2013 figure, led by Syrians, Afghans and Somalis. ___ WESTERN BALKANS: From Greece to Hungary via Macedonia and Serbia. This is the fastest-growing smuggling route, and increasingly the seamless second half of the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey. Once reaching Greece, asylum-seekers cannot easily reach other EU states except through the former Yugoslav nations of Macedonia and Serbia. Neighboring Hungary has become the preferred EU opening for travel by road or rail to immigrant favorites Germany and France. Many walk the entire Macedonian section because locals refuse to drive the migrants, citing harsh anti-smuggling laws. Alongside the Greek influx, the Balkans themselves generate heavy illegal immigration to the EU, particularly from Kosovo. More than 43,000 were recorded arriving in Hungary in 2014 using this route, double the previous year. Kosovars, Afghans and Syrians led the way. ___ WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN: By boat from Morocco or Algeria to Spain, or by land to Spanish outposts in North Africa. Once a top route for people-smugglers, but Spain's tightened border security and bad economy have limited growth of migrant numbers. Relatively few attempt to breach security barriers to Melilla and Ceuta, Spain's enclaves on the Moroccan coast. Instead, migrants use private boats and public ferries from Algeria and Morocco to reach Spain's Balearic Islands and mainland. Just to reach the North African coast, many Africans must walk for weeks along the Atlantic coast or through the Sahara Desert. Spanish border guards recorded 7,840 used this route last year, barely 1,000 more than in 2013, led by migrants from Cameroon, Algeria and Mali. ___ OTHERS "Eastern Borders" is Frontex's umbrella term for dozens of potential routes along the EU's 6,000-kilometer (3,600-mile) frontier with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The EU side — chiefly Finland, the three Baltic states and Poland — employ firm border checks that keep illegal immigration relatively static, including 1,270 migrants recorded in 2014, half coming from Vietnam, Afghanistan and Georgia. The Western Africa route, involving boatloads of Africans arriving in Spain's Canary Islands, was Europe's busiest route a decade ago. Tougher enforcement means migration has slowed to a trickle, with only 275 arrivals in 2014 — less than 1 percent of the levels recorded in 2008. News Topics: General news, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Social issues, Social affairs People, Places and Companies: Muammar Gaddafi, Europe, Spain, Turkey, Algeria, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Africa, Kosovo, North Africa, Greece, West Africa, Morocco, Middle East, Afghanistan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Asia Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Migrant timeline: Africans' tough Balkans trek ends in deportation for most, hope for a few
by Associated Press Timeline of African migrants' 10-day Balkan journey on foot by The Associated Press, Associated Press - 28 March 2015 11:45-04:00 A journey by African migrants as they tried to reach the European Union through the Balkans ended largely in defeat after a 10-day, 200-kilometer (125-mile) hike. But weeks later a dogged, lucky few finally reached their EU destination of Hungary. This is a timeline of the group's daily progress, as monitored by The Associated Press, amid harsh weather, injuries, infighting, exhaustion and police pursuit. _____ Feb. 25-27: A 45-member group of West African migrants, including 11 women and two infants, assembles in the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki. All sleep in an unfurnished two-bedroom basement apartment. Feb. 28: They walk at dawn to the central bus terminal amid growing police scrutiny. Two are arrested for failing to produce IDs. Forty-three board buses to Polikastro to begin the first leg of their epic walk, following train tracks for 10 hours and 19 kilometers (12 miles) through forests and fields. They camp west of the Greek border town of Evzonoi at midnight. March 1: At night, in small groups, all 43 run across a highway during a 6-kilometer (4-mile) border crossing. They camp near the Macedonian village of Gevgelija. March 2: At dusk, the group crosses an exposed ridge, sprints across a road junction into thick reeds, and covers 40 kilometers (25 miles) before stopping around 4 a.m. under a freeway overpass near the village of Marvintsi. March 3: Infighting over suspected stolen food and equipment delays resumption of the journey. Then an Ivorian man's knee injury requires a lengthy halt in a cabbage field. The group covers only 15 kilometers (9 miles) before stopping north of Udovo village. March 4: The group is reduced to 42 as the injured Ivorian is left behind. Shadowing the Vardar River, the group struggles amid rain and declining stocks of food and water. They cover 20 kilometers (12 miles) and camp near the village of Tremnik, now two days behind schedule. March 5: The migrants reach the town of Nogotino weak, hungry, cold and wet. After a resupply, they keep walking north. The mother of the 10-month-old girl in the group falls down a muddy embankment after midnight. They struggle to find a sheltered campground in freezing conditions near the village of Gradsko after a 25-kilometer (15-mile) trek. March 6: North of Gradsko, heavy snow falls, restricting progress to 15 kilometers (9 miles). Some of their 10 tents are broken. March 7: The group covers 15 more kilometers (9 miles) to reach the outskirts of Veles, the first major town encountered. March 8: An exhausted mother and her 10-month-old son are left at an Orthodox church. After dark and 5 kilometers (3 miles) along, residents of central Veles spot the remaining 40 migrants. Police chase and arrest five, including the mother of the 10-month-old girl. Another woman breaks her ankle while fleeing and is hospitalized in the Macedonian capital, Skopje. But most — including the infant, carried by others — head north. March 9: Ten days and approximately 200 kilometers (125 miles) into their trek, most of the group's remaining members are arrested north of Veles. One woman is released by police after pleading — falsely — that she must search for her own baby. March 10-12: Only 13 from the original group of 45 reach their northernmost Macedonian destination, the border town of Lojane. Most cross within days into Serbia. The woman who talked her way out of arrest remains in the Lojane safe house to care for the infant girl of the deported mother. The mother, like most of the others arrested, is back at the Thessaloniki starting point. March 20: A second attempt to cross Macedonia on foot, involving most of the same migrants, ends in arrest south of Veles and deportation back to Greece. March 23: A third attempt begins. A few of those who escaped the March 8-9 arrests report on social media that they have reached Hungary. News Topics: General news People, Places and Companies: Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Europe, Greece, Western Europe, Eastern Europe Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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BC-EU--Migrants-Journey to Europe,ADVISORY, EU
by Associated Press BC-EU--Migrants-Journey to Europe,ADVISORY, EU Associated Press - 28 March 2015 11:51-04:00 Editors: Migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East take many routes to cross illegally into the European Union, and all are fraught with likely disappointment and occasional danger. The newest path, through the EU's Balkans back door, comes with a cruel twist: an epic 250-kilometer (150-mile) walk that is surging in popularity even though most who try it fail. This month, The Associated Press traveled for 10 days and nights with a 45-member group of West African migrants trying to reach Germany and France via Hungary, the terminus of the Western Balkans route. Many trekkers have faced years of failure to reach the heart of Europe by other sea and air routes — and soon discover that the new path makes its own peculiar demands on those who try it. Here is the migrants' story, from their Feb. 27 assembly in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki through 10 days of mounting agony and, for all but a lucky handful, ultimate defeat. The 2,600-word story, and an abridged story of 1,100 words, have been sent. MIGRANTS-JOURNEY TO EUROPE — Each month, a tide of humanity pours through the hills of Greece, Macedonia and Serbia in hopes of entering the heart of the 28-nation European Union through its vulnerable back door in the Balkans. Most don't make it on their first attempt. Nor their third or fifth. Many, it seems, just keep trying — and failing — over and over. By Dalton Bennett and Shawn Pogatchnik. SENT: 2,600 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,100 words also was sent. — MIGRANTS-JOURNEY TO EUROPE-TIMELINE — A timeline of African migrants' 10-day Balkan journey on foot. 670 words. — MIGRANTS-ROAD TO EUROPE-KEY ROUTES — A look at the main four smuggling routes to the European Union listed in order of popularity in 2014. 700 words. — AP VIDEO EUROPE MIGRANTS — AP travels with migrants on their journey across Europe in hopes of starting a better life. The AP News Topics: General news People, Places and Companies: Europe Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Greece Stays Firm on No Privatizations
Greece's new anti-austerity government Syriza reiterated Friday that it will not undertake further privatizations of state property and will seek alternative ...
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Greece submits reforms, minister warns country prepared to go its own way
Greece's government refuses substantial cuts wages and pensions as part of a reform package aimed to unlock a fresh round of bailout funds.
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Week Ahead: NFP, Greece, Poor Liquidity, USD U-Turn, Long USD/CAD
Greece should also submit a reform proposal to unlock fresh funding. While potential Greek brinkmanship remains a risk, the combination of better ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.efxnews.com |
How Will Syria's Assad Be Held Accountable For Crimes Against Humanity?
Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic driving headlines around the world. Today, we speak with David Crane, a Syracuse University professor involved in the impartial effort to catalog Syrian war crimes. The conflict in Syria has entered its fifth year. The death toll tops 220,000 and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. In addition to fighting among rebel groups, Islamic State militants and government forces, there is proof of systemic killing of detainees by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The most tangible and shocking evidence of mass murder was presented last year in a report that included thousands of photographs smuggled out of Syria by a former military policeman who has been dubbed "Caesar." A report on these photos by top international lawyers and forensic scientists verified his account, and said there had been "industrial-scale" killing. One of the authors of the Caesar report was David Crane, who acted as chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone that indicted Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president now imprisoned for war crimes. Crane is now a professor at Syracuse University, where he is involved in the Syrian Accountability Project, an impartial body documenting crimes in the Syrian war. The WorldPost spoke with Crane about his work and the future of efforts to hold those responsible accountable. Can you speak to the scope of the crimes and the evidence that you’ve witnessed? The international crimes, which are still going on, are war crimes and crimes against humanity. We see no evidence of genocide, which is a specific-intent-crime, and you literally have to have a smoking gun to prove that. But war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed across the board by all parties. When I co-authored the Caesar report, we highlighted to the world that the Assad regime has been conducting a long-term industrialized killing of their own citizens for decades. The pictures coming out from Caesar -- that he smuggled out in his shoe -- these are high-definition, forensic photos that he took as a military forensic photographer of the deceased. The good thing about the photos is that they’re all numbered and verifiable, and we have the very person who took the photos able to verify them. War crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed across the board by all parties. We have Caesar safely ensconced in a country that is protecting him. We were able this time last year to capture as much as 50 percent of the original photos and put them in an evidence locker. In addition, we have a chain of custody, so we can establish legally the verifiable aspects of all these horrific photos. Something that was mentioned in your report was an estimate of 11,000 detainees that were killed. That’s correct. How we established that was we had a great team of very experienced individuals: two former chief prosecutors, the lead prosecutor for the [Slobodan] Milosevic case, chief forensic pathologist, forensic anthropologist and a photograph expert. We were able to determine scientifically that these 54,000 photographs probably showed about 11,000 deceased. The scariest part about this was that this was only from three detention facilities in and around Damascus, but the Syrian Accountability Project has found as many as 52 detention facilities. So what we may be looking at is the tip of a horrific iceberg. We have no idea how bad this is and I suspect that it’s going to be far worse than imagined. We have no idea how bad this is and I suspect that it’s going to be far worse than imagined. How does the Syrian Accountability Project get its evidence? We get our data from many sources. Open-source information gives us a sense of what’s happening, and then we also have agents in place on scene, including human rights and victims groups that are reporting directly to us. Our crime base matrix is now over 2,100 pages of Excel spreadsheet. The way we organize it is by listing the time, date, incident and alleged perpetrator. We also list specific violations of the Geneva Convention and specific violations of the Rome Statute. In addition, we translated the Syrian criminal code into English and list specific violations of Syrian law as well. This allows a future local or international prosecutor to take this and review which crimes they may charge or investigate. It's fascinating, 10 years ago we didn’t have any of this concept of social media. We used to have to go out and get all our evidence the old-fashioned way. Now it’s gone completely in reverse, and there is so much information that it’s a tsunami. In most cases, it’s important information, but useless in court due to legal issues such as verification and chain of custody. Our challenge now is building a case against all these parties, and we’re very careful about not putting anything on the crime base matrix unless it’s verifiable two or three times over. Is there a precedent for how social media might be used in court? The information that’s coming on social media is just information, it’s not evidence yet. It becomes evidence when it’s verifiable. We’re confronted with a new phenomenon, and the legal rules of evidence require us to do certain things to verify it. It can be done, but it’s just a function of having to go back to the source -- just because it’s on YouTube means nothing to a court of law. It has to be authenticated. Just because it’s on YouTube means nothing to a court of law, it has to be authenticated. A lot of the data that is useless in a court of law is still important historically and for truth-telling, of course. It’s just not usable. As much as 98 to 99 percent of all the data coming out of Syria has no legal significance. What are the step-by-step processes of bringing accountability to these crimes when the conflict in Syria finally ends? Once the geopolitical aspect of this is solved, if it ever is, we can prosecute heads of state and henchmen for what they’ve done. We’ve done it before in the Charles Taylor case. It will be an international court -- probably not the International Criminal Court because of likely Russian and Chinese objections -- but we can create a hybrid international court like the special court I helped found in 2002. You may also see an internationalized Syrian domestic court or even just a Syrian domestic court. We’ve been building this trial package with the anticipation of any of that happening. I’ll leave you with this: 10 years ago, President Charles Taylor of Liberia was the most dangerous warlord in Africa and never thought he’d be held accountable. Ten years later, he has been convicted in an open court. His appeals have been run and now he’s spending the rest of his life in her majesty’s maximum-security prison in the northeast of England. It may seem that justice is slow, but justice is justice. The people of West Africa can look at this monster that destroyed over 1.2 million of them having been held accountable and serving the rest of his life in jail. Patience is important, and we need to keep moving forward. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. More from The WorldPost's Weekly Interview Series: - Have We Got ISIS All Wrong? - What Is The State Of Political Islam Today? - Was The Libyan Intervention A Mistake? - What Palestinian Membership In The ICC Really Means - Anguish In Argentina After Prosecutor's Mysterious Death - Could The New Syriza Government Be Good For Greece's Economy? - Naming The Dead: One Group's Struggle To Record Deaths From U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan
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