How the world sees Greece
Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund does not wish to slap "draconian measures" on hard-up Greece but wants more government progress on pension reform, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday. Lagarde spoke as Greece was hit by a general ...
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[rock climber] Day's over. Stocks rallied in early trading, but ultimately closed higher. First, the scoreboard: * DOW: 16,416.6, +79.9 (+0.5%) * S&P 500: 1,915.5, +2.9 (+0.3%) * NASDAQ: 4,509.5, +5.3, (+0.1%) And now, the top stories of the day: THE US ECONOMY Initial jobless claims rose more than expected last week, totaling around 285,000. "Some of January's disappointments in claims may have been attributed to giveback following elevated levels of hiring of temporary workers over the holidays," BNP Paribas' Derek Lindsey wrote. Elsewhere in the labor market latest report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that layoff announcements surged 218% from December to January led by the retail and energy sectors. Business Insider's Akin Oyedele noted that retail was perhaps the biggest swing factor here, especially Walmart, which announced plans to close 269 stores across America. WORRIES ABOUT THE FUTURE Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna thinks the decline in corporate profit margins is a glaring indicator that, in a worst case scenario, a recession could be here within a few months. Additionally, UBS equity strategist Julian Emanuel revised his 2016 S&P 500 year-end target down to 2,175 from 2,275. His target has been among the most bullish on Wall Street at the end of last year. Emanuel also added if any of the headwinds — particularly from China's economy —get worse, then there's a risk that stocks could fall 8% below current levels in the next few weeks. JOBS DAY IS TOMORROW After the rocky month for stocks, less-than-stellar corporate profits, and continued lower oil prices, many economists aren't expecting a slam dunk jobs report in January. Folks are worried about the struggling manufacturing sector and any possible effects from January's colder weather. Notably, Goldman Sachs couldn't identify a single reason why Friday's report will be great, as Business Insider's Akin Oyedele observed. Most importantly, economists will be looking to see whether the January jobs report is a sign that a fourth quarter slowdown is starting to impact the labor market or if this report is just be a seasonal quirk that will be revised higher later. OIL Morgan Stanley's Adam Longson thinks that the rebalancing of the crude oil market will take longer than everyone has been expecting. And he's not the only one buckling in for a long ride. Ryan Lance, the CEO of the world's largest independent oil and gas driller, ConocoPhillips, said in an earnings release on Thursday that "it's prudent to plan for lower prices for a longer period of time." Notably, ConocoPhillips posted an adjusted earnings-per-share loss of $0.65 for the fourth quarter, and lowered its quarterly dividend to $0.25 from $0.74. It also lowered its full-year capital expenditure projection to $6.4 billion from $7.7 billion. RETAIL Retail store owner Kohl's and clothing maker Ralph Lauren both crashed on Thursday. Ralph Lauren reported earnings per share of $1.54, below expectations of $2.13 per share. The company also projected lower profit margins for the quarter and year ahead. Kohl's also had some ugly news. The company lowered its EPS guidance for 2015 to $3.95 to $4.00 from $4.40 to $4.60. It is expected to report full earnings on February 25. These earnings releases come as two more disappointments in the larger, struggling retail industry. Notably, Michael Kors' CEO John Idol said that rick and mortar retailers have been struggling since consumers shifted to online shopping. ADDITIONALLY Anti-austerity protests are paralyzing Greece. Donald Trump's poll numbers plunged in the first national survey after Iowa. Martin Shkreli could not stop laughing during his testimony to Congress. His lawyer said Shkreli "is a hero." GoPro's CEO Nick Woodman said in the quarterly earnings call that GoPro is not a "camera company" but rather a "activity capture company." The markers of Barbie and Furby could be getting together. South Africa has a lot of problems. Subway killed the $5 footlong. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Chipotle will be giving out more free food to win back customers
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ATHENS, GREECE—Tens of thousands joined anti-government protests across Greece Thursday as the country was crippled by a general strike against painful pension reforms demanded by bailout lenders. In Athens, police said some 40,000 people joined rallies ...
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The mysterious object in this ancient Greek funeral relief is not a laptop, no matter how much you squint at it.
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As a part of its Campus Sustainability Grants Program, the University of Georgia’s Office of Sustainability has awarded approximately $170,000 across 47 student-initiated projects since 2010. This year, $40,000 has been awarded to students funding 10 ...
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, once the adored "mutti," or mother, of her country, is seeing her popularity plummet. "I don't think there is any question anymore," Werner J. Patzelt, a political analyst at Technical University Dresden, told The Washington Post. "Angela Merkel is really in trouble." The German leader's approval ratings have fallen to 46 percent -- the lowest they've been since October 2011 -- from a high of 75 percent almost one year ago, according to a new Infratest/Dimap poll. The reason is not hard to discern: As a refugee crisis engulfed the European continent last year, Merkel opened her country's doors, taking in over 1 million people. While her decision was praised by many abroad, she's now facing a backlash -- driven, in part, by violence in Germany and squabbles with neighboring countries. > Merkel's popularity falls below 50% for the first time ever. > [#Germany Infratest/Dimap poll]: > 46% -8 points pic.twitter.com/YZF1XPsB0W > — Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) February 3, 2016 Opposition to the influx of migrants and refugees came to a head after some 90 women reported having been robbed, threatened or sexually molested by men who may have been Arab or North African on New Year's Eve in the city of Cologne. Similar attacks were reported in Hamburg and Frankfurt. Over 600 criminal complaints have been filed in relation to those attacks. After the attacks in Cologne, 60 percent of Germans said they no longer believed their country should accept refugees, up from 46 percent in December, according to a FG Wahlen poll. Anti-immigrant parties, which campaign on a fervently anti-Merkel platform, seized on the opportunity to gain ground in mid-March elections. The Alternative for Germany, one of the country's leading anti-foreigner parties, may win seats in three state parliaments. "Mrs. Merkel, is Germany 'colorful and cosmopolitan' enough for you after the wave of crimes and sexual attacks?" asked Frauke Petry, chief of the Alternative for Germany, according to The Associated Press. Merkel has also faced resistance from neighboring countries that lack the wealth and resources of Germany. The European Union was "clearly not up to dealing with the huge influx of migrants, and the crisis laid bare deep divisions among the member states," said Stefan Lehne, a Carnegie Europe visiting scholar. "The fact that in the eyes of some other EU leaders the German chancellor had exacerbated the crisis through excessively welcoming gestures further complicated the situation," he added. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are taking harder stances against the refugees. Czech President Milos Zeman recently reiterated his view that "the integration of the Muslim community is practically impossible." At a time when 81 percent of Germans say their government has no control over the refugee situation, Merkel has recently responded with a series of migrant-curbing measures. Germany cracked down on its asylum laws on Wednesday, placing a two-year ban on family reunifications and declining asylum relief to people from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria. "We took on board the concerns of the people, who are worried about the future, and this means we want to reduce, we want to drastically decrease the number of people coming to us," Merkel told broadcaster ARD in December. This is a change in tune from the chancellor who won Time's Person of the Year award in 2015 for holding Europe together during the Greek debt negotiations and exhibiting "a different set of values -- humanity, generosity, tolerance -- to demonstrate how Germany's great strength could be used to save, rather than destroy," as Time's editor-in-chief, Nancy Gibbs, wrote. How Merkel handles the growing criticism matters far beyond German borders. "The future of the E.U. currently rests on Merkel's strength, or weakness," Constanze Stelzenmüller, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told The New York Times. _ALSO ON HUFFPOST:_ -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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On Monday January 25, British tabloid The Sun published the following headline: "Anarchy near the UK: British activists behind Calais ferry stampede." A day earlier, migrants in the refugee camp near Calais known as "The Jungle," along with several social groups, staged a protest demanding the respect for their right to freedom of movement and decent living conditions. Three days later, British Prime Minister David Cameron brokered new restrictions on immigration with Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission. Cameron even probed Juncker on the possibility of denying certain kinds of public assistance for immigrants. I don't know what "anarchy" The Sun was talking about, but it does seem increasingly clear that the exponential increase of refugees and migrants is tearing at the seams of the European Union, which is neither as united nor as supportive as it has tried to appear. A few weeks ago, Dimitris Avramopulos, the European Commissioner for Immigration, said that this is a very difficult time for Europe. "The European dream has vanished," he said. Beyond the fading of a dream, Europe is approaching a surveillance and security nightmare. Decisions are being made regarding who should be and who shouldn't be protected. Such exclusion from protection defines political xenophobia. > In the face of such a humanitarian tragedy, European institutions > have not provided humanitarian solutions to grant safe and legal > access to refugees. It is not surprising then that the Danish Parliament, under pressure from the far-right, pro-government Popular Party (PPD), and with support from conservatives, liberals and social democrats, recently approved a law that seizes assets from refugees. Here in Spain, we've heard whispers of this particularly twisted legal measure, which entails the confiscation of valuables and money to cover the asylum seekers' expenses in the country. Similar practices have already been applied in Switzerland and in several German federal states such as Bavaria and Baden-Wurtemberg. But the Danish government is also implementing other measures, including making cuts to benefits and grants so as to avoid "compromising" the sustainability of the Danish welfare and system. It also includes more hurdles for refugees to access family reunification programs. Refugees could be forced to wait as long as three years before beginning the process, a requirement that could well violate the European Convention on Human Rights as and other child protection treaties signed by Denmark and other European countries. But Denmark is not alone. Nor was Hungary when it made the news last autumn. This week, Europol estimated that around 10,000 minors were separated from their families last year and are now missing. It's strange that this figure --which may or may not be accurate-- hasn't been reported by humanitarian organizations working in the field. It's even more surprising that in the face of such a humanitarian tragedy, European institutions have not provided humanitarian solutions to grant safe and legal access to refugees. Creating a safe and legal corridor to Europe would regulate the influx of refugees, end the mafia's lucrative business, prevent the forcible separation of many families, and, above all, avoid thousands of unnecessary deaths. For now, these corpses testify to the institutional racism entrenched in European migratory policies. > Asylum seekers from other countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and > Eritrea are treated as second-class refugees. European institutions and member states, meanwhile, continue going down their obstinate path; they strengthen Fortress Europe by turning countries such as Greece, Macedonia and Serbia into checkpoint-states that control migratory flows to central Europe. In their effort to reduce the number of refugees, every conceivable measure seems to be fair game. Refugees are hosted in closed detention centers, and border controls are tightened. They even classify refugees and take the liberty of stripping some of them of their rights. In practice, this entails restricting the refugee quota almost solely to Syrians. Syrian refugees are then held in detention centers, and wait to be relocated to other European countries. Asylum seekers from other countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea are treated as second-class refugees. The Greek government is being encouraged to return these refugees to their countries of origin via a classic carrot and stick approach: as long as Greece fulfills the role of checkpoint-state or border police for the rest of Europe, European institutions will ease Greece's deficit ceiling for the Stability and Growth Pact. If Greece fails to pull through, then it may be looking at expulsion from the Schengen area in three months. It wasn't only Hungary. It's not only Denmark. And it's not Greece, or many other examples that would fit this list. There is a spiral of crackdowns on freedom and a security hype driven by barbarism and fear currently haunting Europe. Freedom of movement is restricted and basic rights are crushed. Member states are blackmailed and forced to act as border police for the rest of Europe. This is a fatal trend that forces us to rethink the European project. We need to find a plan B to combat the xenophobia that is gaining ground in Europe like an Orwellian nightmare. We need to find solidarity and unity, on the streets and across official institutions, in political and social organizations. Only then will we be able to build a project from the ashes of the European dream that would allow us to turn solidarity into equal rights. _This post first appeared on HuffPost Spain. It has been translated into English and edited for clarity._ -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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