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Greek News 2010 (from Yahoo news)

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Monday the 23rd of August 2010	Bank robber surrenders after standoff A bank robber armed with hand grenades and a gun surrendered to police after holding more than 15 people hostage inside the bank Monday, authorities said. Police had been alerted to the robbery at a branch in Greece's main port of Piraeus, and arrived while it was still under way, regional police chief Grigoris Balakos said. Two suspects were arrested as they attempted to flee, but one remained inside, taking staff and customers hostage. Authorities sent a special police unit and hostage negotiators to the site, and the gunman gradually released most of his hostages. He eventually surrendered to police after several hours. Although the hostage-taker at one point fired several shots, they appeared to have been warning shots and police said there were no injuries. Balakos said two of the suspects were Greek and one was a foreigner. He did not elaborate. Armed robberies in banks are common in Greece, particularly in Athens and the country's second largest city of Thessaloniki, but they rarely lead to hostage situations.
Thursday the 19th of August 2010	Greeks, Serbs brawl in Athens Basketball turned into basket-brawl at the Arcopolis-Eurobank Tournament in Athens. The final game of the tournament, between Serbia and Greece, came to an early end Thursday at the Athens Olympic Arena when an ugly, bench-clearing brawl broke out. Players from both sides exchanged punches and kick before a handful of spectators joined the fray. Videos of the scrap show chairs being thrown. Greece was up 74-73 in the second half when the brawl broke out. Officials decided to end the game rather than have the fight flare up again. The brawl started when Greek forward Antonis Fotsis took offence to a hard foul by Serb guard Milos Teodosic. Serbia's Nenad Krstic, who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, intervened and grabbed Fotsis by the throat. Krstic then threw a chair at Greek centre Sofoklis Schortanitis and hit Yannis Bouroussis. When the players moved into toward the locker rooms, they fought in the tunnel under the stands. Trouble started six minutes after Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic was ejected after picking up his second technical foul. Canada wrapped up play in the tournament earlier in the day, losing 71-86 to Slovenia. Jevohn Shepherd of Toronto led Canada with 13 points while Montreal's Joel Anthony added 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks. The Canadian team moves on to Turkey for the Efes Pilsen Tournament in Ankara. Canada will play Argentina, Turkey and Lebanon in the tournament.
Monday the 16th of August 2010	Dimitrios Ioannidis, who toppled Greek junta, dies ATHENS, Greece – Dimitrios Ioannidis, the feared security chief who led a countercoup against Greece's military leaders and provoked Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, has died. He was 87. Ioannidis, who was jailed for life for his part in the 1967-74 dictatorship, died Monday in an Athens hospital, a day after experiencing breathing problems in his prison cell, the justice ministry said. He had spent the past 35 years out of the public eye in a special wing of the maximum security Korydallos prison, which was built during the military regime. As head of the brutal ESA military police, Brigadier Ioannidis was a key figure in the military dictatorship that seized power on April 21, 1967 after years of political instability. The ultraconservative dictators imposed martial law and cracked down heavily on political opponents, imprisoning or exiling thousands, many of whom were tortured by ESA. The junta was condemned in the West, and the U.S. temporarily banned arms sales to Greece. But a 1971 visit by Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was of Greek descent, was viewed by many as tacit approval of the dictatorship. This led to a surge in anti-American sentiment in Greece, and in 1999 then U.S. president Bill Clinton conceded that Washington had failed its "obligation to support democracy." Following a student pro-democracy uprising that the army crushed in November 1973, dictator George Papadopoulos tried to slowly introduce some democratic reforms. But army hard-liners, led by Ioannidis, staged a successful countercoup on Nov. 25 1973 and ruled Greece with increasing harshness and incompetence for the next eight months. Although Ioannidis appointed a military president and a civilian prime minister, he was the real man in control, and became known as the "invisible dictator." Under his regime, relations with neighboring Turkey — as well as President Makarios' government in Cyprus — quickly deteriorated. In mid July 1974, the military overthrew Makarios, prompting Turkey to exercise its rights as a guarantor power on the Mediterranean island and invade on July 20. The attack caught Athens unprepared, and the dictatorship ended with a return to civilian government after four shambolic days in which Greece came close to war with Turkey. A second Turkish advance in August gave Ankara control of nearly 40 percent of the island, whose continued partition along ethnic lines remains a major thorn in gradually thawing relations between NATO allies Greece and Turkey. The coup leaders were tried in 1975 and jailed in Korydallos. Papadopoulos died in 1999, aged 80. The only surviving senior junta figure is Brig. Stylianos Pattakos, who has been freed from jail. In 2008, authorities rejected an application by Ioannidis for temporary release from prison on health grounds. No funeral arrangements for Ioannidis have been announced.
Monday the 16th of August 2010	Israel and Greece seek to expand military ties ATHENS, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Israeli and Greek leaders discussed expanding military ties on Tuesday including sharing military know-how and holding joint war games, officials said. Israel has been keen to expand ties with Greece as its relations with Turkey -- another strategic Mediterranean partner -- soured since an Israeli raid on a Turkish-backed aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip in May. As he wrapped up his two-day trip to Greece, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- the highest ranking Israeli to visit the country -- said the two nations were "opening a new chapter". He told reporters that he and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou had discussed military cooperation. An official in Netanyahu's entourage told Reuters these discussions "explored establishing greater cooperation between both countries' military industries and armies". A Greek official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed they "talked about new forms of cooperation on defence and security issues" including the expansion of joint military exercises and sharing technological knowledge. In a symbolic gesture, Papandreou hosted Netanyahu on a trip to an island off the Athens coast on Tuesday, setting sail on a missile boat Israel sold to Greece eight years ago. Papandreou told a joint news conference with the Israeli leader on Monday that they were looking at expanding strategic ties. Israeli officials said a team of experts on security and trade ties would soon meet to map out further details. Netanyahu has said he wants to mend fences with Turkey and that upgrading relations with Greece could further that goal. Greece is Turkey's long-standing rival in the Mediterranean. The came to the brink of war at least twice in the 20th century. Israel sees Greece as more ready to build ties with it because it senses that Athens' traditional Arab allies seem less opposed than in the past, due to shared fears of Iran which many in the West believe is seeking to make a nuclear bomb. "Relations are now developing at great speed due to our common interests," another senior Israeli official told reporters on the sidelines of the trip.
Friday the 13th of August 2010	Greece Wins Miss Teen World 2010 Anastasia Sidiropoulou from Athens, Greece bested 23 other contestants to win Miss Teen World 2010 which was held on August 9 – 14, 2010 at Hilton Hotel, in Houston Texas, USA.
Thursday the 12th of August 2010	Greeks feeling pain from austerity measures ATHENS, Greece – The plan to rescue Greece from bankruptcy has kicked in, and with a vengeance. As the government slashes spending and hikes taxes, the deficit is way down — but jobs are vanishing, shops are closing, and on the streets gloom is prevailing. The European Union likes the swift action on the deficit. But few Greeks are in a mood to celebrate. Many predict a fall of strikes and demonstrations as those who could afford a summer holiday return to a grim reality. On paper, the turnaround is working. The Finance Ministry said Friday the budget deficit has narrowed by a whopping 39.7 percent on the year, slightly better than the original target. The European Union, which demanded the cuts in return for bailout loans, is positively purring. On Thursday, the EU said Greece's efforts to slash spending were "impressive." Less impressed are shop owners, who say consumers have tightened their purse strings, cutting down on the nonessentials. Higher taxes and cuts in civil servant pay are removing the boost of government spending from the economy. "Civil servants used to come in and buy a double espresso and something to eat. Now they get a single espresso, and a cheaper sandwich," said Constantinos Garyfallou, who spends about 15 hours a day running a coffee shop just off Athens' central Syntagma Square and near several ministries and state-run services. Even small changes in consumer spending — 50 cents less per customer each day — could translate to a fall in revenue for his coffee shop of about euro4,000 ($5,000) a month. "Nobody can withstand a fall like that," Garyfallou said. Struggling under a mountain of debt, Greece was forced this year to ask for rescue loans from the International Monetary Fund and other European Union countries that use the euro as their currency in order to avoid defaulting on its loans. In return, the center-left government is having to implement a strict austerity program that has seen it cut the pay of Greece's more than 700,000 civil servants, trim pensions, hike taxes and overhaul pension and employment rules. The main target is to slash the budget deficit to 8.1 percent of gross domestic product by the end of the year, from the current 13.6 percent — more than four times the limit for eurozone countries. The first batch of loans under the three year, euro110 billion package arrived in May, a day before Athens faced default when it had to reservice maturing bond debt. The EU has recommended approval of a second batch in September. By then, there will probably be more shuttered shopfronts on the main streets of Athens. In addition to the drop in turnover, banks are increasingly reluctant to hand out loans. For many businesses, the combined pinch has just been too much. "Have you seen all the 'for rent' signs in the center? I've never seen anything like it in the past 30 years," said Georgia Brezati, owner of a clothes shop just off the popular pedestrian shopping street of Ermou in central Athens, where a report this month by the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce, or ESEE, said 15 percent of shops had shut down. A recent survey by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed that 86 percent of the 523 businesses questioned said they were suffering cash flow problems, while a staggering 93 percent had suffered a fall in turnover due to the financial crisis. The chamber's head, Constantinos Mihalos, criticized the government for implementing policies "restricted only to serving the interests of our lenders, ignoring the serious problems of the market and of society in general." Some economists think the emphasis on austerity could be misplaced, and in the end could make repaying Greece's debts harder by choking off growth. Businesses in the center of Athens have also suffered from the frequent strikes and sometimes-violent demonstrations last spring, when angry Greeks took to the streets to protest the austerity program, blocking traffic from the city center for hours. Shop owners often have to close and board up their windows to protect them from youths hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails, and customers stay away. Last May, three people died trapped in a burning bank torched by protesters on Stadiou Street, along a demonstration route. It is that street — one of the capital's main thoroughfares — that has been the worst hit by store closures, with about 25 percent rolling down their shutters and moving out, according to ESEE figures. Brezati, who couldn't afford to go on a summer vacation for the first time in years, said she kept her store open all summer but was barely seeing a couple of customers a day. Her business would survive, she explained, because she owned the store, but many around her who were renting just couldn't make ends meet and have thrown in the towel. Panagis Karelas, head of the of Athens Traders Association, expects closures to continue. "There is a climate of insecurity which has hit turnover and means that Greek business owners, big or small, will not dare to invest in the future. So more businesses are closing and more people are losing their jobs," he said. Unemployment hit 12 percent in May, slightly up from 11.9 percent the previous month, while the country's GDP fell by 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010, compared to the first three months of the year. And the fall is set to be tough, with the government planning to loosen state control of power generation, privatize loss-making state enterprises and liberalize tightly regulated professions that are sapping productivity. Unions have promised more strikes and demonstrations. Which will only increase the pain.
Friday the 31st of July 2010	Greece turns to military to restore fuel supplies ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece said Friday it will use military trucks, navy vessels and commandeered fuel tankers to restore gasoline supplies cut by a strike that has hurt the country's industry and vital tourism trade at the height of vacation season. Government spokesman Giorgos Petalotis told The Associated Press that the emergency plan would take effect "as quickly as possible" to insure that vital public services were not affected by the protest, which is in its fifth day. Earlier, striking truckers vowed to continue their protest in defiance on an emergency order to return to work. Clashes broke out at an oil refinery in northern Greece leaving two people hurt, police said, after strikers clashed with riot police while trying to block a government-seized truck from leaving. Greece is racing to push through austerity measures needed to secure continued international rescue loans to prop up its debt-strapped economy, with the next loan installment due in mid-September. Inspectors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund are currently in Athens to review progress of cost-cutting reforms. "The law will be upheld," Petalotis said. "Our information is that most mobilization notices have now been handed out. Those who do not comply are violating the law and can lose their operating license and face the consequences of criminal prosecution." The truckers have rejected a compromise offer by the government to offset the financial impact of liberalizing their closed-shop profession. Sweeping labor reforms targeting previously protected professional groups follow months of strikes and protests over other belt-tightening measures that included sale tax hikes, and cuts in pensions and civil service pay -- all in the midst of recession that has seen unemployment spike to around 12 percent. The fuel strike has hurt Greek industry and tourism, with shortages likely to affect travel this weekend. "This is a catastrophe. The decision was taken on the busiest day of the year, at peak season ... I don't know what's worse, what is actually happening today or the bad publicity this is giving us," George Telonis, head of the Greek Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies, told The Associated Press. "The season so far has not gone too badly, with about a 3 percent drop on the year, despite all the strikes and difficulties ... because we have a very strong product. But I am very worried that damage will be done if this strike continues," he added. He said the fuel strike will hammer last-minute bookings and popular holiday excursions to beaches and ancient sites. Hoteliers at resorts in northern Greece, which are mostly accessed by car, have reported a steeper drop in bookings this year -- more than 15 percent, according to their associations. "We are helping customers find open gas stations so that they can get home," said Grigoris Tasios, head of the Halkidiki Hotel Association, of resorts in northern Greece. "About one or two gas stations are currently supplied in a 50-kilometer (30-mile) radius, when normally there would be at least 10." George Amvrazis, managing director of the Greek Hotel Federation, said the strikes had already tarnished Greece's image. "This has taken a toll on mainland resorts. You won't set out to a resort if you're not sure if you can fill up your gas tank," Amvrazis said. "This current protest, together with all the others, has set the Greece brand back for years."
Monday the 19th of July 2010 Cypriot President Demetris Christofias (R) speaking during a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou following a meeting at Larnaca	Greece backs Greek Cyriot proposals to jumpstart UN talks LARNACA, Cyprus (AFP) – Greece voiced support on Wednesday for Greek Cypriot proposals to jumpstart talks on reunifying the Mediterranean island after Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots accused their rivals of derailing a UN-backed year-end target date for a deal. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou urged Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to "seriously study" the new package of proposals put forward last week by Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, who is also Cyprus president. "This shows that President Christofias is one step ahead in initiatives to solve the Cyprus problem," Papandreou told reporters after they met at the island's Larnaca airport. The package put forward by Christofias proposes that the port of Famagusta in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north be opened to direct trade under European Union auspices in exchange for the return of the nearby resort of Varosha to its displaced Greek Cypriot inhabitants. Once one of the Mediterranean's leading resorts, Varosha has been a decaying ghost town since Turkish troops fenced it off in 1974 when they invaded the island's northern third following a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at union with Greece. Christofias also proposes that in UN-brokered talks on reunifying the island the questions of restoring property to the displaced and adjusting the amount of territory under Turkish Cypriot local administration be combined with the issue of immigration control after any deal. He is also pushing for the key issue of security to be dealt with at a UN-chaired international conference with participation by the European Union, as well as Greece, Turkey and former colonial power Britain, rather than at a meeting of the last three as proposed by the Turkish Cypriots. "If these measures are accepted it will change the climate and lead to positive results," Christofias said on Wednesday. During a visit to the breakaway north on Tuesday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek accused the Greek Cypriots of lacking the necessary political will for a settlement. "This is not a process that can go on forever," he warned after talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu. "If the Greek Cypriots and their supporters cannot reach a solution by the end of the year, everyone will continue to follow their own paths," he said. But Christofias countered that it was not his government that was blocking progress in reunification talks but the Turkish Cypriots and their backers in Ankara, which he charged was "hardening its stance". Christofias and Eroglu are due to meet again on Thursday for their latest talks in the UN-backed peace process which was relaunched in December 2008. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned the two sides that time is running out for a deal but has expressed confidence one can be reached in the coming months.
Monday the 19th of July 2010 Sokratis Giolias	Journalist gunned down in Athens ATHENS -- Unidentified attackers riddled Athens journalist Socrates Giolias with bullets in front of his apartment building in the Ilioupolis suburb of Athens. An unknown man rang the doorbell of Giolias’ apartment at about 5:20 and when the journalist opened the door the man told him that someone was attempting to steal his car parked outside the building. When he came out of the building and headed toward the vehicle the three attackers opened fire and killed him on the spot before fleeing the scene in a car. Police have collected some 20 bullet casings at the scene. Several hours later a burned car was found approximately 1.5 kilometers from the murder scene, and police believe it was the killers' getaway car. The car had been stolen from nearby Alimos two days earlier and its theft had been reported by the owner to the local police station. According to an eye-witness account, the perpetrators were wearing uniforms, possibly of a security company or the municipal police. Giolias' wife, who has suffered a strong shock, and the couple's young child were in the apartment at the time of the killing. The motives of the killing are still unknown, and police are examining all possibilities.

Saturday the 18th of July 2010	First major fire of summer hits near Athens The fire service estimates that 800 hectares of shrubland was burned during a wildfire northeast of Athens. The blaze brought back memories of last summer’s devastating wildfires near the capital, which burned 17,000 hectares. More than 800 hectares of mostly shrubland were burned by a wildfire that broke out almost 50 kilometers northeast of Athens on Saturday and which took the fire service most of the day to get under control, as firefighters battled against other, smaller blazes as well. The fire service said yesterday that initial estimates indicate that Saturday’s fire destroyed 800 hectares of greenery between Kapandriti and Varnavas, a few kilometers from the resort of Kalamos. It was the first major forest fire of this summer in Greece. The blaze broke out early in the day and was fanned by gale force winds. More than 300 firefighters, 100 soldiers and 61 fire engineers took part in the ground operation to but out the blaze. Six airplanes and four helicopters also played a vital part in getting the fire, which developed on several fronts, under control by repeatedly dropping water. The fire was put out soon after 2 a.m., the fire service said. Although the wildfire got close to a number of homes, only a shack was burned and no injuries were reported. Residents, however, were forced to leave their homes as the blaze spread. Experts were investigating the possible cause or causes of the blaze. There was a suggestion that it may have been ignited by sparks from a Public Power Corporation sub-generator in an area between the communities of Mikrochori and Agonas, which the fire service said it would be looking into. Athens’ chief First Instance Prosecutor Eleni Raikou also launched a separate probe into the fire as well as a blaze near the port of Lavrio, southeast of Athens. This fire was brought under control quicker but a children’s summer camp was evacuated as a precaution. Another smaller blaze also broke out in Grammatiko, northeast of Athens, and there were unconfirmed reports that two men had been arrested yesterday in connection with the fire. Sources said that the two suspects were aged 27 and 37 and that one of them is suspected of discarding a cigarette that started the fire. Yesterday, firefighters were called out to attend to wildfires on the island of Salamina and in Megara, north of Athens. No homes or lives were at risk in either of the blazes, which were under control by late last night.
Sunday the 17th of July 2010	Greece wildfires force evacuations Dozens of wildfires have broken out in Greece, threatening homes and forcing the evacuation of a nunnery and a children's camp near Athens. Fanned by strong winds, 45 fires raged across the country, burning large swathes of vegetation but causing little damage to property, the fire brigade said. Seven fires flared up around Athens, sending thick clouds of smoke over the capital, the first serious wildfires to occur near the city this summer. The flames wiped out forest left unharmed by a major blaze last year, which destroyed scores of homes and thousands of acres of vegetation. "The two major fronts in Athens are clearly abating now, we're doing very well, there is no danger," fire brigade chief Stelios Stefanidis said on Skai television. Earlier, authorities ordered the evacuation of a nunnery near Lake Marathon and a children's camp in the town of Lavrio. Several citizens left their homes to avoid the smoke, while others stayed behind to protect their property using water hoses and tree branches. More than 150 firefighters, 32 engines, six airplanes and four helicopters were battling to put out the flames. Wildfires, often laid by arsonists to clear land for development, are frequent in Greece. Anarchic town-planning and illegal rubbish dumps also help the fires break out and spread
Friday the 16th of July 2010	Greece making good progress on debt, risks remain: IMF Greek authorities have made "considerable progress" towards putting public finances in order, but the cost of health and social security funds continue to present risks, the IMF said in a new report. "State budget implementation is on track with good expenditure control," the organization said after a recent visit to the country, which was forced to seek loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund amid spiraling debt. "However, hospitals and social security funds present clear risks, as do financial pressures in public enterprises," the international lending institution said in the report published on its website. Belt-tightening measures intended to tame Greece's deficit contributed to slower economic activity, as had been expected, but inflation was up more than forecast, while private consumption was found to be "surprisingly resilient." Overall, the report said the austerity measures adopted in May, over howls of protests from many in Greece, were being implemented as intended.
Thursday the 15th of July 2010	Greek workers strike in protest of austerity measures ATHENS, Greece — Flights in Greece were grounded for at least four hours Thursday by a strike and tax collectors, customs officials and government workers also walked out in the latest protest against the government’s austerity measures and pension reforms. The action by air traffic controllers halted flights to all Greek airports until the early afternoon — and when it stopped, outgoing flights were extremely backed up, creating more headaches for tourists. Several hundred protesting civil servants gathered outside parliament as lawmakers prepared to vote on pension reforms for public servants. Greece’s Socialist government is facing strong opposition from unions over plans to overhaul the country’s welfare system and labor rules. “After the government slashed our income and increased our tax burden ... it broke its pre-election promised not to raise pension contributions or the retirement age,” the civil servants union ADEDY said. “It is using the financial crisis as an excuse to wipe out our working rights.” But that promise was made before the true extent of Greece’s debt woes were known, and before those problems triggered a widespread debt crisis across Europe. Greece narrowly avoided defaulting on its loans in May, when it received the first installment of a euro110 billion ($139 billion) rescue package from the International Monetary Fund and other European countries who also use the euro currency. To secure the loans, the government took painful austerity measures, angering labor unions and triggering a series of strikes and protests. On Wednesday, hundreds of Greek police, firefighters and harbor police in Athens protested the pension reforms, which they say will increase their minimum retirement age to 60 from around 53 — still among the lowest in Europe. Staff at public hospitals are planning a five-day walkout next week.
Thursday the 08th of July 2010	Greece faces strike chaos as MPs reform pensions ATHENS (AFP) – Greece faced a general strike Thursday after deputies approved a bill on the reform of the private-sector pension system, voting to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65. Socialist deputies and two independents late Wednesday backed the measure, considered a key plank of the government's programme adopted in May to pull the country out of its financial crisis. The move was opposed by right-wing and far-left parties, including the communists. The new measure also requires 40 years of payments into the pension fund instead of 37 years previously. After Wednesday's vote in principle, the bill was to be debated article by article before a second vote on the entire package late Thursday, parliament's speaker Philippos Petsalnikos said. Prime Minister George Papandreou stressed the importance of the measure, arguing it was vital for the viability of the current pensions system and to ensuring its future. A second bill proposing the same retirement age for public sector workers has been scheduled for a parliamentary vote next week, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told a parliamentary committee earlier Wednesday. Both public and private-sector unions have denounced the plans, and have called a general strike and protests for Thursday. Dozens of flights through Greece will be disrupted by the strike that will also paralyse other forms of transport and public services, officials said. Greece's main flight operators Olympic Air and Aegean will ground 34 flights and reschedule another 45, including to several international destinations, the companies said. A four-hour work stoppage from 0700 GMT by air traffic controllers will also affect other carriers. "Nothing will fly during that four-hour period," a spokeswoman at Athens International Airport told AFP. Ports will be closed, trains will be halted and urban transport in Athens will come to a standstill from the labour mobilisation which will also shut down banks, post offices and public services. Hospitals will operate solely for emergencies and no news broadcasts will be made as journalists have joined the action. The strike is the sixth this year against a broad austerity policy imposed by the Socialist government as it struggles to deal with a debt crisis that pushed the country to the brink of insolvency in May. The pensions reform was one of the measures required by the eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund in return for the 110-billion-euro rescue package for Greece that was agreed in May. "The pensions system was going to break down... costs for all pensions currently represent 13.5 percent of gross domestic product, and without our intervention they would have reached 26 percent of GDP, which would be catastrophic for the economy," Papandreou said. Employment Minister Andreas Loverdos declared that the reform would help Greece "to return to the way of development and prosperity, in a national consensus to save the country."
Tuesday the 29th of June 2010	Greece riot attacks country's austerity measures Dozens of masked youths clashed with police at a union protest Tuesday in Athens during the country's fifth general strike this year against the cash-strapped government's planned pension and labor reforms. Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse troublemakers who threw chunks of marble smashed off metro station entrances and set rubbish bins on fire. Running clashes continued along a major avenue — lined with shuttered shops and banks — as rioters armed with wooden clubs made repeated sallies against police. However, Tuesday's clashes were far more muted than the riots that erupted during a previous general strike on May 5, when three people died after becoming trapped in a bank torched by rioters. Riot police chased demonstrators into a main subway station. An AP photographer saw police detain one young man in a metro carriage, spraying him with pepper spray. The demonstration ended soon after, and rioters melted away towards the central Exarcheia district — a traditional anarchist hangout. No arrests were immediately reported, but AP reporters saw at least six people being detained. One motorcycle policeman was injured by a chunk of marble thrown at him, while rioters smashed bus stops and phone booths. The violence came as some 10,000 people took part in a demonstration organized by the country's two main labor unions and fringe left-wing groups. An earlier separate march by some 6,000 members of the Communist Party-backed PAME union ended peacefully. Tuesday's strike shut down public services, disrupted transport, left hospitals operating on emergency staff and pulled all news broadcasts off the air. The country's airports, however, remained open, and international flights were operating normally although nearly 100 domestic flights were canceled. Unions fiercely oppose draft legislation submitted to parliament last week that would increase retirement ages and make it cheaper for companies to fire workers. The measures — which include raising women's retirement age to 65 to match those of men and require 40 years of social security contributions for a full pension — are aimed at fixing the country's debt crisis, which has shaken the entire euro zone. "They've declared war on you, fight back!" PAME demonstrators chanted as they walked down a major avenue in the center of the capital. Greece is caught in a major debt and deficit crisis; it avoided bankruptcy last month only after receiving the first installment of a €110 billion ($136 billion) emergency loan package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. In return, Athens passed painful austerity measures, cutting pensions and salaries and raising consumer taxes, and is now pushing through labor and social security reforms. Parliament is to start discussing the proposed reforms Tuesday, in a debate expected to last more than a week. Despite opposition from several of its own lawmakers, the center-left government — which holds a seven-seat majority in the 300-member house — is expected to win the final vote. Tension mounted once more in the country's main port of Piraeus early Tuesday morning, where hundreds of PAME demonstrators attempted to prevent tourists and locals from boarding ferries to Aegean islands, even though a court had declared seamen's participation in the strike illegal. "They want to put us in a straitjacket so we work for free all our lives so that some can have their wealth and get very rich at our expense," said Sotiris Poulikogiannis, a protester in Piraeus. "We don't accept this. Day by day we'll grow stronger and more aware of how to overturn this situation." The Civil Protection Ministry said all ships scheduled to leave in the morning did set sail, with about 350 passengers. However, about 50-100 people didn't manage to board their ferries as strikers prevented them from entering the port. Authorities said their tickets would also be valid Wednesday. Another four ships that were to sail for Crete and the Cycladic islands in the early afternoon had informed passengers that they would depart at midnight, the ministry said. A similar strike by two seamen's unions last week — which was also declared illegal — left thousands of travelers stranded in Piraeus for a day. Shipping companies and officials in Greece's vital tourism industry strongly criticized the government for not taking action to stop the strikers
Thursday the 24th of June 2010	One dead in parcel bomb blast at Greek ministry ATHENS (AFP) – A parcel bomb killed one person Thursday evening in Athens at the offices of the ministry of citizen protection, in the same building as the police headquarters, police said. The explosion, which police described as "very strong", occurred only metres away from the office of the minister, Michalis Chryssohoidis, who was safe despite being present at the time of the blast. The blast happened in the seventh-floor office of the ministry's head of security, police said, with the victim's identity not immediately known. The bombing marks the first time in Greece that an attack has targeted the heart of the country's security apparatus, with a heavy police presence deployed at the ministry's entrance. The building, on the Athens outskirts, was evacuated after the blast.
Wednesday the 23rd of June 2010	Greece to compensate tourists for strike delays ATHENS (AFP) – Greece offered to compensate tourists stranded by labour unrest ahead of a new travel strike Tuesday as unions stepped up their assault against government austerity cuts. Greek Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos told a news conference that the government would guarantee extra room and board payments made by visitors as rail unions started a series of stoppages. "We are certain that it will be a calm summer and that there will be no major strike disruptions," a ministry source told AFP. "But just in case something happens, the Greek state is prepared to cover these costs," the source added. Tourism is a pillar of the Greek economy but strikes and related violence sparked by the country's debt crisis, as well as the international global crunch were estimated in May to have caused a 10 percent fall in hotel stays, according to tourism associations. The minister told the press conference late Monday that compensation would even be paid for tourists stuck in Greece during the volcano eruption in Iceland in April that blocked European air routes for several days. Geroulanos gave no details though of how much the compensation would cost nor how it would be paid. Thousands of travellers have had holidays in Greece disrupted by successive strikes as the country grapples with a debt crisis that brought draconian wage and pension cuts. Greece was recently saved from a debt default with a 110-billion-euro (136 billion dollar) bailout loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. But as Athens labours to maximise revenue, tens of millions of euros have already been lost from booking cancellations according to government estimates. Railway workers on Tuesday began a series of two-hour work stoppages to last until Thursday, disrupting inter-city trains and services to Athens International Airport. On Wednesday, communist-affiliated ship crews plan to block the main Greek port of Piraeus. And the country's main unions have called a general strike -- the fifth since the start of the year -- on June 29. Tourism generates about 17 percent of Greece's gross domestic product.
Tuesday the 22th of June 2010	Argentina beats Greece 2-0 at World Cup POLOKWANE, South Africa (AP)—Martin Demichelis and Martin Palermo scored second-half goals Tuesday to help Argentina beat Greece 2-0 at the World Cup and earn the two-time world champions first place in Group B. Argentina will play Mexico in the round of 16 on Sunday, while Greece has been eliminated. “We are doing our duty. We are defending the Argentine jersey,” Argentina coach Diego Maradona said. “Mexico is not going to be easy, a very difficult opponent. But we are calm and we are going to receive Mexico with all the respect Mexico deserves.” Demichelis scored from short range in the 77th minute after his header bounced off teammate Diego Milito and back into his path. Palermo doubled the score in the 89th from a rebound after Greece goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas saved a shot by Lionel Messi. Mnutes earlier, Messi’s hard left-foot shot hit the near post. “A well-deserved victory, no doubt about that,” Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said. “We wanted to avoid an early goal, we managed to do that, but of course Argentina has more class and that earned them the win.” Maradona made seven changes to the lineup that beat South Korea 4-1 five days earlier. Captain Javier Mascherano and strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain were all benched. However, Messi did start and he was given the captain’s armband for the first time. It made Messi, who turns 23 on Thursday, the youngest Argentina captain ever. “That was something very special,” Messi said. “I felt the constant support of my team mates. It was a beautiful experience.” Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron returned after missing the previous game with a right-calf injury. Only goalkeeper Sergio Romero, Demichelis, midfielder Maxi Rodriguez and Messi have been in on the team for all three of Argentina’s games, ensuring the squad will be well rested for the round-of-16 clash with Mexico. “They deserve a lot of respect,” Maradona said of Mexico. “Even though they lost, they have their identity.” Although their game was less fluent than in previous matches, the two-time world champions dominated the match, espcially in the first half at the 45,000-capacity Peter Mokaba Stadium, where Argentina fans clearly outnumbered their Greek counterparts. “My players played with their hearts and with excitement,” said Rehhagel, who declined to comment on his own future as coach. “But it was just not enough to cause Argentina much troubles.” Argentina initially preferred to keep possession instead of pushing to create chances. The first shot on goal came in the 18th minute when Sergio Aguero picked up a pass by Veron and dribbled past two Greece defenders before his left-foot shot forced Tzorvas into a diving save. In the next minute, Tzorvas pushed the ball over the crossbar after a 30-meter (yard) attempt by Veron. In the closing minutes of the first half, Maxi and Messi both saw their powerful shots blocked by the keeper. “We knew that if we put pressure on Greece, they would finally make a mistake,” Maradona said. “We did that very well.” Aguero, Veron and Messi were the most active players. Milito was well neutralized by Greece’s five-man defense, while Sokratis Papastathopoulos committed several minor fouls while shadowing Messi and Georgios Samaras was a lonely striker up front. Rehhagel had urged his players to produce the “match of their lives” to get a result against Argentina. However, the 2004 European champions left their defensive tactics in the second half, which soon gave Samaras his team’s first chance, though the Celtic striker shot just wide after entering the penalty area from the left wing. Lineups: Greece: Alexandros Tzorvas, Vangelis Moras, Alexandros Tziolis, Avraam Papadopoulos, Giorgos Karagounis (Nikos Spiropoulos, 46), Loukas Vyntra, Georgios Samaras, Vassilis Torosidis (Christos Patsatzoglou, 54), Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Costas Katsouranis (Sotiris Ninis, 54). Argentina: Sergio Romero, Martin Demichelis, Clemente Rodriguez, Nicolas Burdisso, Mario Bolatti, Juan Sebastian Veron, Lionel Messi, Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Aguero (Javier Pastore, 76), Diego Milito (Martin Palermo, 80), Maxi Rodriguez (Angel Di Maria, 63).
Thursday the 16th of June 2010	Greece grab first ever World Cup win BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) – Greece came back from a goal down to beat Nigeria 2-1 in the World Cup on Thursday after the African team had to play with 10 men for almost two thirds of the Group B game. Vassilis Torosidis scored Greece's winner in the 71st minute to seal their first ever World Cup victory and keep alive their chances of progressing. Torosidis pounced after Dimitris Salpingidis's first half strike had canceled out a Kalu Uche free kick for Nigeria, who also had Sani Kaita sent off. "We started the game well, controlled the game, got the goal and then had a sending off. That caused us problems, especially in the first half," Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback said after the match. Argentina lead the group with six points from two games after beating South Korea 4-1 earlier on Thursday. Greece and South Korea both have three points while Nigeria are still without a point after two games. Nigeria could still qualify if they beat South Korea in their final group match and Argentina defeat Greece. "The positive thing is that if Argentina win their game we still have a chance to qualify," Lagerback said. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel also said he was happy his team had kept alive hopes of progressing. "We are going to take on Argentina, a world class team. They will clearly be better than us and we have got to see how to cope with them," he told reporters. "We all know the Argentine team is of extraordinary quality." Nigeria grabbed the lead on 16 minutes when Uche's 35 meter freekick floated past everyone including stricken goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas and nestled in the net. The African side were in control until a moment of madness in the 33rd minute saw Kaita red carded for foolishly kicking out at Torosidis - the midfielder remorsefully walking off with his shirt over his head. "I couldn't see what happened from my position, what I heard they said he kicked him with the underside of his shoe. I see the Greek player laying, holding his head, so I really don't know. It looks very strange," Nigeria coach Lagerback said. The game turned immediately in Greece's favor. Coach Otto Rehhagel replaced defensive midfielder Socratis Papastathopoulos with striker Giorgos Samaras, who minutes later had a shot cleared off the line. Then came an equalizer. Salpingidis etched his name into Greek record books by scoring his country's first ever World Cup goal with a 44th minute strike that wickedly deflected off Nigeria midfielder Haruna Lukman before flying into the net. Salpingidis, who celebrated jubilantly with the whole Greek squad, had previously scored the winner in the World Cup playoff against Ukraine to take his country to South Africa. The second half started at frantic pace. Greek striker Fanis Gekas was superbly denied by goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, while at the other end substitute Chinedu Obasi missed an open goal after a swift Nigeria counter-attack. With their usual defensive approach firmly abandoned, Greece went close again through Samaras before Torosidis stabbed home a second after Enyeama had spilled a low Alexandros Tziolis shot. Greece had lost all four of their previous World Cup games without scoring.
Tuesday the 15th of June 2010	China's Zhang to sign agreements in Greece ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang is visiting Athens for talks with government officials, as debt-plagued Greece seeks to boost investments from China. Zhang, who is in charge of industrial policies, will meet Prime Minister George Papandreou and Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Pangalos Tuesday. Greek officials say Zhang is due to sign a series of bilateral agreements, but have provided no details. Zhang, arrived in Athens Monday for a four-day visit, and will also fly to the island of Crete. Chinese shipping and transport giant Cosco Group has said it is looking to expand its Greek operations. The company already operates two container terminals at Greece's largest port of Piraeus, on a 35-year concession worth $1 billion that was finalized last year.
Monday the 14th of June 2010	Moody's Downgrade Ignores Last Few Months' Progress ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- The Greek Ministry of Finance said Monday that Moody's ratings cut ignores the facts on the progress of the last few months, the prospects for fiscal consolidation and an improvement in competitiveness. Earlier Monday, Moody's cut Greece four notches to junk territory, saying there was "considerable" uncertainty surrounding the timing and impact of support measures on the country's economic growth. This follows Standard & Poor's previous cut to junk for the embattled and debt-ridden Mediterranean country. Only Fitch still has an investment-grade rating on Greece. "The data on the budget shows that the program which has been agreed with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank is being faithfully executed, leading to a 40% drop in the deficit over 2009," the ministry said in a statement. Last month Greece agreed to severe austerity measures, tax hikes and a raft of painful changes in exchange for a EUR110 billion rescue from the IMF, EC and ECB. The ministry also argued that the economic slowdown in the first quarter is lower than what is forecast for the full year under the memorandum of agreement with the trio, and value-added tax revenue was up 6% year-on-year while it had fallen 11% in the first three months of 2009. "The trajectory of public debt is expected to decelerate from 2013 onwards and potentially earlier," the ministry reassured. "The downgrade also reflects concerns over the wider global environment. But Greece remains committed to its difficult task," the ministry added.
Saturday the 12th of June 2010	South Korea 2 Greece 0 PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP) — South Korea eased to a 2-0 win over a lackluster Greece side in Saturday's first Group B match of the World Cup. Lee Jung-soo tapped in unmarked to open the scoring in the seventh minute at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and captain Park Ji-sung doubled the lead in the 52nd with a slick solo goal. The Manchester United midfielder collected a misplaced pass from Vassilis Torosidis and skipped past two defenders before slipping a shot across goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas and in at the far post. Striker Park Chu-young had another three chances to score for South Korea and Fanis Gekas had a shot saved with 10 minutes left for what was Greece's first clear effort. "If we had been a little bit calmer, we could have had an even better result," South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo said. "In terms of scoring goals, it could have been a little bit better for us." Giourkas Seitaridis

Sunday the 06th of June 2010

Greece national soccer team arrive at the King Shaka International airport of Durban, South Africa, Sunday

Saturday the 05th of June 2010

Participants of the Athens Gay Pride parade wave a giant rainbow flag during their annual march in the city's center. Three thousand Greeks gays and lesbians marched through the centre of Athens on Saturday to demonstrate gay pride and protest against discrimination.

Saturday the 05th of June 2010

Greeks protest against pensions reform

ATHENS (AFP) – Thousands of demonstrators gathered on Saturday in Greece to protest against a controversial, debt-dictated pension reform proposal that includes cuts, higher contributions and tougher retirement rules.

Protesters rallied around banners warning "hands off social insurance", and also denouncing the "selling off" of public benefits, following the government's announcement of a three-year privatisation drive in key sectors.

The main labour federations, the GSEE with one million members, and ADEDY which numbers 370,000, organised the Athens-based protest, which is expected to extend to Greece's second city, Thessaloniki in the north.

A strike is also planned for when the pensions reform proposal, which includes increasing the minimum retirement age to 65, and reducing pensions is presented to parliament later this month.

Greece has accumulated a debt of nearly 300 billion euros (368 billion dollars) and was narrowly saved from default in May by the first instalment of an 110-billion-euro bailout loan from the EU and the IMF.

The government had to adopt unpopular austerity measures to clinch the loan, including tax hikes, wage and pension cuts and a hiring freeze in the civil service.

Wednesday the 3rd of June 2010

Greece aims to raise €1 billion a year from privatizations: reports

Greece announced its long-awaited plans on privatizations on Wednesday, saying that it hopes to raise 1 billion euros a year ($1.22 billion) via sales of a variety of state-owned services such as the waterworks companies in its two major cities.

According to press reports, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told reporters that while the European Union and International Monetary Fund have a projection of revenue of €1 billion a year from 2011 to 2013, "our estimates are definitely higher than this."

A condition of its €110 billion bailout by the EU and IMF, Greece pledged to have a privatization plan ready by the end of the year, aiming to raise that amount.

The country is fighting to cut its budget deficit from a record 13.6% of gross domestic product last year to 8.1% in 2010, while it also faces a rising debt burden to reach 124.9% of GDP this year.

Among the plans, Papaconstantinou said the government would move to privatize 49% of the operations division of unprofitable state-owned railways company OSE. It's also to privatize state holdings in a variety of casinos, sell a 39% stake in the country's post office and sell stakes in waterworks companies in two of Greece main cities. It's also restructuring its natural-gas monopoly to prepare for privatization, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Tuesday the 2nd of June 2010

Paraguay beats Greece 2-0 in last World Cup warmup

WINTERTHUR, Switzerland (AP)—Enrique Vera and Lucas Barrios scored first-half goals to help Paraguay beat Greece 2-0 Wednesday in the last World Cup warmup game for both teams.

Vera easily slotted home a rebound in the ninth minute after a shot from Roque Santa Cruz hit the bar.

Santa Cruz again threatened in the 25th and his shot was stopped by Greek goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas, but Barrios drove in the loose ball to make it 2-0.

Tuesday the 2nd of June 2010

Flotilla Activists Returning to Greece, Turkey

Activists from the Gaza flotilla and bodies of the nine people killed in the Israeli raid have left Israel on their way back to Greece and Turkey.

Five flights left Wednesday afternoon carrying 503 activists. Turkish state-run TV reported that an ambulance plane carrying wounded activists has landed.

TRT television says the plane — carrying one Turkish and one Irish wounded activist — arrived at an air base in Ankara Wednesday.

The injured are to be taken to a hospital.

Hundreds of other activists were expected to arrive in Istanbul later on Wednesday.

Sabine Haddad, an Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman, says one more plane will take off from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv late Wednesday with the rest of the activists.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Israel decided not to prosecute any of the nearly 700 activists from the aid ships, writing in an order Wednesday that "keeping them here would do more damage to the country's vital interests than good."

Meanwhile, Turkey's parliament called on the government Wednesday to review all ties with Israel as the country prepared a huge welcome home for hundreds of Turks detained after the raid.

With relations with Turkey at a new low, Israel ordered families of its diplomats out of that country.

Thursday the 27th of May 2010

Athens' Parthenon scaffold-free for first time years

ATHENS (Reuters Life!) – Visitors to Athens have a rare window of opportunity to see the showpiece Parthenon temple on the ancient Acropolis without scaffolding for the first time in nearly 30 years as a major restoration work nears completion.

The Greek government launched a project to restore the Parthenon and other buildings on the world heritage site in 1975, but it was not until 1983 that work started.

Scaffolding has been up somewhere around the ancient temple ever since. But from now until September, the exterior of the Parthenon will be scaffold-free.

Building the Parthenon took nine years from 447 BC and the sculptural decorations took another 10 years to complete. Restoration has already taken longer than it took to build.

"We treat every piece of marble like a piece of art so we have to respect it," Mary Ioannidou, the head of restoration told Reuters during a tour of the temple.

"The ancient Greeks had the possibility that if a block failed, to leave it and take another one, but we can't do it so we have to treat it with great respect."

Over the years, the Parthenon has suffered from fire, war, revolution, looting, misguided restoration and pollution.

It became a church for nearly 1,000 years and served as a mosque under the Ottomans for nearly 400 years after that.

The greatest blow to the structure though came in 1687 when a Venetian mortar ignited the Ottoman Turkish gunpowder store inside and widespread looting followed. British Ambassador Lord Elgin then removed large chunks of the sculptures from 1801.

Between 1898 and 1938, restoration workers rebuilt large parts of the building and concreted in parts of the columns and blocks that were missing. But they used iron ties to hold the blocks together and replaced many in the wrong place.

The iron ties have since rusted and as they did so expanded causing cracks to appear. The ancients also used iron ties, but coated them in lead to prevent rust. They have lasted well.

The team of archaeologists, marble cutters, architects, and civil and chemical engineers, dismantled 1,852 metric tons of marble and began the painstaking task of attempting to put it back again in the right place, adding other fragments they found.

"It's like a huge puzzle," said Ioannidou with a wry smile.

Titanium is now used to tie the blocks and columns together which is highly resistant to corrosion.

New marble has been crafted to fill in some of the gaps left by the concrete and allow blocks of the original marble to be returned to their place on the Parthenon's stonework.

The original quarry for the marble on Mount Penteli is now itself a protected historical site, but marble has been cut from the other side of the same mountain.

"It's almost the same but not exactly the same," said Ioannidou. The new marble stands out in a much lighter color than the original.

"One of the principles of our restoration is not to cheat the visitor. Everyone can understand the parts that are ancient and those that are original," said Ioannidou.

As for the color, that will fade. "If you come here in 10 years the color will be almost the same," she said.

In September though, the scaffolding will be up again on the western facade and that project will last at least another three years. Efforts to piece together the walls of the inner chamber of the temple are already underway.

For some, restoring the Parthenon is their life's work. Marble-cutter Ignatius Hiou has worked there for 18 years.

"If I could do this until the day I die, I will be happy," he said.

Wednesday the 26th of May 2010

Konstantinos Katsouranis and Dimitrios Salpingidis

North Korea Holds Greece to 2-2 Draw in Friendly

Jong Tae Se scored a goal in each half Tuesday as North Korea twice rallied to hold Greece to a 2-2 draw in a World Cup warmup game.

Costas Katsouranis gave Greece the lead in the second minute, tapping the ball home after receiving a headed pass from Sotiris Kyrgiakos.

The Koreans tied the game when Jong who eluded two players and drilled a shot past goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis in the 23rd minute.

Greek substitute Angelos Charisteas made it 2-1 in the 49th minute. But Jong replied three minutes later, sprinting down the right past defender Nikos Spiropoulos before beating substitute keeper Alexandros Tzorvas.

Tzorvas cleared a powerful shot from in the 72nd from Cha Jong Hyok.

The Koreans controlled much of the game and threatened with fast breaks and powerful shots from distance.

Both teams are going to the World Cup in South Africa.

Greece faces South Korea in its opening match. Nigeria and Argentina are also in Group B.

"We picked this opponent because they have a similar playing style to the South Koreans," Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said. "We must take care because they were well prepared and disciplined."

Rehhagel said he would keep World Cup places open "up to the last minute" ahead of the June 1 deadline to trim his squad from 30 to the final 23-man list.

North Korea, back in the World Cup for the first time since 1966, faces five-time champion Brazil in its opening game. Ivory Coast and Portugal are also in Group G.

Nikolaos Spyropoulos

Friday the 14th of May 2010

Better Turkey, Greece ties 'could yield arms reductions'

ATHENS (AFP) – Improving relations between Greece and Turkey could lead to arms reduction in both countries, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview published Saturday as he wrapped up an Athens visit.

"The development of relations between Greece and Turkey will boost the climate of trust and stability (and) ultimately the natural consequence could be arms reduction," Erdogan told Greek newspaper Ta Nea.

Calls to reduce arms in both countries were left unanswered on Friday when Erdogan met his Greek counterpart George Papandreou during his first official visit to the Greek capital since 2004.

On top marking an important improvement in relations, reciprocal commitments to reduce arms would be particularly welcome in Greece, which is among the biggest defence spenders in Europe and is struggling to control a debt crisis.

Greece currently spends around 2.8 percent of its national output on defence -- proportionately more than France or Britain -- or six billion euros this year, mostly due to its standoff with Turkey.

Regional rivals for centuries despite being members of NATO for the past five decades, Greece and Turkey came to the brink of war as recently as 1996 and are still mired in dispute over the ethnically divided island of Cyprus.

With Greece forced to go to the EU and IMF for a multi-billion-dollar bailout package that has entailed harsh austerity measures, military spending has also come under review.

Officials have said they hope to cut some 700 million euros of arms spending this year, but have indicated larger cutbacks depend on reciprocal measures by Turkey.

Turkey, which has NATO's second largest standing army, is also burdened with a hefty military bill, fighting an armed Kurdish insurgency in its southeast since 1984.

The Greek and Turkish governments hailed a "big step forward" in their relations on Friday, the first day in Erdogan's stay in Athens, which he said marked "a historic moment".

The two governments agreed to set up a council to hold regular meetings between the two countries' leaders and their cabinet ministers, and inked pacts on the economy, immigration, energy and other issues.

"I am confident that the novel and courageous step we are attempting today can pay off because the will is there," Papandreou said at a joint news conference with Erdogan on Friday.

The two countries also signed a number of deals, including an accord allowing illegal migrants coming from Turkey to Greece to be sent back, an issue that has been a major source of discord between the arch-rivals.

They also signed a memorandum on the ITGI pipeline bringing Azeri gas to Italy via Turkey and Greece in which the two sides said they would redouble their efforts to complete the project.

The Greek press welcomed the improvement in relations between the countries, but also highlighted that many of the most contentious issues remained unresolved.

"The intentions are good but the thorns remain," the centre-left, pro-government Ta Nea headlined.

While welcoming agreement on a raft of issues, the newspaper said that the "prickly questions concerning the Aegean, Cyprus and minorities persist".

The liberal Kathimerini said that the two countries' long-time positions were "unchanging despite the good intentions" and the deals that were signed "were not followed up with progress" on points of contention.

Friday the 14th of May 2010

Second Greece Explosion in Thessaloniki targets Courthouse

Another bomb exploded inside a courthouse in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Friday, the Associated Press (AP) reported, following a separate explosion in Greece the day before. Only one man was reported to have been injured with light injuries to the leg.

"The whole building shook," lawyer Haralambos Apostoloditis told AFP. "I was heading out when [I] heard a cry and saw a man bleeding on the ground, and I helped take him to hospital."

According to CNN, the explosion occurred at 1:30 p.m. local time.
The bomb exploded within a toilet stall, but someone called a Greek newspaper to warn of the attack and employees were evacuated in time, according to the AP. Those who stayed witnessed the explosion coming from the basement and rising smoke, AP wrote.

Apostoloditis told AFP that everyone in the courthouse treated the warning as a prank. The staff said that the building does a bi-weekly full evacuation from false bomb warnings, AFP reported.

The courthouse withstood the blast with some toppled walls and shattered glass, the AP reported.

The Thursday explosion occurred inside a garbage can outside of Athens, near the city’s main Korydallos prison’s wall, according to Reuters.

A police officer told Reuters that the explosion occurred near a wall that houses a convicted November 17 terrorist group.

The shattered glass from the explosion injured two people.

Much like Friday's bomb, a call to a Greek newspaper and a TV station to warn of the attack, Reuters reported.

Greece plunged into riots and protests after economic recession hit hard the tourist country. The announcement of higher taxes and lower salaries on May 2 moved the angry crowd into organized demonstrations. The new government tax laws to pull Greece out of recession do not sit with the Greek people.

Thursday the 13rd of May 2010

Athens hoteliers say Greek riots emptying rooms

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Images of flaming buildings and riots in Athens during last week's protests in debt-ridden Greece have taken an early toll on the country's vital tourism industry, hotel owners said Thursday.

About 20,000 overnight stays at hotels in Athens and nearby resorts have been canceled since May 5 riots that left three people dead, according to the local hoteliers' association.

The setback reveals persisting challenges for Greece's battered economy, despite a euro110 billion ($138 billion) international rescue program that staved off bankruptcy. A painful austerity program taken to secure the aid is expected to keep the economy in recession until 2012, while unemployment has hit new records.

Greece has little heavy industry and a large trade deficit. But tourism accounts for an estimated 17 percent of annual economic output and one in five jobs, and a significant drop could cost more jobs and slow the country's way out of recession.

"There is clearly a significant fall in our clientele and the trend for cancellations is rising," Yiannis Retsos, head of the Athens and Attica Hoteliers' Association, told The Associated Press.

"We have clients calling us up to ask whether there is still a revolt going on," he said. "The footage of the riots and the burnt bank has been played repeatedly for days on international media. Your average American thinks that Athens is continuously burning."

Violent protests broke out after the government announced harsh austerity measures -- including salary and pension cuts -- that have deepened Greece's recession but were needed to secure the rescue loans.

About 100,000 people took part in the May 5 protest during a general strike, when three bank employees died after becoming trapped in a burning building torched by rioters. Extensive clashes saw 15 civilians and 41 police injured, in what the government called "a black day for democracy." Unions have called a new general strike for May 20.

The hoteliers' association said the cancellation data concerned just 68 of the area's 450 hotels, and included group and conference bookings.

"The most worrying thing is that the rate of new bookings has frozen, during a couple of months that are traditionally the best for (tourism) in the greater Athens region," it said in a statement. "There is also a significant drop in new bookings throughout Greece, which is due to international reaction as long as the situation in our country is seen as uncertain."

An estimated 14.9 million people visited the Mediterranean country in 2009, drawn by its perennial lure of sun, beaches and ancient sites. That was still about 1 million fewer than in 2008, and 1.2 million down from 2007.

"We want people to understand that right now in these times of hardship, when tourism must serve as a significant source of economic growth, the situation must change because this does not just affect Athens but also the entire country," Retsos said.

He also urged the government to pay its advertising debts to foreign media, which he said influenced their coverage of events.

The labor unrest has also hit cruise tourism. Last month, communist unionists stopped several hundred mostly Spanish tourists from boarding a cruise ship, in a dispute over labor reforms. The ship owners threatened to stop cruises to Greece, in a move the country's association of tourism enterprises said could cost 400 jobs and euro10 million ($12.6 million) in revenues.

Faced with the second highest budget deficit and public debt in the 27-member European Union, the governing Socialists have pledged to save euro30 billion ($37.76 billion) over the next three years by cutting pensions and civil service pay, reforming the generous social security system and fighting tax evasion.

The finance ministry on Thursday said it had found more than a third of 150 doctors investigated in an expensive part of Athens had cheated tax authorities. It said the doctors, who declared annual income of as low as euro300 ($377), could have their practices closed down.

The ministry also named 11 doctors who it said were fined a total of more than euro4 million ($5.03 million) for alleged tax violations.

Meanwhile, Greece's Statistical Authority said Thursday that unemployment shot up to a new five-year high of 12.1 percent in February. In comparison, the joblessness rate was 11.3 percent in January and 9.1 percent in February 2009.

A total of 605,277 people were unemployed in February 2010, around 38,000 more than in January.

Wednesday the 05th of May 2010

3 dead as violent strike paralyzes Greece

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Police sirens and the smell of tear gas filled the streets around Greece's parliament building Wednesday after protests against government spending cuts turned violent, then deadly.

Three people died and at least four others were missing after a fire bomb hit a bank in central Athens, the Greek fire brigade told CNN. The victims, two women and a man, were bank employees, they said.

Another 20 people were trapped on the floor above the MARFIN bank and were being rescued by firefighters, the fire brigade said.

The three dead were removed from the premises along with five survivors, the fire brigade said. They would not say whether the five survivors included any of those missing inside the bank.

Protesters were throwing bottles at police guarding the burned-out bank, shouting "torturers" and "liars" because they don't believe people were killed inside. Riot police were moving in to push the crowd away, CNN's Diana Magnay reported from the scene.

Bins and cars were set on fire around the city. Two public buildings were on fire and a fire truck was ablaze near the Temple of Zeus, the fire brigade said.

Riot police in helmets and shields kept back protesters who threw bottles, sticks, and rocks. Booms pierced the air every time the police fired canisters of tear gas at the crowds.

A mass of protesters made it onto the steps in front of the Greek parliament building early in the afternoon before riot police pushed them back.

Members of the parliamentary economic committee are inside the building reviewing a package of austerity measures to contain Greece's spiraling debt. The measures are highly unpopular in Greece and the protesters on the steps demanded that the lawmakers come outside and face them.

The protests happened amid a general strike by thousands of public sector workers unhappy with the austerity measures, which largely target them. Private sector workers joined them on the picket lines Wednesday, along with thousands of transport workers -- which brought transportation services to a halt.

Police estimated there were 15,000 workers were on the streets of Athens, but unions said there were many more. Among them were teachers, bank employees and doctors.

Throughout the capital, about 1,700 officers stood guard to maintain order.

The workers are protesting cuts in spending that the government says are needed to pull the country out of debt.

The Greek Parliament is expected to vote on the austerity measures -- which include wage freezes and higher taxes -- by the end of Thursday.

The Finance Ministry said the austerity bill goes before a parliamentary committee Wednesday and will be up for debate by the whole body the following day.

Tuesday, about 2,000 protesters representing teachers from the public sector marched past the Finance Ministry and Parliament.

In central Athens, protesters threw plastic bottles and sticks at riot police. At another demonstration, members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) erected large banners near the Parthenon. "People of Europe Rise Up," said one.

The European Union announced a 110 billion euro ($145 billion) aid package for Greece on Sunday. Soon after, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou announced the tough cost-cutting measures to meet European Union and International Monetary Fund conditions for the deal.

The package includes a promise by Greece to cut its budget deficit to 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product, as required by European Union rules, by 2014, according to Papaconstantinou.

The measures, he said, were needed for Greece to secure its financial lifeline.

Greece has a choice between "destruction" and survival, and "we have chosen, of course, to save the country," Papaconstantinou said.

Tuesday the 04th of May 2010

Giant banner protesting Greece's austerity measures

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A general strike Wednesday in Greece was halting flights, trains and ferries and paralyzing public services, as unions rally against major new spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy.

All flights into and out of Greece stopped at midnight Tuesday. Schools, hospitals, tax offices and the Acropolis along with other ancient sites will be closed. There will be no news broadcasts, and shop owners have been called on to close their shutters during rallies.

More than 1,500 police will be on duty for Wednesday's two protest marches in central Athens — the first major demonstrations since the new measures were announced Sunday.

Public and private sector unions concede that the cash-strapped government was forced to slash spending to secure a vital euro110 billion loan package from European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

But they say low-income Greeks will suffer disproportionately.

"There are other things the (government) can do, before taking money from a retiree who earns euro500 ($660) a month," said Spyros Papaspyros, leader of the ADEDY civil servants' union.

Almost every big protest this year has been marred by violent clashes between protesters and police. Two months ago, rioters even chased ceremonial guards away from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the parliament.

Discontent has intensified, as civil servants and pensioners face deep income cuts and consumer taxes have been increased again.

"People are very angry, and many outside Athens don't realize what has happened," said retired civil servant Spyros Antonopoulos, 78. "When they get their next check, they'll come to Athens with their children and grandchildren to protest.

"The way things are going, I won't buy any new clothes, I'll keep taking my trousers back to the tailor to get them patched up. ... I'll wear them inside out if I have to."

Sunday the 02nd of May 2010

Greece to get a 110-billion euro bailout package

The finance ministers of 16 nations that use the euro Sunday night sealed a 110-billion euro bailout package for heavily indebted Greece over three years after the country's government agreed to a new round of tough austerity measures.

The largest financial rescue of a nation from bankruptcy will involve credit of 80 billion euro from the 15 other euro zone nations and 30 billion euro from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It is intended to prevent Greece from defaulting on its staggering debts of more than 300 billion euro as it could have a domino effect on other debt-ridden nations in the eurozone. Under the financial support programme, which was endorsed by 16 eurozone finance ministers at an emergency meeting in Brussels, a maximum of 30 billion euros from the EU and the IMF will be given in the current year.

The first loan tranche will be made available to Greece before May 19 for repaying its debts, Chairman of the euro zone group and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Junker said after the meeting.

"We are optimistic that our help will be enough to meet all Greek payment obligations till 2012," he told a news conference. The bailout deal will be formally endorsed by the heads of states and governments of the euro zone at a European Union summit on May 7, where they will also discuss measures to avert a similar crisis in future, Junker said.

He said credit from euro zone partners and the IMF will be paid to Greece only if the debt-ridden country sticks to the austerity measures announced on Sunday.

The European Union and the IMF will monitor Greece's progress with its economic recovery programme every three months.

The bailout package came after weeks of wrangling, post the Greek government reached a deal with negotiators from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF in Athens on a new round of severe spending cuts.

The Greek government will undertake public sector salary and pension cuts for three years, tax increases, scrapping bonuses and other measures, which it hopes could save up to 30 billion euros over three years.

The EU and the IMF have been demanding that Greece takes steps to reduce its budgetary deficit to 3.6 per cent of GDP by 2011 from the present level of 13.6 per cent. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble estimated that his country's share to the bailout package will be around 22.4 billion euros.

Friday the 23rd of April 2010

Greece seeks bailout from IMF, European Union

ATHENS, Greece – Hobbled by exorbitant borrowing costs, Greece triggered an emergency aid plan Friday to draw cash from the International Monetary Fund and countries that use the euro — the first test of whether the EU is prepared to bail out one of its members.

The package has enough money to keep Greece from defaulting on its massive debts anytime soon. But Athens still faces years of painful cutbacks and questions about its long-term finances, raising worries that its troubles will affect other indebted members of the European Union and further harm the euro currency.

The three-year plan adopted in Brussels recently and hailed as a sign that Europe can cope with the crisis will provide Greece with loans: Euro-zone members will contribute $40 billion (euro30 billion) at interest rates of about 5 percent, while the IMF will chip in about $13.4 billion (euro10 billion) this year. Exact figures for the following years have not yet been made public.

European governments made the financial assistance available to fend off a Greek default, which would deal a serious blow to the euro currency, shake market confidence and inflict losses on banks that invested in Greek bonds. It also aims to keep Greece's troubles from spreading to other financially weak euro-zone governments, such as Portugal and Spain.

While the aid would stave off default for now, it raises more questions: Will other governments ask for a bailout, and will assuming the financial burdens of Greece mean shakier finances and higher borrowing costs for other euro-zone countries?

The German public, in particular, has been critical of extending assistance to Greece, as Germany recently emerged from years of stagnant growth that saw painful cuts to people's own pensions and social security benefits. Germany will be the biggest contributor of loans.

Greece is under no illusions that the plan will resolve all the problems of a country that has a debt of $400 billion (euro300 billion) and other serious fiscal issues. The nation needs to borrow about $72 billion (euro54 billion) this year alone. It's already covered about half that amount with bond and treasury bill issues, but has $11.3 billion (euro8.5 billion) worth of 10-year bonds maturing on May 19.

But Athens hopes the plan, which will allow it to refinance its debt, gives it breathing space to push through tough reforms. It is already implementing a harsh austerity program that cuts civil servants' pay, freezes pensions and hikes taxes.

"Our partners will assist us, immediately and decisively, in order to give Greece the safe haven that will allow us to rebuild our ship with sturdy and reliable materials. As well as sending a strong message to the markets that the EU is not playing and is protecting our common interests and our common currency," Prime Minister George Papandreou said. "We are on a difficult course."

Papandreou — whose center-left government came to power in October and has blamed the previous administration for mismanaging the economy and fudging Greece's statistics — said the current market situation made it "a national and pressing necessity for us to formally ask our partners for the activation of the support mechanism."

Greece's efforts to pay are clouded for the long term because its prospects for economic growth are weak and because, as a euro member, it no longer has its own currency to devalue. Doing so is a painful but quick safety valve that can improve a troubled country's trade competitiveness.

Athens had faced ever-increasing borrowing costs, which reached nearly 9 percent for 10-year bonds on Thursday — about three times what EU heavyweight Germany has to pay.

The record highs came after the European Union's statistics agency revised the country's 2009 deficit figure to 13.6 percent of gross domestic product, from an already high 12.9 percent, and said it could be further revised by up to 0.5 percentage points more. A downgrade of the country's sovereign rating by Moody's credit agency made things worse.

"The activation of the bailout funds was highly expected, and it should result in an easing of the pressure on the Greek government," said IHS Global Insight senior economist Diego Iscaro.

"However, we are concerned that bond yields will still remain high," he said, noting that the exact details of the plan's implementation were still unclear and that "markets will still be concerned about the long-term sustainability of Greece's public finances."

EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said finance ministers of the 16 euro nations now will likely meet "in a matter of days" In Washington, IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the fund was "prepared to move expeditiously."

Greek trade unions reacted with dismay and vowed to step up strike action.

"Social resistance and accelerated strike action form the course that can provide hope and certainty in our life," said Spyros Papaspyros, head of the umbrella civil servant union. His union, ADEDY, planned a protest against the IMF on Tuesday.

More than 2,000 people took part in a demonstration in central Athens Friday evening against the prospect of further austerity measures. Minor clashes broke out when some demonstrators threw stones at riot police, who responded with pepper spray. Officers detained about 10 people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had resisted bailing Greece out, stressed that any assistance would be tied to "very strict conditions," including a savings plan drawn up in talks between Greece and the IMF and the approval of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the IMF.

Germany will contribute the largest share, $11.2 billion(euro8.37 billion), because it holds 27.92 percent of the shares of the European Central Bank.

But Merkel defended the assistance, calling it necessary to ensure the stability of the euro zone.

Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti urged Germany to show its leadership on the Greek crisis, saying helping Greece is in the interest of the common European good.

"If the house of your neighbor gets set on fire, even if it is a small house, and even if the fault is your neighbor's, it's not a good idea to pretend nothing is happening," he told RAI state television from Washington. "It's better for you ... to give them a fire extinguisher because if not, the fire can spread to other houses."

Thursday the 22th of April 2010

Greece Shuts Down As Workers Go On Strike

Tens of thousands of public workers in Greece have walked out on strike to protest against huge slashes in government funding.

The country's public services have been paralysed as doctors, nurses, teachers, tax officials and dockers downed tools.

They are demanding the government ends what one union official called "bloodthirsty measures" as wages are cut, pensions frozen and taxes hiked.

It comes as new figures show Greece's public deficit for 2009 has shot up to 13.6% of GDP - and as a credit agency downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating.

Moody's Investor Services downgraded its rating on Greece's debt by one notch to A3 from A2, and warned that further downgrades were a distinct possibility.

The new deficit statistics mean that the baseline for calculations of massive budget cutbacks and reforms imposed by the EU on Greece is far higher than had been estimated.

And that in turn is likely to increase pressure on the government in Athens which is discussing details of a possible debt rescue with the EU and IMF.

Workers are protesting against the measures imposed by the government to try to pull Greece out of a fiscal crisis that has shaken markets worldwide and driven Greece's borrowing costs to a 12-year high.

"These bloodthirsty measures won't help Greece exit the crisis. A tragic period begins," said Ilias Iliopoulos, secretary general of public sector union Adedy, which represents half a million workers.

Many in Greece fear strings attached to the 40-45bn euro aid package will hit living standards in a country where one person in five lives below the poverty threshold.

"We won't tolerate any more measures because we cannot make ends meet. I have a mortgage, two children, I have cut down on every luxury," said 38-year old civil servant Pavlina Parteniou.

The socialist government, pressured by markets and EU policymakers to tidy up its finances, has vowed to go ahead with reforms but finance minister George Papaconstantinou said on Wednesday no more austerity measures would take place this year.

The IMF said unemployment would rise to 13% in 2011, and Greece would be the only euro zone country to see its economy contract next year with a 1.1% drop.

Air traffic controllers have decided not to strike, saying they did not want to further burden travellers and aggravate flight disruptions caused by the cloud of volcanic ash that has caused havoc across Europe.

Thursday the 22th of April 2010

Moody's downgrades credit rating of National Bank of Greece

International rating agency Moody' s downgraded Greece's credit rating level for once more in the past five months to A3 from the previous A2, with a negative outlook, it was announced on Thursday.

Moody's based the decision, as explained, on fears that Greek public debt will probably stabilize at higher and more costly levels that will add more burden to the country.

Therefore the agency's analysts warned that there are possibilities for further downgrades in the future, if the Greek government's awaited clarifications on the measures planned to put the finances in order will not be deemed persuasive by international markets.

According to Moody's, Greece seems to be on the right track with the Stability and Growth Program, but macro-economic difficulties resulting from the implementation of certain policies still represent a risk of failure.

Greek officials have not commented yet on the latest estimation of Moody's.

Sunday the 04th of April 2010

Orthodox Christians to celebrate Easter

This week was the so called Megali Evdomada, Great Week, which is Easter Week for all Greek Orthodox people. Anyone that has spent this week in Greece will have noticed that it is the most important holiday of the year.

Many Orthodox fast before Easter, and are not allowed to eat various foods such as meat, butter, milk as well as olive oil for the last few days. Then they will go to a priest for confession, and are so allowed to partake in the Holy Communion.

The actual Easter festival begins on Good Friday and people go to the churches to see how the priests and monk's take down the icon of Christ off the cross, wrap it in linen and put it in a great casket covered in flowers symbolizing the tomb of Christ. Then the bier is taken through the town or village, with people lamenting the death of Christ.

On Saturday everyone goes to church late in the evening, carrying with them unlit candles. At midnight the priest announces the resurrection of Christ ("Christos anesti") and lets the people light their candles of the Holy Flame taken from Christ's nativity cave in Jerusalem. As everybody does this fireworks and crackers go off and the dark night is filled with light from the candles. After this, everybody goes home for a meal - the fast is over. If their candles are still burning, a cross is made in the doorway with the soot, to protect the house for the coming year.

On Easter Sunday friends and family gather in homes, eating lamb on the spit and dyed eggs. Before the red eggs are eaten, however, you must crack them against your neighbours, and whoever wins by having a whole egg at the end, will get all the luck.

Christos Anesti ! Alifeos Anesti !

Ecumenical Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I leads the Easter service at the patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, April 4, 2010

Friday the 02nd of April 2010

Greek Orthodox Church to Celebrate Easter April 4

Due to a difference in the Gregorian and Julian calendars, Eastern Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate Easter on a date which varies somewhat from the date celebrated by Western Christians of Catholic or Protestant origin.

Jewish and Christian pilgrims have converged on Jerusalem as Passover and Easter coincide.

The crowds of Christian pilgrims are especially large because for the first time in years, the Eastern Orthodox and Western Churches are marking Easter – the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus – at the same time.

Greek Orthodox priests take part in a Good Friday reenactment of Christ being taken down from the crucifix, at the Pendeli Monastery, near Athens, on Friday, April 2, 2010.

Monday the 29th of March 2010

Bomb explodes in Greece, killing 1, injuring child

ATHENS, Greece - A bomb exploded in a residential neighborhood in central Athens late Sunday, killing a 15-year-old Afghan boy and wounding his 45-year-old mother and 10-year-old sister, authorities said.

The bomb exploded at 10:40 p.m. local time Sunday, police said. The boy's sister was transported to a children's hospital with slight burns on her the face and hands and bruising. Her mother, who was in a state of shock, was also slightly injured. She was taken to a different hospital.

"We do not know yet about the motive or the intended target. All I can tell you, from what the mother told the police, is that the victim was her 15-year-old son," police spokesman Athanasios Kokalakis told The Associated Press. He said the family is from Afghanistan.

The Civil Protection ministry later released a statement saying the boy stumbled upon a bag in a garbage bin that contained the bomb. Police cordoned off the street and were searching the area. Television footage showed an ambulance leaving the scene of the blast. The victim's body is still on the scene of the explosion pending the arrival of a coroner.

"The perpetrators ... consider all of us as their enemies. We will find them soon," said Civil Protection Minister Michalis Chryssochoidis, who rushed to the scene.

The bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the Hellenic Management Association, a private not-for-profit organization, Kokalakis said, but he said it was not clear whether this was the intended target.

Radical left-wing and anarchist groups often carry out bombings in Athens, but most are on a small scale and cause no injuries. However, some groups have been escalating attacks of late.

Last week, three bombings targeted the offices of an ultra right-wing party, a police immigration center and a Pakistani immigrant leader's home. The three attacks, none of which caused any injuries, were claimed by the Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire group, which said it wanted to highlight the issue of racism in Greece.

The group also claimed responsibility for a Jan. 9 bomb outside Greece's Parliament building, causing no injuries.

Monday the 29th of March 2010

Greece to sell 5 billion euros bond, demand softer

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece looked set to sell 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in the first test of investor appetite since a European-IMF debt support deal last week but demand was less than half that of an issue earlier this month.

Order levels on the new bond stood at around 7 billion euros compared to the more than 16 billion euros in interest shown for a benchmark 10-year paper, which eased some of the nerves over Greece's financing in early March.

About 175 institutions bid for a slice, sources at the lead managers said, compared to 400 investors for the 10-year issue.

"It is Easter week in Greece and Europe and this explains why demand may seem a bit softer, with the book growing at a slower pace compared to the previous 10-year bond issue," said a source at one of the five banks leading the issue.

Guidance on the bond was set around mid-swaps plus 310 basis points, sources at the lead underwriters said, still around levels which Greek officials have said are "unsustainable" for the state's finances in the long run.

Confidence in Greece as a borrower has been badly shaken by a 300 billion euro ($403 billion) debt pile that exceeds the country's 240 billion euro economic output and by revelations that the extent of its budget problems had not been reported.

Greece, rated A2 by Moody's and BBB+ by Fitch and Standard & Poor's, has about 23 billion euros worth of bonds -- equivalent to almost 10 percent of its gross domestic product -- maturing between now and the end of May.

Some obligations could be met from cash reserves of 7 billion euros, debt agency chief Petros Christodoulou has said, leaving him at least 16 billion euros to raise in the coming weeks during a debt crisis that has shaken global markets.

PDMA said it had mandated Alpha Bank, Emporiki Bank, ING, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Societe Generale for the 7-year bond, its third syndicated issue so far this year.

Christodoulou declined to say how big the bond would be but told Reuters he hoped it would be of benchmark size. A source at one of the underwriters said the government was looking to raise 5 billion euros.

Before the announcement, the 10-year Greek/German yield spread tightened 4 basis points to 311 basis points, according to Tradeweb data.

That was better than 323 basis points ahead of Thursday's deal offering the prospect of a last-resort bailout and well below a January peak of 405 but means Greece is still paying interest rates on new issues about twice those of Germany.

The current Greek 7-year benchmark bond with a coupon of 4.3 percent is yielding 6.01 percent.

The 10-year bond earlier this month was priced at 300 basis points over mid-swaps and was more than three times oversubscribed with demand reaching over 16 billion euros from more than 400 investors.

So far this year it has raised about 18 billion euros out of a 53.2 billion euro projected need for 2010.

Saturday the 27th of March 2010

Shutting Off The Lights For Earth Hour

Europe's best known landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Acropolis in Greece, fell dark on Saturday, following Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest. Lights were switched off across the world to mark the earth hour event.

People were turning off lights and appliances for an hour from 2030 local time in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns and to call for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Thursday the 25th of March 2010

Eurozone agrees on bailout plan for Greece

BRUSSELS – Countries that use the euro said Thursday they have agreed on a financial backstop for Greece that would combine loans from other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund, a move aimed at stopping the government debt crisis that has undermined the shared currency.

The bailout program could be used only if Greece is shut out of normal market financing such as selling government bonds, and would require all 16 countries to agree on releasing the loan funds.

It also calls for tougher rules to keep government finances from getting out of control and causing another such crisis — a key weakness in the euro that has been exposed by the current crisis.

The plan was an attempt to stem a government debt crisis that has raised concerns that Greece's troubles might spread to other euro governments with troubled finances, such as Portugal and Spain, raising borrowing costs and worsening the large debt loads governments have taken on as a result of three years of global economic turmoil.

A Greek default would be a serious blow to the euro — so serious that most economists and market analysts think Europeran governments would step in and stop it somehow, but promises of help had been vague until now.

German, Portuguese, Spanish and Greek officials confirmed a deal at a Thursday summit of European Union leaders. They gave few details ahead of formal announcement of the deal. It was unclear whether the formal announcement would come later Thursday.

Portugal's prime minister Jose Socrates told reporters all the 16 countries using the euro would contribute — including his indebted nation. "The interest rates will be reasonable and not speculative," he said.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the rescue plan was "very satisfactory."

Germany and France earlier urged adoption of a loan package for Greece or other financially troubled nations using the euro would only come as a last resort when the country cannot borrow enough from financial markets, according to a draft text seen by the Associated Press.

The text does not promise cheap loans to Greece — which wants to borrow at rates lower than those demanded by bond investors wary of the country's shaky finances.

The aim would not be to provide credit at average euro area interest rates, but to set rates that reflect a borrowers creditworthiness to give them a reason to return quickly to normal market funding sources.

It does not mention a figure for a potential bailout. Two diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity say the total rescue plan for Greece could total some euro22 billion with the majority coming from European nations and the rest from the IMF.

European and U.S. stock markets spiked higher Thursday on news that a financial rescue package for Greece was taking shape. Market worries over Europe's slow moves to set up a safety net for eurozone members who can't pay their bills has sent the euro sliding to a 10-month low.

Thursday the 25th of March 2010

Greek Independence Day

Greek Navy take part in a military parade in central Athens on Thursday, March 25, 2010. Greece is celebrating its Independence Day without tanks and jets — scaling back an annual military parade because of the country's acute financial crisis. Defense Ministry officials told state television says the decision would save around five million euros

Thuesday the 22th of March 2010

Leftist extremists claim Greece attacks

A Greek extremist group on Monday claimed responsibility for three bomb attacks last weekend that caused damage to the offices of a neo-Nazi movement, the home of a Pakistani and migration offices.

The group, the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, said in a message posted on the left-leaning Indymedia website the attacks were a contribution to the ongoing debate in the country on immigration.

It said Greece, which has become a major entry point for clandestine migrants, was an "off-putting example" of exploitation and lack of assistance.

While denouncing widespread "racism", Conspiracy also said the Pakistani targeted was cooperating with Greek authorities.

In the latest blast to rock the Greek capital a home-made bomb exploded outside a building housing immigration offices Saturday causing some damage but no one was hurt.

Earlier Saturday, a bomb exploded outside the home of the Pakistani, the chairman of the Greek-Pakistan friendship association according to media reports, without injuring anyone.

The Pakistani community in Greece numbers several thousand members, most of whom live in the greater Athens area.

Early Friday the headquarters of neo-Nazi group Chryssy Avghi had been targeted.

Chryssi Avghi members, who have held a number of rallies in central Athens for the last months, have been denounced by the left for attacking immigrants and anti-racist militants.

Muslim migrants in Greece have faced increasing hostility from far-right militants, and the Pakistani community has frequently denounced attacks on its members by Greek youths.

Last month a gang of mostly teenagers set fire to a house in Sparta, southern Greece as a group of Bangladeshi migrants slept inside.

In May last year, five Bangladeshi migrants were injured after unknown assailants tried to burn down a makeshift mosque in Athens.

Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire last claimed responsibility for a bomb attack outside the Greek parliament on January 9.

Seven Conspiracy members have been arrested since police uncovered a cache used by the group in an Athens suburb in September last year.

The group is suspected of having carried out a string of bomb and firebomb attacks in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki since 2008, but no life was lost.

Thursday the 18th of March 2010

Greek taxi drivers, many gas station owners strike over draft tax law

ATHENS, Greece - Greek taxi drivers and many gas station owners are striking against a proposed overhaul of tax laws under the government's efforts to overcome its debt crisis.

Taxi drivers are planning a protest march through central Athens later Thursday.

A new draft law will force taxi drivers, gas station and kiosk owners, as well as street fruit and vegetable vendors to give customers receipts, in a bid to fight rampant tax evasion.

The center-left government is due later Thursday to finalize the proposed legislation, which will increase the burden on the rich, landowners and the powerful Orthodox Church.

Athens has already announced sweeping cutbacks to reduce the country's budget deficit from 12.7 to 8.7 percent of GDP

Wednesday the 17th of March 2010

Greece may turn to IMF if EU fails to deliver

ATHENS, Greece – Greece could seek IMF funding to help overcome its debt crisis, if its EU partners do not provide "clear support" next week, government officials said Wednesday.

"We have to keep all options open for whatever possibility," Prime Minister George Papandreou told reporters in Brussels. "We would certainly prefer a European solution."

EU nations have been slow to pledge concrete help for Greece and are at a March 25-26 meeting of EU leaders to consider aid from individual nations if Greece asks for help.

Papandreou said even agreeing this blueprint could encourage markets to lower the "unreasonably high interest rate which is over 6 percent" that they are charging to take on Greek debt, which they see as high risk of a default.

Government spokesman George Petalotis also said next week's EU summit will be crucial, as the country struggles to reduce a bloated budget deficit and public debt.

"I believe the summit is when it will become evident whether the European partners want to support a country ... or whether we have to resort to some other solution," Petalotis said.

"We are making a very big effort to achieve our targets, so as to secure clear support from the European Union in order not to have to go to the International Monetary Fund," he told Greece's Channel 1 radio.

"But if the borrowing conditions, when we need to borrow, are not expected to be those that we want, (IMF funding) is a possibility which we certainly can follow."

Papandreou said high borrowing costs were unethical and causing economic problems for Greece.

"We are asking people to cut wages and we are doing so and this is lost to the high interest rates we are paying," he said.

A euro-zone member knocking on the IMF door would be unprecedented and deeply embarrassing for the 16-nation bloc.

"I believe there would be consequences for the European Union in general — consequences which no one would like to see or endure," Petalotis said of Greece's potential financial assistance from the IMF.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested Wednesday that the euro zone should be able to eject countries that persistently disobey EU budget rules. She did not directly mention Greece.

Papandreou rejected any suggestion of Greece quitting Europe's currency union.

"I would say there is zero possibility of leaving the euro zone," he said.

Greece's debt crisis emerged late last year when the country abruptly revised up its deficit figures, alarming the EU and hammering the common currency as markets feared contagion to other weak southern economies.

Under intense pressure from Brussels to sort out its finances, Athens has announced a euro16 billion ($22 billion) austerity program through public sector salary cuts, pension and hiring freezes and higher consumer taxes.

The cutbacks have triggered union anger, with two major demonstrations in Athens this month degenerating into street riots. State power corporation workers launched a two-day strike Tuesday — creating minor blackouts throughout the country — while taxi drivers and gas station owners will be on strike Thursday.

Tuesday the 16th of March 2010

Greece strikes continue. Police fire stun grenades as blackouts occur

Police scuffled with demonstrators in Athens late Tuesday as the government faced fresh opposition to its austerity measures, despite signs that markets are beginning to respond positively to Greece's drastic cuts.

Riot police fired stun grenades to disperse rock-throwing youths outside parliament during a brief flare-up of violence after 2,000 people took part in a protest march.

Greece's state power company began rolling blackouts — affecting parts of the northern city of Thessaloniki and other places, as well — after workers at the utility went on a 48-hour strike to protest pay cuts.

State hospital nurses staged a one-day strike and 400 union members demonstrated peacefully outside the health ministry in Athens.

Greece is under pressure from the European Union to control its finances, after its mounting debts hit confidence in the euro and jolted world markets.

Athens has pledged to slash its budget deficit from an estimated 12.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 to 8.7 percent this year, and bring it under the EU limit of 3 percent in 2012.

The government announced a €4.8 billion austerity package this month, including cuts in civil servants' pay, pension freezes and consumer tax increases. A sales tax hike from 19 to 21 percent this week has increased the cost of fuel and other consumer goods and services. The draft tax bill has been submitted to Parliament for discussion.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's took Greece off credit watch Tuesday, winning the country some respite from market pressure. It said the austerity package was "appropriate" for budget-reduction targets.

Greece says it isn't seeking a bailout from the European Union but may need help borrowing at a cheaper rate if yields on its bonds remain high. EU leaders have refused to give any details on an assistance plan beyond a vague promise to provide a safety net against financial collapse.

But Labor Minister Andreas Loverdos said he was encouraged by the support expressed by European Union officials.

"The Europeans are not telling us to take further measures ... they are praising the measures we've taken and looking for ways to support us," Loverdos told private Mega television.

"Greece is not a beggar, asking for people to give what they can — we are not at that level, we must understand this," Loverdos said.

On Thursday, taxi drivers and gas station owners will strike to protest a draft law aimed at an overhaul of the tax system. The proposal has also angered prominent members of Greece's powerful Orthodox Church, which would have to pay a new 20 percent tax on earnings from its property.

"This is a position against the church that can be regarded as hostile," said Metropolitan Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city.

Thursday the 11th of March 2010

Strike to paralyze Greece as anger at austerity builds

ATHENS (Reuters) – Angry public and private sector unions are expected to bring Greece to a standstill on Thursday in a second nationwide strike in as many weeks against tough government austerity plans.

The 24-hour walk-out will ground flights and shut schools, hospitals and tourist sites such as the Acropolis but it is unlikely to halt Prime Minister George Papandreou's plans to slash spending and hike taxes to rein in a yawning deficit and restore confidence in the ailing Greek economy.

Under pressure from markets and EU partners, the government unveiled a new austerity package last week worth 4.8 billion euros ($6.51 billion). It includes a rise in value added tax (VAT), cuts in civil servant incomes and a pension freeze.

"Workers will raise their fist and shout with one voice: We won't pay for the crisis," private sector union GSEE said in a statement. "No one, nothing is going to terrorize workers."

GSEE and its public sector sister union ADEDY, who together represent half of the country's 5 million workforce, say the EU-backed austerity plan will only hurt the poor and aggravate the recession-hit country's economic problems.

The level of participation in the strike and protests will be watched closely outside Greece.

EU policymakers, rating agencies and financial markets have welcomed the latest austerity package but want to see it implemented quickly and smoothly. For that to happen, public support is crucial.

Opinion polls show increasing opposition to the taxes and cutbacks, and unions from taxi drivers to garbage collectors have stepped up protests over the past weeks. But the polls also show most Greeks believe some belt-tightening is necessary and think the government will press ahead. "Everything will be dead in Greece but the majority of people understand there is no other option," ALCO pollster Costas Panagopoulos said. "I don't believe a strike and rallies can seriously affect the government's policies."

Opposition to the cutbacks has been relatively subdued so far, but Greeks are prone to take to the streets in protests that can turn violent.

Police said they were bracing for trouble after clashes at an anti-austerity march last week. About 1,500 riot policemen will be guarding the center of Athens on Thursday and more will be ready to join in if needed, they said.

Communist labor union PAME will kick off the day with a rally at about 0900 GMT (4 a.m. EST), followed by a march to parliament organized by the two public and private sector umbrella unions.

Bank employees, firemen, tax collectors and even policemen will be among those marching tomorrow. Buses and trains will not be operating in Athens, and archaeological sites and museums will be shut. Journalists and state TV will also strike.

The new austerity package has driven a wedge between public employees and private sector workers, with resentful private staff seeing their state peers as privileged and demanding they pay more for the crisis.

ADEDY has warned, without giving details, that it is preparing further labor action in April and May.

Last week, the Greek government announced a series of painful austerity measures aimed at tackling a budget crisis so serious, it once seemed like the entire country could go bankrupt. Likening the need to drastically increase tax revenues and cut spending to a "wartime situation," the Socialist Prime Minister, George Papandreou, promised to take whatever steps were necessary to ensure the economic viability of the state. On Thursday, the country got a taste of how painful the process will be.

Greece ground to a halt as workers went on a 24-hour nationwide strike and tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest civil-service pay cuts and higher taxes in the biggest and angriest demonstrations so far against the austerity measures. Although most of the protesters were peaceful — and even included in their ranks uniformed police officers and firefighters — groups of masked and hooded youths waged running street battles with riot police, smashing the windows of banks and luxury stores and hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails. The police responded by covering central Athens with a haze of tear gas. "War against the capitalists!" the protesters shouted, many with their faces covered to protect against tear gas. "No more sacrifices!" (See why Greece's austerity program may be long overdue.)

"There's anger because people feel it was unfair that people with low wages who pay their taxes are having to pay again," says Miltos, a 39-year-old who works for an environmental organization and declined to give his last name.

Papandreou had tried to avoid provoking Greece's powerful unions and initially resisted making cuts to civil servants' base pay. But after the initial round of austerity measures, announced in December, failed to convince international markets and the country's European partners that Greece could rein in its ballooning deficit on its own, Papandreou's administration was forced to tack on a second, harsher round of measures. The $6.5 billion package includes cuts in civil servants' salaries, a freeze on pensions and a host of tax increases, including a 2% bump in the value-added tax (VAT).

Greece's unions, which had waged only halfhearted protests against the first round of austerity measures, immediately declared war. Over the past week, scattered protests involving tax officials, pensioners, garbage collectors and others have disrupted life in the city. Thursday's strike was the second called by Greece's main unions — representing about half the country's 5 million workers — in less than a week. Flights were halted when air-traffic controllers walked off the job, schools and government offices were shuttered, and public transport was disrupted. (See why Greece's debt crisis threatens the euro.)

So far, the intensity of the violence doesn't yet rival the worst of the riots that racked Greece in December 2008, when the fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy sparked weeks of street protests and vandalism. But since the government announced the second round of austerity measures, the pace and scale of the protests have escalated. Polls also indicate that popular support for the government's handling of the crisis is slipping — a recent survey by the Sunday edition of To Vima, an Athens newspaper, for instance, showed that most Greeks think it will take a long time for the country to pull itself out of its economic mess. More than 37% thought the recession would last three to four years, while 22% said it might last as long as a decade.

And the public mood promises to sour even further. Most of the austerity measures haven't even been implemented yet. The VAT increase goes into effect on March 15, and civil servants will see their upcoming Easter bonuses — equal to half a month's salary — slashed by 30%. Greeks are already feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, and many fear the measures will only deepen their pain. The government's official prediction is that the economy will shrink by 0.3% this year and then begin to recover. But many Greeks and economists think those expectations are overly optimistic.

While European Union officials have praised Greece's most recent round of austerity measures, many Greeks have been critical — and not just the protesters. Konstantinos Michalos, president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 100,000 businesses, says the across-the-board salary cuts for civil servants would disproportionately hurt the poorest and lead to a decline in consumer spending. "The austerity package was necessary, but it's in the wrong direction," he says. "When the actual measures take effect, I think we will have even more demonstrations."

For now, Greek protesters are angry but resigned. Few believed the demonstrations would force the government to retract the measures, but they hoped to make their pain clear — and issue a warning to the government against cutting any deeper. With clouds of tear gas wafting over the capital on Thursday, it was clear that in Greece's struggle to bring its finances under control, no one will escape the sting.

Tuesday the 9th of March 2010

Greece welcomes Obama support on speculators

President Barack Obama has "responded positively" to calls to clamp down on market speculators, the Greek PM said after talks in Washington.

George Papandreou said the US president had shown his support for Greece, and that the issue would be on the agenda of the next G20 meeting.

Greece has blamed market speculators for worsening its current economic troubles.

European politicians have already expressed their concern over the issue.

"We ourselves were in the last few months the victims of speculators," Mr Papandreou said, after meeting Mr Obama.

"Obama assured me that he considers the initiative useful, important, positive, and that the United States will contribute in this direction."

US support follows German Chancellor Angela Merkel's call for "quick action" to tackle the problem of speculation, while European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso also spoke out.

They say speculators, such as hedge funds, are unfairly betting that Greece will default on its loans.

Such moves are making it more expensive for Greece to borrow funds.

The speculators are typically betting against Greece defaulting on its government bond payments - or having its credit rating lowered - by buying large quantities of a complex financial insurance instrument called a Credit Default Swap (CDS).

The way this works is that if Greece defaults on paying interest on its bonds, or has its credit rating lowered, then the owners of CDSs linked to the bonds will be eligible for penalty payments from the bond holders - typically banks.

The knock-on effect is that Greece is having to offer higher interest on its bonds to still make them attractive for banks to buy.

Mr Barroso told the European Parliament on Tuesday that the EU would look at banning "purely speculative" sales on credit default swaps of sovereign debt.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has also called for new rules against financial speculators.

Monday the 8th of March 2010

Fresh strikes against Greek austerity policies

ATHENS (AFP) – Greek civil servants led fresh strikes Monday against government spending cuts as Prime Minister George Papandreou sought to drum up support for his government's policies in Washington.

Tax collectors began a two-day walkout, court employees launched a week-long series of work stoppages and garbage collectors also mobilised against state spending cuts that are meant to save 4.8 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars).

State employees, which number around one million, are the main target of the Socialist government's belt-tightening drive.

"Our members are unduly affected by these austerity measures which constitute a salary cut of 200-600 euros" per month, the head of local administration staff Themis Balassopoulos told state television NET.

The walkouts come ahead of a general strike on Thursday -- the second in a fortnight -- called by the country's two main unions, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the civil servants' union Adedy.

Gas station owners and teachers are also planning industrial actions and police union members have been called to demonstrate in front of Athens police headquarters on Thursday.

After taking office last year Papandreou's socialist government discovered the country's finances were in much worse state than thought, forcing it to introduce emergency measures including sweeping tax hikes and public sector cutbacks.

The cuts have already sparked protests and strikes disrupting air and ground transport, as well as schools and hospitals.

The Greek government is struggling to service its debt of nearly 300 billion euros and has pledged to reduce its budget deficit from 12.7 percent of output -- over four times the allowed EU level -- by four points this year.

While the government has not ruled out the possibility it might need to turn to the International Monetary Fund, the country's central bank governor said Monday said Greece would manage its debt crisis without a bailout.

"A scenario in which help is required will not become reality," George Provopoulos told the Financial Times Deutschland.

He added he was confident that Athens would be able to raise some 20 billion euros needed to refinance its debt mountain in April and May -- seen by many as an acid test for the country's ability to remain solvent.

"I have no doubt that it (the government) will be in a position to pull together the necessary money," Provopoulos said.

Athens successfully raised five billion euros in borrowings on the international bonds market last week, although these were offered at yields of more than six percent.

Overall Greece is looking at borrowing more than 50 billion euros this year but social upheaval is likely to undermine investor confidence.

"With a general strike planned for Thursday and some 20 billion euros of debt set to mature in April and May, market confidence looks likely to remain pretty fragile without even firmer pledges of support from the rest of the eurozone, particularly Germany," said Capital Economics analyst Ben May.

Papandreou has been travelling abroad been seeking to drum up support for Greece from its international partners.

After meeting her Greek counterpart on Friday German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "optimistic" Greece would not need assistance from its European partners.

On Sunday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the 16-nation eurozone would help if needed and were working on a "certain number of specific measures" to address Greece's debt crisis, but did not provide details.

Papandreou holds a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday in Washington, and meets with President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday.

Papandreou's approval ratings remain high at home, with a Sunday poll showing 52 percent of Greeks have confidence in his efforts to pull the country of its debt crisis.

But the same poll in the To Vima newspaper found that more than eight out of 10 Greeks fear that the government's austerity drive will push up poverty.

Friday the 6th of March 2010

Violence in Greece as parliament approves cuts

ATHENS (AFP) – Greek police Friday fought protesters angered by tough new austerity measures, as European heavyweight Germany rebuffed suggestions cash-strapped Athens needed a financial bailout.

Strikes disrupted air and ground transport, as well as schools and hospitals, hitting economic activity hard two days after the government unveiled sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts that parliament approved Friday. Related article: Greeks divided cuts: poll

A demonstration by several thousand protesters was marred by clashes after the head of Greece's main union, Yiannis Panagopoulos, was beaten by unknown assailants as he delivered a speech.

Panagopoulos' union, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), later said it was an "organised" attack and that some of the assailants carried the flags of a small leftist group.

Another prominent protester, 87-year-old war resistance hero and former deputy Manolis Glezos, was hospitalised with breathing problems after a riot policeman sprayed tear gas in his face.

Five people were arrested in Athens and a handful of shops and banks along with a ministry building had their front windows smashed, police said. Around a dozen protesters and police were injured, according to reports.

Several dozen interior ministry staff occupied the Greek National Printing House to prevent the latest austerity measures from being published in the government gazette, police said.

Parliament meanwhile approved a third round of austerity measures aimed at reining in the country's gaping budget deficit and restoring trust in its solvency on financial markets.

But government hopes to secure more tangible European backing for its 4.8-billion-euro (6.5-billion-dollar) belt-tightening package were dashed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Related article: Greece does not need financial help at present: Merkel

"Greece has not asked for financial assistance," she said after talks in Berlin with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

"The stability of the eurozone is assured today. As a result, the question (of aid to Greece) is not being asked ... I am even optimistic that it will not be asked," Merkel added.

While praising the latest austerity measures, she said Greece "must do more than rein in its budget deficit," such as modernising its economy.

Europe's biggest economy, Germany is widely seen as the most likely candidate to help prevent a Greek default, which would be disastrous for the eurozone.

But there is huge opposition in Germany against such a move, with angry editorials slamming alleged Greek corruption and wasteful spending.

Papandreou earlier told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper he was "not asking for money" but other forms of solidarity, warning he might otherwise go to the International Monetary Fund.

"We need support from the European Union and our partners to obtain credit on the markets at better conditions. If we do not receive this aid, we will not be able to enact the changes we foresee," he said.

Greece's credit ratings have been lowered and it must now borrow money at rates far above those of other eurozone members.

Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, the formal head in finance matters for the 16 nations that share the euro, said

Greek measures taken so far meant that Athens would not need EU aid. Related article: Greek aid "unnecessary"

"The commitments taken by the Greek government are clearly paving the way towards an exit" from its debt and deficit crisis, Juncker said.

There is however consternation in European Union circles that Greece managed to amass a debt of nearly 300 billion euros despite having received major funding from Brussels for decades.

Papandreou was to travel to Paris to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday. He will then fly to Washington next week to meet US President Barack Obama.

Thursday the 4th of March 2010

Greek police fire teargas at protesters in Athens

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police fired teargas on Thursday to disperse about 50 demonstrators in central Athens after clashes broke out during protests against government austerity measures, a police official said.

Left-wing groups and communist trade unions rallied in the Greek capital a day after the government announced 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in wage cuts, a pension freeze and tax increases to reduce its huge fiscal deficit.

"There were clashes between police and protesters," the official said. "Police fired teargas. There were a few arrests."

Opposition to THE austerity measures has so far been relatively muted for a country with a tradition of street protests but one pollster said it should move quickly to counter a general sense of shock.

The private sector GSEE union and its sister public sector union ADEDY, which represent half of Greece's 5-million workforce, called workers to stop work from midday on Friday and attend a rally outside parliament.

Tuesday the 16th of February 2010

Bomb explodes outside JP Morgan Athens, none hurt

ATHENS (Reuters) – A bomb exploded on Tuesday outside the Athens offices of JP Morgan, the second largest U.S. bank by assets, causing minor damage and no injuries, police and the company said.

The explosion is the latest in a series of blasts that have rocked the country since the police killing of a teenager in December 2008 sparked the country's worst riots in decades.

"It was a time-bomb outside JP Morgan's offices at the second floor of an Athens building," said a police official who declined to be named.

"The explosion damaged the door, furniture, computers and smashed some windows," the official added.

Police had cordoned off the area after a local newspaper received a warning call. Ambulances and fire engines blocked streets in the upmarket central district of Kolonaki, where JP Morgan's Greek offices are situated, a Reuters witness said.

JP Morgan confirmed the incident and said there were no injuries.

"No one was hurt," said a JP Morgan spokesman in New York. "The company is still gathering details about the situation."

In 2007, the New-York based firm came under scrutiny by Greek investigators' after underwriting 280 million euros ($382.2 million) of structured government bonds which ended up with state pension funds at inflated prices.

JP Morgan, which denied any wrongdoing, agreed to buy back the bonds and reverse the deal.

Banks, foreign companies and police are a frequent target of leftist groups in Greece. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the official said.

Urban guerrillas exploded a makeshift bomb outside Greece's parliament in January, causing no injuries and minor damage.

In other attacks since the teenager shooting, guerrilla groups killed a Greek antiterrorism officer and bombed the Athens Stock Exchange.

Thursday the 11th of February 2010

EU leaders offer Greece support, but no money

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders on Thursday offered Greece moral support but no money to help it weather a debt crisis — vague assurances that didn't calm the market fear that has shaken the entire EU and undermined the shared euro currency.

The 16 countries that use the euro said only that they "will take determined and coordinated action, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the euro as a whole."

But no money or loan guarantees were put on the table in the statement from a summit meeting in Brussels. The EU leaders urged finance ministers to look at Greece's debt situation when they meet Monday and Tuesday, but gave no specific recommendations.

Markets appeared disappointed at not seeing a concrete backstop to ward off a potential default by Greece, which needs to borrow euro54 billion this year to cover its outsized budget deficit.

The Greek crisis is the leading edge of the debt troubles that have hit governments in the developed world during the world's three years of economic turbulence, as they run up deficits bailing out banks and stimulating their economies.

A default would be a serious blow to Europe's monetary union, and fears that Athens might not be able to pay its debts have already led markets demanding higher borrowing costs for Greece.

There are also concerns that the contagion could spread to other financially wobbly countries, such as Portugal and Spain, and that other governments will have to pay more to borrow.

The leaders said Greece had not requested financial support and called on Athens to push through "in a rigorous and determined manner" its budget cuts that have already triggered protests and strikes — and to prepare bigger cuts if needed.

Neil Mackinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital said, "it just looks like a pledge of solidarity, but no actual details of a program which is why the euro is still in the doldrums."

"They have to stop this right now...they are firefighting at the moment but they need to put out this fire right now," said Neil Mellor, currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon. "It won't appease those looking for a bona fide rescue plan."

The euro fell to $1.3635, having been as high as $1.38 earlier in the day on hopes of more substantive Greek bailout news. It traded at $1.51 in December. German and French stocks were down, while shares in Britain, which doesn't use the euro, were flat.

Markets see Greece at risk of defaulting on its massive borrowings because it faces several years of sluggish growth and mounting debt that current austerity plans may not be able to stem.

Those fiscal problems have also exposed the vulnerability of Europe's monetary union in times of crisis. Euro members countries agree to limit their budget deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic output because overspending can undermine their shared currency. But those deficit rules have been broken repeatedly and have not been prevented Greece and other countries from trouble.

The leaders may make more comments on Greece later in the day.

Luxembourg government spokesman Guy Schuller said no firm bailout figures are on the table at this point, but many options are under discussion. "Paris and Berlin are at the head" of efforts that would be shared by all 16 eurozone nations, he said.

Among possibilities for Greece that have been floated in recent days are EU member countries guaranteeing Greece's debt, a special credit line for the Greek government, and bilateral loans.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked down a full financial bailout, but said other European governments would not leave Greece in the lurch.

"We won't let Greece be alone but there are rules and they have to be respected and based on that we'll issue a statement and an explanation," she said.

Greece needs to borrow euro54 billion (nearly $75 billion) from bond markets this year to plug its budget gap. So far it has been able to borrow from markets but is facing increasing interest costs as markets price in higher risk of a possible default.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has promised to reduce Greece's deficit to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product this year, from 12.7 percent last year, the highest in the EU and four times above an EU limit.

But markets doubt Greece's credibility after it admitted falsifying statistics for years to make the deficit look smaller. They also worry that Greece can't carry out any cuts because it risks social unrest.

Greek workers shut down schools, grounded flights and walked out of hospitals Wednesday to protest austerity measures, and a much broader strike is planned for Feb. 24.

Wednesday the 10th of February 2010

Civil servant strike in Greece shuts schools, grounds flights

ATHENS | A strike by civil servants shut schools and grounded flights across Greece on Wednesday, as unions challenged cutbacks aimed at ending a government debt crisis that has shaken the entire European Union.

Air traffic controllers, customs and tax officials, hospital doctors and schoolteachers walked off the job for 24 hours to protest sweeping government spending cuts that will freeze salaries and new hiring, cut bonuses and stipends and increase the average retirement age by two years to 63.

The strike left state hospitals working with emergency staff only and disrupted national rail travel, although urban mass transport was unaffected.

"It's a war against workers and we will answer with war, with constant struggles until this policy is overturned," said Christos Katsiotis, a representative of a communist-party affiliated labor union.

Despite the strikes, markets reacted positively to indications that wealthy European countries are closer to rescuing Greece. Stocks in Europe rose Wednesday for the second day on expectations of some kind of decisive action to prevent a Greek debt default that could spread to other EU countries.

European Union leaders are to discuss Greek's economic woes during a summit Thursday in Brussels. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet is making a rare appearance at the summit - which the markets saw as confirmation that some kind of help for Greece would be discussed.

Bond market fears of default appeared to recede, judging by the shrinking interest rate spread between 10-year Greek government bonds and benchmark German ones. The spread, or difference, stood at 2.83 percentage points, down from about 3.20 percentage points late Tuesday and from 3.5 percent last week.

Prime Minister George Papandreou declared that the austerity program would go forward "in every measure."

Despite the harsh union rhetoric, turnout in Athens' two peaceful protest marches was low, at about 7,000 in drizzly weather, in a country where union demonstrations typically draw tens of thousands. Another 3,000 people showed up for two rallies in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city.

A weekend newspaper poll showed that 70 percent of Greeks backed the prime minister's call to cut civil servants' pay and perks, but were against measures that could affect them individually like new taxes or a higher retirement age.

Greece has come under intense pressure from its European Union partners to slash spending after it revealed a massive and previously undeclared budget shortfall last year that continues to rattle financial markets and the euro, the currency shared by 16 EU members.

Mr. Papandreou, who was in Paris on Wednesday to discuss the economic crisis with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has repeatedly said Greece will sink under its debt unless everyone contributes to a solution.

"We are absolutely decided that the stability program will be implemented in every measure," he said after meeting with Mr. Sarkozy. "We are ready to take any necessary measures to make sure the deficit goal is met."

Saturday the 6th of February 2010

Left-wing groups demonstrate in Athens for migrant rights

Athens - Hundreds of anarchist and left-wing activists took to the streets of Athens Saturday, to demonstrate for a reform of Greece's controversial rules on immigrants and asylum. Local television reports showed protestors with banners reading "Citizenship for all children," and "legalization for all migrants."

On Friday the Greek government presented a revised bill on immigrants' rights, which would leave asylum seekers and immigrants with tougher conditions than first thought.

The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou had promised to give citizenship rights to all children of immigrants, and that asylum procedures would in future be decided by civil authorities, and not police.

But under the new provisions a child born in Greece to immigrants parents will need to have both immigrants parents be legal residents for five years before he or she can apply for citizenship.

Originally, only one parent would have had to have been a legal resident.

More than a million people, or around ten per cent, of the Greek population is a non-EU foreigner.

Police in Athens had to separate the pro-immigrant demonstration from right-wing and extremist religious groups attempting to mount a nearby counter-demonstration. Reports said that anarchists had thrown stones at police.

Tuesday the 2nd of February 2010

Greece vows to follow fiscal plan 'to the letter'

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's prime minister toughened his austerity program Tuesday to include a blanket civil service pay freeze, as the European Union readied plans to tightly monitor Athens' performance and possibly demand even more cutbacks.

In a live televised address, George Papandreou said he would also hike fuel taxes, increase retirement ages and speed up an overhaul of the country's tax system, which will be presented in Parliament next week instead of at the end of the month.

"This is an effort to stop the country's course toward the cliff," Papandreou said. "Our country is at the center of a speculative attack. ... It is being treated as the weak link of the eurozone."

His speech came a day before the European Commission is scheduled to issue an assessment of Greece's plan to curb its runaway budget deficit, which is currently more than four times the European Union limit of 3 percent.

Papandreou, who said Greece faced an "unprecedented crisis," had previously said civil servants earning more than euro2,000 a month would have their salaries frozen, but he has now expanded that to include all civil servants, who will get no raises beyond seniority increases.

He pledged to go after tax evaders and those who use offshore accounts to avoid declaring income, and said those who could afford to pay more would be forced to do so.

Athens has resisted pressure from the EU to impose the sort of drastic spending cuts taken by fellow eurozone member Ireland, which include civil service pay cuts.

But measures such as salary freezes, higher fuel taxes and an increase in retirement ages will hit people in the middle and lower income brackets, risking a backlash from unions that have so far been relatively restrained. The civil servants' union had previously declared a strike for Feb. 10, while customs and tax officials are set to walk off the job this week.

"The government's policies are clearly aimed exclusively at raising money and once again lay the burden on those who have been exploited for years -- workers and pensioners," Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of the Greek civil servants union, told the AP.

Farmers have already been blocking major highways across the country on and off for more than two weeks, demanding financial help to overcome low food prices. The government has insisted there is no money to be spared.

Papandreou did not give details of how much extra fuel tax Greeks will face, or what retirement ages -- currently at 65 for men and 60 for women in most professions -- would increase to.

"The time has come to take brave decisions, here too in Greece as others have done in European Union countries," Papandreou said. "The sustainability of the (pension) system is achieved through the increase in pensionable age as the life expectancy rises."

On Monday, the European Commission said it would demand tougher measures such as new taxes and cutbacks if Greece didn't make progress in controlling its deficit.

Greece's budget crisis and worries that it won't be able to pay back debt have shaken the European Union and its shared currency, the euro, which has slid in value recently. It has also intensified speculation that other EU nations might have to bail Greece out if it risks default.

Greek and European officials say that they are confident that the country will manage to curb its budget gap and that a financial rescue won't be necessary.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Athens on Tuesday voicing support and arguing that improved Greek finances were "in the interest of the whole of Europe."

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, speaking during a conference earlier in the day, said he could support a centrally issued European bond to boost stability in the 16-nation eurozone. But he insisted Athens was not requesting such as measure or planning any change in fiscal reforms.

"Our country is in a corner. ... So it is difficult to come out and argue in favor of a solution like the eurobond," Papaconstantinou said.

The EU says Greek wages overall are well above productivity levels -- which makes it less competitive than other EU nations because workers are more expensive to employ. Greece argues that lower wages would hurt consumer spending, crimping future economic growth.

Wednesday the 20th of January 2010

Epaminondas Korkoneas

Greek court postpones trial on teen killing

AMFISSA, Greece -Ringed by riot police and an anarchist demonstration, a court in central Greece on Wednesday postponed the trial of a policeman accused of shooting a teenager a year ago, sparking major violence.

The court in the small town of Amfissa, where the trial was relocated for security purposes, moved the trial to Friday as the main lawyer of accused officer Epaminondas Korkoneas was occupied with another trial.

Korkoneas, 38, is accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos during a December 2008 night patrol in the bohemian Athens district of Exarchia. The incident sparked several days of riots.

Around 200 anarchists marched through the centre of Amfissa on Wednesday, chanting anti-police slogans and demanding that the process be moved to Athens.

Korkoneas is on trial for voluntary homicide, while his partner Vassilis Saraliotis, 32, is accused of complicity.

One far-left extremist group has threatened to kill Korkoneas, prompting authorities to send more than 400 police to Amfissa, which is 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Athens.

Greece's Supreme Court has rejected bids by the teenager's family to move it back to the capital. The court was told Wednesday that Grigoropoulos' mother Gina Tsalikian was also unable to attend the trial opening as her own mother is in grave condition in an Athens hospital.

Tsalikian, who has also appealed to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, argues that holding the trial far from Athens hampers the presence of key witnesses.

"We do not understand why this trial has to be held in Amfissa," one of the Grigoropoulos family lawyers, Alexandros Katsantonis, told reporters outside the courthouse.

Several banks and shops in the town of 12,000 inhabitants boarded their storefronts for fear of violence.

Korkoneas has said that in the December incident he fired in the air to disperse youths, including Grigoropoulos, who threw stones at his squad car.

An autopsy report indicated that the boy was hit by a bullet that ricocheted onto him but lawyers for the boy's family point to the testimony of witnesses who say the policeman took aim and fired.

Monday the 18th of January 2010

20-km Line of Trucks at Blockaded Bulgaria-Greece Border

The situation at the major crossing point on the Bulgaria-Greece border – Kulata-Promahonos - is worsening as a result of the blockade imposed by protesting Greek farmers.

This has been stated by the District Governor of Blagoevgrad, Valeri Smilenov, as cited by BTA, who has announced that Wednesday afternoon the line of waiting trucks is about 6 km long on the Bulgarian side of the border, and about 13 km on the Greek side.

“This is a crisis situation, and it is getting worse. There is a total lack of dialogue, and we cannot give any specific information about the intentions of the protesting Greek farmers even though at the beginning they assured us that there would be talks every day, and “windows” of letting vehicles through. Yet, as of now, there is an all-out blockade,” he explained as cited by BTA.

According to the Bulgarian Consul in Thessaloniki, half of all trucks waiting on Greek territory are Bulgarian. Some drivers have been waiting in the line for two days, without proper sanitation and food supply even though the Greek police have given out sandwiches.

The protesting Greek farmers have stated they would pull out their tractors blocking the international roads only when they receive the money from promised agricultural subsidies. They have also raised demands for higher selling prices of their agricultural produce.

Saturday the 9th of January 2010

Bomb explodes outside Greek parliament; no casualties

Athens - A bomb exploded outside Greece's parliament building in central Athens on Saturday evening, a blast near a national landmark that unnerved the country.

There were no casualties in the blast, and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told reporters that Greeks would not be intimidated by such acts.

"My message is simple: democracy cannot be terrorized," he said when he arrived at his parliament office.

Police were alerted immediately after the Eleftherotypia newspaper received a call saying a bomb was placed in an open area outside of parliament.

Authorities closed off part of the boulevards in front of parliament and on the eastern side of the building before an explosive device detonated inside an installation for garbage disposal.

Later, a caller phoned a police emergency line and said one bomb was placed outside of parliament and another inside the Hotel Grande Bretagne near parliament. The hotel entrance faces one of the closed boulevards.

Melios Dimitris, Hotel Grande Bretagne manager, told CNN he had not heard of an immediate threat to the hotel and that the business is operating as usual.

Law enforcement officers were carefully combing the area, local media reported, but police don't think those threats are credible.

Greece's tomb of the unknown soldier, a major tourist attraction, is opposite the parliament building.

Wednesday the 6th of January 2010

EU visit starts in Greece, Stark says no bailout

ATHENS/MILAN (Reuters) – EU officials arrived in Greece on Wednesday for an inspection visit, hours after ECB Executive Board member Juergen Stark was quoted as saying the bloc would not bail out Greece if its debt problem worsened.

The government's broad outline of how it will get out of its fiscal mess has not impressed markets, making the talks with Brussels on the details of a long-term budgetary plan Greece must submit by end January a sensitive point for investors.

"The EU officials are here (at the finance ministry), they are looking at the draft of the plan," a senior finance ministry official said. "They will meet in the coming days officials from the health, labor, defense, and economy ministries."

In a sign of increasing pressure on Greece to get its finances back in order, Stark told Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that EU states would not help out.

"The markets are deluding themselves when they think at a certain point the other member states will put their hands on their wallets to save Greece," Stark said in the newspaper.

Greek bond spreads widened slightly in response to the report, which helped to push the euro down for a short time. But analysts said Stark's comments did not necessarily mean the EU would refuse to assist Greece if aid became necessary to prevent a debt default.

They said Stark was probably using tough rhetoric in an effort to press the Greek government, and Greek public opinion, into accepting major public spending cuts to bring the country's budget deficit down to levels permitted for euro zone states.

"I'm very confident that were help to be needed, it would be there because there's so much at stake for the euro area," said Jacques Cailloux, euro zone economist at RBS.

"The trigger point is if you see contagion in the periphery countries that could affect the core countries...If there was a contagion crisis that threatened the euro zone or the periphery, then the ECB would have the right to intervene."

Reacting to Stark's comments, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou repeated that his government did not need outside help because it had announced a range of steps in recent weeks to start reducing the budget deficit.

"Frankly we don't need that clarification," he told Bloomberg. "We don't expect to be bailed out by anybody as, I think, it is perfectly clear we're doing what needs to be done to bring the deficit down and control the public debt."

On Tuesday, a day ahead of the EU visit, the new socialist government set a more ambitious fiscal health target, saying it would cut its double-digit budget deficit under the EU's 3 percent of GDP limit by 2012, a year earlier than previously planned.

Last month, in an apparent effort to calm the debt market, senior European officials hinted strongly that the EU would help Greece if that became necessary, though they stopped short of explicitly promising aid.

"What happens in one member state affects all others, especially as we have a common currency, which means we have a common responsibility," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

French finance minister Christine Lagarde declared the euro currency area was a "monetary zone of complete solidarity.

In Wednesday's report, Stark was quoted as saying Greece had not controlled its public accounts or worked to help improve the country's competitiveness.

"The Treaties envisage the non-rescue clause and the rules must be respected," he said, referring to agreements covering the euro zone.

In response, the spread of 10-year Greek government bond yields over German Bunds widened to 235 basis points from about 230 bps late on Tuesday. But it soon narrowed back to 231 bps.

Cailloux at RBS said he believed the EU would step in if confidence in the euro zone as a whole was threatened by Greece's debt problems -- although any assistance would probably come with very tough conditions attached.

For that reason, any short-term widening of Greek bond spreads from current levels would be a buying opportunity for the medium term, he said. The 10-year spread remains far below its February 2009 peak of around 300 bps.

All three major credit rating agencies downgraded Greece in December out of concern about the country's fiscal weakness. Still, Moody's Investors Service said Greece remained far from crisis and that the risks were long- rather than short-term.

Stark predicted inflation in the euro zone would remain steady until the end of 2011. "Today the euro zone is characterized by a high degree of price stability which allows us to believe interest rates are appropriate," Stark said.

He said a stable inflation outlook could be affected by higher economic growth or an inability to re-absorb market liquidity quickly -- "two conditions that I do not see today."

Wednesday the 6th of January 2010

Epiphany

Greek Orthodox pilgrim from Greece Ouzinos Panaiotis kisses the wooden cross retrieved from the waters of the Golden Horn water course in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. Greek Orthodox men braved the cold winter weather to dive into Istanbul's Golden Horn, in a race to retrieve the wooden cross, which was thrown into the water by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the World's Orthodox Christians, in a traditional ceremony commemorating Epiphany

Friday the 1st of January 2010

Happy New Year 2010 ! Kali Kronia ! Kronia Polla !!!

Argentina beats Greece 2-0 at World Cup

China's Zhang to sign agreements in Greece

Greeks protest against pensions reform

Greece aims to raise €1 billion a year from privatizations: reports

Strike to paralyze Greece as anger at austerity builds

Violence in Greece as parliament approves cuts

Greek police fire teargas at protesters in Athens