The euro’s next crisis

Why an early election spells big dangers for Greece—and for the euro

The Economist

EVER since the euro crisis erupted in late 2009 Greece has been at or near its heart. It was the first country to receive a bail-out, in May 2010. It was the subject of repeated debate over a possible departure from the single currency (the so-called Grexit) in 2011 and again in 2012. It is the only euro country whose official debt has been restructured. On December 29th the Greek parliament failed to elect a president, forcing an early snap election to be called for January 25th. The euro crisis is entering a new, highly dangerous phase, and once again Greece finds itself at the centre.

European Stocks Drop as Greece’s ASE Tumbles After Vote Results

By Jonathan Morgan  Dec 29, 2014 12:41 PM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

European stocks extended losses after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed in his third and final attempt to get enough backing for his presidential candidate.

Greece faces election after lawmakers fail to elect president

BY RENEE MALTEZOU AND LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS

ATHENS Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:03am EST

(Reuters) - Greek lawmakers failed to elect a new president in a final round of voting on Monday, leaving the country facing an early election that could derail the international bailout program it needs to keep paying its bills.

Greek MPs' vote triggers snap poll

BBC 

29 December 2014 Last updated at 10:41 GMT

Greek MPs have rejected the presidential candidate nominated by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, triggering a snap general election.

Συναγερμός στην Τ.τ.Ε. για να μην ξεμείνει από ρευστό το Δημόσιο

Πηγή:www.reporter.gr

«Εκεί που πήγε να γίνει κάτι, εκεί που οι τράπεζες σχεδίαζαν αυξήσεις κεφαλαίου για μειώσουν τη συμμετοχή του κράτους στη μετοχική τους σύνθεση, εκεί που το 2015 θα χρηματοδοτούσαν την πραγματική οικονομία, γυρίζουμε πάλι στον ζόφο», υποστήριξε νωρίς το πρωί της Τετάρτης κορυφαία τραπεζική πηγή.

Συναγερμός έχει σημάνει στην Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος στην  περίπτωση που εξαιτίας της πολιτικής αβεβαιότητας δεν υπάρξει συμφωνία με τους πιστωτές και το Δημόσιο ξεμείνει από ρευστό για την κάλυψη των αναγκών του.  Περίπου δέκα μέρες μετά το sos που εξέπεμψε ο διοικητής της Τραπέζης Ελλάδος κ. Ι. Στουρνάρας προς τα κόμματα να υπάρξει συναίνεση προκειμένου να έρθει η συμφωνία με τους δανειστές, διαφορετικά η χώρα κινδυνεύει να μπει σε περιπέτειες, η διοίκηση της Κεντρικής Τράπεζας της χώρας, λαμβάνει τα μέτρα της, έστω κι αν αυτά είναι εις βάρος του εγχώριου τραπεζικού συστήματος.

Euro Seen as Shield by Lithuanian Banker Wary of Russia

By Milda Seputyte  Dec 23, 2014 12:08 PM GMT+0200

 Bloomberg

On the eve of Lithuania’s euro adoption, the Baltic country’s top banker says Russia’s actions in Ukraine have pushed him into forbidden territory.

“The euro is an instrument for our deeper integration: the closer we are to the West, the further we are from the east,” Vitas Vasiliauskas said in an interview in Vilnius, the capital. “As a central bank governor, I shouldn’t get myself involved in geopolitical discussions. But these are the facts today.”

ISIS’s Harrowing Sexual Violence Toward Yezidi Women Revealed

Tessa Berenson @tcberenson  Dec. 22, 2014

ΤΙΜΕ

ISIS is capturing Yezidi women and keeping them in sexual slavery

Militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have enslaved and sexually brutalized scores of women, selling them into marriage or giving them as gifts to militant fighters, according to a new report.

Since August, ISIS has captured hundreds, if not thousands of Yezidi women and girls and taken them into sexual slavery as part of an ethnic cleansing movement, the Amnesty International report says. The Yezidis are a Kurdish ethnoreligious minority group that has been historically oppressed by Sunni extremists.

Peshmerga forces heave Isis away from Mount Sinjar

As many as 300 militants are believed killed as US-led airstrikes assist the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq

Fazel Hawramy on Mount Sinjar

The Guardian, Sunday 21 December 2014 21.55 GMT

Kurdish peshmerga forces backed by US-led air strikes pushed Islamic State militants out of a large area around Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq, according to Kurdish officials.

“We have managed to free 3,000 sq km during the last 24 hours,” Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, told reporters on top of Mount Sinjar. “Most of Sinjar is under our control now and with the help of God, we will free all of it.”

The Kurdistan regional government mobilised close to 10,000 peshmerga fighters last week in an ongoing operation to drive Isis from the Sinjar area, which is near the Syrian border.

Euro shaky on ECB and Greece, dollar keeps edge

BY IAN CHUA AND HIDEYUKI SANO

SYDNEY/TOKYO Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:24pm EST

(Reuters) - The euro probed fresh two-year lows early on Monday in a subdued start to a holiday-shortened week, extending a multi-month trend of weakness against the dollar that many traders say will remain intact in the new year.

Speculation is high that the European Central Bank (ECB) will be forced to expand its asset-buying program to include sovereign debt in early 2015, at a time when the Federal Reserve is preparing to do the opposite and lift interest rates.

Author's journey inside ISIS: They're 'more dangerous than people realize'

By Frederik Pleitgen, CNN

December 22, 2014 -- Updated 0618 GMT (1418 HKT)

(CNN) -- Juergen Todenhoefer's journey was a tough one: dangerous, but also eye-opening. The author traveled deep into ISIS territory -- the area they now call their "caliphate" -- visiting Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in Syria, as well as Mosul in Iraq.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was taken by ISIS in a Blitzkrieg-like sweep in June.

Todenhoefer managed to visit the Mosque there where the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi, gave his only ever public address.

And he saw the realities of daily life under ISIS, with all shops having to close for prayers in the middle of the day.

"There is an awful sense of normalcy in Mosul," Todenhoefer said in an exclusive interview with CNN.

Will Pakistan’s grief force it to cut ties with Islamic militants?

By Matthew Green December 17, 2014

Pakistan’s army knew it would pay a price when it launched an offensive in the mountains of North Waziristan. But even in their worst imaginings, few officers could have foreseen the way revenge would be served: an attack on an Army-run school that cost the lives of 132 students. Many were the teenage sons of soldiers.

Here’s why oil companies should be a lot more profitable than they are

By Anatole Kaletsky December 5, 2014

Reuters

The 40 percent plunge in oil prices since July, when Brent crude peaked at $115 a barrel, is almost certainly good news for the world economy; but it is surely a crippling blow for oil producers. Oil prices below $70 certainly spell trouble for U.S. and Canadian shale and tar-sand producers and also for oil-exporting countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria, Mexico and Russia that depend on inflated oil revenues to finance government spending or pay foreign debts. On the other hand, the implications of lower oil prices for the biggest U.S. and European oil companies are more ambiguous and could even be positive.

RPT-INSIGHT-Greek premier prepared European ground before vote gamble

Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:08am EST

* Early presidential vote surprised Greek establishment

* But Samaras discussed plans with Berlin, Brussels

* Government candidate falls short in first round

* Previous premier caused uproar with referendum plan

By Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has bet on Greece's future with an early vote for the presidency. But in contrast to a recent predecessor, he made sure before dropping the bombshell that Berlin and Brussels wouldn't stand in the way.

Greek political fallout a worry, but financial contagion seen limited

BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

BRUSSELS Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:03am EST

(Reuters) - Five years after Greece sparked a sovereign debt crisis that threatened the euro's survival, the country again has the potential to rattle its currency partners if Greeks have to elect a new government next month.

David Ignatius: A U.S.-China ‘reset’?

The Washington Post

By David Ignatius Opinion writer December 16 at 7:11 PM

This year began with some Chinese and American foreign-policy analysts looking back a century to World War I and wondering if confrontation was inevitable between a rising power and a dominant one. But now there has been progress on climate, trade and security issues and what seems a modest “reset” of the Sino-American relationship.

Future disagreements between the United States and China are inevitable. But the surprise of a high-level dialogue here last weekend was the interest by both sides in exploring what the Chinese like to call “win-win” cooperation.

Greece still several steps from chaos

By Hugo Dixon December 15, 2014

By Hugo Dixon

Hugo Dixon is Editor-at-Large, Reuters News. The opinions expressed are his own.

Reuters

Greece is still several steps from chaos. Athens has entered a period of political instability, which could lead to an election won by Syriza. This radical left group’s policies might prompt Greece’s exit from the euro if fully implemented. But for this to happen, a series of unfortunate circumstances have to occur.

Greece and the euro

Crisis revisited

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21636036-euro-still-vulnerable-and-greece-not-only-problem-crisis-revisited

The euro is still vulnerable, and Greece is not the only problem

Dec 13th 2014

IT WAS almost exactly five years ago that the euro crisis erupted, starting in Greece. Investors who had complacently let all euro-zone countries borrow at uniformly low levels abruptly woke up to the riskiness of an incompetent government borrowing money in a currency which it could not depreciate. There is thus a dismal symmetry in seeing the euro crisis flare up again in the place where it began.

Greece and the euro

Crisis revisited

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21636036-euro-still-vulnerable-and-greece-not-only-problem-crisis-revisited

The euro is still vulnerable, and Greece is not the only problem

Dec 13th 2014

IT WAS almost exactly five years ago that the euro crisis erupted, starting in Greece. Investors who had complacently let all euro-zone countries borrow at uniformly low levels abruptly woke up to the riskiness of an incompetent government borrowing money in a currency which it could not depreciate. There is thus a dismal symmetry in seeing the euro crisis flare up again in the place where it began.

The euro is heading for disaster - what luck for David Cameron!

The final unwinding of the disastrous single currency could give Britain everything it wants from Europe

By Peter Oborne

6:00AM GMT 10 Dec 2014

As Karl Marx was one of the earliest to point out, economics (though so much less interesting) is far more important than politics.

Marx considered all political events as epiphenomena. He viewed great men as blind instruments of irresistible forces which they themselves could hardly comprehend.

The Marxist vision of society has been disproved many times, always at epic human cost. However, his doctrine that productive forces propel history has stood the test of time – and is invaluable for an understanding of the current predicament of the European Union

Γιατί ψήφισα "όχι" στην τροπολογία για τον Ρωμανό

11/12/2014

13:13

Από τον ιστότοπο Capital.gr

http://www.capital.gr/gmessages/showTopic.asp?id=4731017

του Αδώνιδος Γεωργιάδη

Χθες η Βουλή ομοφώνως ψήφισε την αλλαγή του Νόμου χορηγήσεως εκπαιδευτικών αδειών των Φυλακισμένων, για να πειστεί ο κ. Νίκος Ρωμανός να σταματήσει την απεργία πείνας την οποία είχε ξεκινήσει. Ομοφώνως; Όχι! Τρεις βουλευτές –τουλάχιστον- ο Θάνος Πλεύρης, ο Γιάννης Καράμπελας (για τον οποίον δεν έγινε ευρύτερα γνωστό) και εγώ ψηφίσαμε Όχι! Οφείλω λοιπόν μία δημόσια εξήγηση του γιατί αποφάσισα τουλάχιστον εγώ «να χαλάσω» αυτήν την «γιορτινή» ατμόσφαιρα εθνικής συνεννοήσεως που ζήσαμε χθες.

Και για λόγους Αρχής αλλά και για λόγους ουσίας λοιπόν καταψήφισα μία τροπολογία που –μακάρι να βγω ψεύτης-

Euro weakens on fears of political instability in Greece

BY ANIRBAN NAG

LONDON Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:09am EST

(Reuters) - The euro fell broadly on Wednesday amid growing concerns over the political situation in Greece that could increase the chances of monetary policy easing early next year by the European Central Bank.

The euro was down 0.5 percent against the yen at 147.40 EURJPY= and gave up early gains against the dollar to trade slightly lower on the day at $1.2370 EUR=. The common currency had risen to a high of $1.2448 on Tuesday as investors trimmed long dollar positions, booking profits ahead of the year-end.

Ο Τσίπρας και τα... φύκια για μεταξωτές κορδέλες!

http://www.euro2day.gr/specials/opinions/article/1283180/o-tsipras-kai-ta-fykia-gia-metaxotes-kordeles.htmlhttp://www.euro2day.gr/specials/opinions/article/1283180/o-tsipras-kai-ta-fykia-gia-metaxotes-kordeles.html

Αθανάσιος Χ. Παπανδρόπουλος

Είναι ξεκάθαρο από το οικονομικό πρόγραμμα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ ότι θέλει να προσφέρει στην διαπλοκή αυτά που η τελευταία έχασε από τα μνημόνια. Όμως τώρα «λεφτά δεν υπάρχουν». Γράφει ο Αθαν. Χ. Παπανδρόπουλος.

«Στην Ελλάδα, ο κ. Αλ. Τσίπρας έχει ταχθεί κατά οποιασδήποτε μεταρρύθμισης και δεν θέλει περικοπές στον προϋπολογισμό, παραμένοντας στο πλευρό των συμφερόντων». Αυτά, μεταξύ άλλων, επισημαίνει στην γνωστή αμερικανική οικονομική εφημερίδα Wall Street Journal ο αρθρογράφος της, Σάιμον Νίξον, που κάθε άλλο παρά τυχαίο πρόσωπο είναι. Προφανώς δε, ο Αμερικανός αρθρογράφος δείχνει να γνωρίζει πολύ καλά την ελληνική πραγματικότητα, η οποία, σήμερα, για μιαν ακόμη φορά, «προκαλεί ανησυχίες στις αγορές».

German finmin: Greece may get credit line in Feb, no new money needed

BRUSSELS Tue Dec 9, 2014 10:02am EST

Dec 9 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday that a credit line may be made available to Greece at the end of February but no fresh money would be needed.

"Greece has asked for an extension of the (bailout) programme," Schaeuble told reporters after a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels.

"The application will be limited to an extension of two months - we will put this to the Bundestag in the next week of parliament, discuss it and hopefully agree it. If other member states agree, we will get an extension. Then it may come to a credit line in February, but we don't need new money," he said. (Reporting by Tom Koerkemeier; Writing by Madeline Chambers in Berlin)

Greece Turns Triumph Into Tragedy

Six Months Ago, Greece Seemed Past the Worst: The Mood Today Is Different

http://www.wsj.com/articles/greece-turns-triumph-into-tragedy-1417988877

The Wall Street Journal

By SIMON NIXON

Dec. 7, 2014 4:47 p.m. ET

Greece’s latest drama has the potential to turn into a tragedy. Six months ago, the country seemed to be past the worst and there was widespread optimism among policy makers and the markets that the overhauls had laid the foundations for an investment- and export-led recovery.

Greek Government Bonds Drop as Presidency Vote Brought Forward

By David Goodman  Dec 9, 2014 11:27 AM GMT+0200

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-09/greek-government-bonds-drop-as-presidency-vote-brought-forward.html

Bloomberg

Greek bonds fell, with the nation’s 10-year yield climbing the most in almost six weeks, amid speculation that early Presidential elections will trigger renewed political turmoil.

German bunds advanced, with the nation’s 30-year yield dropping to a record low on demand for the safest assets as stocks and crude oil tumbled. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras yesterday brought forward the process of choosing a new head of state to this month, a move that risks triggering parliamentary elections in the nation, which returned to the bond market this year. Anti-bailout group Syriza, which currently leads in opinion polls, welcomed the announcement.

Greek gamble

By Mike Peacock December 9, 2014

 Reuters

http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope/2014/12/09/greek-gamble/

The Greek government has taken a huge gamble, bringing forward by two months to next a week a parliamentary vote on a new president. Two further rounds of voting will be held before the year-end.

A super majority is required for the government’s pick so Prime Minister Antonis Samaras needs to secure the backing of about 25 lawmakers who are not in his coalition. If he falls short, he will be forced to call a snap election that opinion polls suggest left-wing anti-bailout Syriza would win.

Greece Needs Debt Forgiveness

February 13, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-13/europe-should-extend-greece-some-debt-relief

Greece and its creditors are wrestling with the country’s debts yet again. In 2010, Greece was given one of the biggest bailout programs in history. It got new lending in return for fiscal austerity, but its debts weren’t reduced: Creditors were spared any write-offs. Experts objected that the program put too big a burden on Greek taxpayers, was neither politically nor economically sustainable, and would need creditors to absorb some losses. They were right then, and they still are.

It's Time to Start Paying Attention to Greece Again

By Joe Weisenthal  December 08, 2014

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-08/its-time-to-start-paying-attention-to-greece-again

It’s been awhile since Greece was front-page news, so here’s a refresher: A few years ago, it looked as though Greece might be forced to leave the euro zone, as investors lost faith in the country’s ability to pay its debts. In late 2011, 10-year Greek bonds were trading with a yield around 35 percent. The crisis began to dissipate in the summer of 2012, when the center-right New Democracy party eked out the narrowest of election victories and cobbled together a coalition that agreed to a bailout under harsh terms. Since then financial markets have eased considerably, although the economy is still in the gutter.

Turkey, Greece to Develop Economic Ties Despite Differences

Renewed Tensions Over Gas Fields Off Cyprus

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS

Dec. 6, 2014 8:22 a.m. ET

ATHENS—Greece and Turkey confirmed Saturday their commitment to developing economic ties between the two countries but admitted to disputes over energy and Cyprus separating the two sides.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday wound up a two-day trip to the Greek capital Athens where he attended a forum on confidence-building measures between the two countries that have nearly gone to war three times in the last four decades.

Σοκ στην Υγεία: «Επιδημία» πλαστών πτυχίων τινάζει στον αέρα τα νοσοκομεία

http://www.imerisia.gr/article.asp?catid=26510&subid=2&pubid=113404354

Από την εφημερίδα Ημερησία

Της Ελένης Πετροπούλου

Μπροστά σε μία επαπειλούμενη «επιδημία» πλαστών πτυχίων κινδυνεύει να βρεθεί το ΕΣΥ, με την ολοκλήρωση του ελέγχου των τίτλων γιατρών και εργαζομένων στην Υγεία. Ήδη οι αρμόδιες υπηρεσίες έχουν εντοπίσει σημαντικό αριθμό εργαζομένων με πλαστούς τίτλους ξένων γλωσσών, για τους οποίους μάλιστα λάμβαναν και ειδικά επιδόματα.

Στα «δίχτυα» βρίσκονται και πολλοί γιατροί οι οποίοι, για λόγους αδιευκρίνιστους, δεν έχουν παρουσιάσει το πτυχίο τους, καθώς και γιατροί των οποίων οι τίτλοι σπουδών ελέγχονται για τη γνησιότητά τους. Μάλιστα, στο Σώμα Επιθεωρητών Υγείας βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη έλεγχος σε τουλάχιστον τέσσερις γιατρούς, οι οποίοι έχουν καταθέσει πτυχία από Ιταλία και Ρουμανία και υπάρχουν καταγγελίες ότι δεν είναι γνήσια.

Ωστόσο, ο έλεγχος δεν φαίνεται να αποδίδει καρπούς σε όλες τις περιπτώσεις, καθώς κάποιες καταγγελίες μπαίνουν στο συρτάρι! Χαρακτηριστική είναι η περίπτωση μεγάλου φορέα του οποίου ο πρόεδρος και μέλη του Δ.Σ. δεν έχουν προσκομίσει τα πιστοποιητικά γλωσσομάθειας. Μάλιστα, εργαζόμενοι στον συγκεκριμένο φορέα υποστηρίζουν ότι οι συνομιλίες με την τρόικα γίνονται με τη βοήθεια παλαιότερου μέλους του Δ.Σ., ενώ τα κείμενα στην αγγλική γλώσσα τα έχουν αναλάβει δύο υπάλληλοι.

COLUMN-China is the elephant in the situation room

Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:43pm GMT

 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/24/bremmer-china-idUKL1E8NO3DF20121224

(Reuters) - Earlier this month the U.S. National Intelligence Council released its Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds report - a document that comes out once per presidential administration - mapping out likely geopolitical trends over the next two decades or so. As usual, it's a must-read, offering comprehensive analysis of the disparate factors that will drive global politics through 2030.

Further, the NIC took bold steps to correct some previous weaknesses in past reports. In the past the report nailed the "what" more often than the "when." That is particularly the case with its treatment of the United States, for which "past works assumed U.S. centrality." This time around the NIC sets an increasingly "multi-polar world" - which I call the G-Zero - as the backdrop of its report, acknowledging that the lack of global leadership has accelerated in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008-09. America's status as a "hegemonic power" is eroding, and no country is likely to take its place.

China's Economy: Don’t Bet on Beijing

A recent report makes clear the enormous challenges facing China’s economy.

The Diplomat

http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/chinas-economy-dont-bet-on-beijing/

By Sam Winter-Levy

December 02, 2014

The Financial Times recently reported that China has wasted nearly $7 trillion since the global financial crisis. According to research by China’s state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, “ineffective investment” made up nearly half the total amount invested in the Chinese economy since 2009. The soaring ranks of empty skyscrapers and residential complexes that crowd the skylines of so many of China’s third- and fourth-tier cities are the most obvious sign of this prodigality, although alongside extraordinary levels of misallocated capital, billions of dollars of post-crisis stimulus has simply disappeared into the opaque pockets of Communist Party officials. Following the widely hailed conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum earlier this month in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted once again on a “new type of great-power relations” between the United States and a rising China, these reports of waste on an immense scale should be a salutary reminder of the extent of the challenges the Chinese Communist Party faces before any supposedly inevitable transition of global power takes place.

Πώς προσπάθησε να σβήσει τα «ίχνη» ο Γ. Καρατζαφέρης

ΙΩΑΝΝΑ ΜΑΝΔΡΟΥ

Εφημερίδα Καθημερινή

http://www.kathimerini.gr/793137/article/epikairothta/politikh/pws-prospa8hse-na-svhsei-ta-ixnh-o-g-karatzaferhs

Πλήρη «χαρτογράφηση» των χρημάτων που διαθέτει σε υπεράκτια εταιρεία (Catalina) o πρόεδρος του ΛΑΟΣ, Γιώργος Καρατζαφέρης, και υπολογίζονται σε περίπου έξι εκατομμύρια ευρώ, έχουν στα χέρια τους οι αρμόδιες αρχές, με αποκαλυπτικά στοιχεία για κινήσεις που έκανε προκειμένου να αποκρύψει τα ίχνη του χρήματος και να εξαφανίσει τα σε βάρος του στοιχεία. Οπως προκύπτει από τα έγγραφα της δικογραφίας, που έχει σχηματιστεί για τις παράνομες πληρωμές που αφορούν την προμήθεια των ελικοπτέρων έρευνας και διάσωσης Super Puma, τα οποία έφερε στο φως η έρευνα της Αρχής για το ξέπλυμα με επικεφαλής τον αντεισαγγελέα του Αρείου Πάγου Παν. Νικολούδη και η Εισαγγελία Διαφθοράς, μόλις άρχισαν οι έρευνες, ο πρόεδρος του ΛΑΟΣ «από κάπου» πληροφορήθηκε τις ενέργειες των δικαστικών αρχών. Και η αντίδρασή του ήταν να προσπαθήσει να εξαφανίσει τα ίχνη του χρήματος, αλλάζοντας πιστωτικά ιδρύματα, φορολογικούς παραδείσους, επωνυμίες στην υπεράκτια εταιρεία του, εκπροσώπους της και κατευθύνοντας τελικά τα χρήματα από την offshore σε trust.

Greece Expects Primary Budget Surplus for 2015

But Spending Plans Not Agreed with Creditors

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS and  ALKMAN GRANITSAS

Updated Nov. 21, 2014 7:03 a.m. ET

0 COMMENTS

ATHENS—Greece’s 2015 budget, submitted by the government to parliament on Friday, aims to meet the fiscal demands of the country’s creditors but comes without the prior approval of its troika of international inspectors.

Give Greece a Chance

8 NOV 21, 2014 12:02 AM EST

By The Editors

Bloomberg

Greece's creditors are testing the country's endurance -- again. If they keep pressing, they could split the euro area apart, which would be a disaster for them as much as for Greece. They need to stop insisting on the impossible, and find a way to relieve the country's debts.

The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have told the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to cut the country's debt burden, the biggest in the euro area, by reducing public spending even further. In return, they propose a last injection of bailout money and an emergency credit line.

Επιβαρυντικό για τον Γ. Καρατζαφέρη το πόρισμα των ορκωτών λογιστών της Βουλής

Η εταιρεία Καταλίνα είναι αυτή που δέχθηκε τα τρία επίμαχα εμβάσματα ύψους 1,65 εκατ. ευρώ

ΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ:  14:02

Εφημερίδα ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ

Επιβαρυντικό για τον αρχηγό του ΛΑΟΣ Γιώργο Καρατζαφέρη είναι, σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, το πόρισμα των ορκωτών λογιστών της Βουλής.

Η εταιρεία Catalina International που δέχθηκε τα τρία επίμαχα εμβάσματα ύψους 1,65 εκατ. ευρώ από την εταιρεία εξοπλιστικών Κεστρέλ φαίνεται ότι ιδρύθηκε το 1992.

Βουλή: Βρήκαν 6 εκατομμύρια ευρώ σε λογαριασμούς του Καρατζαφέρη

Οι πιθανές κατηγορίες που αντιμετωπίζει ο κ. Καρατζαφέρης, είναι ξέπλυμα μαύρου χρήματος, υποβολή αναληθούς πόθεν έσχες και παράβαση του νόμου για τις οφσορ, ενώ γίνεται έρευνα και τα άλλα περιουσιακά του στοιχεία, τα οποία υπολογίζονται σε 20 εκατ. ευρώ

SKAI

16-11-2014

Aντιμέτωπος με τρία κακουργήματα ενδέχεται να βρεθεί ο πρόεδρος του ΛΑΟΣ Γιώργος Καρατζαφέρης, σύμφωνα με τα πρώτα ευρήματα των ερευνών των Ορκωτών Λογιστών για λογαριασμό της αρμόδιας επιτροπής της Βουλής.

Στα 2,2 ευρώ η τιμή διάθεσης των νέων μετοχών της Εθνικής Τράπεζας

Με σημαντική υπερκάλυψη η έκδοση για την άντληση 2,5 δισ. ευρώ

ΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΣΗ:  08/05/2014 19:55 | ΤΕΛΕΥΤΑΙΑ ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ:  09/05/2014 10:40

Μετά την επιτυχημένη ολοκλήρωση της αύξησης , το ποσοστό του ΤΧΣ  στο μετοχικό κεφάλαιο της τράπεζας υποχώρησε στο 57%, από 84%.

Greek unemployment eases to 25.9 percent in August

ATHENS Thu Nov 13, 2014 5:11am EST

(Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate fell to 25.9 percent in August from a downwardly revised 26.1 percent rate in July as the country's six-year recession eases, Greek statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday.

August's reading was the lowest since August 2012 when unemployment stood at 25.5 percent. The record high was set in September 2013, when unemployment hit 28 percent.

Greece's unemployment is coming down from record highs as the economy stabilizes after a severe recession but remains at more than double the euro zone average of 11.5 percent in August. Greek national output is projected to emerge from recession and expand by 0.6 percent this year.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos, editing by Deepa Babington)

«ΠΑΡΤΙ» ΣΤΗΝ ΥΓΕΙΑ

«Παρέλαση» μεγαλογιατρών στον ανακριτή για μίζες εκατομμυρίων

Από την εφημερίδα ΗΜΕΡΗΣΙΑ,

http://www.imerisia.gr/article.asp?catid=26510&subid=2&pubid=113386274

Δεκάδες μεγαλογιατροί δημόσιων νοσοκομείων, μαζί με στελέχη μεγάλης εταιρείας προμήθειας ιατρικού υλικού θα περάσουν την πόρτα των ανακριτών προκειμένου να λογοδοτήσουν για το μεγάλο κύκλωμα που είχε στήσει «πάρτι» εκατομμυρίων στο ΕΣΥ.

Χθες η Εισαγγελία απήγγειλε κατηγορίες σε βαθμό κακουργήματος σε δύο στελέχη της εν λόγω επιχείρησης για υπόθεση παράνομων αμοιβών στους γιατρούς. Σύμφωνα με τη δικογραφία, φέρεται να διακινήθηκε «μαύρο χρήμα» εκατομμυρίων ευρώ προκειμένου να χρηματιστούν οι γιατροί και να επιλέγουν τα προϊόντα της προμηθεύτριας εταιρείας.

Όλη η συνέντευξη του Σπύρου Μουζακίτη στο ΠΡΩΤΟ ΘΕΜΑ

«Μας είπαν κάτω τα μολύβια στη λίστα Λαγκάρντ»

Μανόλης Γαλάνης 09/11/201423:35

«Στο διάστημα που δουλεύαμε την ποινική δικογραφία της λίστας Λαγκάρντ ήμασταν συνεχώς υπό την απειλή άσκησης πειθαρχικής δίωξης», δηλώνει, σε μια συνέντευξη-ποταμό στο «ΘΕΜΑ», ο πρώην εισαγγελέας Οικονομικού Εγκλήματος Σπύρος Μουζακίτης.

Ο εισαγγελικός λειτουργός, που με τον συνάδελφό του Γρηγόρη Πεπόνη ανέλαβαν τον Μάιο του 2011 να πατάξουν το οικονομικό έγκλημα στη χώρα μας, 15 μήνες μετά την παραίτησή του από τη θέση αυτή σπάει τη σιωπή του και αποκαλύπτει πολιτικές και δικαστικές παρεμβάσεις που δέχτηκε στο έργο του. Ο κ. Μουζακίτης αναφέρει ότι στο στάδιο της έρευνάς τους για την υπόθεση της λίστας Λαγκάρντ οι δύο δικαστικοί, έχοντας προηγουμένως δεχτεί ασφυκτική πίεση, οδηγήθηκαν ουσιαστικά σε παραίτηση αφού με νομοθετική ρύθμιση-μήνυμα («κύριοι, κάτω τα μολύβια, είστε αναρμόδιοι, δεν μπορείτε να συνεχίσετε») τους αφαιρέθηκαν όλες οι σοβαρές υποθέσεις. Ο επίτιμος αντεισαγγελέας Εφετών σήμερα περιγράφει τον τρόπο με τον οποίο μετά το «άνοιγμα» της υπόθεσης των δα­νείων των κομμάτων επιχειρήθηκε η κατάργηση του ίδιου και του κ. Πεπόνη με νομοθετική ρύθμιση, η θέση τους σε πολύμηνη πειθαρχική ομηρία και ουσιαστικά η υπηρεσιακή απαξίωσή τους, ενώ μιλά και για τα καθημερινά εμπόδια που έβαζαν κάποιοι στο έργο τους αρνούμενοι να τους εφοδιάσουν ακόμα και με στυλό και χαρτί, λόγω της εισαγγελικής δράσης τους. Παράλληλα, ο δικηγόρος Αθηνών πλέον, αναφέρεται στους λόγους που τον οδήγησαν να αποχωρήσει από το δικαστικό σώμα για χάρη της μάχιμης δικηγορίας, καθώς και για το πώς αισθάνεται σήμερα στις δικαστικές αίθουσες.

In Ukraine, Shelling and Convoys of Armed Trucks Threaten Cease-Fire

The New York Times

By ANDREW E. KRAMERNOV. 9, 2014

MOSCOW — A shaky cease-fire in eastern Ukraine looked ever more tenuous on Sunday as European monitors confirmed reports of unmarked military vehicles driving through rebel-held territory while Donetsk, the region’s biggest city, endured a nightlong artillery battle.

The monitoring group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said that long columns of unmarked military vehicles, some towing howitzers, were spotted over the weekend. The monitors did not speculate as to the origins of the trucks or the people inside them, but Ukrainian officials said the statements bolstered their claims that Russia was again arming and training separatists.

Fate of Isis leader remains unclear after US airstrike in Iraq

Monitoring of Isis communications following attack near Mosul reveals nothing to suggest Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed

The Guardian

Officials in Baghdad and Washington remained unclear on Sunday about the fate of the Islamic State (Isis) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after a key aide was killed in a US air strike near Mosul.

A senior Iraqi official confirmed to the Guardian that the aide, Abdur Rahman al-Athaee, also known as Abu Sajar, was killed in the the attack late on Friday night, which hit a 10-car convoy southwest of the Isis stronghold.

Athaee was known to have been in almost constant contact with Baghdadi and officials deduced that his presence in the convoy likely meant that Baghdadi was with him.

However, monitoring of the group’s communications in the aftermath of the attack has revealed nothing to suggest that Baghdadi was killed. Officials have not ruled out that he may have been injured.

Exclusive: Euro zone considers three bailout exit options for Greece

BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

BRUSSELS Thu Nov 6, 2014 12:24pm EST

(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers will consider three options on Thursday for what happens after Greece exits its bailout at the end of the year, seeking to balance the need to reassure investors with the demands of domestic Greek politics.

The Greek government has staked its survival on exiting the bailout a year early, a move that will please voters hammered by austerity measures imposed by the EU and the IMF, but which has already rattled markets, pushing up Greek bond yields.

Central Command general to ISIS: We can hear you

By Eric Marrapodi, CNN

(CNN) -- The top U.S. military commander in the fight against ISIS said airstrikes are working to erode the terror group's capabilities and warned militants that the U.S. military is listening to them.

Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who heads the U.S. Central Command, made those remarks at an event Thursday with the Atlantic Council, which was moderated by CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper.

"I'm confident we're having the desired effects," Austin said of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq aimed at ISIS.

"What we want to do is take away the enemies' ability to command and control, his ability to sustain himself, his ability to project combat power and his ability to move forces back and forth across the Iraq/Syria border."

Latest strikes target Khorasan group.

Fed Completes Rule Limiting Banks’ Size

Bars Acquisitions That Result in a Firm Holding Over 10% of Financial-Sector Liabilities

By SCOTT PATTERSON and  VICTORIA MCGRANE

Updated Nov. 5, 2014 3:52 p.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON—Bank regulators took a step toward curbing the ability of large financial institutions to get bigger as Washington continues trying to lessen the risk giant firms pose to the U.S. economy and taxpayers.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday finalized a rule, mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, that generally prohibits banks and other financial firms from buying or merging with rivals if the deal would result in the combined firm holding more than 10% of all liabilities in the financial system.

ISIS Wave of Might Is Turning Into Ripple

By BEN HUBBARDNOV. 5, 2014

The New York Times

BAGHDAD — The extremists of the Islamic State appeared unstoppable after their sudden blitz through Iraq this summer, with its battle-hardened fighters continually raising their black flag over newly conquered areas.

Today, roughly a third of Iraq is dotted by active battle fronts, with intense fighting and occasional Islamic State victories. But analysts also say the days of easy and rapid gains for the jihadists may be coming to a close in Iraq, as the group’s momentum appears to be stalling.

The international airstrike campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has clearly played a role in slowing the Sunni Muslim group’s advance. But analysts say other factors are having a major effect, including unfavorable sectarian and political demographics, pushback from overrun communities, damage to the group’s financial base in Syria and slight improvements by ground forces in Iraq.

ECB Fails 25 Banks as Italy Fares Worst in Stress Test

By Jeff Black  Oct 26, 2014 8:00 PM GMT+0200

Twenty-five lenders including Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA failed a stress test led by the European Central Bank, which found the biggest capital hole in the region’s banking system in Italy.

The Frankfurt-based institution identified a total gap of 25 billion euros ($32 billion) as of the end of 2013, most of which has now been raised by banks. Among lenders still in need of funds, Italy’s Monte Paschi (BMPS) and Banca Carige SpA (CRG) must find a combined 2.9 billion euros between them, the ECB said today.

Misrule of the Few

How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece


By Pavlos Eleftheriadis FROM OUR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE

The Foreign Affairs

Just a few years ago, Greece came perilously close to defaulting on its debts and exiting the eurozone. Today, thanks to the largest sovereign bailout in history, the country’s economy is showing new signs of life. In exchange for promises that Athens would enact aggressive austerity measures, the so-called troika -- the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund -- provided tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans. From the perspective of many global investors and European officials, those policies have paid off. Excluding a one-off expenditure to recapitalize its banks, Greece’s budget shortfall totaled roughly two percent last year, down from nearly 16 percent in 2009. Last year, the country ran a current account surplus for the first time in over three decades. And this past April, Greece returned to the international debt markets it had been locked out of for four years, issuing $4 billion in five-year government bonds at a relatively low yield -- only 4.95 percent. (Demand exceeded $26 billion.) In August, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the country’s credit rating by two notches.

Euro sells off after report ECB considering corporate bond buys

BY DANIEL BASES

NEW YORK Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - The euro fell sharply against the dollar on Tuesday after Reuters reported the European Central Bank was looking at buying corporate bonds as soon as December in its efforts to revive the stagnating euro zone economy.

The move, if realized, would expand the private-sector asset-buying program the ECB began on Monday, which is aimed at fostering lending to businesses in hopes of spurring growth.

Enforcer at Treasury Is First Line of Attack Against ISIS

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVISOCT. 21, 2014

The New York Times

Every morning David S. Cohen descends into a fortified, cavelike complex in the bowels of the Treasury Department to pore through hundreds of pages of leads — from raw intelligence reports to polished threat assessments — to try to penetrate the vast and opaque finances of the Islamic State, the terrorist group capable of producing 50,000 barrels of oil a day.

China Attack Aims at iCloud, Apple’s Service for Storage

By PAUL MOZUR, NICOLE PERLROTH and BRIAN X. CHEN.OCT. 21, 2014

The New York Times

HONG KONG — For Apple in China, trouble seems to be the new normal.

Cybersecurity monitoring groups and security experts said on Monday that people trying to use Apple’s online data storage service, known as iCloud, were the target of a new attack that sought to steal users’ passwords and then spy on their activities.

U.S. Air Drops Arms To Kurdish Forces Fighting ISIS In Kobani

 AP      | By ROBERT BURNS

Posted: 10/19/2014 10:16 pm EDT Updated: 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday it had airdropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Kurdish forces defending the Syrian city of Kobani against Islamic State militants.

The airdrops Sunday were the first of their kind and followed weeks of U.S. and coalition airstrikes in and near Kobani, near the Turkish border. The U.S. said earlier Sunday that it had launched 11 airstrikes overnight in the Kobani area.

Syrian Kurds Gain Importance In Campaign Against ISIS

Posted: 10/16/2014 8:47 pm EDT     

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

WASHINGTON -- After more than a month of being outnumbered and outgunned, facing likely doom in Kobani, Kurdish fighters have begun to turn the tide against Islamic State militants with help from airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

ECB eyes extra funding for Greek banks as Athens markets plunge

BY GEORGE GEORGIOPOULOS AND JOHN O'DONNELL

ATHENS/FRANKFURT Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:45am EDT

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank will loosen its terms for accepting security from Greek banks to allow them to tap more of its funding, offering the country's lenders support as stock and bond markets in Athens tumble.

This will provide a powerful incentive for Athens, which has toyed with the idea of quitting its financial aid program earlier than scheduled, to stay under the supervision of international lenders rather than attempt to go it alone.

ISIS Retreating from Kobani, Says Kurdish Official

Rishi Iyengar  4:58 AM ET

TIME

The radical Islamist militants now reportedly control only 20% of the border town, as opposed to about 40% before

The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has suffered setbacks and has begun retreating from parts of the Syrian border town of Kobani, according to a local official, who said Kurdish forces were advancing against the militant group.

Idris Nassan told the BBC that ISIS had previously controlled almost half the town but currently occupies “less than 20%.”

New Ebola Cases May Rise to 10,000 a Week by December

U.N. Health Body Aims to Have Majority of Cases Isolated Within Two Months to Reverse Outbreak

The Wall Street Journal

By ANDREW MORSE

Updated Oct. 14, 2014 5:40 p.m. ET

469 COMMENTS

ZURICH—The Ebola virus is killing 70% of the people who contract the disease, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, and as many as 10,000 new cases a week could be reported by early December.

The Unserious Air War Against ISIS

The campaign against Serbia in 1999 averaged 138 strike sorties daily. Against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria: seven.

The Wall Street Journal

By MARK GUNZINGER And  JOHN STILLION

Oct. 14, 2014 7:04 p.m. ET

Since U.S. planes first struck targets in Iraq on Aug. 8, a debate has raged over the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s air campaign against Islamic State. The war of words has so far focused on the need to deploy American boots on the ground to provide accurate intelligence and possibly force ISIS fighters to defend key infrastructure they have seized, such as oil facilities. But debate is now beginning to focus on the apparent failure of airstrikes to halt the terror group’s advances in Iraq and Syria—especially Islamic State’s pending seizure of Kobani on the Syrian border with Turkey.

White House insists anti-Isis strategy is on track despite setbacks on the ground

Isis advances on Baghdad and Kobani despite 21 air strikes

Turkey bombs Kurdish targets in south-east of country

Dan Roberts in Washington and Constanze Letsch in Istanbul

The Guardian, Tuesday 14 October 2014 20.31 BST

The Guardian

The US-led campaign to combat Islamic State (Isis) fighters in Syria and Iraq is facing a growing crisis of confidence as setbacks on the battlefield coincide with efforts to improve allied coordination and calls for President Barack Obama to escalate the military attacks.

WHO: Ebola Is Modern Era's Worst Health Emergency

 AP      | By By JIM GOMEZ

Posted: 10/13/2014 7:29 am EDT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The World Health Organization called the Ebola outbreak "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times" on Monday but also said that economic disruptions can be curbed if people are adequately informed to prevent irrational moves to dodge infection.

ISIS May Have Chemical Weapons

Posted: 10/13/2014 9:01 pm EDT  

Akbar Shahid Ahmed

akbar.ahmed@huffingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -- The Islamic State militant group may possess chemical weapons that it has already used to extend its self-proclaimed caliphate, according to photos taken by Kurdish activists and examined by Israeli researchers.

Fear and firepower: Bloodlust biggest weapon in ISIS arsenal

By Perry ChiaramontePublished October 14, 2014

FoxNews.com

The terrorist army of Islamic State has missiles, tanks and bombs, but the potent weapon that allows a relatively small force to keep much of Iraq and Syria in its grip is bloodlust - in the form of beheadings, crucifixions and mass executions.

Greek recession deeper initially but milder later, revised data shows

ATHENS Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:35am EDT

(Reuters) - The recession in Greece that began in 2008 was deeper than thought in the early phase but turned milder than estimated in the last two years, revised data showed on Friday.

Russia Interventions Cross $3 Billion as Rate Bets Surge on Oil

By Vladimir Kuznetsov  Oct 10, 2014 1:44 PM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

Russia’s currency interventions have exceeded $3 billion this month as sanctions and an oil-price slump batter the ruble, boosting bets policy makers will raise interest rates to stem the drop.

The central bank sold $1.5 billion on Oct. 8, according to data on its website today, the most for a single day since a $4.41 billion intervention that preceded the Crimea referendum to join Russia in March. Wagers for interest-rate increases soared to a six-year high as Brent oil’s slide to four-year lows sent the ruble sliding further past 40 per dollar.

Ruble Rout Pounding Russia’s Retailers as Prices Soar

By Matthew Campbell and Ilya Khrennikov  Oct 10, 2014 11:53 AM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

The generally upbeat story -- and current hardship -- of Russia’s middle class since the end of the Cold War can be partly told through Dixy Group.

Greek Bond Investors Look to Confidence Vote for Respite

By Nikos Chrysoloras and Antonis Galanopoulos  Oct 10, 2014 11:14 AM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

After a monthlong rollercoaster for Greek government bonds and stocks, the country’s lawmakers are poised to give investors a brief respite.

Greece Seeks $508 Million by Securitizing Real Estate

By Sharon Smyth and Eleni Chrepa  Oct 10, 2014 1:02 PM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

The Greek fund charged with selling state assets will attempt to raise 400 million euros ($508 million) by securitizing real estate in a move designed to attract investment to the debt-stricken country.

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund will sell shares in a company with about 300 properties ranging from retail, office and tourism-related real estate including land for development, Andreas Taprantzis, the fund’s executive director, said in an Oct. 8 interview in his Athens office. The company will then sell debt backed by the properties.

Οι νεόπλουτοι του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ

ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ 12:40

Πάσχος Μανδραβέλης

Από την εφημερίδα Καθημερινή

Στη χώρα όπου ανθούν η φαιδρά πορτοκαλέα και ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ ακούσαμε κι αυτό: η Πολιτική Γραμματεία του κόμματος της αξιωματικής αντιπολίτευσης αποφάσισε να... κρατήσει μούτρα στον κοινοβουλευτικό εκπρόσωπο του κυβερνώντος κόμματος, ήτοι στον κ. Αδωνι Γεωργιάδη, εξαιτίας των ατυχών δηλώσεων του τελευταίου για τις καταθέσεις.

ISIS enters Kobani, city's defenders see 'last chance to leave,' sources say

By Ralph Ellis, CNN

October 5, 2014 -- Updated 2250 GMT (0650 HKT)

(CNN) -- ISIS moved closer to seizing Kobani on Sunday as militants entered the southeastern edge of the Syrian city and street-to-street fighting began, a fighter and a media activist inside the city told CNN.

The city's defenders were looking for ways to escape the Kurdish stronghold strategically located near the Turkish border, the fighter said.

"It's the last chance to leave," the fighter said. The fighter and media activist requested their names be withheld for security reasons.

ECB Pauses to Observe Results of Recent Stimulus Measures

Rates on Hold, as Policy Makers Set to Buy Bonds and Asset-Backed Securities to Help Economy

The Wall Street Journal

By BRIAN BLACKSTONE CONNECT

Updated Oct. 2, 2014 1:41 p.m. ET

NAPLES, Italy—The European Central Bank took no new action on Thursday, despite inflation weakening to a five-year low, signaling it will wait to see if stimulus measures undertaken in recent months lift the eurozone’s weak economy.

Australia authorizes special forces troops to go to Iraq

BY LINCOLN FEAST

SYDNEY Fri Oct 3, 2014 3:16am EDT

(Reuters) - Australian special forces troops will be deployed in Iraq to assist in the fight against Islamic State militants, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday, and its aircraft will also join U.S.-led coalition strikes.

Hong Kong Protests: China Pushes Back Against U.S.

The Wall Street Journal

By CHARLES HUTZLER

Oct. 1, 2014 11:56 p.m. ET

In a rare public spat, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, pushed back against U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the Hong Kong protests, with the Chinese official saying the U.S. should stay out of China's internal affairs.

U.K. Carries Out First Airstrikes in Iraq

Ministry of Defense Says RAF Destroyed an Islamic State Arsenal and a Machine Gun-Mounted Vehicle

The Wall Street Journal

By JENNY GROSS

Updated Sept. 30, 2014 5:15 p.m. ET

LONDON—Britain's Royal Air Force carried out its first strikes in Iraq on Tuesday, destroying an Islamic State arsenal and a machine gun-mounted vehicle, the Ministry of Defense said.

Ukraine nationalists tear down Kharkiv's Lenin statue

BBC

28 September 2014 Last updated at 22:24 GMT

Nationalists have torn down a statue of Lenin in the centre of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, in a move supported by officials.

People cheered and leapt for joy as the statue came crashing down.

For China, Limited Tools to Quell Unrest in Hong Kong

By EDWARD WONG and CHRIS BUCKLEYSEPT. 29, 2014

The New York Times

BEIJING — China’s Communist Party has ample experience extinguishing unrest. For years it has used a deft mix of censorship, arrests, armed force and, increasingly, money to repress or soften calls for political change.

The many names of ISIS (also known as IS, ISIL, SIC and Da'ish)

The Economist

Sep 28th 2014, 23:50 by M.R. | CAIRO

FOR the third time in as many decades America is leading a powerful coalition to war in the Middle East. On September 23rd the offensive expanded dramatically as coalition aircraft and missiles struck in Syria, widening the theatre beyond its initial arena in Iraq. Their target is a radical jihadist group that has grabbed headlines since June, when its black-clad gunmen burst beyond territory they had captured during Syria’s civil war and seized big chunks of Iraq, including the country’s second biggest city, Mosul. Alarm has grown as they have massacred hundreds of prisoners, sometimes with grisly televised beheadings, and hounded thousands of Christians and other minorities from their homes. Nearly everyone shares a desire to destroy this scourge, yet they cannot seem to agree on what to call it. The group has been variously dubbed ISIS, ISIL, IS, SIC and Da'ish. Why the alphabet soup?

Isis 'just one mile from Baghdad' as al-Qaeda fighters join forces against Syria air strikes

The Independent

MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014

Isis fighters are reportedly just one mile away from Baghdad as reports emerge of al-Qaeda militants bolstering their ranks in Syria.

According to the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, Isis was approaching the Iraqi capital on Monday morning.

Δύο κείμενα για τον ιμπεριαλισμό

Και τα δύο είναι από την εφημερίδα της αριστεράς ΑΥΓΗ.

Περιγράφουν στο πρώτο άρθρο την ομιλία του υπεξ της Ρωσίας Σ Λαβρόφ για την Ουκρανική κρίση και τις προσπάθειες της Ρωσίας για την ανάταξη των σχέσεων με τις ΗΠΑ μακριά από την σημερινή ένταση και στο δεύτερο (περιγράφουν) τον ρόλο των ΗΠΑ στην κρίση του ΙΡΑΚ μετά την κατίσχυση επί του πεδίου των δυνάμεων του Σουνιτικού Χαλιφάτου. Η «Ρωσοστρέφεια» της Ελληνικής Αριστεράς δεν είναι μυστικό για κανέναν, αλλά για κάποιους δεν είναι ούτε καν αξιοπερίεργο.

Insight - With canal and hut, India stands up to China on disputed frontier

BY SANJEEV MIGLANI

NEW DELHI Thu Sep 25, 2014 4:06am IST

(Reuters) - Earlier this month, the Indian army, stationed on a remote Himalayan plateau, built a small observation hut from where they could watch Chinese soldiers across a disputed border.

The move so irked China's military that it laid a road on territory claimed by India and demanded that the tin hut be dismantled. India refused, destroyed a part of the new road and promptly raised troop numbers in the area.

Wall Street Retreats, as China’s Weakening Growth Pulls Shares and Oil Lower

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSSEPT. 22, 2014

(Published in the Wall Street Journal) 

Worries about the outlook for growth in China and a slide in the price of oil pushed the stock market to its biggest loss in almost seven weeks on Monday.

Investors are nervous about China after a run of soft economic data that suggested growth there, the No. 2 economy after the United States, was slowing. The worries about China helped push down the price of oil, and that in turn weighed on energy stocks.

Isis onslaught against Kurds in Syria brings ‘man-made disaster’ into Turkey

In the border town of Suruç, there is anger and despair among the Syrian Kurd refugees who have joined the exodus

Constanze Letsch in Suruç

The Guardian, Monday 22 September 2014 20.43 BST

In the small bus shuttling passengers between Gaziantep and the small predominantly Kurdish border town of Suruç, all conversation is focused on one topic only.

“Suruç is teeming,” says Izzettin Abdi Hacirashad, 51, a spare parts trader. “In the parks, the bus station, the streets. Everywhere. You will see.”

With One Battle Over in Scotland, Another Begins

By JOHN F. BURNSSEPT. 21, 2014

The New York Times

AUCHTERARDER, Scotland — With one struggle concluded and another set to begin, this ancient slate-gray town in the russet-leaved approaches to the Scottish Highlands has been busy in recent days, swapping the political passions of last week for the breezier enthusiasms involved in preparing for what many local residents regard as the greatest sporting event ever to be staged in Scotland.

U.S. and Arab partners bomb ISIS in Syria

By Holly Yan and Jim Sciutto, CNN

September 23, 2014 -- Updated 1053 GMT (1853 HKT)

(CNN) -- The United States and several Arab nations rained bombs on ISIS targets in Syria on Tuesday -- the first U.S. military offensive in the war-torn country and a forceful message to the militant group that the U.S. would not stand by idly while it carried out its rampage of terror.

The airstrikes focused on the city of Raqqa, the declared capital of ISIS' self-proclaimed Islamic State. But other areas were hit as well.

The operation began with a flurry of Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea, followed by attacks from bomber and fighter aircraft, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.

James Clapper: We underestimated the Islamic State’s ‘will to fight’

The Washington Post 

By David Ignatius Opinion writer September 18

The United States has made the same mistake in evaluating fighters from the Islamic State that it did in Vietnam — underestimating the enemy’s will, according to James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.

Scottish Vote on Independence Starts

Referendum Will Determine Whether Scotland Splits From the U.K.

The Wall Street Journal

By JASON DOUGLAS, JENNY GROSS and CASSIE WERBER

Updated Sept. 18, 2014 5:40 a.m. ET

EDINBURGH—Voters in Scotland on Thursday began casting their ballots in a historic referendum on whether to go it alone as an independent country or remain part of the U.K.

ECB hands out cheap credit to banks to boost economy

BY EVA TAYLOR AND JOHN O'DONNELL

FRANKFURT Thu Sep 18, 2014 5:35am EDT

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank handed out the first of its new four-year loans to banks on Thursday, the flagship tool in a new stimulus package it hopes will stave off price deflation and revive the ailing euro zone economy.

Ten Things to Know About Scotland's Independence Referendum

BY ALASTAIR JAMIESON

NBCnews

NDON -- Britain is under 72 hours away from a once-in-a-lifetime vote on Scottish independence that could break up the 307-year-old United Kingdom, splitting apart one of America’s key global allies. With polls suggesting that a Scottish split from the rest of Britain is a real possibility, lawmakers including Prime Minister David Cameron are making urgent appeals to save Britain its biggest constitutional upheaval since the Wars of Independence that led to the creation of the United States.

What will be voted on?

Dollar drops to two week-low vs euro ahead of Fed outcome

BY GERTRUDE CHAVEZ-DREYFUSS

NEW YORK Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:49pm EDT

…"If Scotland becomes separate from the UK, it will most likely become a member of the EU. When it does, it will realise it cannot be 'independent, ever, because many aspects of life (political and economic) will be dictated by Brussels," said SLJ's Jen…

Ratings upgrade subdues Greek yields, Irish supply eyed

Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:56am EDT

Reuters

* Investors buoyed by S&P ratings lift

* PM Samaras says Greece will not need third bailout

* Fed meeting, Scotland vote pose volatility risks

* Spain's bonds claws back ground after torrid week (Updates prices, adds analyst comment)

By John Geddie

Ukrainian president offers rebels major concessions to end uprising

By Anthony Faiola September 15 at 2:36 PM

KIEV, UKRAINE — President Petro Poroshenko on Monday proposed a series of major concessions to end the uprising by pro-Russian rebels in restive eastern Ukraine, offering the separatists a broad amnesty and special self-governance status for territories they occupy.

The proposal also includes protections for the Russian language and would allow the separatist-controlled regions to elect their own judges, create their own police forces and cultivate deeper ties to Russia — while remaining part of Ukraine.

Greece deserves respect for holding to its word

September 15 at 5:35 PM

Letters To The Editor

The Washington Post

Instead of applauding Greece for meeting its responsibility to NATO during a time of unprecedented economic crisis, Charles Lane chose to take an unnecessary, sarcastic swipe at the United States’ longtime ally in his Sept. 4 op-ed column, “ Bombs or benefits? ”

During the crisis, Greece has resisted compromising its defense budget. It is one of four NATO members to meet the alliance’s mandated standard to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Greece spends nearly 2.3 percent.

Obama’s advantages as a reluctant warrior

By David Ignatius Opinion writer September 11

The Washington Post

President Obama certainly didn’t go looking for another war in the Middle East. Indeed, he contorted himself almost to the breaking point to avoid one. But as he explained to the country Wednesday night, he had no choice but to respond with “strength and resolve” to the barbarous Islamic State that is ravaging Iraq and Syria.

Obama’s decision to combat the Islamic State offers him a chance to reset U.S. leadership and his own presidency after growing doubt at home and abroad about what, if anything, he was willing to fight for. His innate cautiousness is now actually a reassurance that he’ll fight this war sensibly, partnering with allies in the region, in a way that doesn’t needlessly exacerbate the United States’ problems with the Muslim world.