Friday, November 10, 2017

Lamda says new obstacles emerge over Hellenikon resort

NOVEMBER 10, 2017 / 12:02 PM / UPDATED 22 MINUTES AGO
Reuters Staff
2 MIN READ


ATHENS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Greek property developer Lamda said on Friday new obstacles had appeared in its plans to develop the disused Hellenikon airport site, one of the largest projects on the country’s privatisation agenda.

Lamda said Greece’s culture ministry had declared a new archaeological area over parts of the airport compound and imposed other restrictions, a move it said was an ‘unexpected change in the contractual agreed terms’.

Greece's Eurobank close to deal to sell Romanian assets to Banca Transilvania

NOVEMBER 10, 2017 / 10:47 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Reuters Staff
1 MIN READ

Reuters

ATHENS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Greece’s Eurobank said it is close to finalising a deal to sell its Romanian subsidiaries to Banca Transilvania.

The potential sale is part of a restructuring plan agreed by Greece’s third largest lender with European Union authorities, and includes Romanian units Bancpost, ERB Retail Servces IFN and ERB Leasing IFN.

Public debt, unemployment, big NPL pile weigh on Greece: central bank governor

NOVEMBER 10, 2017 / 11:57 AM / UPDATED 16 MINUTES AGO
Reuters Staff
2 MIN READ


Reuters

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s banks have shown progress in tackling a stockpile of non-performing loans, Bank of Greece governor Yiannis Stournaras said on Friday, but said it would remain a challenge for the country.

Greek banks are saddled with 103 billion euros in bad loans, equal to almost 60 percent of the economy, after years of financial crisis and crippling recession. The European Central Bank wants that reduced by 38 billion euros by the end of 2019.

Monday, November 6, 2017

A Turning Point for Greece

By Marcus Ashworth

Bloomberg

Nov 6, 2017 1:00 AM EST
Greece is taking a step closer to get the respect it deserves from Europe.Yields on the country's government bonds, which have already taken great strides lower this year, hit a new low last week on news the government is preparing a major debt swap. The exercise, first reported by Bloomberg News, should allow Greece to sell bonds in future -- and help end its dependence on the largess of its main creditors.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Refugees in Greece demand transfer to Germany, start hunger strike

NOVEMBER 1, 2017 / 3:35 PM / UPDATED 18 HOURS AGO
Karolina Tagaris, Deborah Kyvrikosaios
3 MIN READ
ATHENS (Reuters) - A group of mainly Syrian women and children who have been stranded in Greece pitched tents opposite parliament in Athens on Wednesday in a protest against delays in reuniting with relatives in Germany.

Some of the refugees, who say they have been in Greece for over a year, said they had begun a hunger strike.

“Our family ties our stronger than your illegal agreements,” read a banner held up by one woman, referring to deals on refugees between European Union nations.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Papadopoulos Claimed Trump Campaign Approved Russia Meeting

By Greg Farrell , David Voreacos , and Henry Meyer
1 Νοεμβρίου 2017, 12:29 π.μ. EET Updated on 1 Νοεμβρίου 2017, 3:45 π.μ. EET
Plan to include top aides ‘approved by our side,’ he wrote
Ex-adviser’s claim unsubstantiated; no sign meeting took place

Former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos made a significant claim in an email: Top Trump campaign officials agreed to a pre-election meeting with representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Divided and Conquered, Catalonia Weighs the Damage


 It might look over, but the Spanish region’s independence bid has long-lasting repercussions.
By Charles Penty , Manuel Baigorri , and Esteban Duarte
Bloomberg

The drama in Catalonia may have reached its epilogue, but the economic and political consequences are still to emerge for a region Spain could never afford to let go.For now, the separatist leadership has been deposed, a would-be European republic snuffed out and a potential bank run avoided.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has gone from lame duck premier dogged by a party corruption scandal to the country's unlikely savior. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont painted himself on Tuesday as a victim of the vengeful state after fleeing to Brussels to avoid arrest.
Yet that winner-and-loser narrative masks a delicate balance. Catalonia's 7.5 million people remain as torn as ever in the stop-start push for their own state since the death of General Francisco Franco four decades ago. A tumultuous month started with an illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 that police tried to forcibly extinguish. It culminated with a loss of autonomy that’s cherished even by those who want to remain part of Spain.

Five Argentines among 8 dead in New York City terror attack

By Renae Merle, Devlin Barrett, Wesley Lowery, Rachel Siegel and Samantha Schmidt November 1 at 12:19 AM

The Washington Post

NEW YORK — A 29-year-old man driving a rental truck plowed down people on a Manhattan bike path Tuesday in what authorities described as a terrorist attack that killed eight and injured 11 before the suspect was shot and arrested by police.

A sunny fall day along the Hudson River erupted in chaos just around the time students were getting out from nearby Stuyvesant High School, when a rented Home Depot truck turned on to the bike path along the West Side Highway.