Softening stance on Greece, Merkel rules out default

(Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out letting Greece default on its debt, in the latest sign Berlin is softening its stance towards Athens ahead of an eagerly awaited report on its reform progress from the "troika" of international lenders.

Germany holds firm on Greece as IMF pressure mounts

By Antoni Slodkowski and Julien Toyer

TOKYO | Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:34am EDT

(Reuters) - Germany held firm on Friday in insisting it was too soon to say Greece deserved more time to meet its budget-cutting goals even as the head of the IMF laid out the case for leniency.

Greece's Coca Cola Hellenic to switch main listing to London

ATHENS | Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:34am EDT

Oct 11 (Reuters) - Coca Cola Hellenic, Greece's biggest company by market value, said on Thursday it would switch its main bourse listing to London, where it hopes to tap more liquidity from investors.

IMF’s Lagarde Says Greece Needs More Time to Meet Targets

By Sandrine Rastello - Oct 11, 2012 7:36 AM GMT+0300

Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) --International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Greece should get two years to meet fiscal targets and suggested debt reductions are needed before a 130 billion-euro ($167 billion) bailout can proceed.

Greece Welcomes Gold Miners to Rank First in Europe: Commodities

Bloomberg News

For three years, Steve Sharpe’s company prodded Greek officials for permission to drill for gold. Before approval was finally granted this year, European Goldfields Ltd.’s battered share price attracted a takeover bid.

IMF Singles Out European Debt Crisis as Key Threat

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49351411

source: Reuters

The International Monetary Fund urged European policymakers to deepen the financial and fiscal ties within the euro area with some urgency to restore sagging confidence in the global financial system.

Nobel for quantum "parlour trick" that could make super computers

(Reuters) - A French and an American scientist won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for finding ways to measure quantum particles without destroying them, which could make it possible to build a new kind of computer far more powerful than any seen before.

Greece’s biggest cheerleader: Angela Merkel

Posted by Anthee Carassava on October 9, 2012 at 3:53 pm

 The Washington Post

ATHENS, Greece – Last summer, as a team of top European leaders huddled in a Brussels ballroom to discuss the continent’s deepening debt crisis, Antonis Samaras walked into a hostile reception.

Greek anti-fascist protesters 'tortured by police' after Golden Dawn clash

Fifteen people arrested in Athens says they were subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/greek-antifascist-protesters-torture-police

Fifteen anti-fascist protesters arrested in Athens during a clash with supporters of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn have said they were tortured in the Attica General Police Directorate (GADA) – the Athens equivalent of Scotland Yard – and subjected to what their lawyer describes as an Abu Ghraib-style humiliation.

Athens Braces for Visit by Merkel

Security Is Boosted as Authorities Fear Protests Could Grow and Overshadow Mission to Show Unity

By PHILIP PANGALOS and JAMES ANGELOS

ATHENS—The Greek capital was bracing for a security clampdown as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday on her first visit to Athens since the debt crisis began.

IMF, EU Press Greece on Reforms

The Wall Street Journal

Updated October 9, 2012, 5:41 a.m. ET

By RIVA FROYMOVICH, MATINA STEVIS and GEOFFREY T. SMITH

LUXEMBOURG—Greece's official creditors failed to make any visible headway Monday in averting the country's looming debt crunch, drawing a diplomatic veil over suggestions of heated exchanges at their latest meeting.

Euro Finance Chiefs to Give Positive Greece View, Rehn Says

By Kati Pohjanpalo on October 08, 2012

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-07/euro-finance-chiefs-to-give-positive-greece-statement-rehn-says

Euro-zone finance ministers meeting today are likely to make a positive statement on Greece’s progress toward meeting austerity targets needed to free the nation’s next bailout payment, European Union Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said.

Sima Qian: China's 'grand historian'

By Carrie Gracie

BBC News, Beijing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19835484

Speaking truth to power has always been a high-risk strategy in China. Its rulers tend to prefer flattery, and writers who forget this do so at their peril. China's "grand historian" - 2,000 years ago - was one of many who have paid a terrible price.

Eurozone rescue fund launch due

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19868868

The eurozone's new permanent fund to bail out struggling economies and banks will be launched later at a meeting of finance ministers.

Greece: Merkel's euro headache returns

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19868571

The moment will be watched closely. On Tuesday the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will visit Athens. It will be her first visit to Greece since the crisis erupted nearly three years ago.

Greece says still seeking more time to pay off debt

PARIS | Thu Oct 4, 2012 2:32pm EDT

(Reuters) - Greece is still hoping the European Central Bank will agree to give it more time to repay debt and allow euro zone rescue funds to be used to recapitalize its banks, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Thursday.

Farmers, Shipyard Workers Protest in Greece

ATHENS, Greece October 4, 2012 (AP)

Greek police clashed with shipyard workers protesting pay arrears Thursday after they broke into the Defense Ministry grounds, while hundreds of farmers on tractors tried to invade the country's second-busiest airport on Crete during an anti-austerity protest.

Greece looks out to sea for gas wealth salvation

By Oleg Vukmanovic and Stephen Jewkes

LONDON/MILAN | Wed Oct 3, 2012 8:15am EDT

(Reuters) - Offshore natural gas could dramatically change Greece's fortunes, should early estimates of $600 billion worth of reserves be confirmed, according to a study presented to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in June and seen by Reuters.

Greece's Piraeus Bank reaches deal to buy Geniki: sources

By Lefteris Papadimas and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS | Tue Oct 2, 2012 2:42pm EDT

(Reuters) - Greece's Piraeus Bank (BOPr.AT) has struck a preliminary deal to buy French lender Societe Generale's (SOGN.PA) loss-making Greek unit Geniki (GHBr.AT) to strengthen its position amid a brutal debt crisis, two sources close to the talks told Reuters.

UPDATE 1-Greece pushes for austerity deal as time runs short

Tue Oct 2, 2012 3:22pm EDT

By Renee Maltezou

Oct 2 (Reuters) - Greece held a new round of talks with foreign lenders to bridge differences over 2 billion euros of disputed austerity cuts on Tuesday, with time running short to clinch a deal before a meeting of euro zone ministers next week.