Anti-austerity strike brings Greece to a halt during troika visit

By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS | Wed Nov 6, 2013 6:57am GMT

(Reuters) - Greek schools shut and flights were disrupted as workers held a general strike on Wednesday to protest austerity imposed by foreign lenders, whose inspectors were in Athens to review the country's performance under its bailout.

The 24-hour walkout by Greece's largest public and private sector unions brought much of the crisis-hit country to a standstill a day after officials from the "troika" of European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund resumed their latest bailout review.

Rehn Confident Greece to Meet Targets as Troika Talks Resume

By Marcus Bensasson & Christos Ziotis - Nov 5, 2013 3:20 PM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said he’s confident Greece can meet its fiscal targets as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the country can’t accept across-the-board wage and pension cuts.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras met today with the troika, comprising representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who are back in Athens following a five-week hiatus. As he seeks to convince them that Greece is complying with its bailout terms, one disagreement involves the extent of fiscal measures needed to achieve Greek budget-deficit targets.

Athens's Love Affair With the Euro Persists

The Wall Street Journal

Nov 3 2013

“…The current crisis may be Greece's last opportunity to turn itself into an effective modern state…”

After Delay, Lenders Set To Visit Greece for Audit

November 3, 2013

REUTERS

BRUSSELS — Inspectors from Greece’s international lenders have put a postponed visit to the country back on the agenda and will return early this week after Athens made a new proposal on filling a gap of 2 billion euros in the 2014 budget, the European Commission has said.

China targets Xinhua news agency, Commerce Ministry in new graft probe

By Adam Rose

BEIJING | Mon Nov 4, 2013 8:57am GMT

(Reuters) - China has sent investigators to six more provinces and four government departments, including Xinhua news agency and the Commerce Ministry, the ruling Communist Party's corruption watchdog said on Monday, in the latest move to tackle graft.

Greek retail workers protest Sunday shopping rules

ATHENS | Sun Nov 3, 2013 9:44am EST

(Reuters) - Retail workers protested in Athens against a relaxation of rules restricting the number of Sundays a year when shops can open, a reform demanded by Greece's foreign lenders which aims to make its recession-hit economy more flexible.

After opposition from small retailers and the Orthodox Church, the government has backed away from allowing retailers to trade on any Sunday. Instead, the new rule lets them operate on seven Sundays a year, up from two now.

Golden Dawn shooting survivor could hold clues to identities of killers

Two men died in Athens drive-by shooting but third man, though badly injured, is likely to recover

Helena Smith in Athens

The Guardian, Sunday 3 November 2013 19.27 GMT

Greek counter-terrorism experts are hoping that a man who survived a drive-by shooting at a branch of the far-right Golden Dawn party in Athens will help shed light on the assailants' identity.

As supporters of the extremist group held a memorial event on the spot where two of its members were shot dead on Friday, there was growing speculation that far-left radicals, seeking revenge for the murder of an anti-fascist musician, were behind the attack.

Greeks fear more violence after Golden Dawn members shot dead

By Renee Maltezou

ATHENS | Sat Nov 2, 2013 11:22am EDT

(Reuters) - A brazen drive-by shooting that killed two young members of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party has shocked Greeks and prompted soul-searching about whether the crisis-hit country is slipping into a "cycle of violence".

Greece's anti-terrorism force is investigating whether Friday's rush hour shooting outside the party's offices in Athens was retaliation for a fatal stabbing of an anti-fascism rapper by a Golden Dawn supporter in September, police said.

Φόνοι και εχθροί.

Όταν δολοφονήθηκε ο Π. Φύσσας σύμφωνα η εφημερίδα ΑΥΓΗ έγραφε…

…εν ψυχρώ δολοφονία με πολιτικά κίνητρα,…

…δεν είναι ο πρώτος νεκρός από την εγκληματική δράση της (Χρυσής Αυγής)

…Η Χρυσή Αυγή είναι ο δράστης

…να σαπίσουν στη φυλακή οι δράστες

…Με την εγκληματική δράση και τους εχθρούς τού κοινοβουλευτισμού και της …δημοκρατίας, πρέπει να μας χωρίζει όλους άβυσσος

…Ο φασισμός θα συντριβεί

… να ξεριζώσουμε τη δράση της εγκληματικής αυτής οργάνωσης

Για την δολοφονία των δύο μελών του ακροδεξιού κόμματος της Χρυσής Αυγής γράφει,…

…η αφαίρεση της ανθρώπινης ζωής συνιστά το ύψιστο έγκλημα

…, ο οποίος γλίτωσε τις σφαίρες, μπαίνοντας στα γραφεία…

At least two killed in shooting outside Athens Golden Dawn office

ATHENS | Fri Nov 1, 2013 2:24pm EDT

(Reuters) - At least two people were killed in a drive-by shooting outside the offices of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party in Athens on Friday, police sources said.

The attack comes amid a crackdown by the government on the party after a self-proclaimed Golden Dawn sympathizer stabbed an anti-fascism rapper to death in September.

Golden Dawn, Greece's third most popular party according to opinion polls, said on its website that the victims were aged 20 and 23 years old. Police had not yet verified their identities and details on the shooting were not immediately available.

Spain Emerges From Two-Year Recession

The New York Times

By RAPHAEL MINDER

October 23, 2013

MADRID — Spain pulled out of a two-year recession in the third quarter, with its economy growing 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Spanish central bank.

Greek Police Say 10 Officers Have Links to Golden Dawn

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — The Greek police on Wednesday announced the findings of an internal investigation into suspected links between the force and the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which is the focus of a criminal investigation, saying that 10 officers had been linked to the party but that no signs of “organized cells” affiliated with the group had been discovered.

Web Giants Threaten End to Cookie Tracking

Balance of Power in Ad Industry at Stake as Google, Microsoft Seek to Control Web Tracking

The Wall Street Journal

By ELIZABETH DWOSKIN

Updated Oct. 28, 2013 6:50 p.m. ET

The end could be near for cookies, the tiny pieces of code that marketers deploy on Web browsers to track people's online movements, serve targeted advertising and amass valuable user profiles.

Greece says can't take any more austerity, will not be 'blackmailed'

By George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS | Mon Oct 28, 2013 11:25am EDT

(Reuters) - Greece's president used an annual commemoration of the country's stand against fascism in World War Two on Monday to warn that Athens would not yield to pressure from foreign lenders to impose more austerity.

U.S. ships head towards migrant vessel in distress off Greece

ATHENS | Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:54pm EDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. navy on Monday sent two guided missile destroyers to help a boat apparently carrying migrants and in distress off southern Greece.

No details of the operation were immediately available but a Greek defense official said a commercial vessel had reported sighting a migrant vessel in international waters, heading towards Italy, about 116 nautical miles off the coast of Kalamata.

Puerto Rico: Greece in the Caribbean

The Economist

Stuck with a real debt crisis in its back yard, America can learn from Europe’s Aegean follies

Oct 26th 2013 |From the print edition

IT WILL not be long till Congress and the White House start squabbling again about the budget in Washington, DC. But before they create another artificial debt crisis, Barack Obama and his Republican opponents ought to pay some attention to a real one 1,500 miles to their south-east.

Addicted to the Apocalypse

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The New York Times

Once upon a time, walking around shouting “The end is nigh” got you labeled a kook, someone not to be taken seriously. These days, however, all the best people go around warning of looming disaster. In fact, you more or less have to subscribe to fantasies of fiscal apocalypse to be considered respectable.

And I do mean fantasies. Washington has spent the past three-plus years in terror of a debt crisis that keeps not happening, and, in fact, can’t happen to a country like the United States, which has its own currency and borrows in that currency. Yet the scaremongers can’t bring themselves to let go.

Greece’s Parliament Clears Way for More Charges Against 6 Right-Wing Lawmakers

The New York Times
By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — As part of a widening effort to clamp down on violent extremism in Greece, the country’s Parliament moved on Wednesday to lift the immunity of six lawmakers of Golden Dawn, the neo-fascist anti-immigrant party prosecutors portray as a criminal organization involved in murder, attempted murder, blackmail and other crimes.

Profile of an IT Worker

Forget the stereotype. For one thing, most of them don't have college degrees in computer science, technology, engineering or math

The Wall Street Journal

By MICHAEL TOTTY

Oct. 20, 2013 4:59 p.m. ET

Who are these employees who install new computers, keep the corporate network running and help other workers reset their passwords? Cultural stereotypes about nerds with pocket protectors aside, what do we know about the people who keep the bits flowing and the digital lights on?

China Seeks Clearer View of Government Debt Mountain

Local Governments Have Borrowed a Pile of Money in Recent Years, Leaving Even Beijing Wondering How Much

By SHEN HONG

Updated Oct. 20, 2013 9:36 p.m. ET

SHANGHAI—In the next few weeks, the Chinese government is expected to release the results of an ambitious effort to calculate a seemingly simple figure: just how much the country's local governments have borrowed from banks and investors in the past few years.