Analysis: Greece hopeful, but any debt relief likely to be symbolic

BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

BRUSSELS Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:55am EST

(Reuters) - Greece expects the euro zone to provide some debt relief to Athens later this year but the impact on its vast liabilities will be little more than symbolic.

The magic bullet for Greece would be the writing-off of some portion of the 240 billion euros in loans it has received from the euro zone since 2010. But Athens is adamant it does not want that and the euro zone is not willing to provide it.

Instead, what Greek officials seek is some combination of at least three measures: a further lowering of interest rates on existing loans, an extension of the maturities and pay-back schedule, and some relief on financing EU structural funds.

For China, a Shift From Exports to Consumption

By BETTINA WASSENERJAN. 20, 2014

The New York Times

HONG KONG — BoConcept, a Danish furniture company that has more than 260 stores around the world, opened an outlet in Hong Kong last week amid flashing cameras, the deafening noise of drums and cymbals and a pair of lion dancers performing a traditional ceremony aimed at bringing good fortune to the shop.

The store is the first in Hong Kong for BoConcept, but the company already operates 18 in mainland China and is planning another six to eight across the country as it bets that rising affluence will continue to lift demand for its sleek sofas and coffee tables.

Greek extremist Christodoulos Xiros threatens government

20 January 2014 Last updated at 16:28 GMT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25811535

BBC

A Greek fugitive who disappeared while on prison leave has threatened the government with armed action, accusing it of ruining the country with austerity measures.

Christodoulos Xiros, who was convicted in 2003 of belonging to the far-left November 17 organisation, has vowed to return to arms.

He was serving six life sentences for bombings and shootings.

He vanished in January while on leave from prison to visit his family.

China building second aircraft carrier: reports

BEIJING Sat Jan 18, 2014 11:25pm EST

(Reuters) - China is building its second aircraft carrier, which is expected to take six years, and the country aims to have at least four such ships, Chinese and Hong Kong media reports said on Sunday.

After two decades of double-digit increases in the military budget, China's admirals plan to develop a full blue-water navy capable of defending growing economic interests as well as disputed territory in the South and East China Seas.

The country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning - a Soviet-era ship bought from Ukraine in 1998 and re-fitted in a Chinese shipyard - has long been a symbol of China's naval build-up.

Nigel Farage becomes popular in Greece after outburst against the PM

Ukip leader claims he received deluge of support after giving Antonis Samaras a dressing down in European parliament

Helena Smith in Athens

The Observer, Saturday 18 January 2014 21.30 GMT

As unlikely as it might once have seemed, the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, is being hailed as a hero in Greece after an extraordinary outburst against the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, in the European parliament last week.

Crunch Escalates as Money Funds Rival Shadow Banks: China Credit

By Bloomberg News  Jan 20, 2014 6:02 AM GMT+0200

A doubling in China’s money-market funds in the past six months is draining bank deposits and raising the risk of financial failures during cash crunches, according to Fitch Ratings.

The assets under management of such plans surged to a record 737 billion yuan ($122 billion) on Dec. 31 from 304 billion yuan on June 30, said Roger Schneider, senior director at Fitch’s Fund and Asset Manager Rating Group. Yu’E Bao, managed by Tianhong Asset Management Co. and sold online by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., offers an annualized return of 6.7 percent, compared with the 3 percent official one-year savings rate. Some funds are offering higher rates, with news portal Eastmoney.com marketing a product that targets 10 percent.

Can Privatization Save the Treasures of Ancient Greece?

Greece

TIME

By Charlotte McDonald-Gibson/Ancient Nemea Jan. 18, 2014

In the wake of government austerity, some closest to Greece's treasures are advocating turning them over to private companies

Many objects dug from the earth or drawn from the legends of Nemea could be used to promote the ancient Greek site: the mythological Nemean Lion slain by Hercules in the first of his seven feats; weights lifted by competitors during its ancient athletics; the bronze statue of the baby Opheltes, whose death is said to have inspired the games which rivaled those at Olympia further west.

Women are wielding notable influence in Congress

The Washington Post

By Ed O’Keefe, Friday, January 17, 4:03 AM

After decades of trying to amass power, several women have vaulted to the top of influential congressional committees, putting them in charge of some of the most consequential legislation being considered on Capitol Hill.

The $1.1 trillion spending plan Congress approved this week was the handiwork of Senate Appropriations Com­mittee Chairman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and her House counterpart, Harold Rogers (R-Ky.).

In December, when lawmakers approved a budget deal with big majorities in both chambers, credit went to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Greece’s Bond Plans May Be Wishful Thinking

January 16, 2014, 9:12 AM ET

ByEmese Bartha

The Wall Street Journal

Greece wants to make a new start.

Boasting its first primary budget surplus in a decade, the country at the center of the European debt crisis wants to sell government bonds–possibly in the second half of the year–for the first time since the spring of 2010.

Various high-ranking Greek officials have expressed their wish to bring the country back to the debt markets. Most recently, finance minister Yannis Stournaras spoke about this at a briefing with foreign journalists who visited Athens last week as Greece took over the European Union’s helm.

Who Is The Greek Freak? Your Guide To The NBA's Coolest Rookie

link:http://deadspin.com/who-is-the-greek-freak-your-guide-to-the-nbas-coolest-1500248666

Unless you are a big Milwaukee Bucks fan or a basketball nerd who lives on the internet, it's very likely that you have not yet been properly introduced to Giannis Antetokounmpo. It's time for that to change, because he is the most exciting rookie in the NBA.

Who?

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 6-foot-9 small forward who hails from Greece and is currently playing through his rookie season on a miserable Milwaukee Bucks team. He's—

Canada's Eldorado does not see Perama approved before elections

Thu, Jan 16 2014

(Reuters) - Eldorado Gold Corp's Perama Hill project in Greece is not likely to be approved before local elections scheduled for mid-year, the gold miner said on Thursday.

The last time the Vancouver-based company gave an estimate for the project's environmental impact assessment, their timetable was the second half of 2013.

In Greece, Elites Are Starting to Feel the Pain

By NIKI KITSANTONIS  
JAN. 16, 2014

The New York Times

ATHENS — Since the country’s financial meltdown, Greeks have protested what many here criticize as the unfairness of the biting austerity measures that have raised taxes and trimmed salaries and benefits for average Greeks, while the elite escaped similar burdens or being held accountable for their part in creating the mess in the first place.

Suddenly, to the satisfaction of many here, that dynamic has begun to change. With new vigor, Greek prosecutors working independently of politicians — and sometimes in the face of passive resistance from them — are pursuing corruption cases against a widening pool of current and former high-ranking state officials and members of the business elite once deemed untouchable.

Greek shipping magnate ordered to pay $1.5M to IRS

(Published by the Washington Post)

By Associated Press, Thursday, January 16, 12:18 AM

NEW ORLEANS — A Greek shipping magnate who remained a fugitive for more than a decade was ordered Wednesday to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service after pleading guilty in New Orleans to filing a false tax return.

U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan also on Wednesday sentenced 78-year-old Lucas Ktistakis to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine. Ktistakis had faced up to three years in prison, but Berrigan sentenced him to time he already has served in custody since his February 2013 arrest in Germany.

German Turns Near Record Trade Surplus in November

By AP / David Rising Jan. 08, 2014Add a Comment

(BERLIN) — Germany’s trade surplus widened to a near record in November, official figures showed Wednesday in a development that may add potential fuel to critics’ concerns that the country is not spending enough to help out its struggling partners in the eurozone.

The figures could well form the backdrop to discussions later between U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Lew has voiced his opinion that Germany should be looking to get its current account more into balance as a means of shoring up the eurozone’s stragglers.

World Bank Raises Growth Forecasts as Richest Nations Strengthen

By Sandrine Rastello - Jan 15, 2014

Bloomberg

The World Bank raised its global growth forecasts as the easing of austerity policies in advanced economies supports their recovery, boosting prospects for developing markets’ exports.

The Washington-based lender sees the world economy expanding 3.2 percent this year, compared with a June projection of 3 percent and up from 2.4 percent in 2013. The forecast for the richest nations was raised to 2.2 percent from 2 percent. Part of the increase reflects improvement in the 18-country euro area, with the U.S. ahead of developed peers, growing twice as fast as Japan.

Irish industrial production growth highest in EU

Pamela Newenham

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 10:41

Ireland recorded 13.2 per cent growth in industrial production between November 2012 and November 2013, according to the latest figures from the EU’s statistics office Eurostat.

This is the highest increase in the EU ahead of Slovakia (+12.7 per cent), the Czech Republic (+8.8 per cent) and Romania (+8.7 per cent).

Ireland also had the highest month on month increase between October and November last year, rising 11.7 per cent, compared to EU average growth of 1.5 per cent and a Euro Area average of 1.9 per cent.

Insight: Gold mine stirs hope and anger in shattered Greece

Mon, Jan 13 2014

By Deepa Babington and Lefteris Papadimas

OURANOUPOLI, Greece (Reuters) - A Canadian quest to mine for gold in the lush forests of northern Greece is testing the government's resolve to prove Europe's most ravaged economy is open again for business.

The Skouries mine on Halkidiki peninsula - a landscape of pristine beaches and rolling hills dotted with olive groves - is among the biggest investments in Greece since it sank into a debt crisis four years ago.

But it has set Greece's desperate need for finance to rebuild the economy against the interests of its vital tourism industry, and aroused anger on the peninsula - site of the famed Mount Athos monasteries - over the environmental cost.

Italian Bonds Gain After Nation Sells Most Debt Since May 2011

Bloomberg Businessweek

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-13/italian-bonds-gain-after-nation-sells-most-debt-since-may-2011

By Eshe Nelson and David Goodman January 13, 2014

Italy’s government securities advanced for a second day as the nation raised the largest amount from an auction of bonds in a single day since May 2011.

The nation’s two-year note rose for the first time in four days as the government sold three-year notes at a record-low yield. German bunds gained for a second day, with 10-year yields falling to match the lowest level in four weeks, after a U.S. report last week showed companies added workers at the slowest pace since January 2011. Bonds from Spain to Greece have rallied this year amid signs the European debt crisis is easing.

Is China Really The World's No. 1 Trader?

1/12/2014  6:37PM |2,220 views

by Gordon G Chang

Forbes

“It is very likely that China has overtaken the U.S. to become the world’s largest trading country in goods in 2013 for the first time,” said Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for China’s General Administration of Customs, on Friday while announcing December—and therefore full year—exports and imports.

China’s trade volume, he said, was $389.8 billion in December, a monthly record.  Exports, by the way, accounted for a spectacular $207.7 billion.

Deflation is deflation even if you deserve it

BY JAMES SAFT

Thu Jan 9, 2014 5:06pm EST

(Reuters) - Here is some unwelcome news for the likes of Greece, Ireland and Cyprus: Apparently it isn't really deflation if you deserve it.

That's the takeaway from remarks by ECB chief Mario Draghi, who despite persistently falling prices in some euro zone peripheral economies, was at pains on Thursday to define the problem away.