Constantine Mitsotakis, Who Forged Greek-EU Ties, Dies at 98

by Eleni Chrepa
29 Μαΐου 2017, 3:03 π.μ. EEST 29 Μαΐου 2017, 9:38 π.μ. EEST

Bloomberg

Constantine Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister who strengthened ties with the European Union and attempted unpopular cuts to state spending in the 1990s, has died. He was 98.

He died in the early hours of Monday morning, according to a statement from his family.

White House considers naming Reince Priebus ambassador to Greece: Report

by Melissa Quinn | May 27, 2017, 4:30 PM

Washington Examiner

As President Trump and his advisers consider making changes in the White House amid the flurry of reports involving Trump's campaign associates and Russia, one such change could involve making Chief of Staff Reince Priebus the ambassador to Greece, according to a report.

Scientists just published an entire study refuting Scott Pruitt on climate change

By Chris Mooney May 24 at 1:46 PM

The Washington Post

In a sign of growing tensions between scientists and the Trump administration, researchers published a scientific paper Wednesday that was conceived and written as an explicit refutation to an assertion by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt about climate change.
The study, in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, sets up a direct test of a claim by Pruitt, made in written Senate comments following his confirmation hearing, that “over the past two decades satellite data indicates there has been a leveling off of warming.”

Turkey’s leader confronted by France, Germany at NATO summit

The Washington Post

By Raf Casert | AP May 25 at 2:22 PM
BRUSSELS — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was confronted by key allies France and Germany with diplomatic complaints despite him traveling to Brussels to celebrate the unity of the NATO alliance.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both raised the issue of nationals from their countries currently held in custody in Turkey. It was the latest example of steadily decreasing relations between Erdogan and several of his European allies in the wake of last year’s coup attempt.

Ex-Premier of Greece Is Hurt When Bomb Explodes in His Car

By NIKI KITSANTONISMAY 25, 2017

The New York Times

ATHENS — A bomb exploded on Thursday in a car carrying Lucas Papademos, a former prime minister of Greece, through central Athens, the police said. Mr. Papademos, 69, was injured in the explosion, along with the driver and another person in the car.

A government spokesman, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, said Thursday evening that the three were in “stable condition, are conscious and are undergoing all the necessary medical tests.”

Debt relief or a fourth financial assistance programme for Greece?

The Eurogroup faces a difficult choice on Greece — implementing a debt reduction plan drastic enough to make a return to market borrowing possible, or agreeing to a fourth financial assistance programme and continuing to fund Greece at the preferential lending rate.
BY: ZSOLT DARVAS DATE: MAY 22, 2017

Bruegel

No Greek debt relief needed if primary surplus above 3 percent/GDP for 20 years: paper

Wed May 24, 2017 | 9:24am EDT

Reuters

By Gernot Heller | BERLIN
Greece will not need any debt relief from euro zone governments if it keeps its primary surplus above 3 percent of GDP for 20 years, a confidential paper prepared by the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), showed.

The paper, obtained by Reuters, was prepared for euro zone finance ministers and International Monetary Fund talks last Monday, which ended without an agreement due to diverging IMF and euro zone assumptions on future Greek growth and surpluses.

BlueBay Turns Short Pound as 'All Roads' Point to Hard Brexit

by Anooja Debnath
24 May 2017, 7:00 π.μ. EEST

Bloomberg

Sterling could drop to $1.20 toward end of this year: Dowding

Bundesbank’s Dombret says Brexit to be hard or very hard
The pound is heading lower whatever the outcome of the U.K.’s elections, according to BlueBay Asset Management.

New deadline for Greece set after another stalemate

By Pan Pylas | AP May 23 at 8:26 AM

The Washington Post

BRUSSELS — Hopes for a breakthrough in negotiations for cash-strapped Greece were dashed again and another deadline was set.

Greece once again failed to get approval from its European creditors to receive the next batch of bailout loans that it needs to meet a debt repayment hump this summer. It also failed to secure an agreement on the sort of debt relief measures it can expect to get when its current bailout program ends next year.

Greece Has the Resources to Heal Itself

But it will have to curb tax evasion or remain an eternal ward of the euro zone.
By Leonid Bershidsky

Bloomberg

23 May 2017

The euro area's finance ministers again failed to come to an agreement on debt relief for Greece. No surprise there. Hammering out the details would force them to accept an uncomfortable reality: Greece won't be ready to tap private debt markets for years to come. In the meantime, if it wants to get off life support, it will have to find a way to cut tax evasion.

Lone wolf or complex plot? Analysing the Manchester bombing

The use of an improvised bomb may suggest a more elaborate plan than other recent attacks


Economist

Britain
May 23rd 2017

DETAILS of the Manchester Arena bombing are slowly emerging. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. The police have confirmed that the murderous act last night was carried out by a single suicide-bomber who detonated an improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel in a crowded foyer. He has been named as Salman Abedi, reportedly a Manchester-born 22-year-old with family of Libyan origin. Separately, a 23-year-old man has been arrested in a Manchester suburb in connection with the crime. Wrenching photos of the first young victims and missing concert-goers have been posted online.

What an Attack at an Ariana Grande Show Means for Teen Girls

By NATALIE SHUTLERMAY 23, 2017

The New York Times

The pink balloons, floating above the maelstrom of panicked concertgoers, are what struck me first. Images of innocence, bumping along above hordes of shrieking children, many of whom refused to release their balloons even as they fled the arena.

Do you remember your first pop concert? That first time you watched a female hero belt it out onstage without apologies? I was in eighth grade when my dad agreed to drive me and my best friend to see Garbage, a Scottish pop band led by the coolest woman of all time, Shirley Manson. Her anger, confidence and sexuality stood in for stirrings of teenage passion that I had no way to express. I was awkward and insecure — weren’t we all? — but when I stood in the presence of a woman who stared down the system with a growl in her voice, I forgot about how weird it felt to be 13.

British prime minister raises nation’s threat level, saying another attack ‘may be imminent’

The Washington Post

By Griff Witte, Karla Adam and Souad Mekhennet May 23 at 5:32 PM
MANCHESTER, England — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday night raised the nation’s threat level and deployed the military to guard concerts, sports matches and other public events, saying another attack “may be imminent” following a bombing Monday night that left 22 people dead.

The announcement, which takes Britain’s alert level from “severe” to its highest rating, “critical,” clears the way for thousands of British troops to take to the streets and replace police officers in guarding key sites.

Did Donald Trump brief the Russians?

Another scandal in the Oval Office—and it’s a big one


The Economist

Democracy in America
May 16th 2017by J.A. | WASHINGTON, DC

DONALD TRUMP‘S decision to sack James Comey as FBI director on May 9th seemed to many like a defining moment in his chaotic early stab at governing. Even some Republicans wondered whether it could spell the beginning of an early end to Mr Trump’s crisis-ridden presidency. But already that looks like last week’s story—following claims, first published by the Washington Post on May 15th, that Mr Trump divulged highly classified information to Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador to Washington, DC, in the Oval Office.

German foreign minister Gabriel demanded debt relief for Greece

Deutsche Welle
22-05-2017

Shortly before an Euro Group meeting, German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel demanded debt relief for Greece. Indirectly, Gabriel is standing up against fellow German cabinet minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

See video of Mr Gabriel's speech here:http://www.dw.com/en/german-foreign-minister-gabriel-demanded-debt-relief-for-greece/av-38930200

Greek Creditors Seek to Break Impasse on Stalled Bailout Review

by Viktoria Dendrinou
21 May 2017, 4:11 μ.μ. EEST
Euro-area finance ministers gather in Brussels on Monday to try to clinch a deal on easing Greece’s debt burden, which would resolve a stalled review of the country’s bailout and pave the way for a new set of rescue loans.

While Greece and its bailout supervisors have agreed on economic overhauls, the completion of the country’s review has been held back by disagreements between key creditors over how much debt relief is needed.

Greece cuts 2017 growth forecast

Sat May 13, 2017 | 5:24pm EDT

Reuters

Greece cut its 2017 growth forecast to 1.8 percent from 2.7 percent, according to a mid-term budget plan unveiled late on Saturday, driven by uncertainty caused by delays in concluding the latest review of bailout reforms.

Greece and its foreign creditors reached a deal on reforms in early May after six months of tense negotiations but the wrangling hurt economic activity. The Greek central bank governor had warned the delays could hobble economic recovery.

China's Xi offers indebted Greece strong support

Sat May 13, 2017 | 12:50am EDT
Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered the prime minister of deeply indebted Greece strong support on Saturday, saying the two countries should expand cooperation in infrastructure, energy and telecommunications.

Xi told Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that Greece was an important part in China's new Silk Road strategy.

"At present, China and Greece's traditional friendship and cooperation continues to glow with new dynamism," China's Foreign Ministry cited Xi as saying.

Συνέντευξη του Ιβάν Σαββίδη στο Πρώτο Θέμα 02-05-2017

   

Ιβάν Σαββίδης: Ο Τσίπρας στη Βουλή μου θύμισε τον Πούτιν
Δημήτρης Μαρκόπουλος02/05/2017

Με  πρωτοφανή σφοδρότητα, ασυνήθιστη για επιχειρηματία, μιλάει σήμερα στο protothema.gr ο κ. Ιβάν Σαββίδης, πρόσωπο των ημερών μετά τη σύγκρουση κυβέρνησης και αντιπολίτευσης για την τροπολογία που αφορούσε στη διαγραφή προστίμου 38 εκατ. ευρώ από λαθρεμπόριο της ΣΕΚΑΠ που σήμερα ανήκει στον ομογενή επιχειρηματία.

Ο κ. Σαββίδης με μια συνέντευξη 8.500 χιλιάδων λέξεων που διήρκεσε τρεισήμισι ώρες στον αρχισυντάκτη του ΠΡΩΤΟΥ ΘΕΜΑΤΟΣ Δημήτρη Μαρκόπουλο:

-Τάσσεται 100%  στο πλευρό του Αλέξη Τσίπρα συμβουλεύοντας τους Έλληνες, «Να κρατηθείτε από τον Τσίπρα. Είναι προϋπόθεση επιτυχίας του μέλλοντος».

-Τον παραλληλίζει με τον  Ρώσο Πρόεδρο Βλαντιμίρ Πούτιν, λέγοντας πως ακούγοντας τον Τσίπρα την Παρασκευή, ήταν έτοιμος να τον χειροκροτήσει και πως αυτός, ένα τέτοιο πρόεδρο θέλει.

- Επιτίθεται ανοικτά κατά του αρχηγού της αξιωματικής αντιπολίτευσης Κυριάκου Μητσοτάκη, υποστηρίζοντας πως με τη στάση του διώχνει τους επενδυτές  και... προβλέπει πως δεν θα γίνει ποτέ πρωθυπουργός!

-Διαχωρίζει τη θέση του από τον πρώην πρωθυπουργό Κώστα Καραμανλή λέγοντας πως τον θεωρεί φίλο του, ενώ  αφήνει πολλές αιχμές κατά του Αντώνη Σαμαρά  για τον τρόπο που του επέβαλλε την αγορά της ΣΕΚΑΠ λέγοντας χαρακτηριστικά  πως μου μεταβίβασε τον δικό του πονοκέφαλο.

-Δηλώνει  πως έτσι ή αλλιώς θα αποκτήσει  σύντομα ένα από τα κεντρικά τηλεοπτικά κανάλια της χώρας και δηλώνει ενδιαφέρον τόσο για τον Πήγασο όσο και για τον ΔΟΛ που βρίσκονται σε διαδικασία εύρεσης στρατηγικού επενδυτή.

-Και τέλος όταν ερωτάται αν η επόμενη συνέντευξη του θα είναι στα Ελληνικά τονίζει πως όταν θα δώσει συνέντευξη στα Ελληνικά τότε αυτό θα σημάνει και την έναρξη της πολιτικής του καριέρας στην Ελλάδα.

PM Tsipras says Greece has done its bit, now wants debt relief

Thu May 4, 2017 | 4:46pm EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou | ATHENS
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on Greece's international lenders on Thursday to reach an agreement on easing its debt burden by May 22, when euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the bailout progress.

Athens and its creditors reached a long-awaited deal this week on a series of bailout reforms Greece needs to unlock loans from its 86-billion euro rescue package, the country's third since in 2010.