Police officer shot to death at MIT campus near Boston

By Scott Malone

WATERTOWN, Massachusetts | Fri Apr 19, 2013 2:28am EDT

(Reuters) - A police officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shot to death on Thursday night at the school's Cambridge campus, touching off a manhunt in a community on edge just days after the Boston Marathon bombing.

Greece 2013

By  Andrew Stuttaford

April 18, 2013 6:51 PM

The New York Times reports:

 ATHENS — As an elementary school principal, Leonidas Nikas is used to seeing children play, laugh and dream about the future. But recently he has seen something altogether different, something he thought was impossible in Greece: children picking through school trash cans for food; needy youngsters asking playmates for leftovers; and an 11-year-old boy, Pantelis Petrakis, bent over with hunger pains. “He had eaten almost nothing at home,” Mr. Nikas said, sitting in his cramped school office near the port of Piraeus, a working-class suburb of Athens, as the sound of a jump rope skittered across the playground. He confronted Pantelis’s parents, who were ashamed and embarrassed but admitted that they had not been able to find work for months. Their savings were gone, and they were living on rations of pasta and ketchup.

Boston bomb suspect identified on video, no arrest made

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Scott Malone

BOSTON | Wed Apr 17, 2013 3:35pm EDT

(Reuters) - Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing from security video, a law enforcement source said on Wednesday, but no arrest had yet been made.

Police may make an appeal to the public for more information at a news conference scheduled for later on Wednesday, a government source said.

Earlier, CNN reported a suspect was in custody, citing Boston and law enforcement sources, but later retracted its report.

Greece Reaches New Deal With Lenders

April 15, 2013

The New York Times

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

 ATHENS — After nearly two weeks of tense negotiations, Greece and its troika of foreign creditors said Monday that they had clinched an agreement on economic measures it must enforce to secure the release of further crucial rescue money, including thousands of layoffs in the civil service.

 “We wrapped it up; we have a deal with the troika,” Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told reporters.

UPDATE 2-Troika concludes Greek bailout review, next aid tranche soon – source

Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:09pm EDT

* EU/IMF conclude Greek bailout review of reform progress

* Eurogroup, IMF likely to discuss deal in May

* Greece to wrap up talks with troika by Monday night

By Annika Breidthardt and Renee Maltezou

DUBLIN/ATHENS, April 13 (Reuters) - An inspection team of international lenders has finished its review of Greece's austerity programme, paving the way for another 10 billion euros aid payment, a source with knowledge of the talks said on Saturday.

Greece Beats 1Q Budget Targets for 2013

By Dow Jones Business News,  April 10, 2013, 08:25:00 AM EDT

ATHENS--Greek budget figures for the first quarter Wednesday were better than expected, a finance ministry official said Wednesday, with both primary and state budgets exceeding the goals set by the country's international creditors, largely as a result of government spending cuts.

Greece’s Unemployment Rate Increased to Record High in January

By Tom Stoukas - Apr 11, 2013 1:45 PM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

Greece’s unemployment rate increased to a record in January as the country’s economic downturn entered a sixth year.

The seasonally adjusted rate rose to 27.2 percent from a revised 25.7 percent in December, the Athens-based Hellenic Statistical Authority said in an e-mailed statement today. That’s the highest level since the agency began publishing monthly data in 2004.

UPDATE 1-Deposits flew into Greek banks during Cypriot crisis

Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:21am EDT

(Adds details)

(Reuters) - Greek bank deposits rose by more than 1.5 billion euros in March despite fears Cyprus's banking crisis would trigger deposit outflows in other indebted euro zone economies, Greece's central bank chief said.

More than 19 billion euros have returned to Greece since mid-June last year when the election of a pro-bailout government allayed fears of a messy Greek exit from the euro zone.

Greece enters deflation for first time in 45 years

Greek consumer prices fell year-on-year in March, taking the battered economy into deflationary territory for the first time since 1968.

By Denise Roland

1:58PM BST 09 Apr 2013

March prices slumped 0.2pc year-on-year, according to figures from the Greek government's statistical agency Elstat.

"Iron Lady" Thatcher mourned, but critics speak out

By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton

LONDON | Mon Apr 8, 2013 6:32pm EDT

(Reuters) - Britain and admirers worldwide are mourning Margaret Thatcher, who has died aged 87, as the "Iron Lady" who rolled back the state and faced down her enemies during 11 years as Britain's first woman prime minister.

Her impact on the 1980s was such that opponents, including Labour's Tony Blair and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, led tributes to a legacy that radically transformed the British economy along free-market lines now widely taken for granted and includes her role in the peaceful end to the Cold War.

Greek Banks Suspend Merger Talks

The New York Times

April 8, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

 ATHENS — Shares in National Bank of Greece and Eurobank plummeted 30 percent Monday after the two banks suspended merger talks because they were unable to raise the required capital.

Cyprus Bailout Details Emerge After IMF Deal

By MATINA STEVIS in Brussels and ALKMAN GRANITSAS in Athens

The Wall Street Journal

Cyprus and the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement for a €1 billion ($1.28 billion) lifeline on top of the €9 billion bailout the island will get from its euro-zone peers, the IMF said in a statement Wednesday.

Greece to extend bank recapitalization deadline: central bank chief

ATHENS | Mon Apr 1, 2013 6:35pm EDT

(Reuters) - Greece will extend a deadline for the recapitalization of its banks by a few weeks, possibly until the end of May, Greek central bank chief George Provopoulos said on Monday.

Greek banks, which are being recapitalized with funds from the country's latest EU/IMF bailout, have been lobbying for the terms of the recapitalization scheme to be sweetened and also sought an extension to an end-April deadline for the plan.

Cypriots Cast Blame as Banks Open

Capital is Surprisingly Orderly as Branches Restart; President Calls for Probe Into Economic Crisis

NICOSIA—Cyprus's banks reopened from a nearly two-week hiatus on Thursday with little sign of disorder among depositors, even as the country's politicians pointed fingers over who was to blame for the financial sector's meltdown.

The Cyprus bail-out

This septic isle

Being tough on bank creditors could prove costly for northern European taxpayers

The Economist

Mar 30th 2013 |From the print edition

THE second deal to bail out Cyprus was much better than the first. For one thing, there was actually a deal: with the €10 billion ($13 billion) loan the prospect of the euro zone’s first exit has receded. An agreement among euro-zone finance ministers to wind up Laiki Bank, Cyprus’s second-biggest bank, and restructure Bank of Cyprus, the largest lender on the island, undid the worst elements of the initial botched agreement. Savers with accounts below the €100,000 deposit-guarantee threshold will be spared. Losses will hit creditors of weak banks in line with the normal hierarchy: shareholders and junior bondholders first, followed by senior bondholders and uninsured depositors.

The Euro Zone’s Slinky Economy

March 27, 2013, 11:32 AM EST

ByAlen Mattich

The Wall Street Journal

Remember the Slinky, the toy spring that compresses and extends to walk down stairs, bounce off tables and generally amuse children for minutes at a time?

Well, the Slinky is a fair mechanical approximation of the euro zone economy.

Except it’s not so entertaining.

Cyprus, Seriously

The New York Times

MARCH 26, 2013, 4:42 PM

Paul Krugman

A correspondent whom I respect has (gently) challenged me to say plainly what I think Cyprus should do — leaving aside all questions about political realism. And he’s right: while I think it’s OK to spend most of my time on this blog working within the limits of the politically possible, and relying on a combination of reason and ridicule to push out those limits over time, once in a while I should just flatly state what I would do if given a chance.

So here it is: yes, Cyprus should leave the euro. Now.

Draghi Wins Cyprus Chicken Game in Bailouts Test Run

By Jeff Black - Mar 26, 2013 3:42 PM GMT+0200

Mario Draghi’s brinkmanship has worked -- for now.

The European Central Bank’s ultimatum to Cyprus to commit to a 10 billion-euro ($12.9 billion) rescue showed Draghi playing a harder and more public game than in any bailout before. While that’s easy enough with a country like Cyprus, officials may shirk from such tactics with bigger nations, said economists from Citigroup Inc. to ABN Amro Bank NV.

UPDATE 3-Oil pressured by Cyprus worries

Tue Mar 26, 2013 5:34am EDT

* Euro zone faces tough banking regime after deal -official

* Brent-WTI spread over $13, up from narrowest since July

* Coming Up: API oil inventory data; 2030 GMT (Updates throughout, changes dateline from SINGAPORE)

By Simon Falush

LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Brent oil fell slightly on Tuesday, remaining within its range of the past two weeks, as the effect of the Cyprus bailout faded and traders saw little direction for the market.

Brent crude futures slipped 8 cents to $108.08 a barrel by 0932 GMT, in the middle of its recent $107 to $109 range. U.S. crude gained 40 cents to $95.21.

Some facts about Cyprus crisis.

25-3-2013

From the press.

• Total deposits in banks in Cyprus ~ 68 bn Euros