At Least 3 Die in Venezuela in Violent Protests Across the Country

By NICHOLAS CASEY and PATRICIA TORRESAPRIL 19, 2017

The New York Times

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Protesters demanding elections and a return to democratic rule jammed the streets of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities on Wednesday. National Guard troops and government-aligned militias beat crowds back with tear gas, rubber bullets and other weapons, and at least three people were killed, according to human rights groups and news reports.

EU should consider billion-euro investment boost for Greece - Austrian finmin

 Mon Apr 10, 2017 | 3:46am EDT

Reuters

The European Union should consider a one-billion-euro ($1.1-billion) special investment programme to spur growth in debt-ridden Greece, Austria's finance minister told daily Der Standard in an interview published on Monday.

Hans Joerg Schelling said Greece would only be able to get back on track and regain access to capital markets if it was able to generate sustainable growth in the mid- and long-term. It was important to help the country participate in a pick-up in growth in the euro zone, he added.

Greek PM says debt relief is a condition for more austerity

Sun Apr 9, 2017 | 6:53am EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos | ATHENS
Greece will implement additional austerity measures agreed with its official creditors on condition of further debt relief that will enable the country to be included in the ECB's bond buying scheme, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Sunday.

Athens struck a deal with its international creditors at Friday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Malta on key elements of a reform package that could unlock bailout funds for the country to help it repay maturing debt in July.

"Medium-term debt relief measures, able to include us in (the ECB's) quantitative easing, and a fiscal path that will not be unattainable, is the condition for us to implement the measures we decided," Tsipras told his leftist Syriza party's central committee.

EU, Greece seek bailout deal by Friday

 Wed Apr 5, 2017 | 8:57am EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou and Jan Strupczewski | ATHENS/BRUSSELS
Greece and its international lenders remained at odds in talks to release fresh bailout loans to Athens on Wednesday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said a deal was needed this week and accused creditors of 'playing games' and causing delays.

Talks between Greece, the European Union and International Monetary Fund have stuttered for months due to differences over Greece's fiscal progress, labor and energy market reforms, rekindling worries of a new crisis in Europe.

Abu Dhabi’s Plowing Ahead With These 10 Mega Projects During an Oil Slump

Abu Dhabi is building $37 billion worth of projects, including a Louvre and a new airport terminal, despite the oil slump.
Bloomberg

by Zainab Fattah
2 Απριλίου 2017, 9:12 π.μ. EEST
Abu Dhabi, which sits on about 6 percent of the world’s oil reserves, has pushed ahead with a construction program that began before crude prices slumped in 2014. From Louvre Abu Dhabi, a new airport terminal and a nuclear power plant, here are the 10 biggest projects underway in the sheikdom. With a combined value of 134 billion dirhams ($37 billion), they're expected to be completed by 2020, according to a list provided by the government this month in response to questions from Bloomberg.

At least 10 dead as blast hits St. Petersburg metro station in Russia, reports say

By David Filipov April 3 at 8:23 AM

The Washinhton Post

MOSCOW — A large explosion tore apart a train at a central St. Petersburg metro station Monday, killing at least 10 people, Russia’s state news agency reported.

The Tass news agency said “preliminary information” placed the death toll as at least 10. The report could not be independently verified, but images on social media indicated a significant number of injuries.

In historic break, Britain plunges into Brexit with hard negotiations still to come

The Washington Post

By Griff Witte and Michael Birnbaum March 29 at 4:17 PM
LONDON — The end came not with a bang but a letter.

Over six crisp and unsentimental pages, Britain said goodbye to the European Union on Wednesday, spelling out its hopes, ­wishes, threats and demands for divorce talks that will strain ­alliances, roil ­economies and consume attention across the continent over the next two years.

Coming a little over nine months after British voters stunned the world by choosing to withdraw from the E.U., the hand-delivery of the letter in Brussels officially triggered Article 50, the bloc’s never-before-used escape hatch.

'Grexit' is back

Business Insider UK
Jim Edwards, Business Insider UK
Mar. 23, 2017, 12:16 PM

Greece's banks lost about €4 billion in bank deposits since the turn of the year as Greeks fear a return of capital controls that ban them from making cash withdrawals over set limits. Separately, the country looks as if it is tipping back into recession — GDP shrank by 1.2% in Q4 2016.

Does this story sound familiar?

It should. A collapsing economy followed by a run on the banks were the signal events of the Greek debt crisis that began in 2009 and never really ended.

So now people are asking — again — whether Greece might be forced out of the eurozone:

UPDATE 1-Lenders do not confirm preliminary deal on Greek bailout

Reuters

Wed Mar 29, 2017 | 7:03am EDT

Greece's lenders on Wednesday could not confirm what sources said was a preliminary deal on open issues of the country's bailout and said possible debt relief measures will be decided only at the end of the financial aid programme, contrary to Athens' will.

Negotiations between Greece, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund - which has yet to decide if it will participate in Greece's current bailout - have dragged on for months, rekindling fears of a new financial crisis in the euro zone.

British PM May to fire starting gun on Brexit

Wed Mar 29, 2017 | 7:15am EDT

Reuters


By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper | LONDON
Prime Minister Theresa May will file formal Brexit divorce papers on Wednesday, pitching the United Kingdom into the unknown and triggering years of uncertain negotiations that will test the endurance of the European Union.

Nine months after Britons voted to leave, May will notify EU Council President Donald Tusk in a letter that the UK really is quitting the bloc it joined in 1973.

The prime minister, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, will then have two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

London Attack Echoes, Faintly, in a Europe Anxious but Inured

By STEVEN ERLANGER and ALISSA J. RUBINMARCH 23, 2017

The New York Times

LONDON — The terrorist attack in London, with its combination of random deaths and the strong symbolism of Parliament shut down, comes in an important election year in critical European countries, as well as at a moment of high anxiety — about the rise of populism, migration and the integration of Muslims.

With France, Germany and possibly Italy going to the polls, analysts have long wondered whether an act of terrorism could jolt electoral dynamics and boost the broader “Europe in crisis” narrative that has elevated far-right parties across the Continent.

“This will have an echo in France and in Germany,” said Mark Leonard, the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “It becomes part of a pattern. It’s another link in the chain.”

A Bad Brexit Deal May Be Better Than No Deal After All

by Simon Kennedy
24 Μαρτίου 2017, 2:01 π.μ. EET 24 Μαρτίου 2017, 11:24 π.μ. EET

Bloomberg

The mantra within the British government as it prepares to hammer out the terms of its break-up with the European Union is that no deal is better than a bad deal.

Walking away with no regime for 230 billion pounds ($287 billion) of annual exports to the bloc and the 3.3 million Europeans in the U.K would be “perfectly OK,” says Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Not “frightening” at all, says Brexit czar David Davis.

Greece to draw up boundaries for huge Athens riviera resort

BUSINESS NEWS | Thu Mar 23, 2017 | 11:01am EDT


Reuters

Greece will soon define the boundaries of a site where investors plan to spend 7.9 billion euros ($8.5 billion) to build one of Europe's biggest coastal resorts, the culture ministry said, in a sign the delayed project may eventually go ahead.

A consortium of Abu Dhabi and Chinese investors (0656.HK), led by Greece's Lamda (LMDr.AT), signed a deal in 2014 for the 99-year lease of a sprawling area at the former Athens airport in Hellenikon and the development of a coastal town.

Greece, creditors stepping up talks as debt deadline looms

The Washington Post

By Associated Press March 20
BRUSSELS — Greece and its international creditors are stepping up talks on issues holding up the release of more loans to keep the country’s debt-wracked economy afloat.

Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said finance ministers from the 19 nations that used the shared euro currency agreed Monday on more talks “intensified in the coming days here in Brussels.”

Lenders and Greece 'wide apart' on bailout review: euro zone official

 Thu Mar 16, 2017 | 12:44pm EDT


Reuters

By Francesco Guarascio and Lefteris Papadimas | BRUSSELS/ATHENS
Greece and its international creditors remain divided over the terms of a review of the country's bailout program, a senior euro zone official said on Thursday, a gap that will prevent Athens from getting fresh financial support.

Police find 8 parcel bombs in Greece headed to EU countries

No one was hurt when the parcels were discovered. Police gave no further details.

The Toronto Star

By The Associated Press
Mon., March 20, 2017

ATHENS, GREECE—Police in Greece have discovered and neutralized eight parcel bombs, addressed to European Union finance officials and businesses in various European countries, at a postal sorting office near Athens.

EU Pressures Greece to Resolve Issues as New Debt Crisis Looms

by Nikos Chrysoloras , Corina Ruhe , and Rainer Buergin
March 20, 2017, 2:00 AM GMT+2 March 20, 2017, 8:29 PM GMT+2
Bloomberg
Further delay would hurt investor, consumer confidence
Eurogroup reiterates calls for Greece to meet loan clauses

‘Brexit’ Fuels Feeling in Scotland That Time Is Right for Independence

By KATRIN BENNHOLDMARCH 14, 2017

LONDON — Scotland’s nationalists wasted no time: Just minutes after the country’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon, called on Monday for a new independence referendum, a website went live asking people to show their support on Twitter and donate to the campaign.

By Tuesday morning, 204,345 pounds, or about $249,000 — more than a fifth of the £1 million target — had been raised; pro-independence banners in Scotland’s blue-and-white colors had gone up across the country; and celebrities were offering support, including the actor Alan Cumming, who shared a Twitter post by Ms. Sturgeon, with the comment “It’s showtime!”

It was an early glimpse of the Scottish nationalists’ formidable campaign machine, evidently little diminished since the last referendum, in 2014. Support for independence rose from about 27 percent at the start of that campaign to 45 percent at the final count.

IMF Said to Move Toward Greek Bailout Loan in Merkel Boost

by Rainer Buergin  and Birgit Jennen
10 March 2017, 5:46 μ.μ.

The International Monetary Fund is moving toward rejoining Greece’s bailout, according to people familiar with the discussions, suggesting it will meet a condition set by Germany and other euro-area nations for continued aid.

In a shift that may help break the impasse over its participation, the IMF is ready to offer Greece a smaller loan than the last one provided five years ago, two people said, making it easier for the fund to justify its involvement to its shareholder countries. The amount under discussion is $3 billion to $6 billion, one of the people said, compared with a 29 billion-euro ($31 billion) IMF credit line under Greece’s second bailout in 2012.

How does jailing the statisticians fix Greece’s financial crisis? It doesn’t.

By Anbar Aizenman, Anisha Chinwalla and Benjamin A.T. Graham
 March 13 at 5:00 AM

The Washington Post

The Greek government’s ongoing attempts to imprison Andreas Georgiou will reshape the Greek economy — in ways that may last for decades. Georgiou is a statistician who’s been accused by the government of inflating data on the size of the Greek deficit. He’s awaiting trial — for telling the truth about the Greek economy.

Georgiou has been acquitted in four trials since 2011, most recently in December. Greek politicians are still pushing the case, which is now at the Greek Supreme Court. Georgiou appears to be a convenient scapegoat for Greek politicians trying to avoid blame for their country’s ongoing financial crisis.

The Time Has Come To Cut Greece Loose

 06/03/2017 00:48

Dr Ioannis Glinavos
Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Westminster

The beginning of March saw Athens grudgingly welcome back the “Troika” inspectors. After months of haggling over Greece’s progress towards the goals of its bailout programme and following non-stop negotiations since January 2015, we are back where we started, the creditor inspectors are allowed in to investigate. However, something is different this time. Greece’s cash-for-reforms deal is coming apart while at the same time relationships between its creditors are breaking down. We now face a situation where Greece, the IMF and the Eurozone are operating at cross purposes. It is legitimate to ask therefore whether 2017 will be the year when this all stops. Is Greece still worth saving?

North Korea fires four ballistic missiles into sea, angering Japan and South

Mon Mar 6, 2017 | 3:43am EST

Reuters

By Ju-min Park and Kaori Kaneko | SEOUL/TOKYO
North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan's northwest on Monday, angering South Korea and Japan, days after it promised retaliation over U.S.-South Korea military drills it sees as a preparation for war.

South Korea's military said the missiles were unlikely to have been intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which can reach the United States. The missiles flew on average 1,000 km (620 miles) and reached a height of 260 km (160 miles).

Greece's fiscal targets should be eased to help growth, central bank chief says

Sat Mar 4, 2017 | 9:17am EST

Reuters

Greece's international lenders should lower the country's fiscal targets from 2021 onwards to help boost its growth potential, central bank governor Yannis Stournaras said on Saturday.

Stournaras told an economic forum in Delphi that primary surplus targets - excluding debt servicing costs - should be lowered to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from 2021 onwards from 3.5 percent that is now envisaged.

Carl Bildt: In defence of globalization

World Economic Forum

I must confess that I am a firm believer in the benefits of globalization. To my mind, the gradual interlinking of regions, countries, and people is the most profoundly positive development of our time.

But a populist has now assumed the United States presidency by campaigning on a platform of stark economic nationalism and protectionism. And in many countries, public discourse is dominated by talk of globalization’s alleged “losers,” and the perceived need for new policies to stem the rise of populist discontent.

When I was born, the world’s population was 2.5 billion. I vividly recall a time in my life when many people feared that starvation would soon run rampant, gaps between the rich and poor would grow ever wider, and everything would eventually come crashing down.

Paul Krugman: The Economic Fallout

 By PAUL KRUGMAN

The New York Times

2016-11-09T00:42:44-05:0012:42 AM ET

It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover?

Frankly, I find it hard to care much, even though this is my specialty. The disaster for America and the world has so many aspects that the economic ramifications are way down my list of things to fear.


Still, I guess people want an answer: If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.

Greece Said to Expect Revised Bailout Proposal for Tuesday Talks

by Sotiris Nikas
28 February 2017, 4:03 π.μ. EET
Bloomberg
Greece’s auditors are pulling together a list of policies the country needs to implement to unlock additional bailout funds as they prepare for the resumption of talks with Athens on Tuesday, two people familiar with the matter said.

Greece has asked European lenders for a draft Supplemental Memorandum of Understanding and the International Monetary Fund for a Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies as it braces for details of creditor demands, the people said, declining to be identified as negotiations between the two sides aren’t public. The government expects an accord in March or early April, but the scale of pending issues raises concerns they may be politically hard to sell at home, they said.

Half of Germans against debt relief for Greece, survey shows

Fri Feb 24, 2017 | 4:05am EST

Reuters

Around half of Germans are against granting debt relief to Greece and around three in 10 want the debt-laden country to quit the euro zone, a survey showed on Friday.

IMF Signals Greek Debt to Be Dealt With at End of Aid Program

by Birgit Jennen
22 February 2017, 8:41 μ.μ. EET

Bloomberg

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde signaled that Greek debt restructuring can wait and the country should focus on overhauling its economy for the duration of its latest bailout, which expires in 2018.

Brexit Bulletin: What Can By-Elections Tell Us About Brexit?Bre

Labour is facing a stiff challenge in its traditional heartlands.
by David Goodman
23 February 2017, 9:30 π.μ. EET

Bloomberg

Voters in Copeland and Stoke Central take center stage today in by-elections that will have an impact beyond the borders of the two constituencies.

Both districts have traditionally elected Labour MPs but voted for Brexit, putting it firmly on the agenda during the campaigns, alongside more granular local issues. That, coupled with timing of the polls and the positions of the parties involved, mean they matter more than the average by-election, according to Bloomberg’s Robert Hutton.

Greece Teeters Back to the Edge of the European Union

The bailout program has fallen far behind schedule and is on the verge of falling apart.

The Wall Street Journal

"It is inconsistent to attack the government both for not completing the review and for the measures needed to complete it."


By YANNIS PALAIOLOGOS
Feb. 21, 2017 4:07 p.m. ET
20 COMMENTS
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been in a defiant mood lately. Some say it’s just a ploy, others believe he’s sincere. Either way, he could be pushing his country back to the brink of Grexit.

Speaking to his party’s central committee earlier this month, the prime minister had harsh words for Wolfang Schäuble, speaking of the German finance minister’s “constant aggressiveness” against Greece and his “contemptuous remarks” toward the country.

Save Greece by Saving Its Economy First

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
FEB. 21, 2017


The New York Times

With the Greek government set to run out of cash by the end of July, the country’s main creditors in Europe continue to demand harsh budget cuts as a condition for crucial loans. But after a decade of failing to save Greece, Germany and other European nations, along with the International Monetary Fund, ought to try a different approach, one that makes reviving the economy a priority.

Greece’s creditors appear willing to provide new loans to pay off debts coming due this year as long as the country commits to achieving a fiscal surplus of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product before interest payments by 2018. The I.M.F., more sensibly, has argued for a surplus of 1.5 percent. It also says that European officials should commit to reducing the Greek government’s debt, which is so huge that it equals about 180 percent of the country’s annual economic output. That debt relief could come in various forms, including giving the country more time to repay or reducing the amount owed.

Eurozone Agrees to Greece Talks in Exchange for Bailout Payments

By JAMES KANTER and NIKI KITSANTONISFEB. 20, 2017

The New York Times

BRUSSELS — Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Monday to begin negotiations in Athens as soon as next week over much-needed overhauls in exchange for bailout payments, with Greece appearing to win a reprieve from the crippling austerity that it has faced for years.

The agreement fell short of an all-encompassing deal, with key questions unresolved over the shape of the changes to Greece’s pensions, as well as its tax and labor rules. But it is a positive sign ahead of a meeting this week between Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, who have taken contrasting positions on debt relief toward Athens.

Greece needs 'far less' money than agreed in third bailout: ESM head

Mon Feb 20, 2017 | 3:20am EST
Reuters

Greece will need less in emergency loans from international lenders than originally agreed in its third bailout program due to a better-than-expected budgetary developments, the head of the euro zone bailout fund was reported on Monday as saying.

Klaus Regling told German newspaper Bild that at the end of Greece's money-for-reforms package in August 2018, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will "probably have paid out far less than the agreed maximum amount of 86 billion euros" because the Greek budget was developing better than expected.

Schaeuble denies 'Grexit' threat, says Greece on right pathGre

 Sun Feb 19, 2017 | 12:13pm EST

Reuters

By Erik Kirschbaum | BERLIN
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble denied on Sunday that he had said Greece would have to leave the euro zone if it failed to implement economic reforms.

Schaeuble said in an ARD television interview that Greece would not have problems if it implemented agreed reforms, but would if it fails to carry these out.

"I never made any ('Grexit') threats," Schaeuble told ARD's Bericht aus Berlin program just before the network played recent comments in which he said Greece was "not yet over the hill" and the "pressure needed to stay on" Greece or it "couldn't stay in the currency union".

Swift deal on Greece needed to avert fresh uncertainty: EU's Dombrovskis

Thu Feb 16, 2017 | 4:45am EST

Reuters

There are costs in delaying agreement on Greece's bailout review, the European Commission's vice president responsible for the euro was quoted as saying on Thursday, and a solution needs to be found swiftly.

Inconclusive talks between Greece and its international creditors on economic reforms and debt relief have cast doubt over the future of Greece's 85 billion euro bailout program.

"There is a common understanding that time lost in reaching an agreement will have a cost for everyone," Valdis Dombrovskis told Greek news portal Euro2day.

EU Sends Envoy to Salvage Greece Deal as February Date Looms

by Eleni Chrepa  and Marcus Bensasson
15 February 2017, 2:00 π.μ.

Greece and its creditors are intensifying efforts to complete a stalled review of the nation’s bailout that would unlock much-needed aid before more than 6 billion euros ($6.3 billion) in obligations come due in July.

EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos in Athens Wednesday to try to reconcile differences over what reforms are needed to stabilize the country’s economy. European rescue monitors had wanted a deal reached by Feb. 20 when euro-area finance ministers gather in Brussels.

Germany wants Greece in euro zone, IMF says no special deals

BUSINESS NEWS | Mon Feb 13, 2017 | 5:20pm EST


By Jan Strupczewski and Joseph Nasr | BRUSSELS/BERLIN
Germany on Monday voiced support for Greece to stay in the euro zone and the European Commission dispatched a senior official to Athens to persuade it to take on further reforms to salvage its bailout accord.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, meanwhile, remained firm that as a lender the IMF could not cut any special deals for the crisis-hit country, which has received three bailouts since 2010.

The moves came as the European Commission forecast a large jump in economic growth for Greece of 2.7 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, this year and next.

Brexit Bulletin: Can Britain Split the Difference?

The U.K. may need to drive a wedge between EU states in Brexit talks. So far the Continent is singing with one voice.
by Simon Kennedy
14 February 2017, 9:30 π.μ. EET

It now looks like Theresa May was a little naive.

Back in October, the U.K. prime minister said she hoped her commitment to start the Brexit process by the end of March would prove enough for the European Union to engage in some “preparatory work” beforehand.

“This is important,” she told the BBC. “It’s not just important for the U.K.; it’s important for Europe as a whole.”

Instead, European officials held their line that there would be “no negotiation without notification” that Britain was definitely leaving.

As Ties With U.S. Cool, Europeans Look to Forge Other Alliances

By GARDINER HARRISFEB. 10, 2017

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The weather, and her reception here, were far colder than when she visited last summer during the Obama administration, but Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign minister, made it clear that she can handle a chill in the air.

“I think we are entering into a different phase of our relationship,” Ms. Mogherini said Friday in a 30-minute interview, adding, “A more transactional approach means Europeans will be more transactional, and we will base our approach on our interests.”

But Ms. Mogherini said she had received important reassurances from top administration officials on the Iran nuclear deal and on Russian sanctions.

The IMF Staff Has It Right on Greece

FEB 8, 2017 2:00 AM EST
By Mohamed A. El-Erian
Bloomberg

When the International Monetary Fund’s board met Monday to discuss Greece, it was heartening to read that “most Executive Directors” agreed with the staff’s view that the country’s debt, at 179 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2015, was “unsustainable.” Yet “some directors had different views on the fiscal path and debt sustainability.” This division within the board also applied to what Greece still needs to do with its budget. With the medium-term primary fiscal surplus heading to 1.5 percent of GDP, “most Directors agreed that Greece does not require further fiscal consolidation at this time.” But, again, “some Directors favored a surplus of 3.5 of GDP by 2018.”

Brexit Bulletin: Victory, But at What Price?

Theresa May is now a technicality away from starting Brexit.
by Simon Kennedy  and Tim Ross
9 February 2017, 9:30 π.μ. EET

Theresa May was celebrating on Wednesday night as the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to approve starting the Brexit process.

Not only that, but the government managed to avoid any amendment to its 137-word bill, leaving it on track to invoke Article 50 by the end of March. The unelected House of Lords will now debate the legislation, but doesn’t have the authority to derail it.

Brexit Secretary David Davis hailed the 494-122 vote as “historic” and said it was time for the county “to unite to make a success of the important task at hand.” Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage was exultant, as was one-time Tory leadership hopeful Andrea Leadsom.

Greece: Priorities for a Return to Sustainable Growth

(From the IMF site)
February 7, 2017

Greece should deepen and accelerate reforms, which, together with further debt relief, are needed to allow the economy to return to a sustainable growth path, the IMF said in its latest annual assessment of the Greek economy.

The IMF’s Article IV report notes that the country has made progress in reining in its fiscal and external deficits, although this has taken a heavy toll on society. The report identifies a path to sustainable growth and prosperity that requires a two-pronged approach: ambitious policies on the part of the Greek authorities and significant debt relief on the part of Greece’s European partners.

The Q&A below highlights some of the key issues about the country’s progress and its reform priorities for the period ahead.

Το διαμέρισμα της συζύγου του κ Μητσοτάκη στο Παρίσι.

Το άρθρο που ανακίνησε το θέμα είναι αυτό:
http://www.documentonews.gr/article/kyriakos-mareba-se-bolikh-diastash

Αφού το διάβασα (όχι όλο) κατέληξα στις παρακάτω παρατηρήσεις:
Στο κείμενο δίνει τιμή συμβολαίου 1.470.000 Ευρώ τα οποία σύμφωνα πάντα με το κείμενο πληρώθηκαν με 900.000 Ευρώ δάνειο (3.000 ευρώ ανά μήνα δόση) και με 470.000 μετρητά. Το άθροισμα του ποσού του δανείου και του ποσού των μετρητών που καταβλήθηκαν για την αγορά του συγκεκριμένου διαμερίσματος δεν είναι ίσο με το ποσό που αναγράφεται ως τιμή αγοράς στο συμβόλαιο. Συγκεκριμένα το ποσό της τιμής του συμβολαίου είναι κατά 100.000 Ευρώ μεγαλύτερο από το άθροισμα του δανείου (900.000 Ευρώ) και των μετρητών (470.000 Ευρώ). 
Επίσης λέει ότι η τιμή στο έβδομο διαμέρισμα του Παρισιού (εκεί όπου είναι το διαμέρισμα) κυμαίνονται στις 20.000-28.000 Ευρώ το τετραγωνικό, και τέλος ότι η επιφάνεια του διαμερίσματος είναι 92 τ.μ. Αν όμως διαιρέσουμε την αξία του συμβολαίου με την μέγιστη τιμή της αξίας του τ.μ. στο έβδομο διαμέρισμα (28.000 Ευρώ), όπως την δίνουν οι συγγραφείς του άρθρου, έχουμε 52,5 τ.μ. Δηλαδή, με την τιμή που δίνει το άρθρο για το τετραγωνικό μέτρο στο συγκεκριμένο διαμέρισμα του Παρισιού, μπορούσε να αγοράσει διαμέρισμα με περίπου τα μισά τ.μ. Επειδή το διαμέρισμα είναι 92 τ.μ. και η αξία του συμβολαίου είναι 1.470.000 Ευρώ συμπεραίνουμε ότι ότι το άρθρο δίνει, κατά προσέγγιση, διπλάσια αντικειμενική αξία για το συγκεκριμένο διαμέρισμα του Παρισιού, όπως αυτό προκύπτει από τα δεδομένα του άρθρου. Η ίδια διαδικασία με την ελάχιστη τιμή για το τ.μ. στο έβδομο διαμέρισμα του Παρισιού δίνει 73,5 τ.μ. για το διαμέρισμα. Με βάση την τιμή του συμβολαίου και τα 92 τ.μ. του διαμερίσματος η τιμή ανά τ.μ. είναι 15.978 Ευρώ ανά τ.μ. Επειδή τα δύο τελευταία στοιχεία (αξία διαμερίσματος σύμφωνα με το συμβόλαιο και επιφάνεια του διαμερίσματος) ήταν γνωστά στους συγγραφείς του άρθρου ήταν γνωστή και η πραγματική τιμή του τ.μ. του διαμερίσματος της κ. Μητσοτάκη. Η τιμή αυτή όμως δεν αναγράφεται στο άρθρο. Αντί αυτής, της πραγματικής τιμής του τ.μ. του διαμερίσματος, αναγράφονται τιμές (20.000 και 28.000) που είναι σημαντικά υψηλότερες της πραγματικής.

Από το ίδιο κείμενο:
“Η τιμή των ακινήτων με βάση το συμβόλαιο είναι 1.470.000 ευρώ. Το 95% του ακινήτου ανήκει στην ίδια και το 5% στον Γιώργο Παπαζήση. Εκτός από το τίμημα αγοράς, πληρώνει ακόμη 80.000 ευρώ σε μεσιτικό γραφείο και 74.823 ευρώ σε φόρους και συμβολαιογραφικά έξοδα. Δηλαδή η Μαρέβα Μητσοτάκη πληρώνει περίπου 2 εκατομμύρια για να αποκτήσει το σπίτι του Βολταίρου.”
Εάν προσθέσουμε το τίμημα αγοράς (1.470.000 Ευρώ), την δαπάνη για το μεσιτικό γραφείο (80.000 Ευρώ) και την δαπάνη για τους φόρους το σύνολο είναι 1.624.823 Ευρώ που απέχει μακράν των “περίπου” 2 εκατομμυρίων που ισχυρίζεται το άρθρο.

Για τους λοιπούς ισχυρισμούς του άρθρου και των συγγραφέων περί υποχρέωσης υποβολής δήλωσης πόθεν έσχες από την σύζυγο σε περίπτωση διάστασης και όχι διαζυγίου, και τα όρια του νόμου που επικαλούνται, μπορώ να υποθέσω ότι είναι το ίδιο πρόχειρα και αυθαίρετα με τα οικονομικά στοιχεία για την αγορά του διαμερίσματος. Ο ίδιος δεν είμαι νομικός για να τα ελέγξω ούτε και έχω τα στοιχεία στην κατοχή μου που θα μου επέτρεπαν κάτι τέτοιο ακόμη και αν ήμουν νομικός.

IMF says Greece should meet lower fiscal surplus target

 Mon Feb 6, 2017 | 9:36pm EST

Reuters

By David Lawder | WASHINGTON
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that Greece's economy would only grow by just under 1.0 percent in the long run given the constraints of its bailout program, but should meet the fiscal surplus target preferred by most IMF directors.

In its annual review of Greece's economic policies, the IMF said most of its board directors favor a Greek fiscal surplus target of 1.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2018, while some directors favor the higher 3.5 percent target sought by Greece's European lender group.

Trump: militant attacks 'all over Europe,' some not reported

Mon Feb 6, 2017 | 9:06pm EST

Reuters

By Steve Holland | TAMPA, FLA.
President Donald Trump on Monday accused the news media of ignoring attacks by Islamist militants in Europe.

Trump, who has made defeating Islamic State a core goal of his presidency, did not specify which attacks were going unreported, which news media organizations were ignoring them, or offer any details to support his claims.

"All over Europe, it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," he told a group of about 300 U.S. troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

Syria has secretly executed thousands of political prisoners: rights group

The Washington Post

By Liz Sly February 6 at 8:18 PM
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government secretly executed between 5,000 and 13,000 people in just one prison as part of its campaign to eliminate opposition to his rule, a new report by the watchdog group Amnesty International has found.

The killings took place over a four-year period between 2011 and 2015 in the notorious Sednaya facility outside Damascus, and the bodies were later disposed of in mass graves, according to the report released Monday by Amnesty.

Split by ‘Brexit,’ May and Merkel Diverge on Wider Issues, Too

By KATRIN BENNHOLD and ALISON SMALEFEB. 5, 2017


The New York Times

LONDON — In another era they could have been allies.

Both vicars’ daughters and born just a few years apart, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain share an understated pragmatism and conservative roots, and have made their way in the still largely man’s world of politics. But there could be so much more.

At a time when President Trump is lashing out at friend and foe, and when the macho politics of strongmen is resurgent from Moscow to Manila, when not just the European Union but high-minded Western values, free trade and security alliances are under attack, the two women might have worked together to defend the liberal global order.

Greece’s Response to its Resurgent Debt Crisis: Prosecute the Statistician

Andreas Georgiou, who became Athens’s statistics chief in 2010 to fix data fraud, now faces repeated accusations he manipulated figures to help impose austerity programs

By MARCUS WALKER
Feb. 6, 2017 10:53 a.m. ET
38 COMMENTS
ATHENS—Greece is struggling under its austerity regime and new questions are mounting as to whether it can satisfy its bailout terms. Some people in high places know just whom to blame—a statistician in rural Maryland.

Before Greece’s debt crisis, its governments manipulated statistics and masked the size of budget deficits, waste and patronage. The statistician, Andreas Georgiou, moved from the U.S. to become Greece’s first independent head of statistics in 2010. The European Union certified he subsequently fixed the omissions and reported the deficit in full.

On the contrary, Mr. Georgiou’s foes claim, he manipulated the deficit figures as part of a plot to force severe austerity on Greece under the 2010 bailout “Memorandum” imposed by the EU and International Monetary Fund.

Russia, Turkey, Iran discuss Syria ceasefire implementation in Astana

Mon Feb 6, 2017 | 12:42am EST

Ruters

Experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United Nations have started a technical meeting in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, to discuss in detail the implementation of the Syrian ceasefire agreement, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"Representatives of Jordan are expected to take part for the first time," a ministry spokesman said of the talks.

U.K. Business Says Brexit Already Having a Negative Effect

by Tim Ross  and Lucy Meakin
6 February 2017, 10:22 π.μ. EET 6

Brexit has already damaged businesses even before Prime Minister Theresa May triggers the start of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, according to a survey of the country’s largest companies.

More than half -- 58 percent -- of top executives at Britain’s biggest firms said the vote to quit the bloc has had a negative impact on their businesses, the Ipsos MORI “Captains of Industry” poll found. Two-thirds of the chief executives, chairmen and directors interviewed for the survey said they believed the business situation would worsen in the next 12 months.