De Blasio Elected Next New York City Mayor in Landslide

First Democrat to Win City Hall Since David Dinkins in 1989

The Wall Street Journal

By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL

Updated Nov. 6, 2013 12:29 a.m. ET

Bill de Blasio won a lopsided victory in the race for New York City mayor on Tuesday night after running a populist campaign that promised New Yorkers a clear break from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration. He is the first Democrat to capture City Hall in 24 years.

Mr. de Blasio, the city's public advocate and a former City Council member from Brooklyn, defeated Republican nominee Joe Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. With 59% of precincts reporting at 11:20 p.m., Mr. de Blasio led with 73% of the vote to Mr. Lhotoa's 25%.

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.

ObamaCare's Black Box

Why the exchanges are worse than even the critics imagined.

The Wall Street Journal

Updated Oct. 17, 2013 8:59 p.m. ET

The White House set low expectations for the Affordable Care Act's October 1 debut, so anything remotely competent should have seemed like a success. But three weeks on, the catastrophe that is Healthcare.gov and the 36 insurance exchanges run by the federal government is an insult to the "glitches" President Obama said were inevitable.

Jim DeMint: We Won't Back Down on ObamaCare

Fighting a law that is unfair, unworkable and unaffordable is reasonable and necessary.

The Wall Street Journal

By JIM DEMINT

Oct. 17, 2013 6:27 p.m. ET

Now that the government shutdown has ended and the president has preserved ObamaCare for the time being, it's worth explaining why my organization, the Heritage Foundation, and other conservatives chose this moment to fight—and why we will continue to fight. The reason is simple: to protect the American people from the harmful effects of this law.

Republicans’ hollow defeat

The Washington Post

By Eugene Robinson, Friday, October 18, 3:23 AM

President Obama’s victory this week was as complete and devastating as Sherman’s march through the South. But there is no early sign that the zealots of the anti-government far right have learned the lessons of their defeat — which means that more battles lie ahead.

Green Shoots In Greece

Forbes

As Europe struggles through an anaemic recovery, its structurally challenged South is trying to mend itself. It is a fascinating, and still undecided turnaround story, best illustrated by the Eurozone’s former bête noire – Greece. Exacerbating the problem, the media often do a poor job of helping explain both the current situation and its prospects- as a panel in London’s Southbank Centre will discuss on 19 October 2013.

Greece expects decision on 2014 funding gap in December

By Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS | Wed Oct 16, 2013 5:01pm BST

(Reuters) - Greece expects its foreign lenders to agree in December on how to plug a funding gap the country faces next year, its finance minister said on Wednesday, while a decision on how to cut its debt will come several months later.

Twice-bailed out Greece first sought a financial rescue from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in 2010 and has since been kept afloat with over 200 billion euros in aid.

Greek far-right leaders accused of organised violence

Sun Oct 13, 2013 1:54pm IST

* Case triggered after left-wing rapper knifed to death in street

* Testimony said to reveal inner workings of far-right Golden Dawn

* Party vote soared with debt crisis, sees political witch-hunt

By Renee Maltezou and Deepa Babington

ATHENS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - She first got into politics in Greece last year - when she bought herself a bullet-proof vest and learned how to beat up immigrants with poles hung with the national flag.

Global finance chiefs ready defenses ahead of Fed exit

By Anna Yukhananov and Alonso Soto

WASHINGTON | Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:58pm EDT

(Reuters) - Global finance chiefs on Saturday told the IMF to stand ready to aid emerging market economies that could be destabilized by a sudden flight of capital when the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks back away from ultra-loose monetary policies.

The International Monetary Fund's governing panel, after a semi-annual meeting, acknowledged the risks posed by a transition toward more normal policies in advanced economies, and it urged nations not to delay preparations.

Climate change sceptics aren't all alike, so don't tar them with the same brush

Denying the sceptics a voice on the IPCC report is surely bad for democracy and bad for science

The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/09/climate-change-sceptics-not-all-alike

Last week my friend and onetime colleague, the UK government's former climate adviser John Ashton, berated the BBC for giving Australian climate sceptic Bob Carter undue airtime in its reporting of the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The geneticist Steve Jones also weighed in, reminding the corporation not to fall into the trap of "false balance" by treating the views of sceptics equally alongside mainstream climate researchers.

Hooded assailants start fire at Greek minister's office

ATHENS | Wed Oct 9, 2013 4:52pm EDT

(Reuters) - Six hooded assailants doused the office of Greece's merchant marine minister with gasoline on Wednesday and set it on fire, causing only minor damage to the entrance, police said.

Ex-Minister in Greece Is Found Guilty in Bribery Case

October 7, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — In a landmark verdict, a former Greek defense minister and co-founder of the country’s once-mighty Socialist Party, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, was found guilty on Monday of setting up a complex money-laundering network to cover the trail of millions of dollars in bribes that he is said to have pocketed from government weapons purchases.

Paulson hedge funds backing recovery in Greek banks

ATHENS | Mon Oct 7, 2013 4:21am EDT

(Reuters) - Funds run by billionaire investor John Paulson see Greece's recapitalised banking sector as an attractive investment play on the country's recovery after a deep six-year slump.

Encouraged by Greece's rising exports and a rebounding tourism sector, U.S. hedge fund group Paulson & Co expects the protracted recession to bottom out this year and begin recovery in 2014.

Greece Plots ’14 Budget Course to Secure More Debt Relief

By Marcus Bensasson & Christos Ziotis - Oct 7, 2013 1:50 PM GMT+0300

Greece will have a budget surplus before interest costs in 2013, a year ahead of schedule, giving Prime Minister Antonis Samaras leverage to prod euro-area creditors for more help in lowering its debt burden.

The primary surplus will rise to 2.8 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in 2014, or 1.6 percent of gross domestic product, after a surplus of 340 million euros this year, according to the 2014 draft budget, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told reporters in Athens. The overall deficit will be 2.4 percent of GDP both this year and next, according to the budget, which was submitted to parliament today.

Ενα δύσκολο «στοίχημα» το πλεόνασμα

Θα διαμορφωθεί στα 100-200 εκατ. ευρώ από 489 εκατ. που προβλέπει το Μεσοπρόθεσμο

Παρασκευή, 04 Οκτωβρίου 2013 07:00

Ναυτεμπορική

Στην είσπραξη των προβλεπόμενων φορολογικών εσόδων στο τελευταίο τρίμηνο του έτους εναποτίθενται οι ελπίδες του υπουργείου Οικονομικών για την επίτευξη πρωτογενούς πλεονάσματος στον προϋπολογισμό του 2013, ενώ συμπληρωματικά οι όποιες απώλειες θα υποστηριχθούν με περικοπές των δαπανών καταναλωτικών και επενδυτικών δαπανών.

Working hours: Get a life

Sep 24th 2013, 12:19 by C.W. and A.J.K.D. | LONDON

The Econimist

BERTRAND RUSSELL, the English philosopher, was not a fan of work. In his 1932 essay, “In Praise of Idleness”, he reckoned that if society were better managed the average person would only need to work four hours a day. Such a small working day would “entitle a man to the necessities and elementary comforts of life.” The rest of the day could be devoted to the pursuit of science, painting and writing.

Leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn jailed before trial

By Lefteris Papadimas and Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS | Thu Oct 3, 2013 7:36am EDT

(Reuters) - The leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party was sent to jail on Thursday pending trial on criminal charges, the first time an elected party chief has been put behind bars since a military coup nearly five decades ago.

The imprisonment of Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, who has watched support for his party wane after a supporter fatally stabbed a popular rapper, is a reprieve for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government that has vowed to wipe out the party, calling it a "gang of neo-Nazis".

Greece's Golden Dawn lawmakers freed before trial

By Renee Maltezou and Yorgos Karahalis

ATHENS | Wed Oct 2, 2013 1:45pm EDT

(Reuters) - Three senior lawmakers from Greece's far-right Golden Dawn were freed on Wednesday pending trial on criminal charges, an unexpected setback to the government's efforts to clamp down on a party it has labeled a neo-Nazi criminal gang.

The decision to free the men after an 18-hour court session raises questions about the solidity of the state's case against Golden Dawn after one of its sympathizers stabbed to death an anti-fascism rapper.

Greek Arrest of Far Rightists Bolsters Government, for Now

Greece Moves to Outlaw the Golden Dawn Party

By ALKMAN GRANITSAS and NEKTARIA STAMOULI

ATHENS—Greece's crackdown on the country's far-right Golden Dawn party, with the weekend arrest of the group's top leadership, is a needed fillip for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's fragile coalition government.

But the boost may be temporary if the social problems that fueled the group's rise—unemployment, corruption, collapsing public services—aren't soon addressed by a government not many Greeks support, analysts say. And correcting those issues could take some time.

"There will be some political gains for the government and particularly Mr. Samaras, but after that, if the economy continues to stumble, those benefits will evaporate and the Golden Dawn phenomenon will return," said John Dimakis, a political analyst at Athens-based consultancy STR. "The crackdown on Golden Dawn won't bring jobs, or investments, or growth. And Golden Dawn is an expression of social needs that the political system right now can't cover."

UPDATE 5-Greek police arrest leader, lawmakers of far-right Golden Dawn

Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:16am IST

* Biggest crackdown on elected party since fall of junta

* Party members charged with participating in criminal group

* "Nothing can scare us!" party spokesman says

* Government rules out snap elections

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Greek police arrested the leader and more than a dozen senior members of the far-right Golden Dawn party early on Saturday after the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a party supporter triggered outrage and protests across the country.

Golden Dawn arrests take Greece into uncharted waters

The crackdown on the far-right party will undoubtedly release new tensions on to an already poisoned political scene

Helena Smith in Athens

The Observer, Saturday 28 September 2013 17.56 BST

Before his untimely death at the age of 34, Pavlos Fyssas was a hip-hop rapper popular on Greece's anti-fascist scene but little known beyond the frontiers of that music genre or the borders of the country itself. On the night of 17 September all that changed.

Greece nominates new privatization agency chief, third in seven months

ATHENS | Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:36am EDT

(Reuters) - Greece has nominated a new chairman to take over at its privatization agency after the dismissal of its previous head last month, the finance ministry said on Saturday.

Constantine Maniatopoulos was named to head privatization agency HRADF, where asset sale delays and shortfalls in targeted revenues have been a source of headaches for Greece's international lenders overseeing the country's 240 billion euro bailout program.

Greece Arrests Senior Members of Far-Right Party

September 28, 2013

The New York Times

By LIZ ALDERMAN

ATHENS — The counterterrorism police conducted a crackdown on Greece’s neo-fascist Golden Dawn party early Saturday morning, arresting 5 members of Parliament, including the leader of the organization, and 10 party officials. A search was under way for another lawmaker and more than 20 party members.

It is the first time that the leader of a political party and members of Parliament have been arrested in Greece since the fall of a military junta in 1974.

Greek bonds rally as German election draws near

Fri Sep 20, 2013 4:50pm IST

By Marius Zaharia

(Reuters) - Greek government bonds rallied on Friday as an election campaign in European paymaster Germany neared its end with little clarity about what it might mean for Greece's future in the euro zone.

Funding gaps facing Athens and the risk Portugal may not return to markets when its bailout runs out next year will be among European policy challenges for Germany's next government.

Τέσσερεις νεκροί, δύο ιστορίες...

Ακολουθούν δύο κείμενα, ένα για τον νεκρό Π. Φύσσα που έπεσε νεκρός μετά από τις μαχαιριές που δέχθηκε από τον Γ.Π. φερόμενο ως μέλος της Χρυσής Αυγής και δράστη του εγκλήματος, και ένα για τους 3 νεκρούς την 10-5-2010 στην ΜΑΡΦΙΝ, οι οποίοι εγκλωβίσθηκαν στο κτίριο της τράπεζας όταν αντιεξουσιαστές πέταξαν βόμβα μολότοφ στο ισόγειο με αποτέλεσμα να πάρει φωτιά το κτίριο. Ο αναγνώστης μπορεί να συγκρίνει το λόγο και το ύφος που η ίδια εφημερίδα, η ΑΥΓΗ, υιοθετεί στις δύο περιπτώσεις και να βγάλει τα συμπεράσματά του. Για όσους θέλουν να το ερευνήσουν περισσότερο, τα άρθρα που δημοσίευσε η πιο πάνω εφημερίδα μπορεί να τα βρει γράφοντας στο search box του Google, “inurl:www.avgi.gr μαρφίν 3 νεκροί” (χωρίς εισαγωγικά).

Για το τρέχον περιστατικό η αρθρογραφία είναι σε εξέλιξη.

On the edge

The mood in the Greek capital is at the boiling point

Sep 21st 2013 | ATHENS |From the print edition

A WHIFF of tear gas, the first in the city centre for almost a year, signalled the start of a new round of protests led by Greek teachers, school and university administrators, and members of the capital’s recently disbanded municipal police. All face being laid off in a long-awaited cull of public-sector workers. Riot police resorted to firing the tear gas on September 16th to dissuade a group of school guards from occupying the ministry of public administration.

Why Greece Is Not Weimar

By ROGER COHEN

Published: September 19, 2013

The New York Times

ATHENS — The perfect political storm for violent extremism has descended on Greece. It consists of national humiliation, economic disaster, high immigration, political division and international tutelage. Look no further than Weimar Germany to understand its ingredients

In the subdued streets of the Greek capital, where a vague menace hangs like a pall, tempers are frayed. The economy is turning slowly, after draconian cuts and two bailouts totaling €240 billion, but not enough yet to be felt. The cry of the extreme right resounds: We, the fathers of civilization, have been sold out by the international loan sharks!

The Syria deal

Russian reading

Sep 14th 2013, 22:46 by J.P.P. | WASHINGTON, D.C

AMERICA and Russia have an agreement on removing or destroying Syria’s extensive collection of chemical weapons. The headline points are that Bashar Assad’s regime must submit a full inventory within a week. Should his government find that deadline too exacting, Vladimir Putin’s former colleagues in the SVR, the successor organisation to the KGB, can probably help out. Then the weapons must be destroyed or removed by mid-2014. If Syria fails to comply with these terms it will face a chapter seven resolution in the UN Security Council which, for those who have not looked at their copy of the organisation’s charter since 2003, is the one that covers the use of force. Compliance will be in the eye of the beholder.

Greece says primary budget surplus means it on track to hit EU-IMF targets

By Harry Papachristou and Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS | Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:53am EDT

(Reuters) - Greece said on Tuesday its budget was in surplus, not counting interest payments, and that it was on course to hit fiscal targets and fulfill conditions to seek additional debt relief from its international lenders.

The central government had a primary budget surplus of 2.92 billion euros ($3.87 billion) between January and August, the finance ministry said.

Can China lead Greece out of darkness?

9 September 2013 Last updated at 00:57 GMT

Mark Lowen

By Mark Lowen

BBC News, Athens

At Greece's southern port of Piraeus, the Chinese have arrived.

Rail-mounted cranes use a complex system of ropes and pulleys to offload containers from cargo ships onto lorries.

The equipment was built by China's state-run shipping company, Cosco, which paid 500m euros (£426m) to upgrade and run the terminal. It is Greece's largest inward investment and gives China a key access point to Europe.

Draghi cautious on recovery, says ECB ready to act

By Eva Taylor and Sakari Suoninen

FRANKFURT | Thu Sep 5, 2013 11:51am EDT

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank said on Thursday it was ready to cut interest rates or pump more money into the euro zone economy if needed to bring money market rates down and help the euro zone's "very, very green" recovery.

The bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, as expected by all 60 economists polled by Reuters.