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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Greece wins release of aid, stays lashed to tight conditions


Greece wins release of aid, stays lashed to tight conditions
Kathimerini
European governments agreed to release 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) of aid for Greece, seeking to buy enough financial calm to prevent another debt- crisis showdown until after GermanyĆ­s elections in September. Greece will get 2.5 billion euros this ...


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USDA Greek yogurt contract sets up culture clash


New York Daily News

USDA Greek yogurt contract sets up culture clash
Washington Post
Y.), who claimed credit for helping kick-start the program as part of his campaign to make the Empire State the Greek yogurt capitol of the world — at least outside Greece, that is. There's a trickle-down effect as well, with the yogurt craze also ...
Greek yogurt line packs spoonable kefir, protein and culture Evolve Greek ...New York Daily News
ID schools chosen for Greek yogurt pilot programBusinessweek
USDA pilot program puts Greek yogurt in schoolsCapital Press
Buffalo News -The Spokesman Review (blog) -Twin Falls Times-News
all 36 news articles »

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Move over, Marvel & DC: Amazon launches its own digital comics imprint

Source: venturebeat.com - Tuesday, July 09, 2013
July 9-10, 2013 San Francisco, CA Tickets On Sale Now Amazon Publishing is launching its own imprint for original digital comic books and graphic novels called Jet City Comics , the company announced today. The launch follows efforts by Amazon’s publishing arm to expand the content it produces beyond just original ebooks. Last year the company started allowing authors to submit Kindle Singles , which allowed people to buy what are essentially chapters of a broader story. And more recently, Amazon Publishing launched its Kindle Worlds platform that brilliantly monetizes fan fiction from a handful of licensed book and TV series ( Vampire Diaries , Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars ). And on the comics front, the company already has a “panel view” comic creator service that allows creators to optimize their works for Kindle Fire. As for Jet City, the imprint will feature original stories from high-profile creators, such as George R.R. Martin, Hugh Howey, and Neal Stephenson. The imprint’s debut monthly title Symposium , by author Christian Cameron and artist Dmitry Bondarenko, is about Shield-Brethren in Ancient Greece following Athens’ defeat to Sparta in 394 B.C. Jet City will also release an adaptation of Martin’s Meathouse Man illustrated by Raya Golden as well as re-release of the Game of Thrones prequel graphic novel The Hedge Knight . The new imprint is also an attempt by Amazon to make Amazon and Kindle the primary store for

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT venturebeat.com

E. Nina Rothe: What The Guardian Left Out: Six Arab Films That Cannot Be Missed

As someone who believes, perhaps misguidedly but never quietly, in the healing power of cinema and the ability of filmmakers to help bridge the divide, I could not imagine any list of Arab cinema that does not include these six modern masters.

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Report: Lack of Action in Greece Sparks Lender Worries

Greece's inability or unwillingness to collect taxes threatens to create a new financing shortfall, its lenders said in a report seen by Reuters that signals a new low in relations.

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Greece gets 3-month extension for staff cuts

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek officials announced the first details of a major staff cuts for its bloated public sector Tuesday, sparking anger among unions who pledged to extending strikes and occupy city hall buildings.        

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Greek Recovery May Run Through Chinese Kitchens

Greece's efforts to rebuild its shattered economy partly depend on appealing to the taste buds of China's growing middle class.

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IMF forecasts slower global growth in 2013-14

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni, right, talks with International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde, left, and Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan, during the Eurogroup meeting, at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, July 8, 2013. The finance ministers of the 17 European countries that use the euro are expected to approve the release of another installment of the rescue funds that Greece has been relying on since May 2010. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that it sees slower global growth in 2013 and 2014 than it did just three months ago, citing expectations of a slowdown in key developing countries such as China and Brazil and a more protracted recession in Europe.



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Corruption: How can businesses avoid bribery?


BBC News

Corruption: How can businesses avoid bribery?
BBC News
More than one in two people think corruption has worsened over the last two years, according to a public opinion survey by Transparency International. Its annual Global Corruption Barometer found 27% of respondents said they had paid a bribe when ...
Survey Finds Corruption Rife in Africa, Except RwandaVoice of America
From Greece to Germany, Europeans see government failing on corruptionChristian Science Monitor
Transparency International Spells It Out: Politicians Are The Most CorruptForbes
Haaretz -Ghana Business News -The Moscow Times
all 108 news articles »

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Greece will need minimal funding to get through 2013 after latest loan release ...


Kathimerini

Greece will need minimal funding to get through 2013 after latest loan release ...
Kathimerini
Greece will need a “trivial” sum of international aid for the final two months of 2013 after collecting payments of 6.8 billion euros ($8.8 billion) through October, said Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras. Greece earlier today won euro-area approval ...


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London FTSE ends higher on Alcoa news

London shares closed higher on Tuesday boosted by better-than-expected earnings from US aluminium giant Alcoa and with the eurozone agreeing to release billions of euros in fresh aid for Greece, dealers said.

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Visiting the Birthplace of Modern Medicine on the Greek Island of Kos


Jaunted

Visiting the Birthplace of Modern Medicine on the Greek Island of Kos
Jaunted
We gave you five reasons why you should suck it up and go on a Greek Islands cruise, and now allow us to add a sixth: You can actually visit the birthplace of modern medicine, where Hippocrates performed his infamous research at the Askleipion on Kos.


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Greek Exports Take Aim at Chinese Palate


Greek Exports Take Aim at Chinese Palate
Wall Street Journal- India
Shanghai shops are promoting the "Taste of Greece," and chefs are modifying Greek flavors to suit the Chinese palate. Plotting to rebound from six years of recession, Greece's prime minister and Athens's mayor in recent months targeted food exports on ...

and more »

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Relentlessly high youth unemployment is a global time bomb

Large youth unemployment rates in the US and UK pose immediate and long-term risks and economic damage

The June jobs report pointed to the continuation of a slow – but persistent – economic recovery in the United States. But the youth unemployment rate remains about double the overall rate, with about 16% of young people who want to work unable to find a job. In the US and countries around the world, relentlessly high youth unemployment threatens the futures of individuals and the broader economy.

Youth, between the ages of 15 and 24, make up 17% of the global population but 40% of the unemployed, a figure that doesn't include those enrolled in school. The Middle East and North Africa region has the highest youth unemployment rate, with one in four young people unemployed, driving social unrest. Youth unemployment is even higher in some parts of Europe, where more than 50% of young people in Greece and Spain are out of work.

In the United Kingdom, more than 15% of the youth population is not in education, employment or training. And in the United States, a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress concluded, more than 10 million youth are unable to find full-time work. That means the number of young Americans out of work is greater than the population of New York City.

The much-maligned Millennial generation isn't feckless. They aren't lazy. They want to continue their educations, receive employment training and participate productively in the workforce. But they're hampered by weak economies, discrimination and inequality of opportunity.

That's what young people around the world told the United Nations high level panel on the post-2015 development agenda, of which I was privileged to be a member. The panel was co-chaired by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Although the high level panel's mandate was to make recommendations for a global development agenda to follow the expiration of the millennium development goals at the end of 2015, I firmly believe policymakers must not wait to address the youth unemployment crisis. Those panelists who are best positioned to change policy in their home countries should act with particular urgency.

High youth unemployment causes immediate and long-term economic damage. It means young adults take longer to get married, buy homes and begin families. In the long run, it means slower economic growth and lower tax receipts. Countries with prolonged high levels of youth unemployment risk social instability.

Things aren't altogether better for young people who do find jobs. Young adults entering employment in periods of economic weakness receive lower salaries and are more likely to work lower-skilled jobs than those who begin work during better times. As a result, they can earn 10 to 15% less than they might otherwise have for 10 years or longer after entering the workforce.

The high level panel consulted with civil society, businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals to inform the report we released on 30 May. In particular, we sought to hear the perspectives of the global youth. Young men and women alike pointed to education as a priority, and to ensuring sexual and reproductive health care and rights. They called for an end to child marriage. They sought equality for women and the LGBT community.

The voices of the world's youth can be heard in many of the illustrative goals and targets in the high level panel's report. But I think it is strongest where we call for the world to "decrease the number of young people not in education, employment or training" in every country, according to respective needs and capabilities.

Policymakers, businesses and nonprofits need to begin today to address the youth unemployment crisis by creating jobs; helping young people build skills needed for work, including technical and vocational skills and entrepreneurship; and ensuring youth receive an adequate education. Socioeconomically disadvantaged youth are more likely than their wealthier, better-educated peers to be unemployed, so policymakers must deliberately target efforts to reach those groups. The European Union's new $7.8bn (€6bn) plan to direct more resources toward countries with youth unemployment rates above 25% will help, but should be considered only the beginning of a larger effort.

It will fall to the youth – including young people in the United States and the United Kingdom – to build the world the high level panel envisions in its report. The hundreds of young people I met over the past year showed me with their passion, energy, commitment to equality and to environmental sustainability, and above all their optimism they are eager to take on the task.

We must do everything possible today to give young people the skills, education and employment experiences they're asking for. If we do, I am confident that 2030 will see a world where environmentally sustainable economic development is the norm; a world where we've ended extreme poverty and hunger; and a world where women and men have achieved social equality everywhere.

That is the world today's young people want. Let's give them the tools to build it.


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RBS boosted by buy notes as FTSE 100 rises for second day

Good results from Alcoa lift mining shares while Greek deal also calms investors' nerves

Leading shares gained ground for the second day running, with banks and mining companies among the main risers.

Royal Bank of Scotland rose 15.6p to 304.4p as analysts became more positive on the company. Goldman Sachs moved from neutral to buy, saying a split into a good and bad bank as suggested by the chancellor's recent Mansion House speech could address some of the problems facing RBS, such as muted returns and uncertainty over its prospects.

Ian Gordon at Investec also issued a buy note, but on the basis that a split of RBS was less likely:

It is too soon to declare outright victory, but the government's response to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, published yesterday lunchtime, struck a more measured, constructive approach. Despite some vociferous support in Parliament, the Commission's more outlandish ideas for breaking RBS up into small pieces have been summarily dismissed. The spectre of a good bank/bad bank split lives on, but it will surely fail to meet the stated preconditions for its implementation. This is very good news.

Overall the FTSE 100 finished 63.01 points higher at 6513.08, helped by news of a short term fix for Greece, with eurozone finance ministers agreeing a $3bn bailout loan after the usual tortuous discussions. On top of that, the IMF lifted its growth forecast for the UK, outweighing disappointing industrial production and trade figures. But in China, inflation rose by more than expected, putting more pressure on the central bank as economic growth shows signs of slowing.

The prospect of declining growth in one of the key economies for commodities has seen mining shares lose around a quarter of their value this year. But they were back in demand on Tuesday following better than expected figures from Alcoa. The aluminium producer kicked off the US second quarter reporting season with a larger than forecast profit and positive comments about future demand.

So miners dominated the risers in the leading index, with Anglo American adding 37p to £12.82, Fresnillo up 30p at 951p and Vedanta Resources rising 86p to £10.94.

Among the mid-caps, iron ore producer Ferrexpo added 16.9p to 155.6p after a positive update showed a 21% rise in output during the second quarter.

Among the other risers Weir added 58p to £21.62 after Morgan Stanley moved its rating from underweight to equal weight with a £21.50 price target. The bank said:

Weir has done significantly better in oil and gas than we expected, and our estimates are no longer markedly different from consensus, despite our lingering concerns on the minerals side. The skew of risk and reward is now balanced.

Reckitt Benckiser rose 73p to £49.23 despite concerns about increased competition for its Suboxone heroin substitute after US regulators gave their approval to rival Zubsolv, from Sweden's Orexo. In a sell note Pablo Zuanic at Liberum Capital said:

[This approval] increases the downside risk to RB Pharma earnings in our judgment. So while we are appreciative of the strategic changes chief executive Kapoor has set in motion in the core business and realize the uncertainty around RB Pharma (myriad of scenarios, reflected in the wide disparity of consensus estimates), we see more risks weighted to the downside and hence our sell stance. However...we expect RB Pharma to produce a strong first half which will not reflect the Orexo challenges yet, which consequently may support the stock for now.

Marks & Spencer dropped 6.5p to 453.2p following news that like-for-like sales had fallen for the eighth successive quarter.

ITV lost 2.6p to 150.2p after the broadcaster's chairman Archie Norman was appointed to the same position at investment bank Lazard London. Earlier Panmure Gordon issued a buy note, following reports the company could be interested in a £90m deal to buy Swedish production business Nice. Analyst Alex DeGroote said:

This would be consistent with the strategy of expanding in TV production, through acquisition. In context, ITV has net cash of around £200m. So there is material upside over the next 18 months from releveraging the balance sheet (e.g. on M&A, buybacks). We estimate ITV has more than £1bn of firepower, without net debt. Hence earnings per share remains in a strong upgrade cycle and the shares must be owned.

Aveva led the FTSE 250 risers, up 310p to £25.78 after the IT group said it had made a positive start to the year in both its engineering systems and enterprise solutions divisions.

Lower down the market Blur, which operates an online marketplace for companies to buy and sell services from advertising to legal help, bounced 40p to 242.5p after a positive second quarter update, a two day gain of 63.5p. It announced its biggest single contract to date, a $3.6m project for a US transport group, and added 410 projects during the three months, the largest number in a quarter. Analyst Tintin Stormont at the company's broker N+1 Singer said:

Blur is seeing strong traction in disrupting the traditional corporate services industry, a market worth $2 trillion. Execution has been strong to date showing the group is successfully building on its first mover advantage. The corporate market is clearly ready for a new model for procuring services and investors should continue to see significant growth going forward from Blur which is at the forefront of this trend.

Finally Keywords Studios is set to become the largest technology float on Aim so far this year. The company, which supplies technical services to the video games industry and counts Microsoft and Electronics Arts as customers, has raised £28m with an institutional placing at 123p a share. The company's market capitalisation is expected to be around £49m, and dealings are due to start on Friday.


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From Greece to Germany, Europeans see government failing on corruption


Christian Science Monitor

From Greece to Germany, Europeans see government failing on corruption
Christian Science Monitor
The eurocrisis across Europe has undermined the public's trust in institutions, especially within the countries most indebted, according to a new report by Transparency International. Skip to next paragraph ...

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Greek 10-Year Bonds Erase Gains; Yield Little Changed at 10.93%

Greek 10-year government bonds erased their gain, leaving the yield little changed at 10.93 percent at 2:17 p.m. London time. The rate earlier slipped by as much as 62 basis points.

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Greece Cast Multibillion Euro Lifeline

Greece secureds an $8.7 billion lifeline from the euro zone, but it must keep its promises to get funds.

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Greek yields fall again after aid lifeline approved


Kathimerini

Greek yields fall again after aid lifeline approved
Reuters
LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - Greek government bond yields fell for a second day on Tuesday after euro zone finance ministers approved an aid payment that will spare the country from default in August. Portuguese yields also fell after the ruling ...
Greek yields fall more after aid lifeline approvedMSN Money
Greek yields fall sharplyBusiness Recorder
Bunds slip as Greece gets aid lifelineKathimerini

all 6 news articles »

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