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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Eurozone Approves First Tranche of New Greek Bailout

Greece will receive immediately about EUR 23B, the first tranche of its third bailout programme, after eurozone finance ministers approved the disbursement on Wednesday evening, AFP reported. The disbursement will allow the government in Athens to repay a loan instalment of EUR 3.4B to the European Central Bank on Thursday. The approval of the first tranche of the new rescue programme for Greece totalling EUR 86B comes after parliaments in Eurozone member states endorsed the bailout. German and Dutch parliaments approved the Greek bailout earlier on Wednesday, after Austrian, Estonian, and Spanish MPs gave the green light to the rescue programme on Tuesday.


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ESM approves third program for Greece — official statement

The ESM will provide up to €86 billion in financial assistance to Greece over three years


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European bailout fund to disburse first Greek tranche on Thursday

The European Stability Mechanism will disburse the first tranche of funds from Greece's bailout loan on Thursday, the Greek finance ministry said after the ESM board approved a rescue of up to 86 billion euros on Wednesday. Athens will receive 13 billion euros on Thursday morning, the ministry said, of which about 12 billion euros will be used to pay down debt, including an earlier bridge loan and money owed to the European Central Bank. "Nearly one billion euros will be made available to the Greek state, a sum that can be used to pay arrears," the finance ministry said in a statement.


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The Grandest Art Of The Ancients

The boxer came to rest this summer at the center of an exhibition in Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, where he has been set so close to the ground that we can look directly into his face, and see what Lanciani’s workmen saw in 1885: the scars of survival. This man, too, has a heroic, muscular body, but his hands are swollen beneath the protective leather straps and leather padding that Greek boxers used for official matches (they practiced with gloves), and his face has been brutally battered.


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Greeces moves migrants from Kos

A ferry docked at the island of Kos has been used by Greek authorities to transport up to 2,500 migrants to the capital, Athens. The ferry served as…


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European Bailout Fund Approves Release of Funds for Greece

The move followed Germany's parliament approving the Greek bailout package


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Greek Ship Transporting Refugees to Dock at Piraeus Port After Route Changes Once Again

Passenger ship “Eleftherios Venizelos,” which departed with 1,700 Syrian refugees from the Greek island of Kos on Wednesday morning, changed its final destination yet again. According to information provided by the Greek Coast Guard on Wednesday evening, the ship will eventually dock at the port of Piraeus, where refugees will disembark upon its arrival at around 9 am on


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ESM Loan to Greece Officially Approved

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) 86-billion-euro loan to Greece was approved during a teleconference on Wednesday evening. The decision came after the Eurogroup approved the third Greek bailout package last Friday and the Eurozone countries officially ratified the bailout this week, with Germany’s parliament endorsing the deal earlier on Wednesday. The approval of the loan was revealed by European


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Martin Rowson on Germany approving the Greek bailout – cartoon

Continue reading...


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Eurozone approves ESM loan to Greece

#politics #economy


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Dutch lawmakers approve third Greek bailout

#politics


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German Vote Paves The Way For Greek Bailout

German Chancellor Angela Merkel casts her vote on a third bailout package for economically-troubled eurozone member Greece as she attends a ...


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Greece prepares to receive first funds after Germans back bailout

Greece will receive the first batch of funds under its new bailout programme after the German parliament voted to support the deal, despite widespread ...


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Euro Area Agrees on 86 Billion-Euro Bailout Deal for Greece

Euro-area finance ministers signed off on a bailout program for Greece of as much as 86 billion euros ($95 billion), paving the way for the nation to pay ...


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Eurozone ministers approve first tranche of Greek bailout funds

Eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday formally approved the first tranche of a new 86 billion euro ($95-billion) bailout for Greece after parliaments in member states backed the rescue-for-reforms deal.


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Turbulent passage

Migrants arrive on the shore of Kos island on a small dinghy on Wednesday. A Greek government-chartered Eleftherios Venizelos was transporting some 2,600 Syrian refugees to the Greek mainland on Wednesday, as islands struggling with an influx of migrants warned that the crisis is endangering public health.


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Eurozone approves first round of Greece bailout

The decision from eurozone finance ministers has come after pro-bailout votes in the German and Dutch parliaments. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte survived pushback from his own party to secure support for the bailout.


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First bitcoin ATMs expected in Greece this fall

Fans of cyber currency see way of circumventing capital controls


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FB group calling for ouster of Greece Parliament prez now numbers 40K members!

Zoe Konstantopoulou comes social media attack, a month after citing #itsacoup to back her anti-memorandum stance


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German lawmakers overwhelmingly back Greek bailout, clearing path for loans

The Greek government is now expected to receive an installment of loans just in time to repay a debt owed to the European Central Bank on Thursday.


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Greece Wants European Parliament Involved in Overseeing Bailout

ATHENS—Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday called for the European Parliament’s involvement in overseeing his country’s bailout program, a proposal European officials say is unlikely to win creditor approval but which shows Greece’s ...


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A German Company Will Control 14 Greek Airports as Bailout Conditions Force Privatization

A German transport company appears to be moving ahead with buying the rights to operate 14 regional airports in Greece, as the Greek government ...


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UPDATE 3-Dutch parliament endorses Greece bailout after grilling PM

One potential ally, the Christian Democrats, opposed the Greece bailout. ... Greece narrowly avoided that outcome when it closed its banks for three ...


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German approval clears way for Greece to start getting loans

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's parliament overwhelmingly approved a third bailout for Greece on Wednesday, removing the last hurdle to providing new loans to the country and keeping it from defaulting on its debts in as little as 24 hours.The vote's result also dispelled speculation that Chancellor Angela Merkel would have difficulty getting her conservative bloc to sign on. Lawmakers voted 453-113 in favor, with 18 abstentions.Along with an approval from the Dutch parliament, the German vote means Greece is cleared by European states' parliaments to get the first installment of its new 86 billion euro ($95 billion) three-year package of loans.The country needs the cash to make a debt repayment Thursday. The board of the European bailout fund that will disburse the money will hold a teleconference Wednesday night to discuss the matter.The German parliamentary approval was never in doubt but in a similar vote last month, 60 members of Merkel's conservative bloc voted against. Some local media had speculated that as many as double that could rebel this time as Germans are increasingly skeptical about giving Greece more money, but in the end only 63 from her bloc of 311 voted against.German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a senior member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Party who has been one of the harshest critics of Greece, may have helped the cause as he lobbied hard ahead of the vote for the passage of Greek's third bailout in five years.Schaeuble told lawmakers that while voting in favor of the bailout wasn't an easy decision for him, approval of the three-year loan package is "in the interest of Greece and the interest of Europe." He noted that the Greek government has taken big steps over the past few weeks to restore trust with its creditors.Germany is the largest single contributor to the bailouts and many in Schaeuble's party remain skeptical. Merkel's coalition partner, the Social Democrats, and the opposition Greens also backed the deal.In the Netherlands, a majority of lawmakers also gave its backing to the new Greek rescue after a heated debate in which Prime Minister Mark Rutte was attacked for reneging on an election pledge to not approve another bailout for Greece.Geert Wilders, the anti-Islam lawmaker who is also a staunch opponent of the European Union and financial support for Greece, called Rutte "the Pinocchio of the Low Countries" for breaking his pledge not to approve another bailout.Rutte's coalition government easily survived a no-confidence vote at the end of Wednesday's debate.The Dutch parliament did not have to formally give its approval, but Rutte said it would have been politically difficult for him to sign off on the European loans to Athens if a majority of lawmakers had rejected the plan.Under the terms of the deal, Greece has to make further spending cuts and tax increases and implement big reforms to its economy.Schaeuble laid out his hope that the bailout will help turn the Greek economy around in the longer term. Greece has suffered through an economic depression in the past six years and seen unemployment jump to over 25 percent."If Greece stands by its obligations and the program is completely and resolutely implemented, then the Greek economy can grow again," Schaeuble said. "The opportunity is there. Whether it will be used, only the Greeks can decide."Tsipras is mulling whether to call a vote of confidence in his government after a big rebellion among his radical left Syriza party over the bailout. There's also growing talk in Greece that Tsipras may opt for early elections as soon as next month now that the bailout deal is in place.Tsipras' Syriza topped January's election on a promise to bring an end to hated budget austerity measures but after months of tortuous discussions with creditors, he was forced into a U-turn so the country could get the rescue money that keeps Greece in the 19-country eurozone.As Greece expected to get the new loans, Tsipras wrote Wednesday to European Parliament President Martin Schulz to request that the parliament join the team of international institutions that monitor the country's reforms.The European Commission, European Central Bank, European bailout fund and the International Monetary Fund currently do that."I deem it politically imperative that the sole European institution with direct popular mandate acts as the ultimate guarantor of democratic accountability and compatibility of economic policy in Europe with European political and social (standards)," the letter said.___Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.Join the conversation about this story »


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Migration in the EU: We Need Leadership, Not Walls

Europe is facing what's already one of the 21st century's worst human tragedies. The humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean, which this year alone encompasses the rescue of more than 188,000 floundering migrants on their way to Europe, has failed to move some of the EU's political leaders. The most recent developments in Calais and the Greek islands of Samos and Kos, which have been completely overwhelmed by the daily arrival of hundreds of migrants and the lack of a system to take them in, are yet another sign of this lack of empathy. These tragedies remind us that the EU urgently needs a completely new migration and asylum system. Last week, the European Commission took an important step forward by approving a €2.4 billion package until 2020 that intends to assist member countries dealing with high migratory flows. Some States, however, are placing hurdles in the way: A few days before the Commission announced this measure, David Cameron and Francois Hollande opposed the proposals of Jean- Claude Juncker, the Commission's president, which included setting up fairer relocation procedures for asylum seekers who reached Greece and Italy. Fortunately, the United Kingdom and France are now aware of the necessity of proposing a European perspective to deal with the situation in Calais. Now then, this solution requires an equitable distribution so that each country can take responsibility for a number of asylum seekers. It also requires a firm commitment to tackle the roots of this complex crisis. Politicians in France and the United Kingdom, along with many others, have condemned the plans of Hungarian President, Viktor Orban, who wanted to build a four-meter wall in the border with Serbia to prevent the arrival of immigrants. And yet, fearful of the criticisms of local nationalists -who are always willing to exploit the misery of others to further their political goals--the French and British governments are planning to raise a wall of their own in Calais. It's amazing that today some people still think that building walls can be a solution for Europe. Instead of building useless walls that further divide us, the United Kingdom and France should work together to process asylum applications and provide humanitarian assistance for those who need it. Both countries have the necessary means to do more and to help asylum seekers in Calais. Instead of building useless walls that further divide us, the United Kingdom and France should work together to process asylum applications and provide humanitarian assistance for those who need it. The deaths in Calais and the current humanitarian crisis affecting many of the EU's States prove that the existing asylum and migration system is inadequate. This system, which is based on the Dublin Regulation, pressures EU countries that have external borders, since it forces the first State to receive a migrant to process the asylum application. We need to replace the Dublin Regulation with a European protocol of central asylum, one that assigns a home for refugees in a more balanced manner, and one that, of course, reinforces the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). This new European focus should promote a greater degree of solidarity between EU States. Moreover, it should ensure the compliance of international commitments regarding refugees and people who are fleeing persecution and armed conflicts. On the other hand, it is also necessary to design and implement -as soon as possible-- a new European policy that contemplates more legal and safer routes for economic migration to Europe. This would help reduce irregular migratory flows and contribute to secure, better conditions in order to deal with demographic challenges and the requirements of a changing job market. A step forward in that direction would be to extend the blue card system to cover both skilled and unskilled workers. It is also necessary to design and implement -as soon as possible-- a new European policy that contemplates more legal and safer routes for economic migration to Europe. We need more vigorous measures to face the irregular migration, strengthening Frontex and managing appropriate return and readmission mechanisms. Also, we need to make an effort to ask for reforms in the countries where the migrants are coming from, since that's where we'll find the causes of the migratory flows. We can't keep turning a blind eye to the political repression that is ruining the lives of so many young people in Africa and the Middle East. Development aid from the EU ought to be subjected to stricter conditions in order to incentivize good governance and political reform. There is no single and no simple solution to the so-called migratory crisis. This growing humanitarian problem requires political leadership and a comprehensive European focus: we can't succumb to the nationalists, point fingers, or raise walls. This post originally ran on HuffPost Spain and has been translated from Spanish. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


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Hungary’s Border Fence to Redirect Migrants to Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia Says

The fence being built by Hungary along its southern border with Serbia would redirect the wave of migrants to Croatia and Bulgaria, the Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said. "I do not believe that at some moment Serbia will make a decision, like Hungary, to build a wall on its border with Macedonia to prevent the entry of refugees and migrants," Dacic told the Serbian daily Danas on Wednesday. Serbia will also not build migrant camps, because the number of refugees on its territory is not expected to increase once the border with Hungary has finally been closed, Dacic said, and added that the refugees "will head toward Croatia and Bulgaria" because of the wall. Dacic sopke after Hungary said on Tuesday it will send several thousand police officers to its 175-kilometre long border with Serbia to guard the four-meter high fence to deter migrant influx. The number of asylum seekers registered in Hungary this year has soared to 100,000 – more than double compared with 43,000 in the whole of 2014 and 18,900 in 2013. The Hungarian government says it expects up to 300,000 migrants to reach the country this year. Up to 2,000 migrants mainly from Syria and Afhanistan enter Serbia each day recently, travelling along the so-called Balkan route from Greece and Macedonia. Typically, they Greece, crossing from Turkey. From there, the main route goes through Macedonia into Serbia and then on to Hungary. Hungary lies at the southern edge of the EU’s borderless Schengen zone which makes the country attractive to migrants seeking to enter the EU using the Balkan route.


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IMF freezes benchmark currency basket, defers any yuan addition

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it will freeze its benchmark currency basket until October 2016, giving markets more time to adjust to the possible addition of China's yuan as part of a review of global reserve currencies.The IMF board is scheduled to decide in November whether the yuan will join the Special Drawing Rights basket.Beijing loosened government controls on the yuan this month, allowing its value to fall sharply. The IMF saw the policy shift as a step toward a freer exchange rate, potentially setting the stage for the yuan to become part of the SDR basket.The decision announced in a statement on Wednesday, however, would defer the implementation of any move to include the yuan.Beijing, keen for its currency to have equal billing with the euro, yen, pound and dollar, has been pushing for the yuan to be included in the SDR basket, which determines the mix of currencies that countries like Greece receive as IMF disbursements.The United States, which is the IMF's largest shareholder, has not said if it will support the yuan's inclusion. China's currency policies have been a bugbear between the two countries since China devalued the yuan in the 1990s and unleashed a flood of exports to the United States.This month's yuan devaluation could help China's slowing economy but raised hackles from U.S. manufacturers.To be included in the SDR basket, IMF policymakers must decide the yuan is "freely usable," or widely used to make international payments and widely traded in foreign exchange markets.An IMF staff report released earlier this month, which recommended extending the basket, showed that although the currency is increasingly used in cross-border transactions and heavily traded in Asia, it is only thinly traded in North America and is not commonly used in international debt securities.Staff said freezing the current basket, which had been due to expire on Dec. 31, would avoid disrupting financial market trading on the first day of the new year and give parties more lead time to adjust to any changes.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in March asked IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde to push for inclusion, saying Beijing would speed up the convertibility of the yuan and liberalize cross-border investment rules.Lagarde has said adding the yuan to the basket is a "question of when."(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)Join the conversation about this story »


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Germany approves third Greek bailout as Angela Merkel fights off rebellion

Lawmakers in Berlin voted 453-113 in favour of the new bailout deal, with 18 abstentions. The vote removes a key hurdle in providing new loans to heavily indebted Greece.


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UPDATE 1-Dijsselbloem: IMF, euro zone can agree on Greek debt

Dijsselbloem said that while European governments opposed any nominal writedown of Greek debt, and while the IMF believed Greek debt was not ...


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Greek Environment Minister Announces Stoppage of Skouries Goldmine Development

Greek Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis announced on Wednesday that there will be a temporary stop on the ongoing gold mining project in Skouries, northern Greece. “With my decision today, we recall the approval of the technical studies. That means a temporary halt of the company’s work in Skouries,” he said after noting


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Germany approves third Greek bailout. Crisis over … for a couple of months

Athens has been set up to fail its October review of whether it is complying with the latest agreement, at which point some EU countries will cut up rough Now that Germany’s parliament has approved Greece’s third bailout, it is tempting to think that the crisis is over. Tempting, but wrong.The threat of imminent financial disaster has been averted, but only by kicking the can a bit further down the road until October. At that point Greece will have had its first review to see whether it is meeting the terms of the latest agreement, and the International Monetary Fund will have to decide whether it wants to be involved in the financial rescue package. Both are problematic. Continue reading...


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Greek PM Tsipras: ‘Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way’

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras congratulated Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis on Wednesday on his efforts to protect the environment following the latter’s decision to temporarily suspend the license of Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold, arguing it violated the terms of its technical studies. Tsipras was briefed by the Minister on the


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Greece rescues hundreds of migrants off Aegean islands

Migrants watch as the ferry Eleftherios Venizelos with Syrian migrants on board leaves the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Wednesday, Aug.


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Opinion: Greece gets its 'Groundhog Day' in Bundestag

With a large majority, Germany's parliament has approved a third credit package for Greece. But MPs can't possibly feel all that satisfied. Most of them ...


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Greek government halts production at Canadian-owned gold mine

Shares of Eldorado Gold slid Wednesday following reports that the Greek government is halting production at the company's operations in northern Greece.


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Greek gov't suspends operation of Canadian-run gold mine in northern Greece

Greece's Leftist government announced on Wednesday the "temporary suspension" of the operation of the controversial Canadian-run gold mine of Skouries in northern Greece.


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Majority of Dutch lawmakers supports Greece bailout

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A majority of Dutch lawmakers has given its backing to a third Greek bailout after a heated debate in which Prime Minister Mark Rutte was attacked for reneging on an election pledge by agreeing to the multibillion euro rescue package.


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Dutch government defeats no-confidence motion in parliament

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The government of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte easily defeated a vote of no-confidence in parliament on Wednesday called by right-wing opposition politician Geert Wilders. Wilders sought the vote in response to a government decision to support a third emergency bailout for Greece, after promising voters not to spend "one more cent" on rescuing the debt-ridden fellow euro zone country. The no-confidence motion was trounced by a large margin as only members of Wilders' rightist Freedom party and several breakaway former Freedom MPs supported it. ...


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Eldorado Gold shares slump on Greek mining halt

Shares of Eldorado Gold slid more than 10 per cent in early trading Wednesday following reports that the Greek government is halting production at ...


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'It is surreal': The 'tragic' plight of migrants arriving on the beach each day among tourists and posh hotels

A photographer has spoken of the “surreal” nature of the migrant crisis unfolding next to wealthy tourists and struggling residents of Greece.


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Netherlands will back Greek bailout, no need for vote

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday his government would support the latest bailout package Greece agreed with its creditors regardless of any parliamentary vote on the matter. Rutte said during a lengthy debate with lawmakers that a vote in support of the bailout would be unnecessary. "Voicing explicit support for Greee's support package is redundant," he said, explaining that under government rules it was the role of the cabinet to make policy.


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Wall, temple uncovered in ancient Feneos archaeological dig

Site located in mountainous Corinth prefecture of southern Greece, in the Peloponnese province


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Greek PM calls on European Parliament to join quartet of creditors

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for the European Parliament to join the so-called quartet of creditor institutions overseeing the country's 86-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout programme. "I deem it politically imperative that the sole European institution with direct popular mandate acts as the ultimate guarantor of democratic accountability and compatibility of economic policy in Europe," Tsipras wrote in a letter to European Parliament President Martin Schulz. Tsipras' office said Schulz reacted positively to his letter in a telephone conversation between the two.


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Germany to run Greece's tourist airports

Greece committed to raise 50 billion euros ($55 billion) by selling state assets as one condition of its new 86 billion euro international bailout.


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Aging Greece Needs Immigrant Human Capital, Workers

If cooler heads prevail, some of the desperate migrants would be retained in Greece, as part of immigration policy that could be manna from heaven. The post Aging Greece Needs Immigrant Human Capital, Workers appeared first on The National Herald.


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Turkish Stream May Extend to Austria via Balkan Route

Greece, Hungary, Macedonia and Serbia may sign a memorandum on the construction of a gas pipeline from Turkey to Austria in the autumn, Vedomosti reported on Wednesday, citing a participant in the project The foreign ministers of the four countries are expected to meet in September to take a decision on preparations for a feasibility study, an official of Hungarian gas company FGSZ has confirmed to the the Russian newspaper. An official of Hungary’s foreign ministry said the planned pipeline has been called Tesla and the first meeting of the working group in charge of drafting the project has taken place on 25 June, according to Vedomosti. The Tesla pipeline will be an extension of the Turkish Stream pipeline proposed by Russia’s Gazprom to carry Russian natural gas to Turkey beneath the Black Sea. A planned gas hub at Turkey’s border with Greece will enable the potential transit of Russian gas to southern and central Europe. The Tesla pipeline project, with an annual capacity of 27 billion cubic meters (bcm), is expected to be finalized by 2019, if approved by all participants. The pipeline would pass through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary to eventually reach the Baumgarten gas hub near Vienna. Its length will be 1,300-1,400 km. Preliminary estimates put its cost at EUR 4-5B, Vedomosti said. A final investment decision is expected to be made in the first quarter of next year. Construction works are planned to start a year later. A extension of the pipeline to Italy from Greece might also be built, according to a source close to the Greek side in the negotiations. In this case the capacity of the pipeline on Greek territory should be increased by 15 bcm of gas which Italy would receive through Tesla. According to a source familiar with the project, the planned investment in Tesla doesn’t include an extension from Greece to Italy. If the Greek section of Tesla has to have capacity to carry 42 bcm (27 bcm + 15 bcm), its estimated cost will be about EUR 2B.   The Turkish Stream pipeline comprising four lines with a combined annual capacity of 63 bcm has been proposed to run from Russia to Turkey beneath the Black Sea. Out of the 63 billion cubic metres, Turkey is to take about 14 billion cubic metres while the remainder is proposed to be transited to a gas hub, to be built on Turkey’s border with Greece, for exports to Europe. Turkish Stream was launched as a substitute to the Gazprom-led South Stream pipeline project which Moscow cancelled in December 2014 over objections from the European Commission. Turkish Minister Taner Yildiz on Wednesday told reports he has sent a draft agreement on Turkish Stream to Moscow and is now waiting for a response. The construction of the first line of Turkish Stream from Russia to Turkey will cost EUR 4.3B, while the price of the four proposed pipes will be EUR 11.4B, according to Gazprom estimates. Gazprom has declined to comment on plans for the construction of the Tesla pipleine, Vedomosti said. If and when Turkish Stream starts functioning bringing Russian gas to Turkey, Tesla will face competition from the Eastring gas pipeline project, Vedomosti said.   Eastring has been proposed as an extension to Turkish Stream to Slovakia via Bulgaria and Romania. In early June, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico proposed to connect Eastring to Turkish Stream and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev promised to study the proposal, Vedomosti said.          


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Greece resists efforts to renegotiate regional airports deal

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Greek government is resisting efforts by a state-controlled German company to renegotiate aspects of its concession to operate 14 prime Greek regional airports.The radical left-led government, which initially opposed the 1.23 billion-euro ($1.37 billion) concession agreed last year, was forced to accept it to secure the country's third international bailout.Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili said Wednesday that Athens wants the deal implemented as is and that Greece "cannot accept" efforts by the German firm to secure better terms.The deal, which is the first privatization under the government elected in January, was announced Tuesday.But Fraport AG, which runs Frankfurt Airport among others across the world, said there is "still a need on our side" to negotiate the project.Join the conversation about this story »


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Ferry packed with refugees heads for Greek mainland

By Alkis Konstantinidis KOS, Greece, (Reuters) - A passenger ship that is housing Syrian refugees set sail from the Greek island of Kos on Wednesday, heading for the mainland as authorities struggle to cope with a wave of arrivals. The ship, which has acted as a floating accommodation and registration centre since Sunday, was heading for the northern port of Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city, where it was expected to arrive on Thursday morning. Local authorities in Thessaloniki were taken by surprise to hear the ship would be heading their way but would hold meetings to handle the issue, the city's deputy mayor for social policy, Kalypso Goula, told Athens News Agency the municipality.


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S&P just launched a Catholic Values Index – but it completely ignores Pope Francis' recent letter

S&P Dow Jones Indices just created a new index that excludes companies apparently involved in activities that are deemed "inconsistent" with Catholic values. However, it seems to be ignoring a key issues Pope Francis recently wrote to every Catholic bishop about – thinking about the environment and "replacing fossil fuels." The S&P 500 Catholic Values Index only excludes companies involved in any form of activity related to war. It tracks invests in oil and gas companies. This month, the Pope said "highly polluting fossil fuels needs to be progressively replaced without delay" in an encyclical, which is a letter sent to all Catholic bishops by the Pope. So, investing in oil and gas stocks probably isn't what he was hoping for. If companies are involved in the following activities, they will not be included from the S&P's new index: Biological weapons, chemical weapons, cluster bombs, landmines Nuclear weapons – any exposure to whole systems and strategic partnerships Conventional Military sales – companies that have their primary business activity as military products Child labor employment in the company’s operation or in supply chain “Sustainable issues represent one of the most important cost and revenue drivers in the modern corporate world,” said Julia Kochetygova, Head of Sustainability Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices in a statement. “By selecting stocks that comply with the US CCB, the S&P 500 Catholic Values Index aims to include companies with resilient business profiles by addressing the ethical challenges that can make a stronger investment case. We are excited to be working with Global X by licensing this new and innovative index to them.” The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (US CCB) is responsible for deciding what is deemed not morally in keeping with the Catholic faith and excludes investment in what is not. The body outlined this in the Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines. The launch of the index comes at an interesting time because some of the largest American Catholic organisations are at odds with Pope Francis' recent mandate to religious leaders about the environment. Some of the biggest Catholic institutions in the US invest heavily in oil – which, again, are not excluded from the S&P 500 Catholic Values Index. In fact, global energy giant Exxon Mobil is one of the top-weighted stocks in the index: At the beginning of the month, America's third largest Catholic institution by Catholic population, the Archdiocese of Chicago, told Reuters it has $100 million (£64 million) worth of investments related to fossil fuels. Reuters' report also claimed that dioceses in places such as Boston, Baltimore, Toledo, and a bulk of Minnesota have millions of dollars worth in oil and gas stock holdings too. At the time of Pope Francis' letter, the US CCB did not say whether it would review its policy in investing in fossil fuels, but judging by today's launch – we've now got the answer.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 6 mind-blowing facts about Greece's economy


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