By John O'Donnell BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Some euro zone countries want a European Commission task force to be given extra powers to oversee the sale of Greek state assets and the country's civil service under a far-reaching plan to tighten supervision of Athens, EU sources have told Reuters. The radical proposal, dismissed by some officials as a form of colonialism and which may be shot down in the face of st ...

Germany Questions Contract By SPIEGEL A huge arms deal is threatening to put French-German relations under strain. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, France wants to deliver two to four new frigates to the Greek navy and to allow the highly indebted nation to postpone payment of the €300 million ($412 million) purchase price per ship for the next five years. A stealth frigate built by DCNS of Fra ...

By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News Researchers have issued a warning about the health of people in Greece in the wake of the financial crisis. Writing in The Lancet, they said cuts to hospitals' budgets meant they were being overstretched. More people were reporting "bad health" and HIV infections were on the increase, the authors warned. While public health experts said the picture was "concernin ...

Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road There is always another one walking beside you T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land, V. What the Thunder Said We are indeed living in strange times. We are being forced to bare witness to the demolishment of the social foundations of the very essence of ʽEuropeʼ. The winds of history a ...

A year ago he tried to set him self on fire in a branch of Piraeus Bank in the corner with Tsimiski and National Defense in Thessaloniki. Today he returned... The 54 year old shouted that he was drawing in debts and that they where trying to burn him alive, along with his family. He was holding a petrol tank which he used to pour petrol on him and, later, managed to set him self on fire! Policemen from the ...

By Peter Schwarz 8 October 2011 The European institutions have clearly changed course in relation to Greece. Instead of the “rescue” of the country, they are now discussing its bankruptcy, and reducing the risk of contagion. The euro rescue fund, supposed to guarantee Greece’s solvency, is being used to secure the creditor banks against the consequences of state bankruptcy. The change of course has happened ...

By Apostolis Fotiadis ATHENS, Oct 2, 2011 (IPS) - Every working day a long queue of people forms outside the State Translation Service in Thission in downtown Athens from early in the morning. Most are youngsters processing documents they need to leave Greece for study or work. Many move on to queue later outside embassies for visas. These are signs on the street of the emigration wave sweeping Greece. As G ...

In Athens, thousands are marching at the General Strike demonstration – it is estimated that the ADEDY (public servants’ union) demo alone has more than 10,000 participating. Demonstrators from the union’s march tried to push down the police fence outside parliament and were tear-gassed by police. At least four detentions have been reported so far, including 17-year olds. There is also at least one confirme ...

Dear All, The issue of the fortune that the Papandreou family has made by the buying and selling of credit default swaps (CDS) is "old news" in Greece.   The first time that this issue was raised within Greek parliament was by the MP of the Conservative Party (ND) P Kamenos. The revelations that "Mr"  P Kamenos made provided the first base of evidences regarding the very profitably activities concernin ...

Inthe recent days repeated racist attacks take place in various neighborhoods of Athens. Slogan written outside of Aghios Panteleimonas church "Foreigners Out of Greece", "Go to Hell" • Last night, 2 Afghan immigrants were attacked outside their home. When they saw a group of thugs approaching, scared they tried to run away but did not manage to escape. The gangs attacked them leaving one stabbed! The victi ...