s rotating presidency, there were sharpshooters on the roofs, sniffer dogs roaming the streets and more than 2,000 riot police outside government offices and hotels. "I am worried that soon there will be an attack," said former foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis, giving voice to the fears stalking Greece after Xiros failed to report to authorities while visiting his family during a nine-day leave from...
s merchant marine minister has accused the survivors of a fatal migrant boat sinking of changing their accounts of the incident, initially saying the Greek coastguard saved them but later accusing it of badly mishandling the rescue operation. Twelve people, mostly children, are believed to have died in Monday's sinking . Only two bodies have been found. The small fishing boat carrying 28 people had...
s second-largest city Thessaloniki in terrorism-related raids, police said. In a video uploaded on Monday, Xiros criticised the handling of Greece's financial crisis, threatened politicians and journalists and vowed further attacks. Professing a mix of Marxism and nationalism, the November 17 group killed 23 people, including Greek politicians, businessmen and British, American and Turkishforeign diplomats...
s austerity plan hasn't worked. Greece's possible recovery is down to a construction programme boosting the economy It was nearly four years ago that the Greek government negotiated its agreement with the IMF for a harsh austerity programme that was ostensibly designed to resolve its budget problems. Many economists, when we saw the plan, knew immediately that Greece was beginning a long journey into...
UN refugee agency urges Greece to investigate incident in which a total of 12 people are feared to have drowned Greek officials say the bodies of a woman and an 11-year-old boy have been found a day after a fishing boat crammed with migrants capsized in the dark, leaving 12 people feared drowned in the Aegean sea. A coastguard statement says the two bodies were found on Tuesday by authorities on the...
s economic crisis. The opening of the centre in the northern city of Thessaloniki comes as ever more Greeks are forced to turn to charities for help. "Greece, to a great degree, has become a failed state," said Aliki Mouriki, a sociologist at the National Centre for Social Research. "It is unable to provide basic facilities for its citizens because of budget cuts. "In the absence of public welfare,...
s leader's bid to be president of European commission Alexis Tsipras, leader of the opposition in Greece, as a candidate for the president of the European commission ? Is that a joke? The best answer to this question has recently been given by the Italian philosopher Franco Berardi Bifo , who said "I will vote for Tsipras, even if it's useless", and added in his characteristic tone: "Taking those 200...
those who stole our lives and sold our dreams' Two weeks after going underground, a convicted member of November 17, once Greece's deadliest terror group, has vowed to return to armed action, reigniting fears of a resurgence of political violence. In a video manifesto released on Monday, Christodoulos Xiros, who was serving multiple life sentences when he vanished on furlough from prison, pledged to...
s savage dressing down of Samaras – just as he was savouring the glory of crisis-plagued Athens assuming the rotating EU presidency. "You come here, Mr Samaras, and tell us that you represent the 'sovereign will of the Greek people'. Well, I am sorry but you are not in charge of Greece, and I suggest you rename and rebrand your party," railed Farage last week as Samaras, slumped in his seat, looked...
Filippos Loizos found guilty of blasphemy after portraying the late Father Paisios as a pasta-based dish A man who created a Facebook page poking fun at a revered Greek Orthodox monk has been sentenced to 10 months in prison in Greece after being found guilty of blasphemy. Thousands of Greeks took to social networking sites to protest against the arrest in 2012 of Filippos Loizos, 28, who used a play...
s local branches – has been handed by police to a public prosecutor investigating the extremists' alleged illegal activities. "What this confirms, without a shadow of doubt, is that Golden Dawn is not only a Nazi group but a criminal organisation that operated as a paramilitary structure," said Dimitris Psarras, the country's leading authority on the party. "We are literally talking about thousands...
the defining humanitarian crisis of our time' The Refugee Council's letter to David Cameron The crisis posed by millions of refugees from Syria's civil war flooding into neighbouring countries is becoming a humanitarian and political catastrophe that can only be eased if Europe opens its doors, the UN and European commission have warned. More than 2.1 million refugees have been registered by the UN...
s Democratic party (the successor to what was western Europe's largest communist party), Matteo Renzi, has called for the government to be even more determined in implementing its economic reform package. The package involves reducing public expenditure and changing regulations to make labour markets more flexible and attract foreign investment. In pointing out how many European countries are now "furiously...
troubles. Because you have so many of your own, you cannot take more weight. You have become lonely people looking for electronic friendship. Your schedule consists of work and solitude on weekdays; then forcing yourself into superficial pleasure on a Saturday. You strive to improve your external appearance in gyms and health farms, then undo your work by eating and drinking excessively. You feel...
Monthly non-farm payroll shows December was the weakest month for new job creation since January 2011 Graeme Wearden ...
s crackdown on neo-Nazi party as 'totally illegal' Nick Griffin, the leader of the far-right British National party, appeared in Athens on Friday to pledge his support for Greece's neo-fascist organisation Golden Dawn. Griffin, who was declared bankrupt last week, attended the Golden Dawn press conference to challenge the Greek government's crackdown on the extremist group in the European court of...
s EU presidency reinforced the isolation of German chancellor Angela Merkel, who has dominated the policy response to the EU crisis for the past four years. Following four years at the sharpest end of Europe's debt and currency crisis and €250bn in bailout funds, the Greek government declared enough was enough. "Greece does not want to have any more fiscal conditionality," the finance minister, Yannis...
As Greece takes over the EU chair, a fresh eurozone crisis is inevitable unless Germany changes its tune There is something poignantly symbolic about the fact that it is under a Greek presidency that the EU faces 2014 – a year which could determine whether or not the post-second world war process of closer European integration not just halts but goes into reverse. But while Greek mythology provided...
The Christian holiday of Epiphany marks the visit of the three kings to the infant Jesus, according to the western church. To the eastern Orthodox church, it marks the baptism of Christ. No matter the meaning, both branches of Christianity celebrate the day with gusto ...
s central plaza to bear the marks of riot and wrath, the Greek authorities have been tarting up Syntagma square as Greece prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the EU on New Year's Day. Greece's assumption of the role – which comes with the ability to regulate policy in the 28-nation bloc – marks a major milestone for a state whose continued EU membership appeared far from assured a year...