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10 Nov 2011 14:58

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World: Greece finally has its new Prime Minister

  • Papademos walks into a tumult: After days of chaotic political wrangling and general panic over Greece’s debt crisis (as well as the euro zone writ large, as Italy teeters on a dire edge), a new Prime Minister has been selected to replace the outgoing George Papandreau. The new man in charge is Lucas Papademos, the former VP of the European Central Bank. “The course will not be easy. But the problems, I’m convinced, will be solved. They will be solved faster, with a smaller cost and in an efficient way, if there is unity, agreement and prudence,” he said. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Nov 2011 09:21

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World: Greek PM George Papandreou expected to resign as soon as Sunday

  • We only have to wait for the prime minister’s announcements in the cabinet. Everything must be done within the day, otherwise tomorrow it will be hell.
  • Greek politician Telemachos Hitiris • Discussing the expected plans for the Greek government, which just had a prime minister survive a no-confidence vote. The plan now will be to come up with an interim coalition government to replace Prime Minister George Papandreou, who could resign as soon as Sunday. It’s been a weird week in Greek politics, in case you haven’t been following along. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Nov 2011 19:47

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World: Greek PM George Papandreou survives no-confidence vote

  • yeah … After a week full of hand-wringing (he called a referendum on an aid package, then backed off) after months of general annoyance, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou managed to survive a no-confidence vote on Friday.
  • … but Don’t expect him to remain in power for long; Papandreou reportedly plans to work towards forming a unity government, which he may or may not lead. He says he’s willing to step aside if it’s a good choice for the country. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Nov 2011 10:25

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World: Stocks hate democracy: Greek PM puts aid package up for referendum

  • cause In a surprising move that threw off the entire world market, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said that he would put the country’s aid package up to a public referendum.
  • reaction Stocks worldwide reacted to the news poorly, including the U.S., which fell by more than two percent. The markets were already volatile; the danger of Greek default made things even worse. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Oct 2011 11:24

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World: Greek austerity protests: Tens of thousands take part in massive strike

Roughly 16,000 people showed up for protests in Athens, and another 10,000 showed up in the northern city of Thessaloniki. The protests are in reaction to expected job cutbacks due to austerity measures. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2011 16:39

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World: Making amends: Greece floats a completely different flotilla idea

  • blocked A couple days back, Greece blocked a flotilla headed towards Gaza from heading out of one of its ports. It understandably drew a lot of controversy from certain quarters of the political sphere — but briefly took attention off the country’s austerity crisis.
  • allowed Now, it seems that Greece is ready to offer up a mea culpa to Palestine — in coordination with the United Nations, they’ll send a ship loaded with aid over to Gaza, which they’ll offer up to the Palestinian Authority — but, as you’ll note, they aren’t working with Hamas. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2011 12:02

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World: Greece’s not-so-hot week ends with a blocked flotilla to Gaza

  • action Despite a ban blocking flotillas headed towards Gaza from leaving Greek ports, an American one attempted to do just that yesterday. It was turned away by the Greek coast guard, which reportedly pointed machine guns at flotilla passengers. This comes  on the heels of Greece’s austerity vote.
  • reaction As you might imagine, reaction to this news was emotional on both sides. “Greece sold its body to the banks and its soul to Israel and the United States,” said one activist on the flotilla. The ship was named “The Audacity of Hope,” meaning Obama was indirectly dragged into this situation, too. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

29 Jun 2011 18:48

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World: Protests continue in Greece after austerity plan passes

  • Tumult, violence in Greece: Passions continue to run hot in Greece after the party-line vote in favor of a harsh new set of austerity measures — the new tax burden placed on minimum wage earners, in particular, has inflamed swaths of the public against the plan. Protests had been increasingly violent leading up to the vote, and have sustained after the plan’s passage — police have responded with teargas attacks on the protesting crowds. As always, we hope people find a way to keep themselves safe in all this. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2011 11:42

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World: Greek austerity passes parliament, ensuring international loan

  • 155-138 mostly along party lines source
  • » Harsh words for the opposition: George Papandreou, the leader of the Socialist Party, had this to say towards the opposition New Democrats in the heat of the all-important vote: “All of Europe knows that your party is responsible for the current situation.” The vote, which only one member of parliament on either side crossed lines for, means that the country will receive a $17 billion rescue plan to make it through the Summer, with a second, much larger one in the works. Meanwhile, outside parliament, large-scale protests continued unabated.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jun 2011 17:24

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World: Christine Lagarde named new head of IMF

  • The new face of the Fund: The International Monetary Fund’s hunt for a new managing director (in the wake of rape allegations against former leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn) has come to an end, and Christine Lagarde is the winner. Lagarde is currently a French Finance Minister (meaning the European grip on this position will continue), and will begin a five-year term as the IMF head on July 5th. Her first comments of relevance since the announcement, predictably, were about Greece: “If I have one message tonight about Greece, it is to call on the Greek political opposition to support the party that is currently in power in a spirit of national unity.” Translation: I’d really like you all to get going with this unpopular austerity plan, sooner rather than later. (photo via the World Economic Forum’s Flickr page) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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