Keep Talking Greece Greek News in English, Blog, Wit & Drama

 Tension prevailed off Farmakonisi island on Wednesday morning, when Turkish coastal guards called a Slovenian patrol boat of EU-Border agency FRONTEX to leave the area and a Greek patrol boat was rushed to clear the territorial issue of the island. Greek media report that the captain of the Turkish boat called the Slovenian boat to …

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Greece fevers with a massive 24-hour general strike as more than 30 trade unions participate in the anti-austerity mobilization organized by public and private sector unions ADEY and GSEE. The strike comes just days before the announcement of an additional austerity package of 11.5 billion euro and extra taxes of 2 …

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Five people reportedly committed suicide in different parts of the Greek capital. On a single day, five people were reportedly transferred to Evangelismos hospital in Athens.  Last Thursday evening. One man had shot himself in the head, three women had jumped from their home balconies. A fourth woman had cut her belly …

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Outraged relatives and friends of murdered Manolis Kantaris tried to lynch his two Afghan murderers, after a court convicted them to life sentence. Only with big effort, police managed to take the situation under control and lead the convicted away from the angry relatives and friends.  Manolis Kantaris, 44, was stabbed …

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Extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) expanded its activities on the other side of the Atlantic, with the aim to reach out Diaspora Greeks in USA and Canada and widen their sphere of influence. Under the drive of charity collection, GD opened a branch in New York and had some appearance in …

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How much additional money Greeks need, should the bailout program be extended for two years? On Monday, German weekly DER SPIEGLE claimed that the Greek budget shortfall was 20 billion euro. On Tuesday, German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung claimed the shortfall is even bigger and ‘stamped’ the shocking number: 30 billion …

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Trainee doctors in Attica state hospitals had an original idea to draw attention at the shortages and shortfalls in the Greek health care sector that is falling apart. During a protest on Tuesday morning, they doused artificial blood at the front of Evangelismos, the biggest state hospital in Athens. With …

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Greece’s Parliament Speaker and MP from conservative Nea Dimocratia Evaggelos Meimarakis suspended his duties following a corruption and money laundering inquiry by authorities. According to reports Meimarakis suspends his duties as Parliament Speaker until the inquiry concludes. He does not resign from his position. Citing a press release issued by Meimarakis, news …

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It is raining ‘padlocks’ in the centre of Athens with one out of three shops to have disappeared from the map. According to a survey conducted by the National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE) factors like the economic downturn, the reduction of purchasing power, the high rents as well as the explosion …

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Does the Greek budget have a black hole of 200 billion euro? German weekly DER SPIEGEL claimed so, citing troika sources who spoke under condition of anonymity. Greece denied such reports on possible budget shortfall, while Germany urged to wait for the Troika report. Spiegel: 20 billion euro black hole in the …

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Workers at Athens public transport will launch work stoppages during the general strike on September 26th 2012, in order to facilitate strikers to join the protest rallies in downtown Athens. Blue Buses, Trolley, Metro and Urban train (HSAP/ISAP) will operate only between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Tram will operate from …

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Greek police arrested a 27-year-old Greek on charges of “malicious blasphemy and insutlting of religion” through Facebook. The arrest came “after thousands of e-complains from residents of different countries of the world”, so the police press release. The 27-year-old had created a page on Facebook named “Geron Pastitsios” (Elder Pastitsios), an …

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