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Couple sentenced to life over killing of 2-year-old boy
25 February 2015 ekathimerini
A court in Iraklio, Crete, on Wednesday handed life terms to a 20-year-old Bulgarian woman and her 30-year-old
boy-friend, also Bulgarian, after finding them guilty of the murder of the woman’s 2-year-old son in March last year
at their home in the village of Skourvoula.
The pair are said to have dipped the boy in boiling water repeatedly, leaving him with third-degree burns that
caused his death.
In their testimonies to the court, the couple claimed to have put the boy in the water to help him go to the toilet.
25 February 2015 ekathimerini
A court in Iraklio, Crete, on Wednesday handed life terms to a 20-year-old Bulgarian woman and her 30-year-old
boy-friend, also Bulgarian, after finding them guilty of the murder of the woman’s 2-year-old son in March last year
at their home in the village of Skourvoula.
The pair are said to have dipped the boy in boiling water repeatedly, leaving him with third-degree burns that
caused his death.
In their testimonies to the court, the couple claimed to have put the boy in the water to help him go to the toilet.
Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis says EU deal a 'fig leaf'
AFP/Kathimerini 27 February 2015
Greece's maverick Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Friday called a
hard-fought EU deal securing a bailout extension "fig leaf" vaguely worded
"deliberately" to secure approval by European parliaments.
"We are proud of the level of vagueness" in the agreement signed with
eurozone finance ministers this week, Varoufakis told Antenna TV.
The outspoken minister said this was «deliberately done» at the suggestion of
Greece's EU creditors "otherwise it would not be approved by (their) parliaments."
The statements were made as lawmakers in Germany -- one of Greece's toughest critics -- voted overwhelmingly in
favor of the agreement that gives Athens four months to work out a new reform blueprint.
"The deal was a fig leaf to conclude the Eurogroup and dispense with the fiscal agreement (Greece's bailout deal),"
Varoufakis said, according to transcripts of the interview on Antenna's website.
AFP/Kathimerini 27 February 2015
Greece's maverick Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Friday called a
hard-fought EU deal securing a bailout extension "fig leaf" vaguely worded
"deliberately" to secure approval by European parliaments.
"We are proud of the level of vagueness" in the agreement signed with
eurozone finance ministers this week, Varoufakis told Antenna TV.
The outspoken minister said this was «deliberately done» at the suggestion of
Greece's EU creditors "otherwise it would not be approved by (their) parliaments."
The statements were made as lawmakers in Germany -- one of Greece's toughest critics -- voted overwhelmingly in
favor of the agreement that gives Athens four months to work out a new reform blueprint.
"The deal was a fig leaf to conclude the Eurogroup and dispense with the fiscal agreement (Greece's bailout deal),"
Varoufakis said, according to transcripts of the interview on Antenna's website.
Retail sales decline for second month in a row
27 Feb 2015 Reuters
Greek retail sales by volume fell 1.2 percent in December compared to the same month a year earlier, after falling
1.3 percent in November, statistics service ELSTAT said on Friday.
Sales volumes had risen for five months in a row through October on a pickup in consumer spending as the
economy recovered from a protracted recession.
But a rise in political tensions toward the end of the year hit consumer sentiment.
Retail sales in November were revised to a fall of 1.3 percent from a previous reading of a fall of 1.5 percent.
Greece’s international lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, expect the economy to
have recovered modestly in 2014 after six years of deep contraction.
National output is projected to have grown 0.6 percent, driven by tourism, investment and exports.
Hit by the country’s deep economic slump and record unemployment, retail sales declined by about 40 percent in
2009-13, driven by austerity policies imposed under the terms of Greece’s 240-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout.
27 Feb 2015 Reuters
Greek retail sales by volume fell 1.2 percent in December compared to the same month a year earlier, after falling
1.3 percent in November, statistics service ELSTAT said on Friday.
Sales volumes had risen for five months in a row through October on a pickup in consumer spending as the
economy recovered from a protracted recession.
But a rise in political tensions toward the end of the year hit consumer sentiment.
Retail sales in November were revised to a fall of 1.3 percent from a previous reading of a fall of 1.5 percent.
Greece’s international lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, expect the economy to
have recovered modestly in 2014 after six years of deep contraction.
National output is projected to have grown 0.6 percent, driven by tourism, investment and exports.
Hit by the country’s deep economic slump and record unemployment, retail sales declined by about 40 percent in
2009-13, driven by austerity policies imposed under the terms of Greece’s 240-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout.
Greek hoteliers lobby calls on Finmin Varoufakis to keep VAT at current level
28 February 2015 Newsbomb
The Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) called on Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis to keep VAT for hotels at its current level and said if the government
wanted to increase its revenues it should fight tax evasion instead, in a letter
released on Thursday (26/02/2015).
The previous government had plans to raise the 6.5 percent VAT for hotels to 13 percent, as part of obligations
related to the country's loan agreement. Businesses on Greek islands pay as much as 30 percent less tax than the
mainland, but SETE said the two taxes should not be confused.
SETE stressed that the benefit of raising VAT levels long-term would not justify the losses the islands would incur
from lower bookings and lost jobs,
28 February 2015 Newsbomb
The Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) called on Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis to keep VAT for hotels at its current level and said if the government
wanted to increase its revenues it should fight tax evasion instead, in a letter
released on Thursday (26/02/2015).
The previous government had plans to raise the 6.5 percent VAT for hotels to 13 percent, as part of obligations
related to the country's loan agreement. Businesses on Greek islands pay as much as 30 percent less tax than the
mainland, but SETE said the two taxes should not be confused.
SETE stressed that the benefit of raising VAT levels long-term would not justify the losses the islands would incur
from lower bookings and lost jobs,
