SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA Euro zone officials are scheduled to hold a meeting to approve the payment of a 2.8-billion-euro ($3.65 billion) loan to Greece.

The meeting will be held by the Eurogroup Working Group on Monday, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told lawmakers on Saturday, Reuters reported. 

The payment will be made if Greek MPs approve a reform law on Sunday. 

The proposed law contains several reforms and tax measures, including provisions that facilitate dismissal of workers in the public sector. 

Stournaras said the country needs the loan to pay wages, pensions, and bonds held by the European Central Bank due on May 20. 

"Passing the bill opens the way for the disbursement of the 2.8 billion euros… it doesn't get more urgent than that," he stated.

Members of the Eurogroup Working Group, who are mostly deputy finance ministers or senior treasury officials, will also meet on May 20 to make a decision about another 6-billion-euro loan to Greece. 

The country has already received about 200 billion euros from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund since mid-2010. 

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its sixth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left tens of thousands of people without jobs. 

Many Greek workers are currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed. 

Greek youths have also been badly affected, and more than half of them are unemployed. 

The worsening debt crisis has forced the governments of European Union states to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered massive demonstrations in many European countries.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA Euro zone officials are scheduled to hold a meeting to approve the payment of a 2.8-billion-euro ($3.65 billion) loan to Greece.

The meeting will be held by the Eurogroup Working Group on Monday, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told lawmakers on Saturday, Reuters reported. 

The payment will be made if Greek MPs approve a reform law on Sunday. 

The proposed law contains several reforms and tax measures, including provisions that facilitate dismissal of workers in the public sector. 

Stournaras said the country needs the loan to pay wages, pensions, and bonds held by the European Central Bank due on May 20. 

"Passing the bill opens the way for the disbursement of the 2.8 billion euros… it doesn't get more urgent than that," he stated.

Members of the Eurogroup Working Group, who are mostly deputy finance ministers or senior treasury officials, will also meet on May 20 to make a decision about another 6-billion-euro loan to Greece. 

The country has already received about 200 billion euros from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund since mid-2010. 

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its sixth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left tens of thousands of people without jobs. 

Many Greek workers are currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed. 

Greek youths have also been badly affected, and more than half of them are unemployed. 

The worsening debt crisis has forced the governments of European Union states to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered massive demonstrations in many European countries.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Finance Ministers of the Eurozone met in the Belgian capital Brussels and okayed at a 10-hour long meeting, the Greek Cypriot request for a bailout package.

The ministers agreed on a 10 billion Euro package for the criss-striken country.

In return, Greek Cypriot Administration is asked to increase taxes, privatize public properties and introduce tight regulations in the banking sector.

The head of the Eurozone Group Jeroen Dijsselbloem said after the meeting that the assistance is warranted to safeguard financial stability in Greek Cypriot Administration and the eurozone as a whole.

The terms also include a one time tax of 9.9 percent on bank deposits on more than 100 thousand Euros, and a 6.75 percent tax on smaller deposits.

The taxes are estimated to generate nearly 6 billion Euros.

The Greek Cypriot Administration opposed the terms on grounds that they would upset depositors and investors.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:TRT

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –The euro hit its highest level in over a year on Wednesday and shares, oil and metals were also on the rise, as confidence in the global economic outlook strengthened ahead of European data and the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy decision.

The Fed is expected to maintain asset buying at $85 billion a month when it concludes its meeting later and retain its commitment to hold interest rates near zero until unemployment falls to at least 6.5 percent.

European economic confidence data for January at 1000 GMT, ECB crisis loan repayments and Italy's sale of five and 10-year bonds will absorb most of investors' attention before then, as they look for further evidence of a pick-up in the region.

Share markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened little changed ahead of the data, leaving all eyes on a rally by the euro as it broke above $1.35 for the first time since December 2011.

Alongside the recent rebound in confidence in the euro zone, one of the drivers behind the recent spike has been the eagerness of banks to repay the crisis loans they took from the European Central Bank just over a year ago.

"It (the euro rise) is just a carry on with the current trend, risk is pretty healthy and equities are doing well," said Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi strategist Derek Halpenny.

"The danger is European policymakers allow a spike (in euro and market rates) as a result of a removal of one of the principle support measures ... With the Fed and the BOJ still easing the euro is clearly the path of least resistance."

An earlier rise in Asian equities meant the MSCI world share index was up 0.2 percent at a new 21-month high as European trading gathered pace. U.S. stock futures suggested a cautious start on Wall Street.

Strong U.S. housing data on Tuesday and China's promising economic growth forecast for 2013 also supported the upbeat mood and raised expectations for robust demand for fuel and industrial commodities, underpinning oil prices and lifting copper.

In the bond market, German Bund futures opened lower as investors made room for a sale of long-dated German paper and braced for solid demand at an Italian debt auction.

Italy will offer up to 6.5 billion euros of bonds maturing in 2017 and 2022. Traders expect the sale to benefit from yield-hungry investors but flagged the risk of indigestion after a bout of buying in recent months that triggered a sharp rally.

"(The auction) probably (goes) alright but I don't think it trades well afterwards," one trader said.-www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: Reuters

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – According to mobilegeeks.de the price of the Galaxy Note 8.0 is 391 euro. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is the number four in Samsung’s Galaxy Note line-up. Samsung has already the Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is still not officially announced by Samsung sadly everything already leaked out. The Galaxy Note 8.0 uses a 8.0” display 5 megapixel camera, quad-core processor and is based on Android 4.2 called Jelly Bean. 391 euro for a Galaxy Note 8.0 looks to be fine for us. But spec-wise the resolution and screen are not the best…

We expect Samsung to showcase the Galaxy Note 8.0 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona! SamMobile is live this year at MWC 2013 and we will make some hands-on with the Galaxy Note 8.0. Make sure to follow us on twitter or just join us on the renewed website around that time!

Full specification list:

Code name: KONA

Android version: 4.2 Jelly Bean

Official name: GALAXY Note 8.0 (3G, Wi-Fi)

Product codes: GT-N5100, GT-N5110

Battery: 4600 mAh

Dimension: 211.3×136.3×7.95 mm , 330 gram.

Display: 8.0”1280×800 TFT (Super Clear LCD)

GSM networks: EDGE (850/900/1800/1900) HSPA+21.1Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps (850/900/1900/2100)

Camera: 5 Megapixel (BACK)

Camera: 1.3 megapixel (FRONT)

Processor: 1.6 quad-core processor

RAM + Storage: 2GB (RAM) + 16/32GB (optional) + microSD (up to 32GB)

Connections: BT 4.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, A-GPS-www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: Sam Mobile

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Berlusconi will keep the $100m villa where the couple lived with their three children, as part of a divorce deal reportedly filed on Christmas Day.

Ms Lario left Berlusconi in 2009 after he was seen at the 18th birthday party of an aspiring model, Noemi Letizia.

US magazine Forbes estimated his wealth at almost $6bn in March.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that Ms Lario, 56, had initially asked for $56m a year.

Her 76-year-old ex-husband reportedly offered her about $5m.

The couple met in a dressing room in 1980 after Berlusconi saw Ms Lario perform in a Milan theatre.

They were married in 1990.

He has two other children from his first marriage and is currently engaged to 28-year-old Francesca Pascale .

Berlusconi was Italy's longest-serving post-war prime minister until he resigned in November 2011.

He says he will run for office again in 2013.

His third term in office saw slow growth and a national debt of $2.6 trillion and his government was slow to implement austerity measures in response.

Court cases

He also became embroiled in a series of financial and sex scandals.

In October 2012, he was sentenced to four years in jail by a Milan court after being convicted of tax evasion.

He is currently appealing against the decision, and commentators say it is unlikely that he will serve any time in jail.

He is also standing trial on charges of paying to have sex with an underage girl in 2010.

Her identity was later revealed as Karima El-Mahroug, widely known as Ruby Rubacuori (heart-stealer), a Moroccan nightclub dancer who was 17 years old at the time.

He is also charged with abusing his powers to get Ms Mahroug released from police custody after she was arrested for shoplifting.

Berlusconi denies the charges.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - Antonis Samaras, prime minister of Greece, has once again warned that the nation could be forced out of the eurozone if parliament fails to approve a new round of austerity measures needed for a lifeline from creditors.

Sunday's statements come days ahead of a Wednesday vote in parliament on a bill outlining $23b of cuts and other reforms, followed by a vote on Sunday on the 2013 budget as Greece battles to secure a new tranche of aid from its troika of international creditors.

"We must save the country from catastrophe ... if we fail to stay in the euro nothing will make sense," Samaras told legislators from his conservative party.

Samaras said the votes were vital to "put an end once and for all" to the risk that Greece, faced with a crushing debt mountain, could return to the drachma, its former currency.

He called on coalition partners, the socialist Pasok and the moderate left-wing Dimar (Democratic Left) parties, which have raised concerns about the scope of the measures, to act in the "supreme interests of the nation".

Venizelos, socialist leader and former finance minister, echoed Samaras's "catastrophic" warning over failing to deal with Greece's debt burden.

"Until our country comes out of the crisis, we are confronted with two choices: one is very difficult and the other is catastrophic," Venizelos said.

Further cuts

Greek unions however are planning a two-day strike from Tuesday to coincide with the austerity vote amid seething public anger over further painful cuts in a country that is heading for its sixth year of recession.

Greece has been negotiating with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank to unlock a 31.5b euro tranche of a bailout package or risk bankruptcy in mid-November.

But the IMF said last week that the talks were stalled over the conditions for financing Greece, which has been seeking a two-year extension to meet its fiscal goals, sending stocks crashing.

The Dimar party, which has 16 deputies, has suggested it would vote against the bill on Wednesday because of its objections to labour market deregulation proposals, while up to five socialist legislators could also defy Samaras.

The dissenters would leave the government with a narrow majority, with just 154-159 seats in the 300-member assembly, the Greek press said on Sunday, while predicting the measures would nevertheless go through.

In an interview with Ethnos newspaper, Fotis Kouvelis, Dimar party leader, restated his opposition to the proposed labour reforms, accusing Samaras and the international creditors of trying to distance the party and bypassing it.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)– Euro zone inflation eased as expected in October thanks to slower growth of energy prices, but unemployment rose to new record highs in September, data from the European statistics office Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

Eurostat estimated consumer inflation in the 17 countries sharing the euro was 2.5 per cent year-on-year, down from 2.6 per cent in September, though still above the European Central Bank target of below, but close to 2 per cent.

Upward pressure came mainly from more expensive energy, the prices of which increased 7.8 per cent year-on-year in October, but more slowly than in September, when they were up 9.1 per cent year-on-year.

The second biggest inflation contributor was food, which was up 3.2 per cent year-on-year, up from 2.9 per cent the month before.

Economists expect the European Central Bank to cut interest rates once more before the end of the year from the current record low of 0.75 per cent, to support the slowing economy which is likely to have sank into a recession in the third quarter.

Inflation pressures in the euro zone are low because unemployment is a record levels, rising to 11.6 per cent of the work force in September – the highest level for the 17 countries that now make up the euro zone since 1995.

Eurostat said 18.49 million people were without jobs in the euro area, up by 146,000 from the month before.

The highest unemployment rate was in Spain, where the number of jobless rose to 25.8 per cent of the work force in September from 25.5 per cent the month before. Among young Spaniards, under 25 years, unemployment rose to a staggering 54.2 per cent from 53.8 per cent.

Austria had the lowest unemployment rate of 4.4 per cent, followed closely by the euro zone’s biggest economy, Germany, with 5.4 per cent.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — The euro coin is not made of a single metal, but of several. Nor was the currency born to a single country, as with the dollar or the yen. It was born as an idea so that countries united only by geography might share a bond that would make them stronger. And that bond, that linchpin, is the euro. There may be another road, but this is the one we have taken. And in theory it seems a good idea, but like all good ideas that haven't been around for very long, it needs to be protected. The euro is the cornerstone – or rather the metal linchpin – of a united Europe.

Together we earn more

In a crisis, your own finances become more important than keeping together a community. In Europe, countries have started making accusations towards each other and there is a fear that the eurozone might break up. Rich countries blame southern Europe for being financially imprudent, while poorer countries feel exploited by the richer ones. Everybody is tired of empty integration slogans.

We want Europeans to start treating the euro like their personal business. The slogan "Together we earn more" shows what the common currency is for, why it's worth keeping and it also presents the euro as a common strength and opportunity.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) —The steam has gone out of the euro crisis for now, but many of the deeper structural problems of the euro zone remain, and several changes meant to address them will be the subject of the nextEuropean Union summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

The relaxed atmosphere is a welcome relief for Europe’s leaders, who are accustomed to conducting such meetings in crisis. Markets work on expectations, and expectations now are that the European Union and the euro zone, in conjunction with theEuropean Central Bank, will muddle their way through the next few months at least with no threat to the currency.

There is always the risk that the currency will fall apart, but not soon, and even the markets appear to have recognized that the euro seems here to stay. Reassured by the European Central Bank and explicit German promises that Greece will not leave the euro, investors have brought down interest rates on loans to Spain and Italy, easing the immediate pressure on Spain to seek a politically unpopular bailout.

The visit last week to Greece by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany was an important moment, a conclusion to the long internal German debate about whether Greece should “Grexit,” or leave the euro. Her visit, and accompanying statements, made it clear that Germany was committed to Greek membership. Financial experts and officials say that implies that Berlin will also allow Athens more time, as it has asked (supported by the International Monetary Fund), to meet the terms of its bailout as its economy continues to shrink in a deep recession.

The issue will be how to give Greece more time without having to go back to the German Parliament to ask it to approve giving Athens more money (at least another $26 billion, analysts say), but that is also a decision that will be left unmade until after the American presidential election. The Germans remain convinced that pressure must be kept on Greece if long-delayed economic reforms are to be finally carried out. But the so-calledtroika — the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank — looking into Greek compliance with loan requirements, an important step toward approving the next, needed portion of loans, has gotten the message and delayed its report, too.

The mood has also been improved by the formation of the permanent bailout fund, the $650 billion European Stability Mechanism, which passed muster with the German constitutional court.

Investors seem reassured by the vow of the president of the European Central Bank,Mario Draghi, to do whatever is necessary to keep the euro stable and to drive down Spanish and Italian yields to what it considers appropriate levels. In return for the bank’s intervening in bond markets, countries are supposed to agree to a program that is not quite a troika bailout but involves oversight.

While Spain is reluctant to sign up, and Germany is urging it not to ask for help unless it is really needed (stemming from the same reluctance to go back to the German Parliament), Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is already doing most of what he knows would be required. That will make it easier for Spain when it does decide, probably before Christmas, to seek some help.

And despite complaints from the German central bank, the Bundesbank, about the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program, it has the support both of Ms. Merkel and her main opposition, the Social Democrats.

Another important factor that is easing pressure is serious talk of institutional change in the European Union and the euro zone, in particular a kind of banking union, with a single supervisor for the bloc that would be more exacting in putting banks in order than national boards. That is coupled with discussion of more cohesion, coordination and oversight by Brussels of national budgets in the euro zone.

The summit meeting is not considered any sort of make-or-break session — in a way, it is a return to the more normal meetings the bloc used to have.

At issue is a draft paper by the European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy, to pull the 17 nations of the euro zone — and future members, like Poland — closer together. Mr. Van Rompuy’s agenda includes a banking union with a single supervisor, already agreed upon in principle by members in June, and a single budget for the euro zone, which could imply a euro zone treasury down the road.

The Germans talk a lot about more political and fiscal union for the euro zone. But in fact, Germany and its northern allies, like the Finns, Dutch and Austrians, do not want to rush into a broad banking union, fearing that they will be held responsible for fixing too many broken banks. And a single budget for the euro zone goes too far for many countries.

The leaders can also spend some time fighting over the existing European Union budget itself for the years 2014 to 2020, with Britain leading the charge to protest greater central spending at a time when member states are cutting their own budgets.

But most economists interviewed say that if the euro is to survive in the long run, the common currency needs common banking rules and supervision, including a collective bank-deposit insurance program, so that euro deposits in Greece are as safe as those in Germany. Combined with a more rigorous attitude toward reducing debt, economists like Daniel Gros, the director of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, maintain that the real economy will continue to work to adjust imbalances in the euro zone. Already, current account balances are improving, Greek prices are dropping (encouraging tourism again), and German exports are slowing.

But there remain worries about the longer-term future. David Miliband, the former British foreign secretary, said that there was too little strategic thinking. “The tragedy of the left is that it’s against reform, and the tragedy of the right is that it sees austerity and reform as the same thing,” he said in an interview. “The proper position is to encourage structural and institutional reform but without harping on too much austerity,” which, he said, is “worsening the disease and making the tunnel longer.”

The deeper problem of the European Union, Mr. Miliband suggested, is that its institutions as currently set up are “neither legitimate nor effective,” unlike the union in the 1980s, when there was a democratic deficit but it did not matter much, because the bloc’s leaders delivered. The “delivery deficit,” he said, “is more damaging than the democracy deficit.”

www.shafaqna.com/English