site.news_by_theme Greece

European governments argued through the night in a bid to agree a deal on tightening the oversight of eurozone bank, hours before leaders stage on Thursday their final summit of a gruelling third year in debt-crisis mode.

Blue-eyed Angelina had the misfortune of being born in Greece in 2010, just as the country became engulfed by an economic crisis that has deprived her parents, like so many Greeks.

Greece's PDMA national debt agency said on Monday it had begun a voluntary buyback of the country's bonds at heavily discounted prices, a condition for receiving its latest instalment of EU-IMF bailout funds.

A powerful international bank lobby warned Thursday that the outcome of Greece's looming debt buyback program remains uncertain and warned that it must be "purely voluntary."

The euro slipped in Asian trade on Wednesday after a buying spree sparked by Greece's bailout deal fizzled owing to lingering concerns over Europe's sovereign debt problems.

Greece won breathing space Tuesday with long-frozen eurozone loans to restart from December and a first clear admission that a chunk of the country's debt burden will need to be written off down the line.

Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels Monday for the third time in two weeks for talks on unlocking the next slice of aid to debt-crippled Greece, which is in danger of running out of money.

The euro fell in Asian trade on Wednesday and shares eased after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree on a deal to unlock the latest batch of crucial bailout cash for Greece.

The Greek parliament on Sunday approved a slashed 2013 budget which the government has vowed will secure the release of foreign aid vital to save the debt-ridden country from insolvency.

Greek lawmakers vote Wednesday on austerity measures needed to unlock international aid and stave off bankruptcy despite strikes and public anger against billions more euros in tax hikes and pension cuts.

New austerity measures to be voted on by Greek lawmakers on Wednesday are expected to deal a further financial blow the country's football teams as fans find it increasingly difficult to pay for tickets.

The Greek government will get a grace period of an extra two years to rein in its runaway public debt.

Eurozone leaders on Friday hailed Greece's achievements in carrying out reforms aimed at getting its economy back on track and urged Athens to keep up efforts to stay in the eurozone.

Simplification of visa procedures for Kazakhstan citizens is discussed in Athens.

There are now 30 million more people without jobs around the world than before the global financial crisis began, the head of the International Labour Organization said.

The International Monetary Fund is happy for debt-battered Greece to have an extra two years to bring its runaway deficit in line with the demands of global creditors.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit Tuesday to debt-strapped Greece may provide a chance to ease tensions born of the economic crisis.

The eurozone is unlikely to survive in its current form and one or more countries will probably have to leave the 17-nation single currency bloc, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said Sunday.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed the urgency of sealing an austerity pact ahead of crucial talks Monday between Greek officials and the so-called troika of international creditors.

Austerity cuts imposed in Greece have created an explosive situation in the country's overcrowded prisons, where sanitation and food services are in disarray, insiders warn.
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