A tsunami of capital flight from Greece threatens to overwhelm the authorities, forcing the country out of the euro before fresh elections in June. Economists warned that the Greek financial system could crumble within weeks or days unless the European Central Bank steps up support.
In which case the Greek financial system will crumble within weeks...
President Karolos Papoulias told party leaders that banks had lost 700m in withdrawals on Monday alone as citizens rush to pre-empt capital controls and a much-feared return to the Drachma.
He cited central bank warnings that "great fear" might soon escalate to panic. The leaked details lend credence to claims that capital flight by both savers and firms have reached 4bn a week since the triumph of anti-bailout parties on May 6.
Steen Jakobsen from Danske Bank said outflows are becoming unstoppable, not helped by open talk in EU circles of `technical' plans for Greek withdrawal.
"This has a self-fulfilling prophecy built into it and I don't think we can get to June. The fuse is burning and the only two options now are a controlled explosion where Germany steps in to ensure an orderly exit, or an uncontrolled explosion," he said.
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#2
I don't see the point in following the evolution of political boundaries over any 1000-year period, anywhere in the world. They are always changing.
Of course they are. That's what is fascinating. When you are stuck in a swamp, up to your axles in mud and Huns, it's interesting to know how you got there.
[Emirates 24/7] A man set himself on fire on Tuesday outside an Oslo courthouse where the Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is on trial for murdering 77 people last July, police said.
The man doused himself with liquid and set himself on fire before attempting to breach the security fence around the courthouse, police front man Kjell Kverme said.
The national daily VG posted a video on its website, vg.no , showing the man with flames on his hat and sweatshirt running toward a security checkpoint and being tackled by police.
Officers ripped his sweatshirt off and stamped out the flames.
Kverme said the man, who appeared to be a Norwegian, had shouted at police before setting himself on fire but officers could not make out what he said.
The man, who witnesses said appeared to be Caucasian and in his 50s, was taken to hospital with serious injuries on his torso.
[Al Ahram] French officials say that new President Francois Hollande's ...the Socialist president of La Belle France... plane was hit by lightning en route to Berlin. They say no one was hurt but that the plane returned to Gay Paree as a precaution.
French Defense Ministry front man Gerard Gachet said the Falcon 7X aircraft was struck by lightning shortly after take-off Tuesday, and returned to the Villacoublay air base for inspection.
Defense officials say the president and his entourage were transferred to another aircraft, a Falcon 900, and took off shortly thereafter.
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2012 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Seeking to end a nine-day deadlock, Greece's president met on Tuesday with five political party leaders in an effort to form a new government after inconclusive elections plunged the crisis-hit country into further disarray.
The meeting will examine a new proposal brought by President Karolos Papoulias for a government of technocrats or respected personalities, after repeated negotiations for a coalition government collapsed. If no deal is reached, Greece will have to call new elections.
The protracted political certainty has left Greeks frustrated and worried about whether a government of non-elected individuals would work.
``The solution is provided by democracy and democratic procedures. This means that there should be another election and they should stop intimidating the people and engaging in tactics of terror,'' said Athens resident Yannis Ekaterinaris.
No party won an outright majority in Greece's May 6 election, leading to an impasse that has shaken financial markets and led to questions about Greece's ability to stay in the eurozone. Power-sharing efforts have failed so far after the left-wing Syriza party, which came second in the vote, insisted that the draconian terms of Greece's financial rescue agreements be scrapped or rewritten.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Nice try but apparently no Gyros at all for everybody ...
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > GREECE: COALITION TALKS COLLAPSE.
Twas a Quickie it was.
* SAME > [Greek Commie Party] KKE: NO PARTICIPATION/ROLE IN COALITION GOVT. TALKS.
* IRAN MILITARY FORUM > GREECE VIRTUALLY WIDOUT CASH ONE DAY BEFORE CRITICAL BOND MATURES.
* SAME > GREEK COMMUNIST PARTY CALLS FOR ANNULMENT OF GREEK LOAN DEAL; YET ANOTHER UNFORTUNATE ATTEMPT TO BROKER A [Multi-Party Govt = Coalition] DEAL.
Nulling or voiding Govt. Debts, espec to Foreign Nations, is one of the first things Commies histor love to do first.
* SAME > JP MORGAN ESTIMATES IMMEDIATE LOSSES FROM GREECE EURO EXIT COULD REACH $400.0BILYUHN.
#2
Meanwhile, the private citizen run on Greek banks continues. Those Euros will be worth significantly more than whatever is to follow at the local level.
[Tripoli Post] François Hollande, 57, was sworn in as the President of La Belle France Tuesday morning officially succeeding Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and departing President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... on Tuesday. Then a few hours later flew from Gay Paree to Berlin to start immediately the real work of being head of state for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... Hollande flew to Berlin early evening after being officially inaugurated at the Elysée Palace to become the seventh president of the Fifth Republic. He was due to meet his German counterpart for a "working dinner" where the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis was expected to be top of their agenda.
After waving goodbye to his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande signed the notice of formal handover of power and headed into the Elysée ballroom where a number of specially selected guests were there to greet him.
In his first speech as President, Hollande wasted no time in reaffirming his position on the future of Europe. "Europe needs plans. It needs solidarity. It needs growth," he said in front of millions of TV viewers watching the event.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
French officials say that new President 
[Emirates 24/7] Seeking to end a nine-day deadlock, Greece's president met on Tuesday with five political party leaders in an effort to form a new government after inconclusive elections plunged the crisis-hit country into further disarray.
