Archive
Reuters blog archive
from Full Focus:
Down and out in Athens
Athens based photographer Yannis Behrakis spent several weeks documenting the unemployed and homeless in Greece as the economic downturn starts to impact the homeless numbers. Read Yannis' personal account here.
from Photographers Blog:
A dramatic rescue outside my window
Athens, Greece
By John Kolesidis
Today I woke up to the deafening sound of thunder. The rain was pouring hard.
I made myself a cup of coffee and watched the rain out the window flood the surrounding streets. I was at a loss as to how I would get to the office without getting soaked, so I decided to stay put until things calmed down a bit. When I finished my coffee, I looked out the window again, and things had taken a dramatic turn.
A bit further down the street I could see an immobilized car getting swollen by the flood. Then I heard some muffled voices. I put on my galoshes and raincoat, took my cameras, and tried to get there. I walked through a small park, but that led me behind barbed wire which I couldn't get over. I saw a woman trying to hold on to her car door, while the water was at waist level. I called out to her not to be scared, urging her to hold on to the door until I could get closer.
from Photographers Blog:
Greece’s new army of the homeless
By Yiorgos Karahalis
Ragged clothes, small piles of belongings and a bleak future, Greece’s new army of homeless have swelled in numbers since the debt crisis hit the country.
As part of ideas to highlight the story that has dominated headlines for the past two years, I wanted to illustrate the emerging problem of homelessness in a country which has seen a rise in the number of homeless by 20-25 percent in the last two years alone - a staggering rise in a country where adult children live with their parents, in some cases until the day they get married, and pensions traditionally go to support young families.
from FaithWorld:
Athens debt crisis taxes cosy ties between state and Greek Orthodox Church
(Greek orthodox priests hold a Greek flag in a protest in front of the parliament house during a rally in Athens, February 6, 2011/John Kolesidis )
The Greek Orthodox Church owns more land than anyone except the state, employs thousands on the public payroll, has a stake in the nation's biggest bank, but campaigners say its tax payments are derisory. The Church vehemently denies accusations it is one of Greece's biggest tax dodgers and says it is playing a vital social, economic and spiritual role in this time of hardship.
from Your View:
March to Commemorate 1973 Revolt.
Thousands march in Thessaloniki to commemorate the 1973 student revolt in Greece, November 17, 2010. Your View/Alexandros Michailidis
from FaithWorld:
Mob in Athens abuses Muslims as they celebrate Eid
(Photo: Muslim immigrants pray during Eid al-Adha celebrations in front of Athens university November 16, 2010/Yannis Behrakis)
Dozens of far-right activists and local residents threw eggs and taunted hundreds of Muslim immigrants as they gathered to pray in a central square for Eid al-Adha surrounded by a protective cordon of riot police.
Greece, which has become the main immigrant gateway to the European Union, has a growing Muslim community and tensions between locals and incomers have run high in some Athens areas such as Attiki square, the scene of Tuesday's incident.
from Global News Journal:
Rating agencies warned to watch their step
Credit rating agencies cannot win.
They were blamed for carelessness before the crisis, handing out over-generous ratings on the packets of mortgage-backed securities that subsequently unravelled, sending the global economy into a spin and leading to Lehman Brothers collapse. Now they are being criticised again, this time for being too cautious, by dishing out rating downgrades to countries in Europe being sucked into Greece's debt crisis.
Standard & Poor's recently downgraded Spain's rating one notch to AA, warning that the outlook was bleak for the euro zone's fourth biggest economy. Struggling Greece has also been marked down -- to junk status -- and now hovers close to Pakistan and Venezuela in the credit stakes. Portugal is another country to be singled out for downgrades from the leading ratings companies.
from Global News Journal:
I can prove that avoiding the ash cloud is possible
How do you get from Helsinki to Milan when the whole of the airspace in northern Europe is closed?
Well, I did it and what's more -- most of the journey was done by plane.
I'm the Reuters Italian sports reporter and I really needed to get back to Milan in time for this Tuesday's big Champions League semi-final first leg soccer match between Inter and Barcelona.
from Global News Journal:
Markets call euro zone’s bluff on Greek aid
The surge in the spread of Greek bond yields over German ones since European leaders issued a promise of emergency loans to Greece last month indicates financial markets do not believe the pledge of euro zone support is anything more than a bluff.
And they are itching to call it.
Euro zone leaders have been betting that a promise of loans to Greece and strong words of political support will be enough to calm markets and allow Athens to borrow at more reasonable rates, therefore rendering any real aid -- the dreaded bailout -- unnecessary.
from Left field:
Rules support loss of medals for Cox’s U.S. relay team
Rules in place at the time of the 2004 Olympics make it increasingly likely all members of the U.S. women's 4x400 metres relay team will lose their gold medals because of last week's doping suspension of alternate Crystal Cox.
Rule 39.2 of IAAF Competition Rules 2004-2005, which governed athletics participation at the Athens Games, clearly calls for the loss of medals if a team member violates anti-doping rules.
