NEWS IN ENGLISH 14/03/2015
The financial team of the Government is meeting under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in the Maximou mansion today, in view of the ongoing negotiations with representatives of the country’s lenders .
An alternative quantitative easing was suggested by Finance Minister Yianis Varoufakis in theAmbrosetti Economic Forum in Como, Italy according to Italian media.Die Linke, Podemos and SYRIZA, as well as several German-based associations, organized a demonstration outside the German Finance Ministry and a march to the Brandenburg Gate, chanting : No to the blackmail of Greece by the European Union, the European Central Bank and the IMF, immediate abolition of MoU s and their application laws, denial and canceling of public debt.
The new President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos received wishes from the political, judicial and military leadership. Mr. Pavlopoulos announced he will undertake initiatives aimed at political consensus, stressing that his role is to unite the democratic forces.
The government is proceeding to the acceleration of the tabling of bills, disclosing one more bill next week concerning justice and the penitentiary system.
A protest rally outside Korydallos prison took place this afternoon, in solidarity to hunger strikers Dimitris Koufontinasand Giorgos Sofianidis. The main demands of the protesters were the abolishment of anti-terrorist laws and of Type C prison facilities, the abolition of the use of DNA tests, as well as the cessation of the persecution of relatives of prisoners. They also asked for the release of Savvas Xiros who is in need of specialised medical care.
The financing needs of the State are attempted once again to be met with the assets of pension funds, through an amendment tabled in Parliament. In the same amendment a provision is made for the payment of 555.6 million euros of the Financial Stability Fund to the Greek Public.
By an amendment to the bill on the humanitarian crisis, the government removes the appointed Supervisory Board of state broadcaster NERIT, while the State Minister reportedly acquires the ability to change the existing Board of the company.
In the meantime Nerit published in Diavgia an invitation for a real property appreciation contest, only a few days before the draft law for the re-opening of ERT is tabled in Parliament. This development has caused serious concern to the former employees of ERT and to those who stand in solidarity to their struggle, requiring immediate response from the government.INTERNATIONAL
In Myanmar an overloaded ferry sank last night, causing the death of 33 people. 12 are reported missing, while 167 passengers were recovered unharmed.Cyclone Pam,one of the Pacific Ocean's most powerful storms ever, devastated the island nation of Vanuatu, killing at least eight people with the toll set to rise, according to aid officials . Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale has called for international help, describing the storm as a "calamity”.
WEATHER
Fair weather is expected tomorrow for the largest part of the country. Northern winds blowing in the Aegean, 6 and locally 7 beauforts. A small temperature rise, with temperatures in Attica ranging from 4 to 15 degrees Celsius and in Thessalonica from 4 to 14 degrees.