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A BOOBY-TRAPPED car exploded outside the Bank of Greece in central Athens early this morning without injuring anyone, hours before Greece was due to return to the debt markets after a four-year absence.
The vehicle, a stolen Nissan packed with 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of explosives, blew up around 2.55am as it was parked on the pavement facing the central bank building.
Internet news website Zougla and the Efymerida ton Syndakton newspaper were informed of the planned attack by telephone one hour beforehand.
The blast came on the day Greece was due to sell bonds on the international markets for the first time since 2010 and hours before German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to arrive in Athens.
As head of Europe’s largest economy she played a key role in ensuring Greece did not crash out of the eurozone at the height of the debt crisis two years ago.
Athens found itself frozen out of debt markets in 2010 after it revealed its public accounts had been falsified, and was forced to seek a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid defaulting.
The government announced on Wednesday that it would sell five-year bonds, with one of the banks running the deal saying Greece was expected to sell bonds worth at least 500 million euros ($690 million).
The last issue of five-year bonds four years ago had an interest rate of 6.1 percent, but experts believe that Greece might pay investors a rate of return as low as 5.0 percent this time.
Athens’ move was welcomed by the IMF, which along with the European Union and the European Central Bank has provided monetary support for the troubled economy.
In return for the bailout funds, Greece has had to institute a host of deeply unpopular reforms including streamlining its bloated public sector, moves that have sparked regular strikes and protests in a country suffering a sixth straight year of recession and with a staggering 28-percent unemployment rate.
The announcement of the return to debt markets came on the same day that protesters launched the first anti-austerity strike of 2014, following five general strikes the previous year.
The strike shut ferry services to the country’s world-famous islands, disrupted air travel and closed pharmacies and government offices.
The so-called “troika” of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the IMF first bailed out Greece in 2010 with a programme worth 110 billion euros.
When that failed to stabilise the economy, they agreed a much tougher second rescue in 2012 worth 130 billion euros, plus a private-sector debt write-off of more than 100 billion euros.
The government of centre-right Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is currently in talks with the creditors over the latest instalment of the bailout, with loan payments worth some €8.5 billion pending.
According to reports, the creditors are pushing for additional civil-service layoffs and changes to a 1982 law on strikes to reduce their frequency.
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Newsagents and shops will have to pay more to sell cancer
Great comment there Gerry…..NOT
I hope they are fully staffed with nurses in the BURN department!
But will purveyors of other Carcinogens pay more? I’m sure Mr Noonan will ignore Hep sufferers: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are viruses that cause acute or chronic liver disease. They are listed in the report as “known human carcinogens” because studies in humans show that chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections cause liver cancer. Approximately one million United States residents are chronically infected with HBV, which primarily is transmitted through sexual contact (50%) and intravenous drug use (15%).
I hate what has happened. I feel sorry for people coming out of school. Go to college? Can’t afford fees. Get a job. Is none. Maybe a part time job. Sure how do you save to go to college on a part time wage?
Cigarette cause Cancer n its Legal n Cannabis is Anti Cancer n its illegal….
My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I’m causing no harm, it shouldn’t bother you “Mr whoever Make the Law”
@ Criminal
imagine the amount of money generated if they make drugs legal then tax it
At least they left the box of matches alone?
A Nurse Bank, I Would love some interest from that.
In NY where I work we use agency and Per Diem (bank nurses). It is cheaper as they don’t get benefits or pension contribution. Great for my budget but these group work when they want not when I need them. And nary a one is available when it comes to the holiday season. It causes morale issues with regular staff who are paid less and have little choice about schedules.
If that’s the case in NY Mary, be very interesting in Ireland to see how that works
I see that already where I work , the full time staff have little or no choice when it comes to Christmas but the permanent but cover staff refuse to work it as they feel they don’t have to , however they are the first to complain about not getting ti work every Sunday and Bank holiday . It has caused serious problems amongst staff . Wont work in the long term.
how many people and new born babys have cancer and never smoked??????????
You should take the percentage of people who don’t/have never smoked and get cancer versus the number of smokers who get cancer. Or you could engage your brain before you comment.
Loads, if they live near Chernobyl.
Anything about when the free gp care comes in for under 6s?
Why not bring in “free” everything? How many jobs will be lost raising the €40,000,000 to pay for “free” under 5 doctors visits? I’d guess about 4,000.
I just asked a simple question. I have read a good few of the budget documents abduction could see no detail on it. as this article is aimed at going into more detail on the budget, i thought it was the appropriate place to ask the question.
and* not abduction!
Sandra legislation will be needed here and this is likely to be heavily opposed ao I reckon wr’re looking at Q4 2014 before anything concrete is in place
If I visit a doctor under five times , is it free?
Is that a typo the our debt will rise from 205 MILLION to 2011 BILLION by 2016? Or should the million have been billion???
Typo. We are already screwed
Making cigarettes illegal or having any drug illegal for that matter is not a good idea. While this may seem counter-intuitive, it makes sense.
Crimes rates from a black market would increase and thus violence. Stress would be put on Gardai, courts and the justice system and also cost a fortune. Products would be adulterated and worse for your health. People would still end up in hospitals which would cost the government a fortune (taxing such products is what’s paying these bills currently).
Not to mention illegality prevents researchings developing cures and treatments due to harsh licensing of studying illegal substances.
All on top of making criminals of otherwise law abiding people AND making access to their treatment more difficult!
Sandra its under 5′s. I dunno, but would imagine Jan 1st as with most reforms.
It is 5 and under apparently and i heard it is later in 2014 as they haven’t planned anything yet to implement it.
I am building an Ark.. Any takers?
have your say