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☆ Analysis: Greek bonds snapping at heels of southern Europe's best in class
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Stefano Rebaudo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The country has received three international bailouts from the euro zone and the IMF worth 280 billion euros ($308 billion) since 2010. "The Greek (bond) market is not so liquid and tends to be more volatile, but we have a lot of good news. The Greek economy is still heavily exposed to volatile sectors like tourism or shipping, but it is less sensitive to manufacturing headwinds. The premium, or spread, of Greek government bond yields over those of Spain recently fell to its lowest since 2008 at around 27 basis points . Across southern Europe, only Portugal and Spain trade at a smaller premium to Germany - the euro zone benchmark - than Greece.

Persons: Athanasios, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Goldman Sachs, Filippo Taddei, Piet Haines Christiansen, Giorgia Meloni, Mario Draghi's, Christoph Rieger, Stefano Rebaudo, Sara Rossi, Amanda Cooper, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Bank of America, Democracy, Analysts, European Recovery Fund, Danske Bank, Italy's, ECB, Italian Treasury, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Greece, Spain, Europe, Portugal, Germany, European, Italy, Italian

☆ Do Kwon: Crypto fugitive sentenced to four months in Montenegro prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Kwon Do-hyeong, also known as Do Kwon, the disgraced former crypto boss who is wanted in the United States and South Korea on fraud and other charges, has been sentenced to four months in prison in Montenegro. A court in the southern European country sentenced Do Kwon and another South Korean national, Han Chang-Joon, Monday to four months behind bars after they were found guilty of falsifying documents, a spokesperson for the Basic Court in Podgorica told CNN. According to Reuters, Han was previously the finance officer of Terraform Labs, a blockchain platform founded by Kwon. Authorities found and confiscated two Costa Rican passports, two Belgian passports and two identity cards from the former crypto executives. The court in Podgorica said Monday the sentence would be written and delivered to Kwon and Han within the following 30 days.

Persons: London CNN — Kwon, Kwon, Han Chang, Joon, Han, Luna Organizations: London CNN, Korean, CNN, Reuters, Terraform Labs, Authorities, Costa, Labs, US Securities and Exchange Commission, ” Prosecutors, Twitter Locations: United States, South Korea, Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro’s, Dubai, Costa Rican, Seoul, Serbia

☆ Column: Europe's clashes over coal may extend well beyond Poland
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, while Poland may be Europe's most coal-dependent economy with roughly 70% of electricity coming from coal, it is far from being Europe's only economy with a vested interest in extending the life of its power plants. HEAVY USERSGermany has the highest number of coal plants in Europe, with 53 facilities listed as participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), data from Ember shows. Poland is also home to the Belchatow Power Station, which is by far Europe's largest thermal coal plant, which alone spewed out over 35 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022. Czechia, formerly the Czech Republic, has 19 coal-fired plants in the EU ETS which emitted a collective 34 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022. Share of electricity from coal in select European countriesBulgaria, which depended on coal for 42% of electricity last year, has five plants in the EU ETS which emitted 23.8 million tonnes last year.

Persons: Ember, Belchatow, Gavin Maguire, Sonali Paul Organizations: Union, European Union, EU, Trading, ETS, EU ETS, World Bank, Belchatow, Southern, Global Energy Monitor, Western, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LITTLETON , Colorado, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, Czechia, Greece, Europe, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy

☆ The Atlantic published a story describing killer whales as 'sadistic jerks.' The pro-orca internet was unamused.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An Atlantic article published Saturday described orcas as "sadistic jerks" in nature. This is after a string of boat attacks involving orca whales off the coast of Spain and Portugal. Orcas off the coast of Spain and Portugal, potentially inspired by a female whale named White Gladis, are sinking ships and destroying vessels. One person pointed out that they were called killer whales for a reason. After a recent spike in orca-boat incidents off the southern European coast over the past few months, orca attacks on boats are happening daily and may continue to ramp up.

Persons: —, White Gladis, orcas, they've, Jacob Stern, They're, Whales, Philip Lewis, Laura Bassett, Jezebel, Stern Organizations: Service, Twitter Locations: Spain, Portugal

Kalamata, Greece CNN —A boat that sank killing dozens of people was caused by a “sudden” shift in weight, Greek authorities said Thursday, in one of the largest-scale migrant vessel disasters in southern Europe this year. “A sudden shift in weight is likely to be the cause of what led the boat to capsize and then sink,” Hellenic Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told CNN on Thursday. A migrant vessel pictured by the Greek coast guard on June 13 sank in the Mediterranean on Wednesday. From their accounts there seem to have been women and children on board,” he told CNN while helping survivors on the ground. “These people had not eaten for many days, had not drunk water for many days, were burnt by the sun,” the Greek Rescue Team member told CNN affiliate CNN Greece.

Persons: Greece CNN —, Nikos Alexiou, Thanasis Vasilopoulos, ”, “, –, ” Flavio Di Giacomo, Dimitris Chaliotis, Maria Triantou, Triantou, Frido Herinckx, ” Herinckx, Francesco Rocca, ” Rocca Organizations: Greece CNN, Hellenic Coast Guard, CNN, Rescuers, International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, ERT, NGO, Hellenic, Cross, International Federation of Red, Red Crescent Societies, Greek Rescue, CNN Greece, ” CNN Locations: Kalamata, Greece, Europe, “, East, Asia, Africa, Tobruk, Libya, Italy, ‘ State, Hypocrates, Athens

☆ Russia repelled a mass attack by Ukraine's high-speed marine drones on a reconnaissance warship in the Black Sea, Moscow says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine unsuccessfully attacked a Russian warship in the Black Sea, Russia's defense ministry said. Russia said Ukraine used six unmanned boats to try and attack the ship on Sunday. The Black Sea peninsula was invaded by Russian forces and illegally annexed by Putin in 2014. At the time of Ukraine's attempted attack, an American RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in the central part of the Black Sea, the ministry's statement added. In May, a Russian warship, the Ivan Khurs, was attacked by three unmanned speedboats in the Black Sea.

Persons: —, Ukraine's, Ivan Khurs Organizations: Service, Russian, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Reuters, Russia's Defence Ministry, Russian Defence Ministry Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Sevastopol —, American, Europe, Turkey, Black

☆ Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Russian ship near major gas pipelines in Black Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had made unsuccessful attempt to attack a Russian naval ship with six high-speed drone boats as the Russian vessel patrolled major natural gas pipelines in the Black Sea. At the time of the attack, a U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in the central area of the Black Sea, the defence ministry said. "The Black Sea Fleet ship 'Priazovye' continues to carry out its assigned tasks," the defence ministry said. The pipeline, which allows Moscow to bypass Ukraine as a transit route to Europe, carries Russian natural gas to southern Europe through the Black Sea and Turkey. The Blue Stream pipeline delivers Russian gas to Turkey.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Ukraine, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Sevastopol, Crimean, U.S, Turkey, Moscow, Europe

☆ The Eurozone Slipped Into a Mild Recession Early in the Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Spending in the eurozone fell 0.3 percent in the first three months of this year after falling 1 percent in the previous quarter. Across Europe, countries swiftly stockpiled energy reserves, and a mild winter, together with mass conservation efforts, helped avoid the worst. The strategy has helped drive down the price of energy, and inflation in the eurozone’s biggest economies climbed down from record highs. In May, the annual rate of inflation was 6.1 percent, the eurozone’s lowest level in more than a year. The International Monetary Fund has warned that European policymakers’ main challenge this year would be to tame inflation without stoking a severe recession.

Persons: ” Claus Vistesen, “, ” Organizations: “, Pantheon, European Central Bank, Monetary Fund, ’, Analysts, ING Bank, Bank’s Locations: Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, France, Ukraine, Europe

In-store and online sales rose 13% to 7.6 billion euros in the first quarter, in line with the 13.5% seen in the first six weeks of the financial year. The company said it plans to invest 1.6 billion euros to increase gross store space in 2023 by about 3%. Inditex closed its over 500 stores in Russia in March 2022 following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February and subsequent Western sanctions. Inditex has begun to charge for online returns in more countries with no impact on sales, the company said. Inditex is also invested in more self-scanning checkouts and is replacing hard anti-theft tags with chips sewn into garments to avoid checkout queues.

Persons: Inditex, Massimo Dutti, Anne Critchlow, Jelena Sokolova, Zara, Corina Pons, Helen Reid, Charlie Devereux, Matt Scuffham, Josephine Mason, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Spain Company, Societe Generale, Inditex, Group, Morningstar, Thomson Locations: Spain, MADRID, LONDON, Zara, United States, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, UAE, France, Germany

Net profit came in at 1.2 billion euros ($1.24 billion) for the quarter that ended in April, exceeding analysts' average expectations of 980 million euros in a Refinitiv poll. Inditex reported solid sales, in line with analyst expectations of 7.56 billion euros, even after selling its profitable Russian division in 2022 and absorbing higher labour costs. Part of Inditex's strategy, which also owns Pull&Bear and Massimo Dutti, is to maintain higher prices outside the Eurozone. STEADY MARGINSThe gross margin reached a record 60.5%, showing it has been able to pass on higher prices to shoppers. Analysts believe only the strongest global fashion retailers will gain market share in an environment where consumers are becoming more discerning.

Persons: Inditex, Massimo Dutti, Corina Pons, Helen Reid, Charlie Devereux, Matt Scuffham, Josephine Mason Organizations: Thomson Locations: MADRID, LONDON, Zara, Spain, United States, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, U.S, Europe

STOCKHOLM, June 6 (Reuters) - Swedish startup evroc, which is backed by EQT Ventures and Norrsken VC, plans to raise and invest 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) over the next couple of years to start operating two "hyperscale" data centres. Led by serial entrepreneur Mattias Åström, evroc plans to keep the data within Europe. It has raised a seed round, and plans to build eight hyperscale data centres by 2028, three software development hubs and employ over 3,000 people. It will use a technique called "eco load balancer" which will move data processing between evroc's data centres based on where renewable energy is most readily available and affordable. "When there is sunshine in Spain, we move data processing to Spain; when there's wind in the Netherlands, we move data processing there," Åström said.

Persons: Mattias Åström, Åström, Supantha Mukherjee, Hugh Lawson Organizations: EQT Ventures, Norrsken, Reuters, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Europe, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Northvolt, Stockholm

☆ Risks the global economy still faces as threat of US debt default recedes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —With the threat of an unprecedented US debt crisis receding fast, the global economy looks to have dodged a huge shock. While an immediate crisis has likely been avoided, the litany of problems that had been temporarily overshadowed by the specter of a US default — among them, high inflation, rising interest rates and sluggish growth — haven’t gone away. Bloomberg/Getty ImagesInflation still too highAgainst that backdrop, inflation has eased in Europe’s second biggest economy, mimicking falls in Germany, Spain and Italy. But it could still arise from two longstanding threats: the Ukraine war and the climate crisis, both of which pose risks to global supply chains and food prices. The war helped drive international food prices to an all-time high last year.

Persons: specter, haven’t, ”, Carsten Brzeski, “, Charlotte de, Neil Shearing, Vladimir Putin, Michael Bociurkiw, Bociurkiw, Marcelo del Pozo Organizations: London CNN —, ING, Charlotte de Montpellier, Bloomberg, Getty, Data, United, Deutsche Bank, Capital Economics, Atlantic Council, Isla Mayor, ” Gro Intelligence Locations: United States, China, Germany, France, Beijing, Europe’s, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian, Russia, Isla, Europe

☆ Villagers evacuated as wildfire ravages woodlands in western Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, May 19 (Reuters) - Emergency crews evacuated around 600 villagers in western Spain overnight as a wildfire blamed on arsonists ravaged up to 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) near the border with Portugal, officials said. "The are very strong gusts of wind ... that make efforts to extinguish it difficult," Military Emergency Unit commander David Barona told state TV channel 24H. "It's a very large attack on vegetation and the area," the head of Extremadura emergency services Nieves Villar told reporters, referring to the suspicions of arson. An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe coming after three years of below-average rainfall in Spain have raised the risk of wildfires. A total of 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares in Spain last year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

☆ Pent-up demand promises record tourist season for southern Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Giselda Vagnoni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

What's more, there appears to be growing demand for the luxury end of the spectrum. Portugal registered more than 2.8 million of foreign visitors from January to March, the best first quarter on record, according to official data. Airlines such as Lufthansa, easyJet and Ryanair have confirmed robust summer bookings while Ryanair, in anticipation of strong demand, has just ordered 150 new 737 Max-10s and optioned another 150. Italian travel and tourism company Alpitour forecasts turnover 30% higher this year. "We already see a very strong demand to book Christmas holidays in 2023.

☆ Italy's birth rate is at a record low. Young Italians say they can't afford to have babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau Valentina Di Donato Antonia Mortensen | Barbie Latza Nadeau | Valentina Di Donato | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The birth rate in Italy has been declining steadily since the economic crisis in 2008, for reasons demographers agree is rooted in economic insecurity. In France, the birth rate is higher at 1.8 children per woman, according to figures for 2022 from its national statistics agency. The Catholic Church, which is a predominant political force, and the right-wing government under Meloni have both lamented the low birth rate, but have put up roadblocks to ways to remedy the situation. De Luca blames the government for not doing enough for the younger generation, in part because decades of low birth rates have made the youth a minority. Testa fears that the low birth rate is contagious.

☆ Southern Europe braces for climate change-fuelled summer of drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

As climate change makes the region hotter and drier, years of consecutive drought have depleted groundwater reserves. CLIMATE CHANGE TRENDSouthern Europe is not alone in suffering severe water shortages this year. The Horn of Africa is enduring its worst drought in decades, while a historic drought in Argentina has hammered soy and corn crops. "In terms of the climate change signal, it very much fits with what we're expecting," said Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts at Newcastle University. Some 90% of the mainland is suffering from drought, with severe drought affecting one-fifth of the country - nearly five times the area reported a year earlier.

☆ Most groundwater still low in France despite spring rainfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A view shows a bridge with sandbanks of the Loire River in Ingrandes-le-Fresne-sur-Loire, France, May 4, 2023. Risks of a drought by the end of the summer 2023 were now "extremely likely" in southeastern France and around Paris, the environment ministry said in a separate report. Restrictions on water usage have already been implemented in some regions in southern France in recent months as authorities anticipated a summer drought. "The situation remains unsatisfactory over a large part of the country: 68% of groundwater levels remain below monthly norms in April (compared to 75% in March 2023) with many sectors showing low to very low levels," BRGM said in its monthly bulletin. However, some concerns remained in southwest and northeast of Paris and the situation in the south, including the Mediterranean coast, was unsatisfactory to worrying, BRGM said.

☆ Belgrade shooting: What we know about the attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A 13-year-old boy opened fire on his classmates at a school in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Wednesday, rocking the Balkan country. The shooting left at least eight children dead, along with a security guard. He took their lives.”The suspect then walked towards a history classroom, shooting as he moved down the corridor, before entering the room and shooting the teacher and his fellow students from the doorway, Milić said. Gasic said it was known that the father had previously gone to a shooting range with his son. I saw the school psychologist, I saw the school staff, the teachers who were in shock,” the father told N1.

Growth came mostly from exports, the result of a revival in global trade as China re-opened for business after the pandemic. But national data showed price growth remained stubbornly high, probably leaving the ECB with no choice but to keep raising interest rates. Friday's inflation data showed progress was slow. IMF CALLS FOR MORE RATE HIKESMoney markets currently price in another 70 basis points of ECB rate hikes by October, possibly followed by cuts as early as the start of next year. It also said European Union finance ministers should tighten fiscal policy in concerted action to bring down high inflation, which would probably depress consumption further.

So how did India’s population get so big, and how long will it last? The rise in population despite a drop in the fertility rate can be explained by “demographic momentum.”“When the fertility rate drops, the population continues to grow for several decades. So, even with a replacement or sub-replacement fertility rate, India’s population will continue to grow slowly because of the considerable number of women entering their reproductive years. India’s population growth is slowing downIndia may have overtaken China in total population, but UN data also shows that its growth rate has slowed. Uttar Pradesh, for instance, is home to 17% of India’s population but has only 9% of its industrial jobs.

From the 15th to the 19th century, 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into slavery, primarily to Brazil. But so far Portugal has rarely commented on its past and little is taught about its role in slavery in schools. Reparations and public policies to fight inequalities caused by Portugal's past were essential, Cardoso said. "We continue to suffer in Brazil the effects of a legacy of slavery," Almeida said in a statement. Europe's top human rights group previously said Portugal had do more to confront its colonial past and role in the transatlantic slave trade in order to help fight racism and discrimination today.

They are among the discordant calls made by Spanish and EU bureaucrats as Spain's drive to hand out 77 billion euros ($84 billion) in grants from EU pandemic recovery funds becomes mired in complexity, according to interviews with business associations, government officials, companies and consultants. Spain is the EU pilot project for disbursing grants from the largest stimulus package in the bloc's history, an overall pot of 724 billion euros, including loans. A year into the disbursement process, about 23.5 billion euros had been awarded as of December last year, according to the latest figures published by the government last month. That's a sluggish pace, given the EU and Spain have set a deadline of the end of this year to award all 77 billion euros. Meanwhile, only about 9 billion euros have actually reached the businesses awarded funds, according to calculations by the Esade Centre for Economic Policy, a Madrid-based think-tank that tracks the pandemic recovery cash.

☆ Exploring Picasso’s Málaga
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Andrew Ferren | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Christine Picasso renewed those efforts in the 1990s by offering to donate a portion of her own collection of Picasso’s work to establish a new museum in the city. Since the Museo Picasso Málaga opened in 2003, it has helped convert the city into a top cultural destination, not just in Spain, but in southern Europe. The sidewalks and pretty pedestrian streets of the historic city center once again bustle with pedestrians amid the palm trees, geraniums and bougainvillea. “Evidently, people don’t want to just lie on the beach.”If you goWithin Spain, Málaga is a short flight from both Barcelona and Madrid; the latter is also less than three hours away on Spain’s high-speed AVE rail network. About 300 feet from the Picasso Museum, Hotel Palacio Solecio offers luxury accommodations in a beautifully restored 18th-century palace; doubles from about 300 euros, or about $326.

☆ Exclusive: ECB policymakers converging on 25-bps rate hike in May - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The ECB has raised rates by at least 50 basis points each at six successive meetings -- the fastest pace on record -- to fight stubbornly high inflation. The sources said that some are advocating no change in May - mostly the same Southern European policymakers who did not support last month's 50 basis point increase, while others - also a small group - argue for another 50 basis point hike. Klaas Knot of the Netherlands said it was unclear whether 50 basis points would be needed or if 25 was enough. Slovakia's Peter Kazimir said the ECB could perhaps slow down the pace of its increases while Austria's Robert Holzmann meanwhile backed another 50 basis point move. Markets currently price 25 basis point hikes each in May and June, while a third such increase is fully priced in by September.

☆ Exclusive: ECB policymakers converging on 25-bps rate hike in May , sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Balazs Koranyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

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