GREEK STOCKS KEEP SINKING
Greek stocks have continued their descent on Tuesday, on the second day of heavy losses after a five-week shutdown of Greece's stock exchange amidst the debt crisis. All four major Greek banking stocks were down around 30% in early trading.
- The current crash is part of a longer-term descent, as Greek stocks have lost 85% of their value since 2007, according to Greek daily Kathimerini.
- Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis are scheduled to meet representatives of the country's international creditors today, to discuss bank recapitalization and privatization ahead of the first round of new negotiations on Wednesday.
KOSOVO WAR CRIMES COURT
Kosovo's parliament voted late Monday night to change the constitution and create a new war crimes court. According to Balkan Insight, the court is expected is prosecute members of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) — many of whom are now part of Kosovo's political elite — over alleged war crimes that include kidnapping, torture and harvesting organs from Serb civilians.
CATALONIA CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS
Catalonia is set to go to the polls next month, as regional President Artur Mas called early elections for Sept. 27, intending to use the vote as a fresh bid for independence. He announced the election as "an exceptional measure," says Tuesday's front page of La Vanguardia. Learn more about it in our Extra! feature here.
VERBATIM
"It's easy to be cynical, and to say climate change is a kind of challenge just too big for humanity to solve. I'm absolutely convinced that's wrong," U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday in Washington as he unveiled his revised Clean Power Plan, which aims at reducing CO2 emissions more than 30% by 2030.
SNAPSHOT
Photo: Erin Van Londen via Facebook
Until now, they'd only been up to mischief on the big screen, but yesterday in the Santry area of Dublin, a giant inflatable Minion got loose and flew onto a road, causing traffic mayhem before being deflated by police officers.
PAKISTAN HANGS MAN DESPITE OUTCRY
Shafqat Hussain was hanged Tuesday at a jail in Karachi for allegedly killing a seven-year-old boy in 2004, Al Jazeera reports. Hussain's case triggered international outcry after his lawyers said he was arrested as a juvenile and tortured into confessing to the murder. Pakistan has hanged nearly 200 people since December.
ON THIS DAY
On this day the man known as "the father of jazz" was born! Time for your 57-second shot of history.
ASEAN TO DISCUSS S. CHINA SEA DISPUTES
The 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting has opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to discuss territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China's foreign minister Wang Yi told the Xinhua news agency that his country was committed to resolving disputes through negotiations and creating a Code of Conduct to maintain peace and stability in the area.
WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
After remaining shut out from the high-stakes economic calculus for years, Africa has now become a key component of global trade, Jean-Philippe Dorent and Pascal Lorot write for Les Echos: "Africa is also characterized by an undeniable demographic dynamism, which has directly spurred growth and is a determinant criteria for investment. No fewer than one human out of four will live in Africa by 2050. This demographic explosion comes along with the development of a middle class of 300 million people with soaring overall purchasing power. Africa attracted a record 50 billion euros in foreign direct investment in 2013, and nearly 80 billion in 2014, proving that investor perception has been changing these last few years."
Read the full article, Africa As Investor Goldmine - Why This Time It's For Real.
1.5 MILLION
Nearly 1.5 million cigarettes were seized in southern Poland, after police and customs officers raided an elaborate production and counterfeit packaging line in the mining town of Myslowice.
MY GRAND-PÈRE'S WORLD
