The VICE News Capsule is a news roundup that looks beyond the headlines. Today: Kashmiri separatists ordered a general strike to protest against a series of recent killings, the Greek central bank threatened to exit the Eurozone if a financial deal can’t be reached, Cuba hosted negotiators from the FARC rebel group and Colombian government as peace talks resume in Havana, and Egypt reopened the Sadat metro station at Tahrir Square after a two-year closure.
INDIA
Kashmiri Separatists Call Strike Following Killings
Shops and businesses shut down in a general strike after four activists were killed.
GREECE
Central Bank Warns of ‘Grexit’ if Talks Fail
The country has until June 30 to repay a $1.8 billion debt unless it receives new funding.
CUBA
Peace Talks Resume Between FARC and Colombian Government
The peace talks come amid an escalation of violence after the FARC ended a unilateral ceasefire in May.
EGYPT
Tahrir Square Metro Stop Reopens
Cairo reopened the Sadat metro stop at Tahrir Square after a 2-year closure.
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Only one sollution to get rid of this money debt slavery system and that is the breakdown of the EU. Let`s hope Greece will take the EU house of cards down, so we all in Europe can get rid of the criminal banksters and this slavery system we will never escape otherwise it`s time to stop those Maffia NWO. It`s time for a whole new sollution taking back our souvereign rights to be independed again. All banks in Europa are broke allready and living on debt. This Greece problem is an Europian problem it`s a virus that`s spread in the whole of Europe, the Elite just want to hold on to their easy money making machine. And we citizens of Europe need to stop it ourselfs otherwise we will become all poor like Greece. Greece is a wake up call for all of us in Europe
The gang of bankers administers Europe.Fear that will happen in spain after Greece,and in other countries of the south,with the corresponding left party there.For that reason punishes the greek people.10.200 suicides the last 5 years with official figures!!..The debt from 120% went to 180% despite the terrible looting..The Europe of peoples lost.The Europe of bankers-thieves-gangsters is here.Should the people of Europe getting fortunes in their hands…The Europe of the enlightenment and culture lost…sorry for english
Good fuck GREECEE
I heard amigo loans (1000% apr) are reasonable just need Germany to be guarantor. Ironic that nothing changes.
Enjoy gommunism greebe XDDDDDDDDDxd
Cuba? or columbia
LATEST NEWS
Greece has said they will pay the 287 billions debt by the end of the week – in notes of 10 euros each.
WAIT FOR IT … WAIT FOR IT …
If you count backward, then:
1 million seconds = 12 days ago
1 billion seconds = 31 years ago
1 trillion seconds = 30,000 B.C.
At 10 euros notes – 3.1 years per billion.
287 billions x 3.1 years = 890 years to pay the Greece national debt if counting 10 euro note per second
Taking inflation into account it does not seem much
Hope they do!
god damn it greece are you kidding me?
LOL Threatens? Greece don't need the EU. Greece is a beautiful and rich country, and it's also the cradle of democracy, they can do whatever the fuck they want.
Just leave already
This guy's voice makes me want Halls
FAAAARC
Cuba or Colombia?
Southern America is so fascinating
..they have the most natural resources still and alot of unused land….miliarys meh…..but the revolution is coming down there
Let them "Greece" Exit the Eurozone!!! They're fucking broke "financialy" country anyways.
Threatens too leave? Most people want to kick them out of the EU
grexit
Just to put it in perspective, if they wanted, Apple, Microsoft, Google, or any of the big Hollywood studios could pay Greece's debt without feeling a thing in their vault.
stupid europe tries and tries to unite and start a socialist regime but they fail every time
they just can't escape the middle ages
The first domino is about to fall, what will unsue will be the end of the Western world as we know it. They've been given debt after debt by the IMF in false hope to help he country. But the only thing these debts have done is run the country to the ground. Soon, other countries will follow. This will be the end of the Death & Debt empire and the rise of the Eastern countries has the dominant force in the world. If the United States wants a world war, it will ultimately be annihilated because all of our allies (except for Japan) has left us to join the new Bricks banks.
The best part is that the real culprits of this will hide in their billion dollars bunkers while America will burn.
READ if you wanna know the truth;
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ article in Der Tagesspiegel: German taxpayers are not paying for Greek pensions.
June 18, 2015 | categories : Articles and Statements, Prime Minister
During a negotiation, an exchange of arguments is legitimate so long as there is sincerity and good faith between the parties.
Otherwise, when the dialogue is ongoing with no end in sight then the methods used are akin to those described by the great German philosopher Schopenhauer in “The Art of Always Being Right”!
For example, it is unfair to selectively use statistical indexes — even if they are endowed with the prestige of distinguished economists, such as Olivier Blanchard– to produce unsupported generalizations that obscure reality.
As such, I’d like address a popular myth that the average German taxpayer has been led to believe.
Namely, that he is paying for the wages and pensions of the Greek people. This is absolutely false.
I don’t deny that our social security system has problems. But it’s important to point out the root of the problem and how it can be resolved. There were many cutbacks in recent years that only served to further the recession and make the problem even worse.
It may sound somewhat suspect that 75% of the primary expenditure is used to pay for salaries and pensions. If it sounds unbelievable—that’s because it is: only 30% of the primary expenditure concerns pensions. Moreover, it’s important to note that wages and pensions are not the same thing, and assessing them together is a serious methodological error.
The comparison with Germany’s pensions is also rather misleading. According to the Ageing Reports (2009, 2015), pension expenditure in Greece rose from 11.7% of GDP in 2007 (slightly higher than the 10.4% in Germany) and reached 16.2% in 2013 (while in Germany the numbers remained almost stable).
What caused this increase? Was it due to an increase in pensioners or an increase in pension amounts? The answer is: Neither. The number of pensioners has essentially remained unchanged and pensions have shrunk dramatically due to the implemented policies.
Simple arithmetic is sufficient to reach the conclusion that the increase in pension expenditure as a percentage of GDP is entirely due to a decline in GDP (denominator), and not to an increase in expenditure (the numerator). In other words, GDP declined faster than the pensions.
Concerning retirement ages, could it be that in Greece employees retire much younger?
The truth is that the retirement age in Greece is 67 years for men and women, i.e. two years more than in Germany.
The average exit age from the labor market for men in Greece is 64.4 years, i.e. eight months earlier than the 65.1 years in Germany, while Greek women retire at 64.5 years, about 3.5 months later than German women who retire at 64.2 years.
I wanted to highlight the above –again, not to deny the ailments of our social security system- but to prove that the problem is not one of supposed generous pensions.
The most significant disruption to the pension funds is due to dramatically lower revenues in recent years. These were caused by the loss of assets due to the PSI (haircut of Greek bonds held by the Pension Funds, totally approximately 25 billion euro) as well as – and most importantly – by the sharp drop in contributions that resulted from soaring unemployment, and the reduction in wages.
In particular, during the period 2010 – 2014, approximately 13 billion euro were removed from our social security system through a series of measures with a corresponding reduction in pensions and allowances at a rate of about 50%, a fact which has exhausted any margin for further reductions without undermining the operational core of the system.
Moreover, we must understand that the system is being mainly pressed on the revenue side and less so on expenditures, as is often implied.
I would also like to call attention a matter that is unique to the Greek crisis. The social security system is the institutionalized mechanism of intergenerational solidarity, and its sustainability is a main concern for society as a whole. Traditionally, this solidarity has meant that young people, through their contributions, fund the pensions of their parents. But during the Greek crisis, we’ve witnessed this solidarity being reversed as the parents’ pensions fund the survival of their children. The pensions of the elderly are often the last refuge for entire families that have only one or no member working in a country with 25% unemployment in the general population, and 50% among young people.
Faced with such a situation we cannot adopt the logic of blind and horizontal cuts, as some have asked us to do, which would result in dramatic social consequences.
On the other hand, we are not indifferent to the present condition of our social security system, and we are determined to ensure its sustainability.
The Greek government submitted specific proposals concerning the social security system’s reorganization. We agreed to the immediate abolition of the early retirement option that increases the average retirement age, and we are committed to moving forward immediately with the consolidation of the pension funds, thus reducing their operating expenses and restricting special arrangements.
As we analyzed in detail during our discussions with the institutions, these reforms function decisively in favor of the sustainability of the system. And like all reforms, their results will not be apparent from one day to another. Sustainability requires a long-term perspective and cannot be subject to narrow, short-term fiscal criteria (e.g. reducing expenditure by 1% of GDP in 2016).
Benjamin Disraeli used to say that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. Let us not allow an obsessive-compulsive use of indices to destroy the comprehensive agreement that we prepared over the previous period of intensive negotiations. The duty rests on all of our shoulders.
http://www.primeminister.gov.gr/english/2015/06/18/prime-minister-alexis-tsipras-article-in-der-tagesspiegel-german-taxpayers-are-not-paying-for-greek-pensions/
I don't see a problem, we have the iron bank of braavos!!
If Greece leave the Eurozone won't that mean the debt will be transferred to the EU?
1.8b$ is nothing