Eurosphere roundup: Germany and the third Greek bailout…

Q&A: Germany and the third Greek bailout

Barely a year after the last Greek rescue, the huge black hole remains as revenue collection lags behind because of tax reforms and chasing evaders

Germany finally admits to a third Greek bailout, but what form might it take?

It seems the German government has finally publicly accepted what everyone already knew ? that Greece will need some kind of further financial assistance after its second bailout programme expires at the end of 2014. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told a CDU election rally yesterday:

MAIN FOCUS: British government targets Guardian | 21/08/2013

The British daily The Guardian has by its own account been forced by the government to destroy hard drives containing information about the espionage affair. Otherwise it would have had to hand over the material, the chief editor of the newspaper Alan Rusbridger explained on Tuesday. Commentators condemn the government’s actions as an unacceptable attack on press freedom and see them as a further sign of the expansion of the surveillance state.

Foreign ministers vow to promote ?dialogue? in Egypt

The European Union stopped short of agreeing immediate cuts in financial or military assistance to Cairo yesterday (21 August), as the bloc’s foreign ministers held emergency talks to find ways to help bring an end to violence in Egypt.

The decision acknowledges Europe’s limited economic muscle in forcing Egypt’s army-backed rulers and the Muslim Brotherhood into a peaceful compromise.

Why did the Stockholm riots occur?

How could this occur in a country known for its developed democracy, egalitarianism, and well-functioning integration policy model? The police are important.

The attack on British justice: who is on the demolition squad?

A criminal barrister makes a shocking discovery about the Ministry of Justice mandarins who are wrecking Legal Aid.

The false promise of a new left in Poland

As the old, post-communist left struggles with its own failures, the nascent new left already appears to be compromising with a liberal centre – a simple repeat of the old left’s mistakes. For the left in Poland to survive, something has to give

Herring loss sparks EU-Faroe Island trade spat

The Faroe Islands government has reacted furiously to an EU decision to ban its fish exports to the Union. While the EU accuses the Faroes of overfishing, the small archipelago, which has Danish sovereignty, is threatening to jeopardise multilateral negotiations on herring quota allocations.

The Faroe government condemned the Commission decision to ban the import of herring and mackerel caught by Faroese vessels, as well as all fishery products containing or made of such fish.

Germany slams British action against Guardian

Germany’s top human rights official sharply criticised a British crackdown on the Guardian newspaper

Another death in UK immigration detention

The latest fatality highlights lack of accountability in the management of short stay detention centres.

Poland on collision course with Brussels over ?illegal? coal plants

EXCLUSIVE / Euro MP?s and environmentalists are urging the European Commission to take rapid action to prevent Poland from building two huge new 900MW coal plants, which violate EU laws on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has said that he will build the ?2.7 billion plants in Opole, even though they have not been assessed for CCS-readiness, as required by an EU directive that Warsaw currently faces infringement proceedings for defying.

Berlin?s consistency on Greece?s rescue

Admission more aid is needed is in line with policy. A more concrete commitment was a logical refinement that was bound to come sooner or later

France calls for ‘force’ if chemical arms confirmed in Syria

France is seeking a reaction with “force” if a massacre in Syria involving chemical weapons is confirmed

The Eurozone?s Misplaced Orthodoxies

With the euro crisis still far from resolved, the currency union remains at the center of heated debates. But, in many cases, positions have become so polarized that they miss the point, impeding policymakers? ability to agree on and implement an effective crisis-response strategy.