Items of interest from Greece.....so , how much of the foreign law debt is still outstanding ?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/greece-debt-idUSA8E8E900S20120425

(Reuters) - Greece said on Wednesday it completed the bond swap that formed part of its second international bailout, restructuring about 199 billion euros ($262.74 billion) of its debt.

The final participation rate in the swap reached 96.9 percent, the financeministry said. "We are extremely pleased with the results achieved in our PSI bond exchange," Finance Minister Filippos Sachinidis said in a statement.

and...


http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/55157

News bites @ 9

by Damian Mac Con Uladh 25 Apr 2012

Greeks and migrants living in Greece march during an antiracism rally in central Athens on 24 April 2012. The rally was against fascist attacks and the government's plans to create detention centers for undocumented migrants (Reuters) 1. ILLEGAL PENSIONS Over 200,000 cases of people illegally drawing pensions and other benefits have been detected in the past two years, the labour and social security ministry announced on Tuesday, adding that thousands of cases have been referred to the courts. Estimates put the total cost of pension and benfit fraud at 700–750m euros a year. The total expenditure of the social insurance system amounts to 3bn euros a month, half of which goes towards pensions and bonuses and the rest for health benefits and the paying off of debts owed by insurance funds. 2. STATEWIDE TICKETS The country's two biggest parties announced their statewide list of candidates on Tuesday. Candidates on the statewide ticket are elected based on the party's overall percentage rather than directly by voters. Topping the twelve names on the Pasok list is Olympic medalist in weightlifting Pyrros Dimas, former minister and Pasok spokesperson Fofi Yennimata and Pasok political council member Nikos Androulakis. Over in New Democracy, the head of the judges’ and prosecutors’ union and Supreme Court member Haralambos Athanassiou is in first place, followed by Chrysanthos Lazaridis and party spokesman Yannis Michelakis, two close associates of party leader Antonis Samaras. 3. POLICE TO MOVE IN Police are to move in and detain migrants living in overcrowded conditions in buildings in central Athens, the citizens protection minister announced on Tuesday. "Athens will be clean in a few days," Michalis Chrysochoidis, the minister, said, adding that the landlords who have let flats to undocumented migrants will be prosecuted. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Makis Voridis has said he opposes the opening of a detention centre for migrants in Amygdaleza, in northwestern Athens, on the grounds that the prefab accommodation there is for the use of earthquake victims. 4. MARINERS TO STRIKE Ferries and other ships will not sail between 8am and noon on May Day, the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) announced on Tuesday. It said the four-hour work stoppage paid "minimum homage" to those who fought and struggled to establish fundamental labour rights that were now being demolished and levelled by government policies, with the support of and at the instruction of the troika. 5. BARROSO A hard default by Greece would have devastating consequences, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso underlined on Tuesday, dismissing critics of troika austerity policies and rubbishing the idea that Greece has any alternative. Those who advocated default "didn't know what they were talking about", said Barroso, who denied that the interests of the markets were being put above those of the people. 6. ALBANIAN GREEKS UPSET The "unacceptable and selective" demolition of buildings belonging to ethnic Greeks in the Himare region in southern Albania has been denounced by the head of Omonia, an organisation representing the country's ethnic Greek minority. Vassilis Bolanos also referred to the "use of unprovoked force against the Greeks of the minority in Himare by state services and armed paramilitary groups." Bolanos said he held talks on Friday with a representative of the OSCE, who reportedly noted the problems faced by the ethnic Greek minority in the region. 7. PSIOMIADIS COMING HOME Former football team and nightclub owner Makis Psomiadis, wanted in on charges of match fixing, is to be extradited from Fyrom next Monday afternoon. Greek police will receive the fugitive into custody at the border at 2pm from Fyrom counterparts. The 55-year-old stands accused of involvement in a massive match fixing scandal worth millions of euros. He jumped bail in September and fled to Skopje. 8. NEW GERMAN AMBASSADOR Presenting his credentials to President Karolos Papoulias on Tuesday, the new German ambassador to Greece said "Greek-German relations are based on strong foundations". "The relations between our two countries is shaped, however, above all, by the thousands of people here and there, in other words, living in Greece and in Germany, respectively. And this is what renders this relationship so special within the European framework," Wolfgang Dold added. 9. SKIPPER FACING CHARGES The Turkish skipper of a sailboat that ran aground last Sunday on a beach on the small Saronic island of Agistri was due to appear before a Piraeus prosecutor on Tuesday on charges of human trafficking. Sixty undocumented migrants of various nationalities were on board when the accident happened. Fifty seven of the migrants were taken to holding cells in an Athens detention centre, two were hospitalised and one is being held at the Piraeus Port Authority.