Greece

Constantine "Gus" Chigounis, 98, whose career in the restaurant business included ownership of such South Jersey landmarks as the Lintonia in Camden during the 1930s, '40s and '50s and the Nassau Drive-In Restaurant in Pennsauken during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, died Monday at his Merchantville home. Born in Elika, Greece, Mr. Chigounis came to the United States with his father in 1909. They passed through Ellis Island and settled in New Hampshire, but his father became ill and returned to Greece, leaving his son with relatives.

Center City took on aspects of Athens yesterday for a celebration of Greek Independence Day with a parade that included guards of the Royal Army (far left), and a float from Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church with Debbie Kiziriglou, 17, and Alex Varkados, 22, portraying the Virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel. A wreath-laying at the Liberty Bell by state Supreme Court Justice Nicholas P. Papadakos also marked the 169th anniversary of the struggle that ended Greece's domination by the Turks.

Concerns grew that Greece's departure from the euro was near. Yet there were also hints that a new phase of talks with European lenders could begin. A3.

ATHENS, Greece - Greece's government warned Tuesday that the debt-crippled country would have to ditch the euro if it failed to complete the details of its second, $169 billion international bailout and that more austerity measures may need to be implemented. A key component of the package, which was agreed to in October, is that Greece has to persuade its private creditors such as banks and investment firms to take a steep hit on the value of their holdings of Greek debt. Greece has the highest debt burden relative to the size of its economy in the whole of the 17-nation eurozone and the write-down will help get it down to more manageable, though still high, levels.

LONDON - Two major credit-rating agencies Monday signaled their concern about Greece's huge debt, giving new credence to the view that European authorities must do more to help the country a year after it barely avoided bankruptcy with a bailout. Experts from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund were in Greece on Monday to check up on economic changes the government promised to make in return for $160 billion in rescue loans last year. They were also examining whether the current bailout was enough so Athens could stand on its own when the loans run out in 2013 - a scenario most investors think is unlikely.

ATHENS, Greece - Greece was in turmoil and the world economy in limbo Thursday as political brinkmanship in Athens led Prime Minister George Papandreou to abandon his explosive plan to put a European rescue deal to a referendum. The developments overshadowed the G20 summit of world leaders in the French resort of Cannes, where President Obama implored European leaders to work out a eurozone plan quickly to deal with the continent's crisis, which threatens to push the world back into recession.

ATHENS, Greece - Hopes rose slightly Thursday that Greece could end its post-electoral deadlock without having to hold new elections, as international partners warned that Athens must stick to its hugely unpopular austerity program or abandon the euro. Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos, who received the presidential mandate to try and form a government after two other party chiefs failed, said a meeting Thursday with a left-wing potential kingmaker had proved encouraging. If this third mandate fails, President Karolos Papoulias will convene party leaders in a last-ditch effort to get a deal - otherwise new elections will be held in a month.

Her husband was asked about "closure" - that amorphous, almost unemotional term psychologists use to describe the process of healing a terrible wound. "There's not going to be closure on this," said Timothy Nist, the heartbroken ex-husband of dismembered model Julie Marie Scully. "Not for any of us - not for the rest of our lives. " Instead, Nist and the Scully family and the once-happy couple's 3-year-old daughter will have to settle for the best a murder victim's kin can hope - a measure of justice.

After the snub of 1996, the Olympics are returning to their Greek birthplace in 2004. Athens was awarded the first Summer Games of the new millennium yesterday, bringing the Olympics to the Greek capital for the first time since the modern games began in 1896. "We're giving back to the Greeks what they gave to us," International Olympic Committee member Jacques Rogge said. "The extra value of the Greek tradition made the difference. " The decision set off celebrations in the streets of Athens, where young people linked arms in traditional Greek dances near the Acropolis and motorists honked in joy. Some of the jubilant Athenians said the decision was a sweet payback for Greece's devastating loss to Atlanta for the 1996 Centennial Games.

There is a wall map of Greece beside Paul Kotrotsios' desk. A colored pushpin marks the city of Yiannena, which once was his home, just as other pushpins mark the former homes of other employees of the Greek Radio Network of America, based in Media. The red pin stuck into the southern city of Kalamata is there for a different reason: It marks disaster. Ever since Sept. 13, when an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale severely damaged the seaside city, the cable radio station has directed its efforts toward relieving the town's distress.

BRUSSELS — Europe's leaders gathered in Brussels under pressure to soften their tough-love approach to the weaker economies among them. With Greece locked in political chaos, much bigger Spain warned that it couldn't stay afloat without help. Stock markets around the world tanked Wednesday over fears that European leaders won't have the political will to act. The summit will have to fight multiple fires: political uncertainty in Greece that could see it renege on commitments made to secure rescue loans; rising borrowing costs in Spain and Italy that could force them to seek bailouts; and sluggish growth across the region made worse by budget cuts meant to reassure markets about high debt.

ATHENS, Greece - Critical last-ditch talks to form a coalition government in crisis-struck Greece foundered once more Sunday, leading the country one step closer to new elections, although the socialist party leader said he retained "existing but limited' optimism for a deal. The political uncertainty has alarmed international creditors who have given Greece billions of euros in bailout loans over the last two years, and has thrown the country's continued presence in the European Union's joint currency into serious doubt.

Concerns grew that Greece's departure from the euro was near. Yet there were also hints that a new phase of talks with European lenders could begin. A3.

ATHENS, Greece - President Karolos Papoulias called for the leaders of Greece's political parties to meet Sunday in a last-ditch effort to broker a deal for a coalition government and avoid another general election. Papoulias took the step Saturday when Greece's socialist leader, Evangelos Venizelos, officially gave up the mandate to form a coalition government after three rounds of negotiations proved fruitless. Papoulias' office announced that the president would meet initially with the heads of the three parties that won the most votes in last Sunday's inconclusive elections - the conservative New Democracy, the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza)

ATHENS, Greece - Hopes rose slightly Thursday that Greece could end its post-electoral deadlock without having to hold new elections, as international partners warned that Athens must stick to its hugely unpopular austerity program or abandon the euro. Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos, who received the presidential mandate to try and form a government after two other party chiefs failed, said a meeting Thursday with a left-wing potential kingmaker had proved encouraging. If this third mandate fails, President Karolos Papoulias will convene party leaders in a last-ditch effort to get a deal - otherwise new elections will be held in a month.

ATHENS, Greece - The smoldering debate over European austerity flared hotter Tuesday as the left-wing politician trying to form a new Greek government declared that his country was no longer bound by its pledges to impose crippling cutbacks in return for rescue loans. The comments by Alexis Tsipras flew in the face of European Union leaders' insistence on fiscal discipline and sent Greek stockst tumbling just two days after Greek voters rejected mainstream pro-austerity politicians.

Political uncertainty in debt-hobbled Europe spread to financial markets Tuesday and pushed stocks lower in Europe and the United States. The Dow Jones industrial average was down almost 200 points at its low point for the day before recovering most of its loss to finish down 76. It was the average's fifth straight decline. European indexes closed near their lowest levels in months, and the euro neared a five-month low against the dollar. Prices plummeted for commodities like oil and copper that depend on the health of the world economy.

ATHENS, Greece - Furious Greeks punished the two parties that have dominated politics for decades in the crisis-battered country Sunday, leaving its multibillion-dollar international bailout - and even its future in the euro currency - hanging in the balance. With more than 83 percent of the vote counted, Greece appeared to be heading toward political stalemate. Nobody won enough votes to form a government, and the two parties that backed the bailout - the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK - conceded they need to win over adversaries to form a viable coalition.

Debate heated as French vote nears PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy repeatedly accused his leftist challenger, Francois Hollande, of lying as they faced off in a highly anticipated debate Wednesday ahead of the presidential election. The heated comments reflected the intensity of the contest, especially for Sarkozy, who is lagging in the polls ahead of Sunday's vote. It is the only time the two have faced off in the campaign, which has largely focused on domestic issues such as the weak economy, immigration, and integration of French Muslims.

Colors of Greece: The Art and Archaeology of Georg von Peschke" at Bryn Mawr College is the first retrospective exhibition for an artist who exhibited his work widely in Greece and elsewhere in Europe in the 1920s and '30s. This interesting show acknowledges Bryn Mawr's many historic links with Greece through its faculty and students of classical studies. Peschke was an Austrian aristocrat who moved to Greece as a young man in the 1920s, became part of an international circle of artists, musicians, and intellectuals in Thessaloniki and Athens, and met and married his wife, Faltaina.