Varoufakis vs Schauble: Greece and Germany slog it out
Finance ministers meet in Berlin as ECB crack-down causes Athens stock market to tumble

The finance minister of Greece's new left-wing government, Yanis Varoufakis, is meeting his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schauble, in Berlin today, in what is being billed as a heavyweight encounter just hours after the European Central Bank announced a tough new approach to Greek debt.
The Financial Times says Varoufakis is "emboldened" by the popular mandate to abandon the country's austerity regime - largely imposed by Germany - while Schauble is "intransigent" and "determined to make Athens pay".
The German finance minister is expected to insist that Greece sticks to its EU-backed recovery programme and Varoufakis scraps his election promises to abandon the previous government's austerity regime and unpopular spending cuts.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Varoufakis is likely to have a tougher time of it than new Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, who the FT says found a "receptive" audience yesterday when he met Francois Hollande and the heads of the European Commission and European Council.
Indeed, the meeting between Varoufakis and Schauble is a showdown between the radical left and centre-right orthodoxy - and the rest of Europe is watching.
The Guardian is live-blogging the day's events, and quotes from German daily Die Welt, which says: "Varoufakis, the libertarian communist, is coming as if for a dog fight, his shirt not tucked into his trousers, an open collar.
"He is threatening, he is complaining, he wants victory - above all over Germany. Because of such a scholarly ruffian no one should feel they have to s*** their pants, otherwise we're bound to lose."
Though Tsipras had a good day yesterday, Varoufakis did not fare so well. He met the top brass of the European Central Bank (ECB). Shortly after the meeting, the ECB announced a surprising crack-down on Greek debt, the BBC reports.
The bank announced it would no longer accept Greek government bonds as collateral for lending money to Greek banks.
Varoufakis's government insisted there would be "no adverse impact" on Greece's financial service sector but the Athens stock market tumbled this morning by more than six per cent, with bank stocks down 16 per cent.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical