GREECE RECALLS AMBASSADOR FROM AUSTRIA

Greece has recalled its ambassador to Austria amid sharp divisions among EU states over the migrant crisis.
The move came after Austria hosted a meeting with Balkan states on the migrant issue, to which Greece was not invited.
Greece called the move an "unfriendly act". It said its ambassador was recalled for "consultations".
Ministers from EU and Balkan nations are meeting in Brussels to try to heal rifts over the migrant issue.

Austria, Serbia and Macedonia have taken their own steps to limit entry to migrants, angering Greece, which fears the controls will cause a bottleneck.In a statement, the Greek foreign ministry said that the ambassador was being recalled "in order to safeguard the friendly relations between the states and the people of Greece and Austria".
More than 100,000 migrants have entered the EU illegally this year - nearly all of them arriving in Greece.
The surge in migration coupled with the failure to agree an EU-wide response has led to warnings about the bloc's survival.
On Wednesday, representatives from 10 Balkan states attended talks in Austria and agreed to co-ordinate action to limit the flow of migrants.
The meeting drew an angry reaction from Greece, with the foreign ministry warning that "responsibility for dealing with the migration and refugee crisis cannot burden one country".

GUARDIOLA: THE SECOND LEG WILL BE JUST AS DIFFICULT

Pep Guardiola says his side were outstanding in their 2-2 draw at Juventus in the Champions League. But the Catalan doesn't think things will get much easier in the second leg on March 16.
Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola says he was delighted with the team's overall performance despite throwing away a two-goal advantage to draw with Juventus.
Just five teams have beaten Juventus since their move to the Juventus Stadium in 2011 - Bayern are the only foreign side to win there in European competition. After Thomas Müller and Arjen Robben put the German team into the driving seat, it was shaping up to be a third away win in Turin for the Bavarians.

But a late onslaught from the home side, resulting in goals for Alvaro Morata and Stefano Sturaro leaves this last-16 tie still in the balance. "I am very happy with the performance," Guardiola said after the game.
"We played very well for 90 minutes. Of course it would have been nice to win, but we played against last year's finalists. The performance was amazing. In the second leg, it will be just as difficult as it is today. Juventus have a great mentality."Bayern weren't fancied ahead of this tie following some unconvincing league form and a spate of injuries in defense. Joshua Kimmich, Bayern's stand-in centre-back, was caught out for both Juventus goals, but was overall impressive given his age. A change in formation from the hosts around the hour mark then saw Bayern's midfield chasing shadows for the remainder of the second period.
"If you control the match that well against a top team, you have to finish it as well. That's what was lacking in the second half," Robben told UEFA's official website, adding that Bayern "have a lot of confidence, but we have to finish it off" in the second leg. "All the chaos in the stadium caused us to lose our composure a bit," summarized goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Meanwhile, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has praised his side's response to going 2-0 down and thinks the Old Lady have come away from the first leg with a positive result.
"We have come out after the first half and played phenomenal in the second half," the Juventus coach told reporters. "That is why we are very happy with the result. Despite going down 2-0 against Bayern, it was a great performance from the team. "

FIFA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON KEY DAY FOR WORLD FOOTBALL

Fifa will get a new president on Friday when 207 delegates from around the world gather in Zurich, Switzerland to vote for a successor to Sepp Blatter.
In charge of world football's governing body since 1998, Blatter, 79, said last year he was standing down amid a growing corruption crisis.
Five candidates want to replace him.
They are Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, Gianni Infantino, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne.
The election process is expected to begin at 12:00 GMT, but several rounds of voting may be required before a winner is known.

CHINESE SHARES EXTEND LOSSES IN VOLATILE TRADING SESSION

Mainland Chinese shares extended losses in a volatile session, following Monday's suspension of trading which led to a global equities sell-off.
 Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also fluctuated through the day, and ended 0.7% lower at 21,188.72.
Trading in Shanghai was suspended early on Monday under a new rule designed to limit dramatic falls in markets.
But regulators said on Tuesday they may restrict stock sales to stem falls.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would consider restricting the proportion of shares that major shareholders could sell during a given period of time.

The central bank also injected an unexpected 130bn yuan (£13.55bn; $19.94bn) into the market to keep borrowing costs down - in a move to reassure retail investors.
The measures, however, did little to prevent Chinese shares from falling in afternoon trade.

PRIVATE BANKS BIGGEST BUYERS OF TREASURY BILLS

The Government of the Republic of Kosovo held yesterday the Treasury Bills Auction KV003-16, where were offered 12-month Treasury bills at a nominal value of 25 million euro.
The bid amount will serve for re-financing instrument issued in February 2015.
In the auction of Treasury bills, the market has shown demand for purchase in the amount of 72.2 million euro. This is the highest amount that has ever come as a demand for the Treasury Bills market. While it is received only the amount announced in advance which is 25 million Euro. The interest rate for this annual auction was 0.97%, which represents a difference of 56 basis points compared with the interest rate of the last auction of 12-month bills, which was 1.53%.

Buyers of Treasury bills by categories are private banks with 24.75 million euros and insurance companies by 0.25 million euros, due to the lower rate of refinancing we will have the budget revenues of 138,036.59 euro.
Treasury bonds auction held yesterday is another positive valuation that financial institutions have in the country for the financial stability of the Government of Kosovo, thus expressing their high interest and willingness for Treasury bills. However at the same time is the commitment of the Government for transparency and pure treasury bills market.

IMF WARNS THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IS "HIGHLY VULNERABLE"

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the global economy has weakened further and warned it was "highly vulnerable to adverse shocks".
It said the weakening had come "amid increasing financial turbulence and falling asset prices".
The IMF's report comes before the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Shanghai later this week.
It said China's slowdown was adding to global economic growth concerns.
China's economy, the second-biggest in the world, is growing at the slowest rate in 25 years.

"Growth in advanced economies is modest already under the baseline, as low demand in some countries and a broad-based weakening of potential growth continue to hold back the recovery," the Washington-based IMF said."Adding to these headwinds are concerns about the global impact of China's transition to more balanced growth, along with signs of distress in other large emerging markets, including from falling commodity prices."
The IMF also noted any future prospects for global growth "could be derailed by market turbulence, the oil price crash and geopolitical conflicts".
The agency has called on the G20 group to plan new mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable countries.
Earlier this year, the IMF downgraded its forecast for global economic growth. It now expects economic activity to increase 3.4% this year followed by 3.6% in 2017.

TURKEY JOURNALISTS FREED FROM PRISON AFTER COURT RULING

Two Turkish journalists charged with revealing state secrets have been freed from prison.
Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, from the newspaper Cumhuriyet, were detained in November over a report alleging that the Turkish government tried to ship arms to Islamists in Syria.
But Turkey's constitutional court has challenged the charges, saying they violated freedom of the press.
They were released early on Friday after three months in jail.
Large crowds chanting support met them outside prison on their release.
Mr Dundar, the paper's editor-in-chief, and Mr Gul, its Ankara bureau chief, spent 92 days in prison and had been due to go on trial on 25 March.
"This is a trial of press freedom," Mr Dundar said. "We got out but more than 30 colleagues are still in prison. I hope that this ruling will pave way for their freedom as well."
Pointing to the prison, he said he would continue to fight for press freedom "until this concentration camp that you see behind me becomes a museum".