FRANKFURT

By Nikos Chrysoloras, Eshe Nelson & Jeff Black

Creditor officials and Greek authorities began talks intended to unlock bailout funds, as some euro-area central bankers were said to raise opposition to the prospect of additional emergency cash for the country's banks.

Greece would benefit little from leaving the euro, a senior European Central Bank policymaker cautioned on Wednesday, warning that it would cut Greeks' income and offer little benefit beyond helping tourism.

European Central Bank buying of government and other debt may be shielding countries in the euro zone from any knock-on effect from events in Greece, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

 Frankfurt sees no reason to change its tough stance toward Athens as it has seen no concrete progress

By Sotiris Nikas

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' statements in a documentary about the Greek debt that was aired in Germany yesterday, on the same day the Eurozone Finance Ministers met to discuss whether to provide Greece with further aid, have caused a strong negative reaction by the German media.

Bedrettin Dalan, one of the fugitive suspects in the Ergenekon coup plot case, returned to Turkey in the early hours of March 10 after five years abroad, after his arrest warrant was dropped.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has described his country as the most bankrupt in the world and said European leaders knew all along that Athens would never repay its debts, in blunt comments that sparked a backlash in the German media on Tuesday.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

Piraeus Group head Michalis Sallas is poised to become the new president of the Hellenic Bank Association as soon as the administrative changes at the National Bank of Greece are completed.

The euro dived on March 9 to a new 11.5-year low against the dollar as the European Central Bank kicked off its radical 1.1-trillion-euro ($1.2-trillion) bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing.

Sentiment was also weighed down by concerns over Greece, with Athens due to present its reform plans to Brussels in order to secure a financial lifeline.

By Emma O?Brien and Nick Gentle

European bonds rose as the region?s central bank began buying sovereign debt. Greece led declines in stocks while shares in emerging markets fell to a three-week low.