New Greek bailout cash comes with dire warning
International inspectors
forecast Greek debt will reach
181 per cent of GDP
Friday, 21 October 2011
European leaders were given a stark warning last night that Greece's debt burden remains unsustainable, despite the €65bn (£57bn) in bailout funding the country has received since May 2010. The warning was contained in the draft text of the decision of the "troika" mission of officials – from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission – on Athens' progress towards stabilising its public finances.
The troika comes as close as it can, given the political contraints under which the mission operates, to saying that the existing bailout strategy for Greece is not working. And the warning will heap pressure on European leaders to agree on significant levels of debt relief for Greece at the weekend's summit in Brussels.
Libya plans secret burial for Muammar Gaddafi
21 October 2011
Libyan authorities are planning a secret burial within the next few hours for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi following his capture and death.
The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Tripoli says officials early on Friday were still undecided as to where and how it should take place.
Earlier, officials said Col Gaddafi had been killed in crossfire after being captured in his birthplace of Sirte.
Nato is expected to declare an end to its Libya campaign in the coming hours.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the alliance's military operation in Libya could be considered "finished" with the death of Col Gaddafi.
China's hit-run scandal: Yue yue dies
October 21, 2011 - 5:14PM
A toddler who was twice run over by vans and then ignored by 18 passers-by as she lay critically injured in the street has died, the hospital treating her said today.
Surveillance camera footage of people walking past the two-year-old girl, nicknamed Yue Yue, as she lay bleeding and unconscious, sparked a wave of condemnation and soul-searching on China's popular social networking sites.
A rubbish collector who finally moved the girl to the side of the street in the southern Chinese city of Foshan was hailed as a hero, but the incident also led many online commentators to question the state of Chinese morality.
Jon Bon Jovi opens a pay-what-you-can 'Soul Kitchen'
Jon Bon Jovi's new restaurant will help the hungry. But it's no 'soup kitchen,' he says.
Its slogan is "Where Hope is Delicious." The menu lacks any prices. A donation of $10 is appreciated for a three-course meal with mouth-watering entrees like "cornmeal crusted catfish with red beans and rice," "grilled chicken breast with homemade basil mayo and rice pilaf," or "grilled salmon with soul seasonings."
But if you can't pay a thing, that's alright, too, at The Soul Kitchen, a new restaurant with a twist just opened Oct. 19 by rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his wife in Red Bank, N.J. Patrons can wash the dishes or do community service to earn their supper.
'Occupy' protesters find allies in ranks of the wealthy
'Tax me, I’m good for it,' some in the richest 1 percent say in support of the protest
By Miranda LeitsingerReporter
msnbc.com
The “Occupy Wall Street” protesters — also known as the “99 percent” — have struck a chord with at least a few members of an unexpected audience: America’s rich and privileged.
United under the banner “We are the 1 percent: We stand with the 99 percent,” a band of entrepreneurs, trust fund babies, professionals and inheritors has taken to the web to share their abhorrence of corporate greed and support for tax code changes that would see them pay a higher share of their considerable wealth.
As Autocrats Are Toppled, Their Fates Grow More Extreme
CAIRO — With Arab despots toppling at an unprecedented pace since January, a range of options for the final curtain have been tested, with Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, typically, making the most dramatic exit with his gory death on Thursday.
“Qaddafism was a kind of cult,” Juan Cole, a University of Michigan history professor, said in describing the last stand in Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown, Surt, as the act of fanatics. “They drank the Kool-Aid, and they were determined to die. It is their truth against the evil world.”
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