Saturday, May 7, 2011
Greece Mulls Plans to Exit Eurozone, Start New Currency
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| Acropolis Wikimedia Image |
Spiegel Online
The debt crisis in Greece has taken on a dramatic new twist. Sources with information about the government's actions have informed SPIEGEL ONLINE that Athens is considering withdrawing from the euro zone. The common currency area's finance ministers and representatives of the European Commission are holding a secret crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night.
Greece's economic problems are massive, with protests against the government being held almost daily. Now Prime Minister George Papandreou apparently feels he has no other option: SPIEGEL ONLINE has obtained information from German government sources knowledgeable of the situation in Athens indicating that Papandreou's government is considering abandoning the euro and reintroducing its own currency.
Alarmed by Athens' intentions, the European Commission has called a crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night. The meeting is taking place at Château de Senningen, a site used by the Luxembourg government for official meetings. In addition to Greece's possible exit from the currency union, a speedy restructuring of the country's debt also features on the agenda. One year after the Greek crisis broke out, the development represents a potentially existential turning point for the European monetary union -- regardless which variant is ultimately decided upon for dealing with Greece's massive troubles.
Given the tense situation, the meeting in Luxembourg has been declared highly confidential, with only the euro-zone finance ministers and senior staff members permitted to attend. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Jörg Asmussen, an influential state secretary in the Finance Ministry, are attending on Germany's behalf.
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US releases seized bin Laden videos
Editor's Note: Osama's gone Hollywood, uses Just for Men beard dye.
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| This framegrab from an undated video released by the US Department of Defense reportedly show Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden © AFP AFP/US Department of Defense |
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Saturday released several videos seized during the Osama bin Laden raid, part of what US officials said was the largest trove of terrorism material ever collected.
A senior intelligence official told reporters the material showed bin Laden had remained a key leader in Al-Qaeda before he was killed by US commandos, and had overseen both strategy and operations from his secret compound in Pakistan.
"He was far from a figurehead, he was an active player," the official told a briefing at the Pentagon.
The large collection included digital, audio and video files, printed material, computer equipment, recording devices and handwritten documents, he said.
US warns of more steps against Syria
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| Syrian President Bashar al-Assad surrounded by young supporters © AFP/SANA |
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States warned Friday it would take "additional steps" against Syria if it continues a brutal crackdown on protesters, a week after imposing tough sanctions on the Arab nation.
"The United States believes that Syria's deplorable actions toward its people warrant a strong international response," the White House said in one of its strongest statements yet since the outbreak of unrest there.
It warned that unless President Bashar Al-Assad's government halted its repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests, "the United States and its international partners will take additional steps to make clear our strong opposition to the Syrian government’s treatment of its people."