Hello, I’m Sue Montgomery with the BBC news.
Greece has become the first advanced economy ever to go into arrears with the International Monetary Fund. It’s failed to pay back 1.6 billion Euros to the IMF and
its international bailout agreement has also expired. From Brussels, Chris Morris.
“This is not how international diplomacy or finance is supposed to be conducted. A series of last minute proposals are in an atmosphere of mountain chaos. At the end
of a topsy-turvy day, another Greek request for an extension to its current bailout has been rejected. But there will be more exploratory talks on whether a third
bailout is an achievable aim. Without one, Greece is in dire straits, cut off from all international financing, and skating on dangerously thin ice. If it can’t repay
a debt to the European Central Bank on July 20 that would probably be the end. It’s already failed to pay the IMF on schedule and it’s running out of options to keep
it in the Euro zone.”
The Greek Economy Minister George Stathakis says the government will continue to look for solutions to the Greek problem despite its latest bailout request being
rejected. He told the BBC that he thought the solution was sure be found that kept Greece within the EU. “I am quite relaxed because I think that what most of the
time we are talking about make sense. It’s rational, it’s compromising solutions. And I think that whatever else is highly dangerous, and I don’t think that anybody
would try to follow the very dangers, but which is a huge cost for the Greek society and the European economy.”
The United States officials say the US and Cuba have reached a deal to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana. The deal is a major milestone in a process which
began with secret negotiations and took off last December when both presidents announced a thaw in relations.
The world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter China has for the first time made a commitment to the United Nations to try and produce 20% of its energy from renewable
sources within 5 years. Roger Harrabin reports.
“China’s beset by pollution from the industries that have lifted the nation out of poverty. Smog closes airports, there is a war against desertification. Now China
has announced its solution. It involves getting 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 and ensuring its emissions of carbon dioxide peak by 2030 at the
latest and increasing its forests. Previously, China considered pollution its sovereign concern. This is the first time it’s made its commitments to the United
Nations. It’s part of the great endeavor to tackle climate change at the UN climate summit later this year.”
World news from the BBC.
The Yemeni’s state news agency says more than 1000 prisoners have escaped from a jail in the central city of Taiz when it was attacked by groups of armed men. The
agency said the attackers were Al Qaeda‘s supporters.
A former Colombian paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso has been sentenced to almost 16 years in jail in the US for drug trafficking. He‘s been sentenced in Colombia
to 8 years on charges which included torture, force disappearances and murder. The organization he helped found the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia is believed
to be responsible for the death of around 11000 people. His lawyer said he had received a reduced sentence in the US after providing valuable information about the
activities of other paramilitaries.
The governor of California Jerry Brown has signed a new law requiring all children in the state to be vaccinated against measles from next year. Previously, parents
were allowed to refuse immunization for the children for personal reasons. It follows an outbreak of measles in Disneyland which affected more than a hundred people.
America was declared free of measles 15 years ago, but health officials say increasing numbers of parents were declining for vaccination driven by fears of possible
side effects.
The Hollywood stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have announced that they are to divorce after ten years of marriage. From LA, here is Peter Bowes.
"Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner met on the site of the film Daredevil in 2003. They married two years later. Their children are aged 9, 6 and 3. In their joint
statement they say the decision to divorce has been made after much thought and careful consideration. We go forward with love and friendship for one another and they
say a commitment to co-parenting their children whose privacy they ask to be respected during this difficult time."