EU mulls crisis bailout for Greece

Greece to get more help to fix debtvar cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2011/06/18/magnay.greece.financial.crisis.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2011/06/18/magnay.greece.financial.crisis.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}Greece's finance minister took the job on FridayThe IMF presents its economic outlook for Europe SundayThe EU says Ireland and Portugal appear to be meeting short-term bailout conditionsTalks on second Greek bailout package follow three weeks of street protests in Athens

(CNN) -- Greece's freshly appointed finance minister Evangelos Venizelos is due to attend talks Sunday on a second economic bailout package for his debt-strapped country. He joins other European Union finance ministers in Luxembourg for a two-day meeting on Europe's economic outlook.

Venizelos, formerly Greece's defense minister, became finance minister on Friday, when Prime Minister George Papandreou reshuffled the cabinet after three weeks of anti-austerity street demonstrations in Athens. Venizelos also took over the post of deputy prime minister.

The Greek bailout tops the agenda of the meeting of the Eurogroup and Economic and Finance Ministers Council, which representatives of the International Monetary Fund will also attend, according to an EU news release.

The IMF is contributing to the bailouts of European Union member countries.

IMF staff members will present their assessment of Europe's economy. They and the finance ministers will examine existing bailouts for Ireland and Portugal as well as the economic progress in those countries.

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Ireland is poised to meet proposed austerity conditions for the second quarter, according to the EU, and has received second quarter disbursements. Portugal has met requirements for the first payments of its bailout package.

The harsh reforms designed to help reduce Greece's enormous budget deficit have so far led to tax hikes and public sector job losses alongside already record-high unemployment.

The crisis raises concerns for Europe's currency, the euro. A default on its debts by Greece, or another struggling nation such as Portugal or Ireland, could adversely affect the world economy.

There are fears that efforts to restructure Greece's debt could send shockwaves through Europe's banking sector and spark investor panic similar to that in the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, the U.S. based global investment bank.

Venizelos addressed the Greek nation Friday, urging consensus in solving the crisis.

"Our priority is the viability and sustainability of the public debt," he said. "There is no disagreement on this issue."

Venizelos, a veteran politician, steered Greece's preparations for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He replaces Giorgos Papaconstantinou, who will become the environment minister, a government spokesman said.

"With the new composition of the government we make a new start," Prime Minister Papandreou told Parliament. "We face the biggest threat that our country has known over the last decades."

He said he tapped Venizelos to spearhead the implementation of what he called an "especially painful" and "difficult program of big structural changes that will lead our country to a viable economy during the following years."

Papandreou faces opposition from his party over the austerity measures needed to secure an additional bailout package.

The IMF said Thursday that it would continue to back Greece provided that Greece carried out the economic policy reforms agreed upon by the government.

The Greek government's popularity has plunged recently, and anti-government protests turned violent Wednesday, as demonstrators threw gasoline bombs at the Ministry of Finance and police fired tear gas at protesters, police said.

On June 9, the Cabinet approved a tough five-year plan for 2011-15 and introduced a bill in Parliament to put austerity measures into effect.

The government has said that the passage of these additional measures is essential to Greece's securing the fifth portion of the first 110 billion euro ($158 billion) bailout package that Greece signed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.

Treasury prices fell Friday as worries over Greece's debt crisis eased in light of a possible bailout and investors shifted into riskier assets, such as stocks.

Journalist Elinda Labropoulou and CNN's Ben Brumfield contributed to this report

CNN

Guam mulls going its own way (AFP)

HAGATNA, Guam (AFP) – Almost 70 years after US Marines freed Guam from Japanese forces during World War II, political leaders on the Pacific island are again seeking liberty -- this time from Washington.

The Marines who took Guam in a bloody 1944 battle reinstated the island as a "non-governing US territory", meaning its 180,000 population enjoys US citizenship but cannot vote in US presidential elections.

Now, with plans to increase the US military presence in Guam by moving in 8,000 troops from Japan's Okinawa, fears the native Chamorro population will be swamped by outsiders has given new impetus to calls for self-determination.

Governor Edward Calvo successfully campaigned on the issue in a January election and pursued it in his State of the Island address in March.

"I highly doubt the 1,744 Marines and soldiers who gave their lives in the Battle of Guam died so that the people they liberated could be colonised for eternity," he said.

"Because we are still an unincorporated territory (of the US) we have not reached our full potential. We should be able to determine where we want to go to as a community."

Guam, whose economy depends largely on US military spending and tourism, first came under US control when Spain ceded it to Washington in 1898 after the Spanish-American War.

It is one of only 16 places classified by the United Nations as non-self-governing territories, or colonies, remaining in the world.

Calvo has said he wants to hold a plebiscite on self-determination in 2012 but that need not mean cutting ties with Washington. Voters would be able to express their preference for one of three options -- US statehood, independence or "free association" with Washington.

Free association, a status accorded to neighbouring Pacific states the Marshall Islands, Palau and Micronesia, would give Guam recognition as a sovereign nation but it would retain close ties with the United States.

University of Guam president Robert Underwood said the time was ripe to revive the quest for home rule after three attempts between 2000 and 2004 stumbled because of a bureaucratic hurdle over voter registration.

He said Guam's local population needed to assert itself before the impending US military expansion, scheduled to take place in 2014.

"A society that is unfulfilled politically will always allow uncertainty to affect its development. It is important to resolve this issue now," Underwood said.

He said that while the island was always likely to remain economically dependent on the United States, that did not mean it was politically unable to rule itself, adding: "Most people in the world today are interdependent."

Guam's population has become increasingly multi-ethnic since World War II, currently comprising about 40 percent indigenous Chamorro, 27 percent Filipino, 12 percent from other Pacific islands and the remainder Caucasian or others.

Local scholar and cultural activist Jonathan Diaz said the Chamorro, who first settled on the island about 4,000 years ago, deserved to determine how their native land was governed.

"I think the diversity and composition of Guam's population may hamper the effort but, in actuality, if outsiders know and understand the story of the Chamorro people, they will let us vote," he said.

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