Boston bombing suspect's family struggles to find burial site

BOSTON (Reuters) - The body of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev remained in limbo on Monday as his family searched for a cemetery that would accept the remains.

Several Massachusetts cemeteries have refused to bury Tsarnaev, and protesters have staked out the Worcester funeral home holding the body. Despite a plea from the funeral home director, Governor Deval Patrick said on Monday he would not get involved.

The controversy marked a rare period of discord in a state that was largely united after the attacks on one of its marquee events.

Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gun battle with police on April 19, four days after bombs he is believed to have set with his younger brother Dzhokhar killed three people and injured another 264 near the finish line of the world-famous marathon.

Relatives have said they want him buried nearby. Under Islamic law, the body cannot be cremated, a procedure used for criminals including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

"The whole situation is unprecedented," said David Walkinshaw, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association. The state of Massachusetts does not own its own cemeteries, he said, and the federal government has only cemeteries for war veterans.

"The challenge here is that there's no way to demand a cemetery allow for a burial to take place," Walkinshaw said.

Some Massachusetts residents want the body sent back to Tsarnaev's native Russia. William Breault of Worcester told reporters on Monday he had set up a bank account to raise funds to ship the remains.

"I not only don't want to see him buried in Worcester, Massachusetts. ... I don't think he should be buried in the state," Breault told CNN.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said he was not aware that anyone from Russia or Massachusetts had contacted the department about it. "We're unaware of any efforts to coordinate sending his remains to Russia," he said.

Gabriel Gomez, a Massachusetts Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, suggested disposing of Tsarnaev's body in the ocean as was done after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

"Bureaucrats worried about where to bury Boston Marathon terrorist #1. To me, it's simple: he should be buried at sea with Bin Laden," he wrote on his official Twitter account.

UNWILLING TO ACCEPT BODY

Tsarnaev's body was taken to Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester last week after spending more than a week at a medical examiner's office in Boston. Several cemeteries have said they would not accept Tsarnaev's body for burial.

Graham Putnam funeral home owner Peter Stefan, chairman of a board that oversees funeral services and embalming in Massachusetts, said he has an obligation to accept the remains.

Stefan has said he would seek help from state officials if he could not find a resting place soon. His work has drawn support from other funeral directors, including Morgan Mitchell, another member of the state board.

"There are funeral directors in Massachusetts who have buried people who have been murderers or child molesters. As professionals, we need to put these things to one side," Mitchell said.

Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, said on Sunday that his nephew should be buried in Massachusetts, where he lived. Tsarnaev's parents, ethnic Chechens who returned to southern Russia several years ago, have suggested in various interviews and reports that their son should be buried in Cambridge or returned to Russia.

The Massachusetts governor declined on Monday to get involved.

"This is a family issue ... and the family needs to make some decisions. I understand they have some options. They need to exercise one soon," Patrick told reporters.

Cambridge officials urged the Tsarnaevs to look elsewhere.

"The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests and widespread media presence at such an interment," said Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy in a statement Sunday.

"The families of loved ones interred in the Cambridge Cemetery also deserve to have their deceased family members rest in peace."

By Ross Kerber and Aaron Pressman (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Doina Chiacu and Philip Barbara)

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As Austerity Anger Swells, Greece's Government Struggles (Time.com)

Updates Appended: June 16, 2011

Even after the scuffles between police and anarchists erupted into clouds of tear gas on June 15, Giorgos Liolios did not leave Syntagma Square. For more than a year, Liolis, a 37-year old Athenian struggling to keep his small bakery afloat, was part of the silent majority that gave Prime Minister George Papandreou the benefit of the doubt. But after a year of austerity left him nearly broke, his brother unemployed and the debt-ridden country no better off, he drove to Athens from his suburb to stand alongside thousands of angry Greeks who, for weeks, had transformed Syntagma into a mini-Tahrir Square, complete with drum circles, tents and Cretan rebel songs.

"Everyone in that building should be ashamed," he says, pointing to the parliament building, which is now surrounded by protesters waving banners depicting Papandreou as Judas and a donkey. "They want us to sacrifice, but we need to see why we're sacrificing. As Greeks, we just want to live with enough money to get by, to have a little dignity. We can't do that anymore. We can't take it anymore. Why can't George Papandreou understand that?" (See pictures of economy-driven riots in Greece.)

It's now clear that Papandreou got the message. On Thursday, which also happened to be the American-born Premier's 59th birthday, he presided over an emergency meeting of the parliamentary group of his ruling party, PASOK, which he leads and his father, Andreas, founded, after two deputies defected and a day after state-run NET TV reported that he had considered resigning. But afterwards, in a televised speech to PASOK deputies, Papandreou vowed to stay in office and work to lead Greece out of its debt crisis.

"We do not have the luxury to run away" from our responsibilities, he said, to applause from the PASOK deputies. "I have to fight, all of us here have to fight."

It was a show of party unity after a fractious Wednesday, when Papandreou huddled with advisors and talked to Antonis Samaras, leader of the main opposition party New Democracy, about forming a coalition government that would pursue austerity policy together. In a short televised speech Wednesday night, he said he would form a new cabinet and ask parliament for a vote of no-confidence. Samaras responded with his own televised speech and said that the country and markets no longer had faith in the Socialists.

Pressure on Papandreou has been building for weeks. On June 13 Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's credit rating, handing it the lowest rating in the world and noting the country is "increasingly likely" to face debt restructuring. With his poll ratings in free fall and his own deputies defecting from the Party, Papandreou seems to be running out of options. Some analysts wondered if he would even last the day as Premier. (See more on Greece's debt crisis.)

"This government is almost dead," says Kostas Ifantis, a political science professor at the University of Athens. "I cannot see how they can push forward with the very, very painful measures the country needs. It was hard ten months ago, but it's even harder now."

There's little indication that a new government will pave the way to stability - even if new cabinet consists of fresh faces rather than longtime Greek politicians, whom most Greeks view as hopelessly corrupt and insular. "Markets are not going to respond well to this political turbulence," says Theodore Pelagidis, a professor of economic analysis at the University of Piraeus. "Right now, what is seriously lacking in this country is political leadership, and neither major party can offer it. There is no way out of this crisis without a healthy political system, which this country does not have." (See how one year after the bailout, Greece is still hurting.)

Papandreou's new resolve means snap elections will be put off - for now. If his government continues to struggle, elections may be the only option down the road, analysts say. "In addition to an economic crisis in Greece, we now have a legitimacy crisis," says law professor Aristides Hatzis, who runs www.greekcrisis.net, a blog that diligently charts every twist and turn of the debt crisis. "George Papandreou was elected on a mandate of expanding government and he has had to shrink it. People are demonstrating every day outside parliament, and some people are even attacking parliament. Elections are the only way to regain legitimacy."

But even if elections take place, the country still faces a leadership vacuum. Support for both PASOK and New Democracy have reached new lows, which suggests neither party would have a majority in early elections. Defectors from those groups have joined smaller parties, such as the sclerotic Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the nationalist, often incendiary Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), diluting the power of the main parties even more. (See how Greek voters gave the austerity plan a second chance.)

Back in Syntagma Square, Giorgos Liolios shakes his head as young demonstrators throw rocks at riot police, who respond with still more tear gas. He smeared his face with liquid Maalox earlier in the morning to close his pores, but that doesn't stop his eyes from stinging. Through all the haze and turmoil, it's difficult for him to see any clear champion for the millions of Greeks struggling to get by. Business at his small bakery is down 50 percent from last year. His taxes have gone up. Even the spaghetti he buys at the supermarket has doubled in price. "I'm not an anarchist, I'm not a fascist, I'm not a punk," he says, wiping his face. "I'm a Greek. Just a regular person trying to have a regular life. I'm willing to make sacrifices for my country, but not if it leaves me for dead."

The original version of this story has been updated to reflect new developments.

See pictures of the global financial crisis.

See photos of the Greeks' spring of protest.

View this article on Time.com

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Venezuela struggles with repeated power outages (AP)

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Christopher Toothaker, Associated Press – Mon Jun 13, 12:22 am ET

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez accused his political rivals on Sunday of sabotaging the country's electricity grid and trying to pin the blame on his government for blackouts plaguing much of Venezuela.

Repeated power blackouts in recent months have affected areas stretching from Venezuela's western border with Colombia to eastern regions where hydroelectric dams produce roughly a third of the electricity that Venezuelans consume.

Many Venezuelans in affected areas appear to be growing impatient as government officials promise solutions to a problem that has persisted since 2009 despite billions of dollars in investment aimed at revamping the power grid.

Opposition leaders, meanwhile, are trying to capitalize, blaming Chavez for a faulty power grid and the repeated outages.

Chavez accused his foes of provoking the outages, without presenting evidence of sabotage.

"Sabotage, we have to be vigilant," Chavez said, speaking from Cuba during a a telephone interview broadcast on Sunday by the Caracas-based Telesur television network.

The president suggested that "a group of the right-wing, anti-nationalist opposition that is willing to do anything" is sabotaging the grid.

The most recent blackouts hit western Venezuela on Friday and Saturday, affecting several border states and the country's second-largest city, Maracaibo. The outages began Friday night with the failure of a transformer in Zulia state, officials said. Other transformers exploded before dawn Saturday, knocking out 3,000 megawatts and affecting the states of Zulia, Trujillo, Merida, Tachira and Barinas.

Aixa Lopez, director of the Committee for People Affected by Power Outages, a pressure group that monitors the extent of the problem, said blackouts — some of them lasting up to 20 hours — have repeatedly hit Caracas and at least 10 of Venezuela's 24 states in recent months.

Lopez said blackouts at hospitals have interrupted surgeries, damaged thousands of home appliances and disrupted activity at numerous businesses and public institutions, ranging from restaurants to schools. Several major outages in Caracas this year have shut down the subway and street lights, further aggravating traffic jams that snarl through streets, causing chaos in the bustling capital, she added.

"The situation is serious, and it's unacceptable," Lopez said.

Vice President Elias Jaua said earlier Sunday the state electric utility, Corpoelec, is working to restore power in regions hit by outages.

Jaua called for patience and urged residents of the sun-baked, sizzling state to reduce their use of air conditioning units.

"We call on the people of Zulia to use electricity in a responsible manner," Jaua told state TV. "We don't blame the people, but there's a reality, a consumption limit. If we pass the limit, the system collapses."

Zulia Gov. Pablo Perez responded angrily, saying the government — not consumers — should accept the blame for the blackouts.

"We are not the ones to blame," Perez told a televised news conference.

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Italian firms look abroad as economy struggles (AFP)

ROME (AFP) – Workers rioting in Italy's historic shipyards this week are only the latest sign of a sense of national economic gloom that is pushing businesses to look abroad for growth and profits.

The riots over the announced closures of the Castellammare di Stabia and Sestri yards with the loss of 2,500 jobs coincided with a decidedly downbeat meeting of the Confindustria, Italy's powerful employers' federation.

The conference addressed sluggish growth, high youth unemployment and a renewed sense of unease about Italy on eurozone financial markets after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's credit outlook last weekend.

"Italy is immobile. We have to go for international markets," Stefania Brancaccio, owner of Coelmo, a medium-sized company that produces electricity generators near Naples, said on the sidelines of the meeting in Rome.

Brancaccio complained that Italy's technical schools are turning out engineers ill-equipped to use the computers needed for her business.

And the time required for any type of bureaucracy was far longer than in other markets in the Middle East and Asia where her company operates.

Fiat and Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne has stoked controversy in recent months with his critique of Italy's low productivity and has suggested the bulk of his historic auto giant could move from its homeland.

"Can you blame him? There's deadweight here. China and India are rising but we have remained blocked. He finds himself in a country that hasn't grown, that isn't competitive, where the transport system doesn't work," Brancaccio said.

Simone Santi from Leonardo Business Consulting, a Rome-based company which advises Italian firms wanting to invest in foreign markets, said: "Looking abroad is becoming a necessity for many companies, not just an opportunity.

"Construction companies, even medium-sized ones, are looking abroad because of the problems in the Italian market. Contracts in Italy have dried up and the market is shrinking, they are in grave difficulty," Santi said.

The trouble for Italy's family-based business model is that many companies are reluctant to make major investments abroad because it would mean sending relatives to increasingly distant markets to be managers, he said.

"It's mainly the large companies that are moving," he said.

Another problem for Italian companies in a globalised world, he said, was the lack of foreign managers on company boards -- just two percent.

Confindustria chief Emma Marcegaglia, a steel industry executive, encouraged Italian exporters to look abroad beyond traditional markets in Europe and the United States, towards the fast-growing economies of Brazil, China and India.

"We have to commit to improving the level of internationalisation of all our businesses," Marcegaglia told the Confindustria conference, pointing out that just 1.4 percent of companies accounted for 50 percent of exports.

She painted a bleak picture of the domestic economy, saying Italy had endured a "lost decade" of low growth and zero productivity increases.

"We have to move quickly," she said, in a speech peppered with warnings about a situation she described as "difficult," "dramatic" and "urgent."

She said the official data pointed to a dramatic decline with gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 45.2 percent in the 1970s, 26.9 percent in the 1980s and 17 percent in the 1990s -- but just 2.5 percent in the past decade.

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