Greek austerity squeaks through, but budget woes remain (The Christian Science Monitor)

Paris – Greek lawmakers under terrific urging from European Union officials today voted 155 to 148 to accept a package of austerity necessary to avert a government default and avoid a feared chain reaction of market turmoil around Europe and the world.

Markets were optimistic before today’s vote that Greek politicians would ignore a howling public that polls as high as 80 percent opposed to the $40 billion in government spending cuts and tax hikes that are the price of the international bailout that's staving off default. Other struggling “peripheral” euro-zone members, including Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy, are anxious not to suffer the negative market consequences of a Greek default.

The current Greek crisis, the second in slightly more than a year, is seen by some as a possible harbinger of European disunity, a turning point for greater isolation between the 17 eurozone members. Others see it as a necessary spur towards deeper integration.

Prime Minister George Papandreou framed today’s vote in historic terms and together with new finance minister Evangelos Venizelos, a heavyweight in the ruling Pasok party, pushed through the package and also avoided defections that could have brought the government down.

IN PICTURES: Greece protests

News reports have a Pasok party headquarters in Crete being burned down, and in Athens the outcome of the vote has brought enough tear gas on the street to put 30 people in the hospital. The nation is in the second day of general strikes called by the trade unions. In the past weeks, atmosphere for the mostly peaceful protests in Syntagma Square, epicenter of political anger, has turned violent.

Tomorrow brings another vote in Parliament to enable the austerity legislation. That vote is being treated as pro forma, though some of the specific details – for instance, a huge cut in utility spending – remain sensitive.

Show Greece the moneyToday’s vote, if ratified tomorrow, allows the release of a of $16.5 billion slice from the $142 billion bailout agreed in May 2010, after the Papandreou government admitted its books had been cooked to hide a $350 billion deficit. [Editor's note: This story was edited after posting to correct the size of the bailout package.]

Lacking a growth package and any structural adjustments, many Greek citizens say that agreeing to an austerity package merely sentences them to an unrelenting long-term debt problem that they can’t see a way out of.

“I’m not sure what will happen now. What I see is a lot of political and social polarization in Greece,” says Takis Pappas, an expert on Greek politics at the University of Strasbourg, “and this is what worries me at the moment. Greece doesn’t have room to maneuver. Will the opposition try to take down the government or be silent. The opposition [New Democrats] will likely play hardball.”

'Kicking the can'The fresh $16.5 billion, however, will only sustain the Greek payroll through the summer, causing some analysts to say today’s vote merely “kicks the can down the road.”

Yet analysts at Morgan Stanley, speaking anonymously, say that the new money and time bought by a€?kicking the cana€

Philippe Waechter, chief economist at Natixis Asset Management in Paris, says the vote may be salutary but still doesn’t offer a long term answer.

“Thanks to this vote we can avoid the problematic situation that would arise from Greece's straight default,” Mr. Waechter argues, “but this vote, on a very, very drastic austerity plan, only allows for Greece to benefit from the Troika's [EU, IMF, European Central Bank] next financing tranche. What is preoccupying is that a considerable effort is made to just meet a short-term deadline. What will happen tomorrow if Greece is again in the same situation, which will surely occur if nothing is done to tackle long-term problems?”

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Yemen thrust into deeper uncertainty after Gulf deal falls through (The Christian Science Monitor)

Sanaa, Yemen – When demonstrations began in February aimed at toppling long-ruling President Ali Abdullah Saleh, they were of a humble size, filling only the area immediately outside the entrance to Sanaa University, an area now known as Change Square.

Now as the movement enters its fourth month, the sit-in has swollen to a veritable tent city that stretches nearly two miles, shutting off traffic in a large portion of the nation's capital and resembling a shantytown. Many tents there have a permanent look, wired for electricity, satellite television and, in many cases, wireless Internet service.

Still, the demonstrators seem no closer to achieving their goal. A supposed agreement that would have had Saleh resign, brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, appears to have fallen through, with neither the demonstrators nor Saleh willing to support it.

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"How can anything headed by the GCC lead to democracy," commented Abdulrahman Abdullah al Kamadi, a demonstrator who has been camped out in the square for over two months.

"The emirates and kingdoms of the GCC are the enemy of any revolution. They cannot even admit what is going on here. This is not a political crisis: this is a revolution."

'We have no fear of violence'

On Wednesday, gunfire broke out here as army troops loyal to Saleh moved against the demonstrators in what appeared to be an effort to push them back from the huge swath of territory they've claimed over the weeks. More than a dozen protesters were killed in the four-hour firefight, but the pro-Saleh forces gained no ground, and protesters were putting up new structures Thursday.

"We have no fear of violence," said Bassem Moghram, one the leaders of the young people who make up the heart of the protest movement. "Freedom is not cheap."

Increasing hardship, uncertainty

Where the protest movement will go is uncertain. Similar tent cities have sprung up in other Yemeni cities, and the political turmoil is showing itself in growing hardship for the average Yemeni.

Gas rationing, water shortages and power outages have become commonplace in many parts of the country; and the cost of food has risen, as the value of the Yemeni rial has plunged.

RELATED: As Yemenis run low on gas and food, revolution could take off

Yemen's oil industry has been particularly affected; with production dropping nearly 50 percent, the result of damaged pipelines and the temporary closure of some oil facilities.

Amir al Aydarous, the country's oil minister, recently told the state-run news agency that continued unrest could lead to "catastrophe beyond imagination." Yemen's modest oil reserves provide nearly 70 percent of the government's revenues.

A largely leaderless movement

The movement itself remains largely leaderless. While some of the demonstrators are affiliated with opposition parties, most continue to fiercely assert their independence. Images of slain former President Ibrahim al Hamdi, who ran the country from 1974 to 1977, far outnumber images of current opposition leaders.

"We will talk about parties when we are talking about elections," said Ibrahim Yayha al Kulani. "Until then, we will remain one united front, not differentiating between party, region or sect."

Various self-described "revolutionary youth committees" have sprouted in different areas of Yemen. Notably, the past weeks have seen growing cooperation between groups in different cities, culminating in the formation this week of a single, nationwide "Media Council of the Revolution." Another group, the Supreme Coordination Council of the Revolution, has called for a series of marches, strikes and camp expansions, culminating in a march Tuesday on the Presidential Palace.

US role

For its part, the US, for which Saleh has been a key ally in the war on terror, and the European Union remain supportive of the GCC plan, which would grant Saleh immunity from prosecution for the hundreds of deaths suffered in the crackdown on the protests. The young people who've remained camped out in protest reject that idea in particular, and many Yemen observers believe the GCC plan is doomed.

"It is a mistake for the United States to continue to let the GCC take the lead on this, both for the future of Yemen as well as for U.S. security interests," commented Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen scholar at Princeton University. "The US must take the lead in constructively shaping a post-Saleh Yemen."

Others say the US support for any plan makes it unworkable.

"This is not even just a GCC plan," said Feris al Areeqi, a professor of engineering at Sanaa University. "This is a GCC-EU-USA plan. How can they intervene positively when they have supported Saleh?"

(Baron is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

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Deadly fire rips through Beijing building

Xinhua: At least 17 people were killed in a building fire in BeijingPolice say 24 people were injured Investigation into the cause of the fire is underway

Beijing (CNN) -- A deadly fire ripped through a four-story building in a southern suburb of Beijing early Monday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

At least 17 people were killed, said municipal police, and 24 were injured.

Firefighters have now extinguished the blaze, which began around 1 a.m. (1 p.m. ET Sunday) in Jiugong Town in Daxing District.

Officials are now conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire.

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Deadly storms rip through N.C., Va.

Aerial view of N.C. storm damageSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Bertie County, North Carolina manager reports 11 confirmed fatalities The National Weather Service reports 14 deaths in Bertie County"Reports are still incoming," a North Carolina official saysStorm-related deaths are reported in six other states"Epic event" for North Carolina, CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras saysIf severe weather happens near you, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please be careful.
See more coverage from CNN affiliates WTVD, WRAL, WNCN, News14, WITN

(CNN) -- Powerful storms that have ripped across the Southeast killed as many as 44 people over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service and reports from several states.

A CNN meteorologist called the storms' impact on North Carolina "epic."

There were 14 deaths in Bertie County, North Carolina, a rural area in the northeast part of the state, the weather service said Sunday.

Zee Lamb, Bertie County manager, told CNN that he could confirm 11 fatalities.

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Storms, power outages roll through South

A tornado hit a Kentucky manufacturing plant on Monday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSSevere weather forces Tennessee school officials to hold students at day's end147,000 are without power in GeorgiaThe dire weather will continue through early Tuesday morningRELATED TOPICSTornadoesNational Weather ServiceGeorgia Power Company (CNN) -- Severe storms pummeled much of the South late Monday, with high winds downing power lines and plunging thousands of households in the dark in several states.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas.

It said it received nearly 600 reports of severe winds across the southeast on Monday, 19 instances of suspected tornado-related damage and 72 reports of hail.

Reports of funnel clouds poured into the weather service's office from Sumner County, Tennessee, where the severe weather forced school officials to hold students at the end of the school day, reported CNN affiliate WZTV.

"It got so bad, I grabbed my son (and) got him in the closet," resident Chuck Carter told the station. "We always go to the closet when we think there is a tornado in the area."

In southern Kentucky, line of uprooted trees dotted damaged roads. No injuries were reported, however.

Melvin Pendley wondered how to repair his home, which had its roof blown off.

"The ceilings are collapsed in the bedroom and half the living room," he told CNN affiliate WBKO. "Half of the inside is still OK right now. With all this rain, we don't know what's going to happen now."

In Georgia, the storms knocked out power to 147,000 customers out statewide, Georgia Power said early Tuesday morning.

The dire weather will continue through Tuesday morning, with a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms across parts of eastern Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, central Alabama and southeastern Mississippi, the weather service said.

It also forecast a slight risk of severe thunderstorms across parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley, southern Appalachians, eastern Gulf Coast states and as far north as the mid-Atlantic states.

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