Greeks protest, almost half oppose austerity

Thousands of Greeks marched on parliament on Saturday in a show of unabated public anger after Prime Minister George Papandreou vowed to push on with an austerity campaign that a poll showed half the country opposed.

In a move meant to stifle dissent in his Socialist Party, Papandreou on Friday dismissed Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, architect of a new five-year austerity programme that has sparked weeks of protests.

The reshuffle coincided with a pledge by France and Germany to continue funding Athens, a move that may have bought Greece and its fellow euro zone members time to prevent a messy default, even if doubts over its longer-term solvency persist.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund have made the reforms a condition for a new bailout package worth an estimated 120 billion euros ($170 billion) that Greece, shut out of markets, will need to fund itself through 2014.

Around 5,000 protesters from the Communist group PAME marched into Athens' central Syntagma square -- where demonstrations turned violent earlier this week -- chanting "the measures are killing us!"

French activists also performed with a three-metre puppet depicting a bloodied figure of Lady Justice to rhythmic drumming, in a gesture of solidarity with Greek protesters who have camped in the square for three weeks.

"What has changed with the reshuffle? Nothing," said Costas, a 22-year-old student who has been camping on the square since the beginning of the month. "We are not planning to leave unless they take back the measures."

An opinion poll taken before the reshuffle showed 47.5 percent of respondents wanted parliament to reject the reform package and for Greece to hold early elections.

Just over a third -- 34.8 percent -- wanted it to be approved so Athens could secure the second bailout.

Constantinos Routzounis, head of pollsters Kapa Research, said Greeks were not against austerity in itself but thought the reforms were unfairly aimed at the poor while wealthy tax evaders and corrupt politicians got off lightly.

"People don't want Greece to exit the euro zone. They do want fiscal consolidation measures -- but more just ones," he told personally.

Greece's biggest union GSEE, representing around 2 million workers in the private sector, called for a 48-hour strike when parliament votes on what has been dubbed the mid-term plan. The government hopes that will happen by end-June.

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Obama calls on private sector to create jobs

US president Barack Obama on Saturday called for the private sector to create more jobs, but underlined the government’s role in promoting professional education.
‘Now, government is not — and should not be — the main engine of job-creation in this country. That’s the role of the private sector,’ the president said in his weekly radio and internet address.
‘But one thing government can do is partner with the private sector to make sure that every worker has the necessary skills for the jobs they’re applying for,’ Obama added.
His comments came after labour department figures showed only 54,000 new jobs had been created in May, just a quarter of the February-April pace; the unemployment rate had edged up to 9.1 per cent.
The White House and economists cautioned that the poor data was likely a monthly blip, but it has fuelled allegations that Obama’s economic policies are failing, 18 months ahead of the presidential election.
The president noted that the US economy had not got into what he called a ‘mess’ overnight, and would not resolve its problems quickly.
‘It’s going to take time,’ he warned.
Obama pointed to the importance of investing in wind power, solar power, and biofuels to make America less dependent on foreign oil and to clean up the environment.
‘These are steps we know will make a difference in people’s lives — not just twenty years from now, or ten years from now, but now, and in the months to come,’ the president said.

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Gaddafi offered exit deal

Turkey has offered Muammar Gaddafi guarantees to leave Libya but has yet to receive a reply, as rebels say loyalist forces killed 20 people in a fierce assault on Misrata.
Fresh Nato-led strikes sent up plumes of smoke Friday in Tripoli, where the strongman has his residence and headquarters.
But in Brussels, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned the Western alliance's air war on forces loyal to Gaddafi could be in peril because of military shortcomings.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government had offered exit "guarantees" to the embattled Libyan leader, whom rebels have been trying to oust since February following a bloody crackdown on pro-reform protests.
Gaddafi "has no other option than to leave Libya - with a guarantee to be given to him," Erdogan said on NTV television.
"We have given him this guarantee. We have told him we will help him to be sent wherever he wants to go," he added, without elaborating.
"Depending on the reply we will get from him, we will take up the issue with our (Nato) allies, but unfortunately we have received no reply so far."
His comments came after a day of deadly fighting near the port city of Misrata, the rebels' most significant enclave in western Libya, some 200 kilometres from Tripoli.
Beaten back loyalists
Gaddafi's forces had bombarded the Dafnia area on Misrata's outskirts with Grad rockets, heavy artillery and tank shells, a rebel said.
"Twenty people, both civilians and rebels, were killed and more than 80 wounded," in the sector, 35km from Misrata city centre, he added.
But they had beaten back an attack by loyalist troops, leaving "dead and wounded among the Gaddafi forces," he said.
In the Libyan capital Tripoli, two loud blasts were heard at about 15:00 (13:00 GMT), coming from the eastern suburbs of Tajura and Ain Zara, residents told AFP.
Three powerful explosions shook the city centre at around midnight. Other more distant blasts followed.
Tripoli has over the past two days been subjected to the most intense Nato air raids since the international military campaign was launched on March 19 under a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians.
In Paris, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's daughter Aisha filed a second war crimes complaint against Nato and France over air strikes that killed family members, including three infants, her lawyer said.
In Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's special envoy Mikhail Margelov said he would be visiting Tripoli to try to find a solution to the conflict, having met the opposition in their Benghazi stronghold.
Half of Nato out
Thursday saw a surge of support for the rebels battling to oust Gaddafi at a meeting in Abu Dhabi of the International Contact Group on Libya.
Key powers agreed to unlock a billion dollars for their coffers, and the United States joined Australia and Spain in recognising the rebels National Transitional Council (NTC) as Libya's legitimate representative.
Gates, the Pentagon chief, expressed concern on Friday with half of the countries in the 28-member Nato alliance not participating in the Libya campaign, many simply did not have the wherewithal.
"Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they cannot," Gates said.
"The military capabilities simply aren't there."
Norway, which has contributed six F-16 fighters, said however that it would first reduce its participation before pulling out altogether on August 1.
And Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that while his country supported a three-month extension of the Nato air campaign, its six F-16s would not fly bombing missions.
US Senator Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said later that Gaddafi's forces had been "severely degraded" and the Nato operation was "going well", following a briefing from Pentagon officials.
Gaddafi sent a letter to the US Congress praising its criticism of President barack obama over libya.
"What does it stand for? Does it mean that media has reported repeatedly? Does this constitute hyste

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