Greece’s bailout talks in Athens deadlocked for another day

Greek politicians on Wednesday (right to left): interim prime minister Lucas Papademos, Socialist PASOK leader George Papandreou, conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras

Led by Greece’s interim prime minister Lucas Papademos, leaders of the three major political parties remained deadlocked on issues such as reducing pensions by 15% and reducing the minimum wage by 22% or more, from its current rate of €751 per month. A meeting of the Eurogroup finance ministers to discuss the bailout has been rescheduled several times because of delays in Athens, but Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker has confirmed that the meeting will go ahead on Thursday evening. Kathimerini

Turkey rules out military intervention in Syria

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has ruled out military intervention in Syria and said there is still time for diplomatic efforts, repeating the same position that Turkey has been taking for months. When asked about establishing a “buffer zone” region on Syrian soil where unarmed citizens, something that Turkey itself had suggested several months ago, Davutoglu evaded the question. There have been unsubstantiated claims that morale is falling among soldiers in Syria’s army, and my guess is that Turkey and others are hoping that the army itself will force president Bashar al-Assad out of office. This is actually not an unreasonable hope, since Syria is in a generational awakening era, a time when such things happen without a full-scale war. In the meantime, the regime seems to be determined to obliterate as many of its own unarmed people as it can, with violate military assaults on residential neighborhoods escalating every day. Zaman (Ankara)

Tension grows between Egypt and U.S. over arrest of Sam LaHood

Sam LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is among 43 people, including 19 American citizens, being criminally charged with such things as failing to pay taxes, entering the country on tourist visas and training political parties. Those charged are all employees of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are promoting democracy in Egypt, and it’s believed that the criminal charges are political. The case has angered U.S. officials, but Egypt’s prime minister said Wednesday that the government would not drop the criminal probe, those charged could face up to five years in prison. Washington Post