Greece bailout: Coalition fails to agree cuts

Greek PM Lucas Papademos has failed to secure the support of his coalition for a raft of new austerity measures, after more than seven hours of talks.

 

He had met officials from three parties to try to secure a deal leading to a fresh bailout package.
The main stumbling block in the crunch talks was proposed pension cuts, reports said.
Mr Papademos was said to be going directly to discuss the problem with EU and IMF officials.
They are representing the so-called "troika" of bailout creditors - the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - who had earlier agreed the draft proposals with the prime minister.
They are thought to include a 20% minimum wage reduction, pension cuts and the sacking of 15,000 public sector workers - and have prompted further mass protests.
Officials from Pasok, New Democracy and the far-right Laos party only received the 50-page text on Wednesday morning, reports said, after Mr Papademos agreed the deal with the troika on Tuesday night.