The German parliament voted in favor of continuing the process towards a third bailout for Greece. But a significant number of lawmakers in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party bloc voted against – more than double the number who had voted against the second bailout in February. Not much of a 61st birthday gift, but the Chancellor got her way in the end.
According to German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, the New York Times‘ Paul Krugman “has no idea about the architecture and foundation of the European currency union.” Read the full interview at Spiegel here.
Former IMF executive Ashoka Mody has an interesting potential solution to the dilemma of preserving the single currency.
“A German return to the deutsche mark would cause the value of the euro to fall immediately, giving countries in Europe’s periphery a much-needed boost in competitiveness.
“The disruption from a German exit would be minor. Because a deutsche mark would buy more goods and services in Europe (and in the rest of the world) than a euro does today, the Germans would become richer in one stroke.
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reshuffled his cabinet to get rid of hardline leftists opposed to further austerity measures. But, The Guardian reports, “the limited nature of the reshuffle reinforced mounting speculation that elections would almost certainly be held in the early autumn.”
As if making some kind of allegorical visual point, much of the Greek countryside appeared to be in flames as firefighters tackled some 50 blazes it was suspected may have been lit as part of anti-austerity protests.
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* WORLD * And there were also dramatic fires in California, when a brushfire jumped onto a freeway east of Los Angeles, sending drivers running for safety.
(ABC News)
As Chattanooga and the rest of the country mourned Thursday’s shooting at a military facility in the city that left four US Marines dead, details emerged of a more complete timeline of the incident, and of the lives of the victims.
UPDATE 2PM ET SAT – A fifth service member – U.S. Navy Petty Officer Randall Smith –died on Saturday from injuries sustained in Thursday’s attack.
A fuller picture also continues to emerge of the suspected shooter.
In several states there were executive or legislative moves on Friday to allow armed forces personnel to carry weapons inside recruiting stations.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a car bomb 20 miles north of Baghdad which killed more than 80 people who had gathered to celebrate the last day of Ramadan.
Hundreds of people were injured when two commuter trains collided in Johannesburg.
The Westgate Mall shopping center in the Kenyan capital Nairobi will re-open on Saturday, in what is being called a “triumph over terrorism”, two years after it was the scene of a four-day siege and massacre which killed more than 60 people.
Nasa released the first-ever close-up images of Pluto. And they are remarkable.
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* POLITICS *
Police in Columbia, South Carolina are preparing for rival rallies at the statehouse on Saturday afternoon, when Ku Klux Klan supporters will gather to protest last week’s removal of the Confederate battle flag. At the same time, there will also be a rally organized by Black Educators for Justice.
South Carolina’s Governor, Nikki Haley, asked citizens to stay clear of the statehouse, saying:
Our family hopes the people of South Carolina will join us in staying away from the disruptive, hateful spectacle members of the Ku Klux Klan hope to create over the weekend and instead focus on what brings us together. We want to make the Statehouse a lonely place for them. In doing so, we’ll honor those we have lost and continue to make our state stronger.
For the first time in this campaign cycle, all five Democratic Presidential candidates appeared together on Friday night, speaking at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids. Meanwhile, two of the state’s leading elected Democrats – who had been instrumental in helping Barack Obama win in 2008 – endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Progressives have gathered for the Netroots Nation convention in Phoenix, where they heard a keynote speech from non-candidate Sen Elizabeth Warren. Candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley will appear at a Town Hall meeting on Saturday. Hillary Clinton hasn’t attended since 2007.
Some of the leading Republican candidates are also in Iowa this weekend, attending the Family Leadership Summit in Ames. You can watch the speeches live on C-Span here.
UPDATE SAT 2PM ET – Uh-oh… This may be a bridge too far.
As Donald Trump continues to galvanize grassroots support among potential GOP primary voters, The Huffington Post made a decision about its coverage of his ‘campaign’.
..we have decided we won’t report on Trump’s campaign as part of The Huffington Post’s political coverage. Instead, we will cover his campaign as part of our Entertainment section. Our reason is simple: Trump’s campaign is a sideshow. We won’t take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say, you’ll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette.
Trump fired back at the “blog”, and the media generally piled on. Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post writing on why the HuffPo’s move is a bad idea.
What we in the media need to be doing is asking questions about what is behind the Trump surge — not dismissing it as a joke or totally meaningless or, even, using his candidacy to pull the sort of publicity stunts that we tut-tut at Trump for.
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* MEDIA * Buckingham Palace was said to be “disappointed” by the publication of an image from a Royal home movie taken in 1933.
(The Sun)
The Press Association reported that the Palace had said:
Most people will see these pictures in their proper context and time. This is a family playing and momentarily referencing a gesture many would have seen from contemporary news reels.
“No one at that time had any sense how it would evolve. To imply anything else is misleading and dishonest.
“The Queen is around six years of age at the time and entirely innocent of attaching any meaning to these gestures.
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* BUSINESS * As Google reported its earnings on Friday, its stock price surged, adding a total of $52 billion in market capitalization as of the start of trading, in what was reported to be the largest single-day gain. Ever.
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* SPORTS * There’s a big weekend coming up in British sport with the conclusion of the British Open at St Andrews, (** UPDATE SAT 9AM ET – It appears The Open will now conclude on Monday, after play was suspended due to high winds. There was, as you can imagine, plenty of controversy about the decision, because Golf.)
England fighting to avoid defeat in the second Ashes test, and Carl Frampton defending his world super-bantamweight title in El Paso, Texas.
Japan dropped its plans for a $2.75billion stadium that would have been the centerpiece of the 2020 Olympics.
One stadium that is apparently moving one step closer, however, is the potential future home of David Beckham’s MLS franchise in Miami.
Finally, French Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi passed away from injuries he sustained in a crash last year. He was just 25 years old.
The Overnight Note 