CNN news 2011-11-08
First up, Greece`s debt crisis overshadows just about everything else at the G-20 economic conference. World leaders are meeting in France to talk about global financial issues.
AZUZ (voice-over): President Obama, who`s at the G-20 meeting, says the most important thing they need to do is to resolve Europe`s financial problems. Greece`s debt is a big part of that.
AZUZ: There`s a deal that would give Greece a financial bailout, but it comes with rules about cutting government spending. That`s made a lot of Greek citizens angry.
AZUZ (voice-over): The country`s prime minister, George Papandreou, shocked a lot of people earlier this week when he said he wanted his citizens to vote on whether they wanted the bailout. Yesterday he seemed to change his mind and said the vote may not be necessary.
AZUZ: Seventeen European countries, including Greece, all use the same currency: it`s the euro. And if one of those economies takes a big hit, it could have a seriously negative effect on all the others. Max Foster explains, it was a very different story when the currency was first introduced.
MAX FOSTER, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): It was heralded as a tool that would change the status quo of the global economy, a challenger to the dominance of the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A majority of E.U.`s politicians agree that a single currency, to be called the euro, will benefit trade, guard against inflation and eliminate exchange rate risks.
FOSTER (voice-over): But in the face of monetary unity, those divisions (ph), with protests stretching from Spain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
FOSTER (voice-over): . to Germany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN REPORTER: Across Europe, according to one survey, consumers are more negative than positive about the coming of the euro. Many worry that businesses will take advantage of odd exchange rates to round off prices upward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will the euro be a benefit or a loss for everybody?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a big step towards union, and union, most of the time, means peace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Countries that are economically worse off we`ll end up paying for, and then before you know it, there will be another war.
FOSTER (voice-over): European leaders were on the hard sell, painting the euro as an economic and even social savior.
WOLFGANG ISCHINGER, GERMAN DIPLOMAT: In the long run, such a project will, in fact, contribute to the kinds of things that our citizens are looking for: security, the absence of crime, the absence of drugs, prosperity, jobs, trade, investment.
FORMER ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER ROMANO PRODI: The euro is the beginning of a stronger European Union. We shall be the best in the world, the best in the world.
AZUZ: Next up, a milestone for China`s space program. Last month, the country launched a laboratory module into orbit. And on Tuesday, China sent up an unmanned spacecraft.
AZUZ (voice-over): Yesterday, the two came together. China`s government says the successful docking is another step on the way to building a space station. For now, the module and spaceship will be used to run some experiments. Then the ship will come back to earth, while the module stays in space.
China plans to try another docking test, one with an astronaut on board. That`ll happen sometime next year.
AZUZ (voice-over): On this day in history, back in 1922, British archeologist Howard Carter and his crew discovered the entrance to King Tut`s tomb.
In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. More than 60 Americans were taken hostage and held for more than 14 months.
And three years ago, in 2008, Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election, becoming the first African-American elected to the Oval Office.
AZUZ: If you`ve been watching our show over the past month or so, you`ve probably heard of Occupy Wall Street. This protest movement doesn`t have a specific leader or demands, but a lot of the protests seem to target the U.S. financial industry.
In New York City, it`s been going on for more than 40 days. But the protests are happening in other parts of the U.S. as well. For the most part, they`ve been peaceful.
AZUZ (voice-over): That hasn`t always been the case in California. What you`re seeing is video from Oakland. Protesters there have been fighting with police officers. Yesterday, some protesters started throwing rocks at the police, who then used tear gas to try to break up the scene.
Members of the Occupy movement are blaming the violence on a radical group among the protesters.