Why Europe Won’t Let Greece Go

Everyone’s talking about Europe’s economy. But at the heart of the crisis is a very different problem.

Greece is on the brink yet again. It has to pay the International Monetary Fund (imf) us$1.7 billion by the end of the month. And that’s the start of a gauntlet of loan repayments—it owes €10 billion by the end of September. Meanwhile, it has not agreed to a deal to get that money. With time running out, European officials are reportedly preparing for a catastrophe. “The Greek saga is finally reaching its climax, we think,” said Morgan Stanley’s head of foreign exchange strategy.

What will happen? Will Greece leave the euro? Will it submit to Europe’s bailout conditions? Will it trigger a financial crisis? I don’t know. But I do know that in the long term Greece is going to remain under the European Union’s influence.

Pentagon: Growing Threat as China Expands Missile Arsenal Development

China is developing several new short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, according to a military intelligence report made public this week.

“China has the most active and diverse ballistic missile development program in the world,” the report by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center stated.

“It is developing and testing offensive missiles, forming additional missile units, qualitatively upgrading missile systems, and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defenses,” the report said.