nes. the greek prime minister calls for a no vote in sunday's referendum, saying they will strengthen negotiations with creditors. meanwhile, european ministers say there will be no talks until after the referendum. a crucial step to restoring diplomatic ties, u.s. and cuba announced they will reopen embassies in each other's capitals. this is seen as a culmination of president obama and castro's decision to normalize relations

and people have been killed in the sinai peninsula after the islamic state group targeted several military checkpoints. it is one of the largest attacks the country has seen. they have approved a new anti-terror item. ♪ anchor: the greek prime minister has called for a no vote in sunday's national referendum over whether to accept proposals from international creditors. speaking earlier, alexis the earth said voting no would strengthen his hand in asking for a third bailout. he thanked them for their calm and valid wages would be safe, as would pensions. handing over power to the greek people, prime minister alexis

tsipras was defending on the upcoming referendum, giving more time for a solution. " on sunday, we would choose whether to accept the specific agreement or to seek something else with the public approval. i want to make sure it is an unwavering intention to reach an agreement with its creditors but terms that are viable and that have potential. anchor: this comes after the greek premier sent an 11th hour to -- an 11th hour letter to creditors. it is subject to certain amendments or clarifications. he said he was prepared to adapt another vat system, but he wants to keep a discount on the rate. he was also sticking to his guns

on pensions, agreed to phase out some pensioners by 2020 but not cutting them immediately. they also looked at reducing military spending in 2016 and 400 million dollars in 2017 less than creditors initially called for. after missing the payment deadline to the imf on tuesday angela merkel said more talks are possible but not until greece goes through with its referendum. >> i repeated over and over again that the door to talks with the greek government has always been and remains open. now, we are waiting for the referendum. before that referendum no further talks on an aid program can take place. anchor: the finance minister

took a more critical stance saying greece was sending mixed signals and should clarify its position before any further negotiations. france however, is favorable to signing an agreement sooner rather than later, regardless of the upcoming referendum. and german chancellor angela merkel has ruled this out before greece hold its referendum on another bailout deal on sunday. since the start of the greek debt crisis, angela merkel had her demand that greece has overhauled its economy and finance, which should be in exchange for international rail out funds. our reporter. reporter: the german chancellor is doubling down. as the leader of the country that owns the most greek debt, she is urging harsh budget cuts and painful restructuring in greece. her repainted -- her repeated mantra has been if greece fails, europe fails. she sees it as fighting for the very survival of the eu.

after the crisis in 2010, angela merkel and again pushed for closer cooperation. " it is still about all of us taking responsibility on the one hand for the economy and on the other hand for how we show solidarity with each other." now, she is under increasing pressure. some want her to take a harder line with athens, while others blame her for punishing austerity demands that have all but crippled greece. angela merkel says germany has done its part. >> a compromise can only be made when the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. otherwise, the german government and i cannot make any compromises. reporter: the greek government maybe forced to decide between allowing a greek exit or granting easier terms. it could be a gamble that greece gets wrong.

anchor: staying with trees, european ministers say they also will wait for the referendum to discuss for a request for a two-year loan. our reporter is live. jessica, angela merkel has reportedly be getting some support, not just from italy today but also other european ministers. jessica: yes, certainly the frustrations are felt by angela merkel and the german parliament towards the greek government. it is felt by these people. angela merkel, as you said, did meet this afternoon. there could be no negotiations with greece and with greece and germany head of the referendum and she repeated this after her lunch meeting with renzi and he extended his sympathy to the greek people, but he said there

would be time for negotiation further down the line. angela merkel pointed out that the country itself suffered from economic words and had to put in place tough reforms. she said this more diplomatically than renzi had said. in the afternoon, the speech she gave at berlin university, it was said that italy had paid their taxes. angela merkel said she has kept the lines of communication with the greek prime minister open and she said there will be talks after the referendum if this is what the greek people want, but whether these lines of communication are getting frosty remains to be seen. the german finance minister was looking at -- he said it has only gotten worse since this greek government has come to power, that they have made the situation in greece worse, and he even questioned the credibility of the referendum.

he said there is no point in negotiating with these people at this time. certainly, the relations are chilling between athens and berlin at this moment. anchor: reporting from berlin, thank you. at a crucial step for diplomatic ties the u.s. and cuba will reopen embassies in each other's capitals. the countries have operated diplomatic missions under the situation with switzerland. it is a historic decision to normalize relations. tom porterhouse has details. tom: it took these cubans just a few hours to line outside the embassy in havana, hopeful for a visa. washington and cuba agreed to reopen their embassies, another milestone between the two countries, and while they will not officially be reopen until the 20th the news was

nonetheless a breath of fresh air for many cubans. >> they should have done it years ago so that things would be smoother between cubans and americans. at the end of the day, no one has anything against anyone. tom: anchorman was reading a letter live on air. >> we made this decision based on the reciprocal action to develop respectful and cooperative relations between our peoples and our governments. tom: the head of the u.s. interest section in cuba tipped by many to be the most ambassador had to the obama letter to cuban diplomats. in the rose garden of the white house, the president himself said both americans and cubans are ready to move forward. president obama: the progress we have marked today is another demonstration of how we do not have to be imprisoned by the past for you when something is not working, we can and will change. tom: he may have heralded it as

a new chapter, but there are many things before they get back to normal. one of the most problematic is the lifting of the u.s. trade and financial embargo against the island, what only congress can agree to that, and with both houses led by opposition republicans, the road looks rock year ahead. anchor: at least 70 people have been killed in the egyptian sinai peninsula after islamic state militants targeted several checkpoints. officials estimate as many as 50 soldiers died. wednesday's attack is one of the largest since militants increased forces in sinai. in egypt they have passed an anti-terror law, which they say will deter militants. reporter: this is the worst to ever fall egypt's sinai. the ministers put out a statement, saying they hit 15 targets successfully.

it is not worth the militants to launch coordinated attacks like this but what is different about today is they actually tried to hold territory in the way that their counterparts in iraq and syria did and they also showed a high level of disregard for civilian casualties, when normally there are quite careful to avoid them. anchor: eight foreign nationals have been fully identified halloween the each massacre in a tunisian town. the bodies of eight british victims have arrived in the u.k. while david cameron says there will be a national moment of silence on friday. there was one portuguese and one belgian also identified in the attack. it was claimed by the islamic state militants, the worst attack in their modern history. he was shot at by police. at least seven people including

eight policemen have been killed in a nude clashes this wednesday with violence erecting in a district as a country awaits results from a parliamentary election, which were boycotted by some opponents. more than 70 people have been killed in eight weeks of demonstrations in burundi. the indonesian president has been paying tribute to the victims of the military plane crash, with some of the bodies having arrived in jakarta. in total 141 people were killed when the c-130 crashed into a residential neighborhood shortly after takeoff on tuesday before turning into a giant fireball. catherine reports. reporter: digging through the wreckage the bodies. the tale of the plane is all that is left at the scene. the military aircraft slammed

into a residential area on tuesday, just two minutes after takeoff. witnesses described seeing smoke and flames streaming from the plane. >> it sounded like thunder. i looked out, and i saw a plane coming down. >> i thought this plan was -- this plane was going to crash, so i ran. >> the plane crashed into that building. reporter: the air force chief says none of the passengers and crew on board survived. several people on the ground were also killed in the crash. the indonesian air force has been the tories lay -- has had a notoriously poor safety record, and this aircraft had been in service since the 1960's. the president has promised a review. >> i have ordered the defense minister and armed forces

minister to undertake a fundamental overhaul of the military. furthermore, weapons systems and procurement systems have to be changed. we need to modernize our weapons system. reporter: meanwhile, dozens of family members gathered at the hospital to undertake the difficult task of identifying the remains of the victims. anchor: hitting the streets with a renewed call in the asian financial hub. a public holiday marking hong kong's handover to chinese rule in 1997. it is estimated that 48,000, the lowest so far. reporter: two different parades to mark 18 years since the british handed hong kong back to china. in one part of the city, there was a dance and flag raising

ceremony. they pledged their allegiance to beijing. >> since the return of hong kong to china, we here have learned more about the mainland economy and culture, so we hope to show our love to our motherland for this kind of activity. reporter: but it was a different atmosphere in the pro-democracy camp. just 48 thousand people turned out for the commemorations, far fewer than half a million protesters that attended in 2014. they held yellow umbrellas, a symbol of last year's protest movement. and protesters even set fire to a picture of the city leader and called for his resignation. earlier this month the hong kong parliament vetoed an electoral reform proposal that would have required all candidates to be screened by beijing, but protesters say it is not enough. >> now that the electoral proposal has been featured, many

say that we have a victory -- has been vetoed, many say that we have a victory, but i do not agree. any social problems are not resolved, so i am coming out here to march for society. reporter: they confirmed that sweeping national security reforms would not apply to hong kong, a victory for the city that once to preserve its identity as one country, two a systems. anchor: with climate change, western europe is currently sweltering under a temperatures as 40 degrees celsius. france has put measures in place to protect the elderly years after some people were killed in the scorching summer heatwave. reporter: as france takes under near 40-degree heat, at this nursing home, they must follow strict instructions.

>> i drink a lot of water. i drink and drink and drink all day long. >> i am very careful. when i am in my apartment, i wear loose clothing and drink a lot of water. reporter: in this parisian apartment, this elderly woman lives alone. her caretaker has been coming more since the heat wave began with one piece of advice. >> remember, one glass of water every hour. as we get older, we lose the sensation of being thirsty, so it is important to drink before you are thirsty. reporter: it is all part of a prevention plan, taken place since 2003. 15,000 people died due to extreme heat. elderly people were the hardest hit. since then the government has created an alert system with cap warnings mean, hell of orange,

and red being the highest alert 40 departments and france had the second-highest alert. as a result, city hall cap opened air conditioned rooms for the most people is a special aids hotline, and sanderson invited to read his authorities. help her standing by at all times, measures to assure that the lessons of 2003 have been learned. -- help is standing high at all times. and defiant act in front of the greek prime minister calls for a no vote in sunday's referendum, and it was in negotiations with creditors. meanwhile, european ministers say there will be no talk after an attic ties the u.s. and announce they will reopen embassies in each other's capitals, the culmination of president obama and castro's historic decision to restore

ties. at least 70 people have been killed in the egyptian sinai peninsula after an islamic state attacked a area. egypt has approved a new anti-terror law. it is time now for a check of the latest business news and markus is here. markus: the greek prime minister has been sticking to his guns when it comes to the referendum. on the back of that, eurozone members said they would not hold any fresh talks with grief until after that vote. we are getting some news from the so-called eurogroup. they have written to the greek prime minister saying they will only look at a request for a new loan from greece on the basis of the referendum result. it is a pretty clear signal from him that he would like to see a yes vote in sunday's referendum.

and while, we have also heard from the greek finance minister, who says he expects a deal with creditors on monday after sunday's referendum, but we are going to have to wait and see whether that can actually happen. meanwhile, we are also getting fresh details this hour when it comes to the health of greek banks. the central bank is keeping -pemergency loans to greek lenders at current levels. the ecb has agreed to loan 89 billion euros. there was speculation that the ecb could start tapering that liquidity program after greece defaulted on a debt repayment to the imf on tuesday. the ecb is not raising the threshold, but it is not lowering that threshold or lowering that emergency aid either. we're going to talk more about the greek banks in just a moment. in the meantime though let's

just take a quick look at the stock markets and how they have been doing. on the mark of all of the latest twists and turns in the debt drama. we did see the european indexes closed to the upside this session. for the week as a whole though the markets are still down, though the european manufacturing sector may be helping, at a 14 month high. let's also bring you the u.s. picture this hour. american investors are also keeping their eyes on greece. investors are also assessing upbeat data from the united states, including a stronger-than-expected manufacturing sector report, and the private sector also added more jobs than what was forecast during the month of june. that is, as i say, according to a fresh report. all right, this when the, the euro has been weakening against the u.s. dollar, but the single currency is still trading around

$1.11, close to where it has been in recent days. for more on that and more on the markets, i spoke to a senior analyst in london, and he says investors are staying relatively calm during the greek debt drama. >> it is not just the euro that we need to look at. the euro is resilient for a number of reasons. things have changed a great deal in the eurozone since the last crisis greece. there seems to be a lot less concern of contagion this time around. if things do get worse. you're also seeing the euro in the past few months being used more as a funding currency, so the weakness does not come naturally to it. the real areas you need to look at to get an idea of how investors are feeling are those risk assets, the equity markets and also bonds, in particular

bond yields, of course of the peripheral nations, such as spain, italy, portugal. and they have done alright today. certainly in cases of equity markets, we have had a bit of a doubt. so people feel that, you know, the talk -- greece has been giving really mixed messages. there are signs that a deal might be brokered. it depends on what happens at the referendum. markus: all right, that was angus speaking from london. let's return to the topic of greek ranks. they have kept their shutters down for a third consecutive day to stem fears of a bank run, but there were some exceptions, with some banks open for pensioners who do not have ranked cards, so they have no other option other than to go to the bank to get their hands on some cash. kate moody has more.

kate: hoping to get inside. greek retirees lined up outside of banks who opened their doors to hand out monthly pensions. running short on funds, the finance ministry was forced to reduce the lot of money each pensioner was allowed to get, just 120 euros out of the average 500 euros monthly payment. still with drying 60 euros a day as long as cash machines have a supply. many do not have atm cards, the pensioners, and the money would not be enough to cover their daily needs. >> i was able to get out part of my pension. i worked for 40 years, and now i have been begging for money. after 40 years of work. all of our politicians have been deceiving us. >> the situation is miserable. it is going from bad to worse, and we do not know what it will be tomorrow. kate: the greek government has made paying pensions a priority.

the country has more than 2.5 pensioners, about half of whom live under the poverty line victims of years of austerity cuts. the pension system costs 17.5% of total gdp, the highest in the eu area creditors have been pressuring greece to cut back, and others say they have suffered enough. markus: ok, let's move on from greece. a long-awaited report recommended that another runway at the throw is in the economic interest of britain. some say another airport would be a better bet. shirley has more. shirley: more planes means more growth. that is what the british airports commission believes. in the airport report listed they say the runway should be at

heathrow, not gatwick. >> what we need in london in the future is new links to emerging-market destinations. heathrow is a very strong airport. gatwick is more oriented

rom pacifica, this is democracy now! >> there is no one in the administration that is contemplating a federal bailout but we do remain committed to working with puerto rico. amy: is puerto rico americas greece? puerto rico's government says it will miss today's deadline for more than $1 billion payment. we will speak with new york commerce member nydia velazquez one of the few puerto ricans in the house of represe