john siropolous. al jazeera athens. >>> a bid to east political tension. in august the prime minister accused his deputy and the army of planning to topple him. erica wood, joins us from the capital, m satisfactionaru. you are at a polling station how sit looking so far? >> reporter: it's looking good. the people here seem to be quite optimistic. i would say the word to sum it up is these people are hopeful. as you said they have come here two years early. they are hopeful we can finally have a government where they can have some stability because this 2012 they came here to vote. it was the first time the country had a coalition government. they were hoping that would solve some of the problems because this is a country with a history of political upheaval, they were hoping the coalition government would solve those problems it didn't, it was cut short because of the alleged coup and now why are here again at the polling booth. >> security forces and army got involved, are people confident this is going to be a peaceful election? >> reporter: well, they'r

john siropolous reports. >> alexis tsipras sounded as defiant as possible.ively told his european partners what stance greece would take in the talks. >> grease is fighting today for its national sovereignty. >> grease spent the day in a war of words with hard-liner germany which is worried about tsipras's left wing spending practices. >> the greek proposal is the first step but we have to say that this offer isn't sufficient because it's lacking concrete measures that need to be taken in grease. one thing is not acceptable, we can't ease things in greece and have german and french taxpayers pay for it. this hasn't been talked about at all. >> the sticking point is it doesn't want to see the next six months ever continuation of austerity policies that it wants to renegotiates. that is the heart of its demand. >> it says the time has come for those who want a solution to show themselves. friday's euro group has two choices, to accept the greek proposal or reject it. >> the prime minister is proceeding in this way because he's very smart and has a sense of dir

john siropolous reports from athens. >> as strident as the prime minister had been the previous night$280 billion that the european partners lent greece to make sure it could service its debt, brought with it austerity measures that won't make the situation better. >> this supposed medicine is toxic and the worst thing is the doctor knows it. he is committed to giving it to us that he knows this is not good for us that it only does harm. >> greece wants a period of at least four to seven months in which to renegotiate how and when it will repay its debt. but with neither side budging hopes for such a truce are slim. european stocks were down by as much as 2% on monday. the athengs stocks felt by as much as 5%. hopes, failing that it will find itself only two weeks away from the official end of its funding program on february 28th. it will then be living off home grown tax revenue and in danger of defaulting on its debt. greece has announced it will abolish about $4 billion in taxes and increase spending on the destitute and pensioners. that will quickly eat through its cash reserves j

it's a standoff. >> john siropolous with the latest from athens. john, thank you. >>> let's go back to our top story now and that is of course egypt's launching air strikes on the islamic state of iraq and the levant group in libya. joining us now life from sarasota in florida is robert leber, professor ever financial avis at georgetown university, sir, thank you so much for joining us here on al jazeera. we are seeing these egyptian air strikes on groups that say they are allied to i.s.i.l. we're seeing the threat again presumably of i.s.i.l. to say they will could be kerr rome. just -- conquer rome. just go through this spread of i.s.i.l. do you think it's groups linked to the group or a factor of using it as an intrel brel umbrella term to encompass all sorts of groups of people? >> it's some of both. the growth of i.s.i.s. and its related groups has been largely unexpected. for example, what happened in iraq last spring and summer, i.s.i.s. has moved in and taken some -- stolen some of the thunder of al qaeda in part because al qaeda had a more

john siropolous, al jazeera athens. >>> abdel was killed as he was traveling to parliament. the armed group al shabaab says it is responsible. well on his way to parliament for a key vote on the new cabinet. the new parliament has finally approved the new list provided by the prime minister. it is seen as a key step ton road to proposed elections next year. the united is united nations is warning that two and a half million people could die of hunger in south sudan. unless aid gets to the country quickly. millions have been fleeing fighting for more than a year and several ceasefire between juba and the rebels have collapsed. the hollywood star forrest whittaker is applying for aid. >> there have been issues, months back i was there and i witnessed some of the children were malnourished and yesterday i was in wy and there was a clear issue but we're trying to avert that now. >> hoping to be cleared of sodomy charges his supporters insist the allegations are politically motivated. sahil rah manreports bemanman reports. >> this is ibrahim walking in and out of court for a deca

john siropolous reports. >> this is the first antigovernment protest in athens since the election, and it's coming from syriza's left the communist party. it is still legally and politically bound by the same austerity straight jacket as its socialist and conservative predecessors. >> the previous government commitments became this government's commitments. there were a few changes in words. we no longer have a trickya troika, but getting rid of expensive cars and so on. >> the communists only took 5.5% of the vote in january but syriza was once even smaller. it is position ising itself as the new antias you tears vehicle like ser syriza good. they want greece to leave the european union the euro and the rowsh zone. tension is already high within the ruling party with one cabinet matter refusing to abide by privatizations the government agreed to. in berlin, bu bundistag agreed. prime minister alexis tsipras is plunging ahead. focusing on bringing in tax revenues greece desperately needs. it will have no help from creditors at least two months and needs to continue the pay off debt in

john siropolous. al jazeera. >> judges are refusing to issue licenses and the state's top judge says they don't have to. as lisa stark reports the facing's highest court has already weighed in. >> the supreme court this morning refused to allow the ban on same sex marriages to continue for now. until the high court takes up this very issue later in the term. that is what the state of alabama has asked for after a lower court ruled that the alabama ban was unconstitutional. two of the supreme court justices dissented,ant 9 antonin scalia and john roberts. while the court resolves the important constitutional question. >>> alabama clerks have refused to issue marriage licenses. issuing an order not to proceed with same sex marriage licenses. some counties and corgts in alabama were permitting the marriages and some couples were tying knot. >> i think that marriage equality is something that is here and that the probate judges, it is timeto for them to recognize that and they don't have the authority to

john siropolous, al jazeera athens. >> ing let's bring in a professor and an economist. what is your take ton this deal >> well i think for most part, tsipras and the greek government had to climb down from a lot of their big promises and demands. although he is spinning it as having won a battle, in reality he had to give up on most of what he wanted. >> really. megan do you agree with that? >> i think the greek government did have to climb down on a lot but they did as well as they possibly could have. they got three major victories in this deal. banks will probably be able to use ecb funding been and not such a huge surplus and that was the government's central demands and thirdly the greek government is actually proposing reforms rather than just having to take it from the trio can troy troika. >> having said this, dan is this just an extension of the problems or real issues being dealt with? >> well, the greek government certainly promises they're going to try deal with the issues. but this kicks the can down the road, just for four months, that was timed specifical

john siropolous has more from athens. >> after the euro group broke down on wednesday with greece cufergaccusing its members ever a bait and switch. opening up the possibility of a discussion over the terms of those loans. which is exactly what greece has asked for. it wants to unbundle the term of austerity measures and government cuts and reforms and deregulation which creditors have asked for over the past two years, much of which greece wants to be done, some of which remains to be done. however, just before the euro group of meeting gabben, it was replaced by a separate communique which demanded that grease sign onto the memorandum of policies and reforms as they have been agreed to. in the past with no grace period for negotiation. only once the greek government had signed onto an steppings of though terms beyond the end of february when the agreement and the financing program that greece is in come to an end only then would the euro group agree to sit down and enter into negotiations what should change within that program. >> cybercriminals managed to hack into banks around the world. sec

john siropolous has more from athens. >>> one of greece's addition possessed at 40 she has lost her bookmaker's shop and owes the tax man 35,000 that she cannot pay. she is underwhelmed by alexis tsipras's reforms. >> he has given us hope that will regain our honor but how are they going to go back on all that their predecessors have signed? if you go back on the bank, they will take your house. >> having vowed not to, it has prom nebtly includedprominently much of this has been promised before. will have an uphill battle convincing creditors that it will restart the economy particularly hard liner germany. >> translator: we want to continue aid for grease but the condition for that is the condition of the reform program. every government has the right to change its policies, but it cannot be transferred to other countries. >> reporter: for now however creditors are giving greeks a chance to prove themselves. it is essentially a confidence period between an untested greek admiration and fid up fed up promises. >> its overarching agreement is that greece will consult with its creditors on all le

john siropolous has the story. >> greece accusing its creditors of a bait-and-switch strategy. earlier finance minister said he had been presented with a draft text, a communique that he was willing to sign. had spoke of an extension of the loan agreements only. with opening up the possibility of a discussion over the terms of those loans which is factually what gross has asked for. -- greece has asked for. it wants to unbundle the government spending cuts and deregulation that creditors have asked for for the last four years, some of which greece has done but much of which still remains to be done. greece wanted a four month period to renegotiate that package of terms. however he said just before the euro group meeting began this draft communique was withdrawn by the euro group president and replaced by a separate communique which demanded that greece sign on to memorandum of policies and reforms as they have been agreed to, in the past with no grace period for negotiation, only once the greek government had signed onto an extension of those terms beyond the end of february, w

john siropolous, al jazeera athens. >> elite troops sent to the scene to seal off the area.no immediate reports of injuries. senior officials suggested the incident was due to drug crimes. attacks last month killed 17 people. >>> to albania now where residents have been forced from their homes after a torrential rain drove happened. second strongest rains on record. >>> malaysia malaysia's president reporting from kuala lumpur. >> he's been walking in and out of court for over a decade trying to clear his name. his previous acquittal was overturned last month. now guilty of sodomy, and in prison for five years, he's been on became pending appeal. being removed from office, it was 1997, and he was the deputy prime minister. charged and convicted he spent several years in jail until the verdict was partially overturned in 2004. whether he was released on appeal. -- whether he was when he was released on appeal. . >> now as long as this case is pending and hang over his head he probably wouldn't be able to focus 100% in leading this country towards change. he is still seen as t

john siropolous what happened? >> reporter: hello jane. we just heard from the greek government a short while ago. it issued a terse statement saying some parties insistence on the greek government memorandum of austerity reforms that the previous governments have agreed to but this leftist government has elected to change is unreasonable, unacceptable. the memorandum was taken off the table, following emergency meeting in brussels, those are calling it waste of their time. basically, both side are still sticking to their guns. wolfgang sheubler said he hadn't any grounds for optimism, hadn't seen any movement on the greek side. the french president francois hollande today also failing to deny a report that he apparently said a greek exit from the euro zone is something that europe is prepared for. the greek vice president saying, we are determined not to be treated as a debt colony. the lines we presented as red will not be crossed. all sides came to the meeting today sticking to their guns, apparently not ready for a compromise. this is

john siropolous has the story. >> athens issued a statement saying this is a new era for grease a new era for its relationship with the rest of europe on a more equal footing. greece has crucially won four more months not only to renegotiate the austerity measures it is laboring under but also the period underwhich it will repay its enormous loan to the european union and the central bank. but greece has had to swallow a bitter pill. there is a statement in these negotiations that the greeks have had to avoid over the last few weeks or so. it will have to complete a successful review, a bureaucratic round about way of saying this government has to pick up the loan arrangement along with the austerity arrangements that ride on it where the last government left off. what this government had been hoping for was an interruption of the program a bridging loan or a truce period financed by its creditors during which the strings, the austerity measures would have been cut. that isn't going to happen. the germ answer and the other members of the euro group say that even those they are open to

more now from john siropolous. talk about the mood on the street at the moment.eporter>> well i would say that greeks are ready for some good news from brucels. they have been nervous but hopeful through this post-election period since the anti-austerity sees of government came to power on january 25th. >> you can tell very clearly from the slow bank run. people have withdrawn upwards of $15,000,000,000 from greek banks before and unfortunately also after the election suggesting people are no no doubt as to the level of risk they have taken in electing an anti-austerity government in the midst of an austerity program. however, it has to be said that that speaks all the more for the courage of the people who are showing up on the square to demonstrate two north -- to northern europeans public 40 for their government as it go did into this high-risk strategy of trying to unbundle the agreement that greece very nearly graduated in december. so, i would say nervous but hopeful, jane. >> okay. what's going to be discussed at the euro group tomorrow? and any chance of

john vop siropolous reports. >> be alexisalexis tsipras sounded as,. >> war of words with hard liner jernlg any which is worried about tsipras hard line spending policies. >> translator: the greek proposal is the first step but we have to say this offer is not sufficient because it's lacking hard line measures taken in greece. we can't ease things in greece and have german and european taxpayers pay for it. this hasn't been addressed at all. >> greece has said to get tough on tax collection. the sticking point is, he doesn't want the next six months to see a continuation of the austerity policies it trying to renegotiate. >> the time has come for those who want a solution to reveal themselves. the government has issued a statement that friday's euro group has only two.alternatives, to accept it or reject it. >> translator: the prime minister is proceeding in this way because he is very smart and he reached this direction with courage and expectations. >> on less austere terms not to tumble out of it. >> translator: it doesn't matter if i'm not with those who don't support or haven't