president karolos papoulias on monday proposed including private sector experts in government after thehree biggest winners on the may 6th elections repeatedly failed to agree in coalition talks. the leaders of all the countries political parties with the exception of the communist and ultra rightist party are debating the president's proposal, but the radical left coalition, which won the second most seats in the election, has already said it does not support the plan. the party opposes austerity measures and has played a key role in the coalition talks. a senior member of the third largest pasok party told nhk that two pro austerity parties back the president's plan, but that an agreement is now unlikely. >>> francois hollande has been sworn in as the new french president. in his inaugural speech, he said he was confident the country could overcome its many challenges. hollande arrived for his inauguration ceremony at the elysee palace in paris on tuesday morning. he was greeted by president nicolas sarkozy. hollande was then sworn in as the first socialist leader to assume french pre

karolos papoulias. an ultra right party rejected the idea. the other leaders agreed to continue discussion. former finance minister, leader of the third place pasok said the negotiations would not be easy, but he wants to fulfill his responsibilities. the second place radical left coalition reiterated it will not join any government that pushes austerity measures. the ministers from 17 euro nations on monday urged greece to swiftly form a government that can implement austerity measures. the measures are a prerequisite for receiving new bailout funds. the political impasse in greece is casting growing uncertainty over the belt tightening program. >>> those uncertainties, of course, have worried investors over the last week. let's see how the markets are doing now. >>> people in okinawa are looking back and forward. residents of japan's southernmost prefecture are observing a milestone. it's been 40 years since it was returned to japan from u.s. rule. a lot has changed in okinawa in the past 40 years. people in the prefecture hope this year wi

greek president karolos papoulias is meeting party leaders to set up a caretaker government ahead of fresh elections next month. the final round of talks to secure a coalition failed yesterday, raising new concerns over greece's's eurozone future. there has been deadlock on whether to continue the austerity measures. from athens, let's speak to our correspondent, richard. any word from the stocks that are going on now to try to set up a caretaker government, richard -- any word from the talks that are going on now to try to set up a caretaker government, richard? >> it could be quite a long meeting. people think -- we do not know for sure -- people think the prime minister may be completely a political. they are talking about a judge taking that role. as for other members of the cabinet, there could be some technocrats brought in there. they will only run the country for the next three, four, five weeks before the second election is held. >> richard, we are getting some breaking news coming in that greece is planning to have another election on june 17. that is coming from what is de

the radical leftist syriza turned it down karolos papoulias's suggests in of a technocrat government. after just one hour, it was clear the talks had failed again. a short time later, the leader of the socialist pasok party told the media the country was headed to fresh elections under "very bad conditions." now a caretaker government is expected to appointed -- to be appointed on wednesday. opinion polls suggest syriza could emerge as the largest party in the new parliament. >> we now have our correspondent on the line from athens. we have just learned that syriza could gain more ground. what could that mean for athens? >> syriza, the leader of the party, his argument is greece should stop making its debt repayments and it should fully renegotiate the bailout effort. they would use the money gained by it stopping the debt repayments to restore pension mumbles and to hire back workers. -- pension levels and to hire back workers. that is not something that has gone well with greece's international lenders or the troika. >> is this all? >> i do not think we are quite there yet. i do not

. >> greece's president, karolos papoulias says he would ask them to form a cabinet within four three days but its leader alexis tsipras says he only wanls to work with leftist groups. that would open a way back for pasok to win the election, but the party polls have already been rejected. >> translator: it's impossible to have a government with a small percentage. there are many parties and there's no allocation of power, so we would have elections again. that is what i believe. >> the growing likelihood of new elections has triggered fears of the credit crisis flaring again across europe. >>> israel's prime minister and opposition leader have agreed to form a unity government. this comes a day after the israeli camp on monday endorsed the prime minister's plan to hold parliamentary elections in september. israeli media said the agreement came at a meeting early on tuesday between netanyahu, who heads the ruling likud party and shaul mofaz, the leader of the opposition kadima party. but benjamin netanyahu's plan for an early the election will be called off. the vote was scheduled for

president karolos papoulias met leaders. the leader of the second place radical left coalition alexis tsipras again refused to join a coalition. he cited the party's opposition to austerity measures. the minority democratic left also refused to join. its leader fotis kouvelis says the possibility of new elections is high. the president plans to gather the leaders of the top three parties and the moderate democratic left for a final round of coalition talks late on monday. the deadlock has left the public wary of a prolonged political vacuum in a country with huge fiscal debts. >>> a local election in germany delivered a harsh blow to chancellor angela merkel's push for austerity. her ruling party was crushed. voters rejected merkel's call for tough measures to rebuild local finances that are among the country's worst. the center right christian democrats gained only 26% of the vote in north rhine-westphalia. the industrial state in western germany is the country's most populous. the outcome represents a drop of more than 8 p

. >> the newly appointed prime minister panagiotis pikrammenos with president karolos papoulias. government is on hold. there's no mandate to take decisions. he has to oversee new elections. that is a heavy enough birding, he admits. greece faces a landmark decision. the election is now a referendum on whether the country keeps the euro or leaves. >> some careful thinking needs to take place before the elections. there's not much room left for populism, demagoguery, irresponsibility, and trading on illusions. >> of the election nearing has already begun to the radical leftist syriza party which polls say looks set to make gains is walking a hard line. >> in today's meeting headed by the president, we asked that the interim government makes no further cuts to pensions, salaries, and public spending that undermine labor rights and lead to privatizations. >> there's a good chance the elections will result in a syriza-led leftist anti- austerity government. >> everybody is very worried. some people are urging me their money out of banks. they are worried we might go back to the drop

the greek president, karolos papoulias, gave evangelos venizelos a mandate to try to form a governmentfter two earlier attempts by the leaders of the center-right new democracy in the far left blocs failed. evangelos venizelos held talks with the leader of the small left-wing party on thursday. they say they want to form a government of national unity to steer it greece through its current sovereign debt crisis. >> we will be going to greece in just a little bit to talk to our correspondent there. but first, protests in madrid on deep cuts in the educational system. the prime minister's government announced plans to shave a for a 3 billion euros from educational budgets. also raising university tuition fees. organizers from the country's national student union are saying that they expect similar protests in 50 other cities around the country. the additional cuts are part of a broader government plan aimed at stabilizing the nation's finances. ok, let's go to greece. we joined our correspondent live, brian williams, on the line from athens. the mood is somewhat optimistic that evangelos