New Leader Greece

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today the European Union must be ready to start returning migrants from Greece to Turkey rapidly to avoid a "pull factor" before the new system takes effect, although EU leaders had set no start date.

Greek conservatives elected Kyriakos Mitsotakis as their new leader on Sunday, hoping he can revive their fortunes and challenge leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, still popular despite opting for austerity.

The Greek opposition conservative New Democracy party, runners-up in the last election, on Thursday said they would elect a new leader on November 22.

The first radical-left leader to win office in the EU, Alexis Tsipras has steered crisis-hit Greece through seven chaotic months, but his U-turn deal with the country's creditors could prove a challenge to his bid for a comeback on Sunday.

Greek opposition leaders made zero progress on Sunday as they pressed on with trying to form a new coalition, despite appeals from home and abroad for a rapid move to elections so the country can deal with its simultaneous economic and humanitarian crises.

Greece's main opposition party leader Vangelis Meimarakis will meet the country's president Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Friday morning to receive a mandate to form a new government, an official from Meimarakis' New Democracy party said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday called on Eurozone leaders to offer debt relief to Greece, following the approval of a new third bailout deal.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party looked set to split after the leader of its far-left faction called on Thursday for a new movement to fight a bailout deal that lawmakers are expected to vote on in the coming hours.

Greece's new bail-out deal imposes a stiff dose of budget rigour and market deregulation which critics say few leaders of Western Europe's biggest nations have dared serve their own voters.

Eurozone leaders told near-bankrupt Greece at an emergency summit on Sunday that it must restore trust by enacting key reforms before they will open talks on a new financial rescue to keep it in the European currency area.

Hopes of a deal were initially dashed after the new Greek finance minister brought no new proposals and left EU leaders with nothing concrete to discuss at Tuesday's emergency meeting.

With its banks rapidly running out of cash, Greece must persuade the bloc's other 18 leaders to open rapid negotiations for a major new loan to rescue his country.

The no votes carried virtually every district in the country, handing a sweeping victory to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a leftist who came to power in January vowing to reject new austerity measures.

In the past few days, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has blown up negotiations with European creditors on staving off default, then retreated and accepted more or less the same terms, only to have European leaders tell him the offer had ex

British Prime Minister David Cameron told European Union leaders on Thursday that he needed a new deal to keep Britain as a member, opening a struggle over the bloc's future at a summit preoccupied with keeping Greece from crashing out.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today the European Union must be ready to start returning migrants from Greece to Turkey rapidly to avoid a "pull factor" before the new system takes effect, although EU leaders had set no start date.

Greek conservatives elected Kyriakos Mitsotakis as their new leader on Sunday, hoping he can revive their fortunes and challenge leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, still popular despite opting for austerity.

The Greek opposition conservative New Democracy party, runners-up in the last election, on Thursday said they would elect a new leader on November 22.

The first radical-left leader to win office in the EU, Alexis Tsipras has steered crisis-hit Greece through seven chaotic months, but his U-turn deal with the country's creditors could prove a challenge to his bid for a comeback on Sunday.

Greek opposition leaders made zero progress on Sunday as they pressed on with trying to form a new coalition, despite appeals from home and abroad for a rapid move to elections so the country can deal with its simultaneous economic and humanitarian crises.

Greece's main opposition party leader Vangelis Meimarakis will meet the country's president Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Friday morning to receive a mandate to form a new government, an official from Meimarakis' New Democracy party said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday called on Eurozone leaders to offer debt relief to Greece, following the approval of a new third bailout deal.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party looked set to split after the leader of its far-left faction called on Thursday for a new movement to fight a bailout deal that lawmakers are expected to vote on in the coming hours.

Greece's new bail-out deal imposes a stiff dose of budget rigour and market deregulation which critics say few leaders of Western Europe's biggest nations have dared serve their own voters.

Eurozone leaders told near-bankrupt Greece at an emergency summit on Sunday that it must restore trust by enacting key reforms before they will open talks on a new financial rescue to keep it in the European currency area.

Hopes of a deal were initially dashed after the new Greek finance minister brought no new proposals and left EU leaders with nothing concrete to discuss at Tuesday's emergency meeting.

With its banks rapidly running out of cash, Greece must persuade the bloc's other 18 leaders to open rapid negotiations for a major new loan to rescue his country.

The no votes carried virtually every district in the country, handing a sweeping victory to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a leftist who came to power in January vowing to reject new austerity measures.

In the past few days, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has blown up negotiations with European creditors on staving off default, then retreated and accepted more or less the same terms, only to have European leaders tell him the offer had ex

British Prime Minister David Cameron told European Union leaders on Thursday that he needed a new deal to keep Britain as a member, opening a struggle over the bloc's future at a summit preoccupied with keeping Greece from crashing out.