BBC News with Sue Montgomery

The Greek parliament has given its initial approval to a new austerity bill designed to tackle the country's deepening debt crisis. The vote on the bill, which will cut spending and increase taxes, came after violent demonstrations against the measures. From Athens, Chris Morris reports.

The votes were cast with little enthusiasm, but the government has passed another test in parliament. These deeply unpopular austerity measures are part of the price Greece is forced to pay for continuing financial support from abroad. Critics say the package of spending cuts, job losses, higher taxes and lower pensions is crushing the Greek economy, and failing to reduce its huge debts. The government admits that it's tough but insists that the alternative, which could include default and the collapse of the banking system, would be catastrophic.

Turkish troops and warplanes have crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels who attacked military installations in southeast Turkey overnight, killing at least 24 soldiers. Around 100 militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, attacked military posts. President Obama and the EU's foreign policy chief have both condemned the violence. From Istanbul, Jonathan Head.

The Kurdish PKK had shown before that the isolated army and police outposts along the Iraqi border are vulnerable to large-scale nighttime attacks. This time, the death toll was higher than in any incident since 1993. Around 100 insurgents are believed to have carried out the simultaneous assaults on eight targets just after midnight. It prompted an immediate response from the Turkish armed forces, which sent aircraft, helicopter gunships and ground troops to pursue the Kurdish militants.