10 things you need to know today: June 17, 2012

A Greek woman casts her vote at a polling station on June 17 in Athens. The Greek electorate goes to the polls in a re-run of the general election after no combination of political parties we

(Image credit: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. GREEKS VOTE IN ANOTHER CRITICAL ELECTION

Greeks turned out Sunday to vote in an election that is seen as a referendum on the country's membership in the euro. Elections on May 6 failed to yield a government and brought the Greek economy to a standstill. Greek political leaders say they understand "the need to form a government as quickly as possible, no matter what the election results." The last official polls in Greece, by law published two weeks ago, had the leftist party Syriza, whose leader Alexis Tsipras has called for a rejection of Greece's loan deal with its foreign creditors, in a tight race with conservative New Democracy, which calls for a renegotiation of the deal and is led by Antonis Samaras. "With unemployment at 22 percent and per capita income shrinking rapidly, the economic collapse has also exacerbated longstanding divisions between right and left." [New York Times]

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Members of the exiled Syrian National Council (SNC), the country's main opposition group, urged the U.N. to send armed peacekeepers after U.N. monitors suspended their mission in the ravaged country on Saturday, citing escalating violence. The monitors were scheduled to be in Syria for one more month, but mission leader Major General Robert Mood spoke of an escalation in fighting and of the risk to his 300-strong U.N. team, as well as a "lack of willingness" for peace by the warring parties. The call from the SNC came as Syrian troops reportedly laid siege to several districts of the central city of Homs on Sunday, a day after violence cost at least 69 lives nationwide. [AFP]

Egyptians voted in the second and final day of the presidential election to elect the first leader since Hosni Mubarak was forced from power in 2011. Islamist Mohamed Morsi is up against former Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik in a second-round run-off. The vote comes amid a bitter row over the dissolution of parliament following a court ruling on Thursday. Many voters have expressed more skepticism with the run-off than previous rounds of voting. [BBC]

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is on trial for 52 counts of alleged sex abuse against young boys, will undergo a psychological examination Sunday. The evaluation is the result of a court order Friday allowing the defense to introduce testimony on whether Sandusky suffers from a disorder. In a motion, Sandusky's lawyers said the content of letters written by the defendant to alleged victims may be a result of histrionic personality disorder, which causes people to "act in a very emotional and dramatic way that draws attention to themselves." The exam is not expected to the delay the trial, which is set to resume Monday. [CNN]

Travis Baumgartner, 21, was arrested Saturday by U.S. border officials for allegedly shooting three people dead in an armored car heist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on Friday. Baumgartner was arrested near the Lynden border crossing into Ontario. Three security guards operating an armoured vehicle for the company G4S Cash Solutions — where Baumgartner also worked — were killed and one injured in the shooting. A significant amount of money was found in Baumgartner's truck, police said. [BBC]

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is in the holy city of Mecca for the burial of the country's crown prince. The official Saudi News Agency says the 88-year-old monarch arrived in Mecca on Saturday after the death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz. Nayef's body was to arrive Sunday in Jiddah from Geneva, where he was receiving medical treatment. Burial was planned for later Sunday in Mecca. Royal family members will soon convene after a mourning period to select the next crown prince of OPEC's top producer. [Associated Press]

On Saturday, a spacecraft carrying China's first female astronaut into space launched into orbit. Liu Yang and her two male crew mates Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang aboard the Shenzhou 9 capsule is expected to dock Monday with the Tiangong 1 module 213 miles above Earth. Two of the astronauts will live and work inside the module while the third remains in the capsule in case of emergency. [Associated Press]

Archaeologists from Oxford University believe that a knuckle bone they found beneath a Bulgarian church belonged to John the Baptist, the New Testamenet prophet. The scientists were surprised that the bones dated from the first century AD, the time of John's life. The DNA is also consistent with a person of Near East heritage. Still, they warn that it's impossible to conclusively prove they are John's remains. [ABC News]

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