Atlantic Council

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has postponed controversial Lycee reforms after a week of student demonstrations that many feared could escalate into violence.   AFP: Weeks of student protests forced Sarkozy's government to put a plan for high school education reform on ice amid fears that opposition from the streets could spread social unrest like that seen in Greece.

After a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by police officers in Athens on Saturday, rioting has erupted throughout the country, spreading from Athens to several other cities.  Reuters:

Thousands of youths rampaged through Athens and the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Sunday, burning dozens of shops and vehicles in a second day of rioting after police shot dead a 15-year-old boy.  Greece's worst protests in years erupted in the capital late on Saturday after the shooting of the teenager, and quickly spread to Thessaloniki and the tourist islands of Crete and Corfu.

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In recent years, anger among Greek youths has been fanned by the growing gap between rich and poor. Violence at student rallies and fire bomb attacks by anarchist groups are common.  Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose government has been shaken by scandals and an economic slowdown, pledged action in a public apology to the father of the dead boy.

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In Thessaloniki, a protest by more than 1,000 people descended into violence when marchers lobbed firebombs at police, set fire to a bank and smashed several stores. Rioters also clashed with police in the western city of Patras.

The two police officers involved in the shooting have both been charged with criminal offenses – one with premeditated manslaughter and the second with abetting the act.  According to Deutsche Welle, "Reports said the incident took place after a group of six youths launched an attack on a police vehicle, hurling stones and sticks.  One of the youths tried to hurl a petrol bomb when the officer shot him.  The officer claimed that he fired two warning shots in the air and a third on the ground which ended up killing the boy."

Germany, Ireland, and Greece today guaranteed all private savings accounts, which, as AP business writer Matt Moore notes, puts "Europe's biggest economy at odds with calls for a unified European response to the global financial meltdown."  If so, this breaks an agreement reached only yesterday.

On Friday, Greece became the second country in the eurozone after Ireland to guarantee all deposits in domestic banks, the Guardian reported.  The move exacerbates growing disagreement within the EU over the best way to address the global financial crisis, with Germany being strongly opposed to blank check bailouts and France and others favoring some form of a rescue package.  A summit of European finance and government leaders is scheduled to occur tomorrow in Paris.

The Irish legislation saw the government underwrite about €440 billion, over twice the country's GDP.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and rival Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are meeting to discuss a resolution to the 34-year-old division of the island territory.  BBC reports that, "Analysts say the talks have a real chance of resolving the dispute, which threatens Turkey's EU membership hopes."  These are the first formal talks between the rival factions since a 2004 agreement collapsed after it was rjected by Greek Cypriots.

Christofias told reporters, "We must, at long last, put an end to the suffering of our people and reunite our country" and Talat added that the goal was to make "a divided island a common place where two nations are living."