Libya's rebels have launched a new offensive on the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte. They've been pounding the city with rocket and tank fire. Now this ends a two-day lull in the fighting that allowed hundreds of residents to escape. The International Red Cross has been warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in Sirte with food, water and medicine all in short supply.

 

Eurozone finance ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to consider the latest emergency loan to Greece. The Greek government has announced it won't meet its deficit reduction targets despite stringent austerity measures. Shares in Europe and Asia have fallen sharply on that news. Greece will go bankrupt next month if it doesn't receive its next bailout instalments.

 

One of the winners of this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has died before he could receive the award. Canadian Ralph Steinman had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. Steinman, American Bruce Beutler and Jules Hoffman from Luxembourg discovered how immunity in organisms is activated. The prize isn't awarded posthumously, but the foundation has decided Steinman's estate can keep the prize money.