Greece activates emergency financial bailout

The L.A. Times reports:

The Greek government pushed the button on an emergency financial bailout package Friday, formally acknowledging that it needs loans from its European neighbors and the International Monetary Fund to avoid a humiliating bankruptcy.

In a nationally televised address, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told his countrymen that activating the low-interest loans worth up to $56 billion had become a "national necessity" if the government is to keep on paying its bills.