Greece handed ultimatum as eurozone bailout talks collapse

: Eurozone ministers handed Greece an ultimatum to request an extension to its bailout programme on Monday after crunch talks collapsed, deepening a bitter stand-off that risks seeing Athens bid farewell to the euro. Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Greece had the rest of the week to request an extension to the programme, which expires at the end of the month, challenging Athens to cave in on a dearly held position.
"Given the timelines we have... we can use this week but that is about it," said Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister and a defender of austerity policies in the eurozone. A Greek government source dismissed the demand to hold to its current bailout as "absurd" and in violation of a key promise made by new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to voters in elections he won last month.