News Wrap: Greece agrees to bailout talks with EU officials

JUDY WOODRUFF:

As the peace plan was announced, Ukraine also got good news from the International Monetary Fund. It agreed to finance a new bailout deal worth $17.5 billion to shore up the country's battered finances.

GWEN IFILL:

The United States Senate has confirmed Ashton Carter to be the next secretary of defense. The vote today was 93-5, with strong backing from both parties. The 60-year-old Carter will be President Obama's fourth Pentagon chief in six years. He succeeds Chuck Hagel, who held the job for less than two years.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

European Union leaders unanimously agreed today on far-reaching measures to fight terror. They met in Brussels and called for removing Internet content that is deemed to promote terrorism or extremism. E.U. nations will also share airline passenger data and impose tougher border controls. It's a response to last month's terror attacks in France.

GWEN IFILL:

At that same summit, Greece and its creditors agreed to start talks on possibly revising the Greek bailout. The new Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, wants an end to austerity measures, but he suggested compromise is possible.

ALEXIS TSIPRAS, Prime Minister, Greece:

I'm very confident that, altogether, we can find a mutually viable solution in order — in order to heal the wounds of austerity, to tackle humanitarian crises across the European Union, and to bring Europe back to the road of growth and social cohesion.

GWEN IFILL:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government is also willing to consider compromise. Up to now, Germany has insisted that Greece stick to the existing bailout terms.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Back in this country, more than 5,000 people gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, to mourn three young Muslims. They were shot dead Tuesday in nearby Chapel Hill, allegedly by a neighbor. Police said they had argued over a parking space. The victims' families called it a hate crime.

Their supporters turned out in such numbers today that the funeral was moved from a mosque to a nearby athletic field. Burial followed at an Islamic cemetery.

GWEN IFILL:

The legal fight over gay marriage in Alabama took a new turn today. A federal judge in Mobile ruled county officials must obey her order to issue licenses to gay couples. Most counties held off complying when state Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an opposing order.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Work has halted at 29 West Coast ports in an escalating labor dispute. In Southern California, container ships queued up outside the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles today. Terminal operators said they locked out dockworkers in answer to a union slowdown. The lockout runs through Monday.

GWEN IFILL:

Next year's Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia. The party announced the choice today after also considering New York and Columbus, Ohio. The convention will be held the week of July 25, 2016, right after Republicans hold their own convention in Cleveland.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

On Wall Street, the cease-fire in Ukraine, compromise on Greece and higher oil prices all helped stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 110 points to close near 18000. The Nasdaq rose 56 points on the day, and the S&P 500 added nearly 20 points.

GWEN IFILL:

And praise poured in today for veteran CBS News and "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon, who died last night in a car crash in New York. He'd covered nearly every major foreign conflict since Vietnam and was based in the Middle East for years. Along the way, he earned 27 Emmys.

In 1991, Simon and his crew were captured by Iraqi forces during the first Gulf War and finally released after 40 days.

BOB SIMON, CBS News:

As you can see, we have lost a little weight. We have aged a little bit. We're fine. This is a story that could have ended another way, but it's had a happy ending.

GWEN IFILL:

Bob Simon was 73 years old.