By Mick Krever, CNN

Action to save the euro is needed in “more shortly than three months,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview.

Lagarde’s tight deadline was a response to billionaire investor George Soros’ prediction that Europe has three months to save the euro.

“The construction of the eurozone has taken time,” Lagarde said. “And it’s a work in construction at the moment.”

Lagarde declined to predict whether Greece would exit the eurozone.

“It’s going to be a question of political determination and drive,” she said.

Lagarde came under fire recently for highlighting Greek tax evasion. She apologized that her comments were taken “in a very inflammatory way and created offence.”

“But equally,” she said, “I think that tax compliance is a necessary tool to restore any country’s situation – Greece, like others.” FULL POST

By Lucky Gold

(CNN) - Ivan Simnovic, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Human Rights, says the Syrian government has reached the “threshold” of committing war crimes: “They are widespread and committed in a systematic manner,” said Simnovic.

Speaking Thursday to Christiane Amanpour, he stated that “there is unselective shelling; there is deliberate targeting with live munition of protesters.” Then he added, “There is systematic torture going on in prisons – and this is the torture of the worst possible form.”

Asked to be more specific, Simnovic said, “I will not go into details, but it includes physical torture as well as psychological threats – threats such as raping members of family, direct torture involving putting people in unnatural positions for a long time, torturing them by burning them and so on and so on…It’s appalling.” FULL POST