Most members of the European Union have agreed to a deal to increase central control over the
budgets of individual governments. The plan to increase economic ties was announced Friday at a
meeting of European leaders in the Belgian capital, Brussels. European Central Bank chief Mario
Draghi praised the agreement. MARIO DRAGHI: "'It's a very good outcome for the euro area,
very good. It's quite close to a good fiscal compact, and certainly, it's going to be a basis for a
much more disciplined economic policy for euro-area members, and certainly, it's going to be
helpful in the present situation."All seventeen countries that share the euro currency agreed to the
deal. Altogether, twenty-three of the twenty-seven European Union nations agreed to it. EU
president Herman van Rumpoy said three more members are considering it. That would leave
Britain as the only country against the plan. HERMAN VON RUMPOY: "Our preference went to
a full-fledged treaty change with the twenty-seven, changing the treaties of the European Union.
We tried it, but because there was not a unanimous decision, we have to make another
decision."The plan is an effort to solve the debt problems that have threatened the euro and driven
Europe into an economic crisis.
Violent protests spread across the Arab World and other areas Friday over a private video
produced in the United States. Crowds targeted American and western embassies as opposition to
the film continued to grow. Three days earlier, armed militants killed the American ambassador to
Libya and three other Americans in an attack in Benghazi, Libya. The low-budget film "The
Innocence of Muslims" makes fun of Islam. It shows the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer
and a terrorist. The video reportedly was made in California. It remains unclear who made the
video. Some news organizations have linked the film to a fifty-five-year-old Egyptian Coptic
Christian who lives in California. They say he recently served a prison sentence for illegal
financial activities. The suspected director of the film spoke with Radio Sawa. He said any claim
of government involvement in the making of the movie is funny, and that America has nothing to
do with the film. He also criticized the protesters. He said Arabs have to learn to demonstrate
peacefully against the issues on which we disagree." He also said he was saddened by the deaths,
but he did not regret making the film. "The Innocence of Muslims" was publicized by American
clergyman Terry Jones. In recent years, his actions against the Quran, Islam's holy book, incited violence in Afghanistan.
The recent gang-rape of a young woman in India has caused major protests by those outraged by
the crime. The woman later died of her injuries. The crime has also brought attention to the issue
of women's rights in India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeated that the government
will bring to justice those guilty of the violent rape. Prime Minister Singh said he and ruling
Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi share the country's anger over the crime. Police have
arrested six people accused of the attack which took place on December sixteenth. The driver of
the bus was also seized. The victim was a twenty-three-year-old medical student. She and a male
friend received a ride on the private bus where a group of men severely beat her for an hour and
then threw her off. Her male friend was also beaten. After receiving treatment in a hospital in the
capital, the victim was taken for additional care by air to Singapore where she died at Mount
Elizabeth Hospital. Doctors said the woman suffered severe brain injury. Prime Minister Singh
told a conference Thursday that attacks against women happen in all states and areas. He said
they require greater attention by national and local officials. "The safety and security of women is
of the highest concern to our government. A commission of inquiry is being set up to look into
precisely these issues in the capital."