EU leaders urge Greek prime minister to speed reforms

Exasperated leaders of the European Union pressed the Greek prime minister to speed up plans to improve his country’s balance sheet in a meeting that stretched into the early hours Friday.

“A deal is a deal,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said ahead of the meeting, reflecting frustration among many leaders at an EU summit about the pace at which Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is implementing a Feb. 20 agreement to push through reforms in exchange for their help in keeping Greece solvent.

Tsipras strode into the summit beaming and defiant, saying it is the rest of Europe that needs more ambition.

Hanging over the summit of 28 heads of state and government are fears that the hard line of the Greek government formed in January could cause the country to drop out of the euro, something that would trigger a crisis for the currency shared by 19 nations.

FAA allowing Amazon to try out drones within limits

The Federal Aviation Administration says it has issued online retailer Amazon a certificate to experiment with unmanned aircraft for research, development and crew training.

The FAA said Thursday that under the provisions of the certificate, the flights must be conducted at 400 feet or below during daylight hours. The drone must also remain within the line of sight of the pilot and observer. The person flying the aircraft, meanwhile, must have a private pilot’s certificate and current medical certification.

Amazon.com Inc. must also provide monthly data to the FAA on the number of flights conducted, pilot duty time per flight, unusual hardware or software malfunctions and other information.

The Seattle company had asked the FAA for permission to fly drones for package deliveries last July.

Google, Swiss watchmaker enter smartwatch market

Google took aim at the luxury smartwatch market Thursday with some fancy wrist candy designed by Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer and powered by an Intel processor.

In a product announcement at the Baselworld trade show in Switzerland, the three companies said they are teaming up to “create a product that is both luxurious and seamlessly connected to its wearer’s daily life.”

“Silicon Valley meets Switzerland. What a great moment!” said Jean-Claude Biver, president of the watch division LVMH and CEO of Tag Heuer.

The announcement means that the Swiss watchmaking industry — known for its bejeweled mechanical chronographs that keep exacting time — is jumping onto the wave in wearable tech, a branch of the evolving “Internet of Things.” And it means that Google will be going head to head with Apple, whose own smartwatch goes on sale next month.

— From news service reports