Greece has more homework to do to avoid default and global economic tremors. Eurozone finance ministers considered the latest austerity package and asked for more. First, Athens must find another $ 430 million in savings by Wednesday when the finance ministers meet again. Then Greece’s parliament must approve the terms of the full package of cuts and reforms.

The 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) began on Thursday with speeches from Jim DeMint, Stephen Halbrook, Michele Bachmann, Anne Coulter, and President Eisenhower’s granddaughter Susan Eisenhower, among others. With invocations of Reagan and cries for party unity, the three-day event could help give focus to what has been a lukewarm GOP race.

Boxing has been a staple of the summer Olympics since 1904. But for the first time ever, women will step into the ring and compete for the gold in this year's London games. And the lead-up to the main event promises to be just as intense: there are 24 contenders but only three spots on the U.S. Women's Olympic Boxing Team.

As part of The Takeaway's week-long focus on Syria, Ayat Shukairy, a listener from Detroit, joins the program to share updates from her family and friends currently living in Damascus, Homs, and Hama. Syrian government forces have reportedly stepped up their attacks on the besieged city of Homs. Roads in and out of parts of the city have been blocked and a week-long bombardment of tanks helicopter and artillery fire has reportedly killed hundreds.

Less than one month away from the anniversary of the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster — the world's largest since Chernobyl — the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted a license to build and operate two reactors at a nuclear plant in Georgia. These will be the first reactors built in the U.S. since 1978. 

It's Friday, the time we spend time with our most valuable minds here on The Takeaway to look at the week's stories. Is the Conservative Political Action Conference a right-wing Star Trek convention? How will the gay marriage issue play out? And why has contraception become a political issue? Our panel tackles these stories and more.

At least two dozen people are dead, 175 wounded in the Syrian city of Aleppo as explosions struck outside security forces' compounds. Earlier we spoke to the BBC's Jim Muir about today's attacks.

On Thursday the government approved a $26 billion settlement for homeowners who’ve been foreclosed upon or are currently at risk. Approximately two million Americans will get a $1,800 settlement check, which is a lot of people but not a whole lot of money: the Joint Economic Committee of Congress found that the average foreclosure in 2008 cost $7,200. This money also won't cover losses accrued by local governments who lost tax revenue, or neighbors whose own property values fell.

Approximately one-third of adults and 17 percent of children in the U.S. are obese. While this public health crisis has spawned a billion dollar diet industry, reality shows dedicated to weight loss, and the First Lady's "Let's Move" program, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta didn’t think these were enough to discourage children from making unhealthy choices. The hospital launched a billboard and digital campaign featuring obese children with derogatory narration and captions. The ads are powerful, but they’ve also been criticized for stigmatizing overweight children.

The Pentagon announced new rules this week that would allow women to serve closer to the front lines and will be implemented later this summer. The changes would allow women to serve in non-infantry battalion jobs, such as radio operators, intelligence analysts, medics, radar operators and tank mechanics. This could open up 14,000 new jobs to female troops, largely in the army and marine corps.  

This week’s big releases offer up some variations on Hollywood's most beloved genres: "Safe House," a CIA mole-thriller with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds; "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," a kid-friendly sci-fi adventure starring The Rock and Michael Cain; and the tear-jerking amnesia romance "The Vow" starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a jack of all trades — and a master of each. During his 20 year NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, he won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards. He also made a big splash as an actor, debuting in Bruce Lee's "Game of Death" and making notable cameos in films like "Airplane!." And now, he's the author of "What Color Is My World?," a book for children about African-American inventors.