Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s bid to elect a new head of state faltered in parliament after he failed to gather enough support from lawmakers for his nominee in the first of three attempts. With all votes cast in Athens today, 160 lawmakers in Greece’s 300-seat chamber backed Samaras’s candidate, Stavros Dimas, while 135 members withheld their support and 5 lawmakers didn’t show up. That ensured Dimas fell short of the 200 votes required for his election as president. Samaras has 155 lawmakers in his governing coalition. Attention now turns to the second vote on Dec. 23, when Samaras again needs a two-thirds ... (full story)