Greece misses bailout deadline as talks with creditors drag on

``Talks were meant to have been completed by mid-October but have repeatedly stalled on the issue of how much protection local home-owners should be given in the event of defaulting on mortgages. Greek banks have been weighed down by a mountain of bad loans with lenders claiming that many are the result of strategic defaulters deliberately failing to keep up with payments... The two sides failed to bridge their differences during marathon, 14-hour negotiations that lasted until 2am Sunday morning. Both sides described the 48-hour delay as "a window of opportunity" to finally settle the issue.''