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In Washington, Republicans are bashing President Obama for inflicting “European-style socialism” on the United States. Here in Paris, a genuine socialist took the presidential oath in May, and he has wasted no time implementing policies designed to soak the rich.

Financial markets will still be waiting to see whether the bank’s president, Mario Draghi, has other moves in mind.

The manufacturing sector grew in July at its slowest pace in nearly three years as a debt crisis in Europe and economic and political uncertainty at home dented demand, a survey showed on Wednesday.

At the start of another critical week for the euro, the head of the finance ministers that use the currency, Jean-Claude Juncker, reinforced expectations Monday of an initiative to lower Spain’s borrowing costs, which had hit alarming heights.

Lizzie Armitstead wins Britain's first medal of the 2012 Olympics as Netherlands' Marianne Vos claims cycling gold.

Romania's unpopular president was fighting for his political life on Sunday as Romanians voted on whether to oust him, part of a political battle that has raised questions about the rule of law in the fledgling European Union member....

Political leaders in Greece have agreed on most of the austerity measures demanded by its creditors and are now eyeing pension and wage cuts to find the final 1.5 billion euros of savings still needed, a source close to the talks said on Sunday.

Faced with Facebook, Starbucks and Angela Merkel, the market chose to focus on Merkel. For a second day, the U.S. stock market powered higher after European leaders, including German chancellor Merkel, pledged to protect the union of 17 countries that use the euro. The Dow Jones industrial average blew past 13,000, a key psychological marker that it hadn't hit since early May.

Spain has for the first time conceded it might need a full EU/IMF bailout worth 300 billion euros ($366 billion) if its borrowing costs remain unsustainably high, a euro zone official said.

Markets and the euro rose after Mario Draghi reportedly told a conference in London that the central bank would “do whatever it takes to preserve” the currency.