Europe, Europe Debt Crisis | featured news

Greece's cabinet agreed on Saturday to launch a debt swap for private creditors on March 8 with the aim of completing it by March 11, a government official said.

Shock was a common sentiment in the heart of Athens this week. Athinas Street, the colorful shopping mile in the Greek capital, is known for its lively fish and meat markets, where spice salesmen mix with traditional shoemakers and sidewalks are packed with commodities for sale.

U.S. stocks closed in on the psychologically important mark of 13,000 for the Dow Jones industrial average as optimism about the Greek bailout and the European financial situation sent stocks up in early trading.

The letters aim to satisfy one of the key demands set by Greece's international lenders, but other issues remained unresolved.

Latest austerity cuts approved as 100,000 take to the streets in protest; 93 buildings damaged in Athens.

Greece's Cabinet approved austerity measures demanded in return for a new eurozone bailout of the debt-stricken country Saturday, a day ahead of a crucial vote in Parliament.

As is increasingly the case with the European financial crisis, the story changed between the time the evening papers went to bed Thursday night and the traders woke up Friday morning.

After days of talks, Greek political leaders reached a deal Thursday to support a package of harsh austerity measures demanded by Greece’s financial backers in return for a bailout.

Stocks edged lower on Monday as a delay by debt-ridden Greece in accepting the terms of a bailout gave investors little reason to buy equities after a five-week rally.

Unemployment across the 17 countries that use the euro ended 2011 at a record high of one person in every 10, official figures showed Tuesday, a day after EU leaders acknowledged that they would have to boost economic growth with the same urgency that they had shown in combating their nations' debts....