Crisis, Europe Debt | featured news

The Italian austerity budget worth nearly 48 billion euros was approved by the upper house of parliament on Thursday, overcoming its first parliamentary hurdle.

Greece has secured a second bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, and it too will be on the order of €110 billion, Prime Minister George Papandreou said.

The move by Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday deepened Europe’s debt crisis, and investors sold off government bonds amid fears of a default.