Europe Debt, Europe Debt Crisis | featured news

Italy and Spain have not asked to be rescued by the International Monetary Fund, the head of the lender said on Monday as she urged European leaders to quickly solve the region's festering debt crisis.

Europe’s debt crisis is going from bad to worse. The borrowing rates for troubled--and even not-so-troubled--European governments once again soared Friday, heightening the danger of an all-out collapse in Europe’s common currency. It comes as political leaders across the continent are all pointing to each other as needing to act to avert a worse outcome.

The worst week for the stock market in two months ended with a whimper in thin trading Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 4.8 percent this week, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.7 percent. Both had their worst weeks since Sept. 23.

Rating agency Fitch downgraded Portugal's rating to junk status on Thursday, citing large fiscal imbalances, high debts and large fiscal imbalances.

Asian stocks slumped Friday after a spike in Spanish government borrowing costs added to the uncertainty over Europe's debt crisis and investors braced themselves for China.

Greece's new prime minister, Lucas Papademos, won a crucial confidence vote Wednesday on severe austerity measures to be made in exchange for more bailout funds to help the country step back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Economist Mario Monti formed a new Italian government without a single politician Wednesday, drawing from the ranks of bankers, diplomats and business executives to make sure Italy escapes looming financial disaster....

Italy's premier-designate Mario Monti began talks Monday to create a new government tasked with overhauling an ailing economy.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi resigned today after parliament's lower chamber passed European-demanded reforms, ending a 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink of economic crisis.

Italy's Senate approved economic reforms intended to reverse a collapse of market confidence on Friday, kicking off a rapid transition that will end the era of Silvio Berlusconi and clear the way for an emergency government within days.