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FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011 file picture taken with a fisheye lens, flames from a fire set alight in a container by activists of the Frankfurt Occupy movement are seen in front of the European Central Bank and a sculpture of the euro symbol in Frankfurt, Germany. Austerity has been the main prescription across Europe for dealing with the continent's nearly 3-year-old debt crisis, brought on by too much government spending. (AP Photo/Michael Probst,File)

Brussels, Berlin tell Europe to stick to austerity

Last updated Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - 9:10am

BRUSSELS -- Germany and the European Commission on Tuesday called on EU nations to stick to their agreed budget cuts despite mounting voter discontent, but promised some new efforts to boost growth to alleviate economic hardship.

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A demonstrator walks during the general strike in Barcelona, Thursday, March 29, 2012 as trash burns in the street. Spanish unions angry over economic reforms are waging a general strike, challenging a conservative government not yet 100 days old and joining other troubled European workers in venting their frustration on the street.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Spaniards wage nationwide strike against austerity

Ciaran Giles, Daniel Woolls The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 11:53am

MADRID -- Spanish workers livid over labor reforms they see as flagrantly pro-business staged a nationwide strike Thursday and tried to bring the country to a halt by blocking traffic, closing factories and clashing with police in rowdy demonstrations.

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In this photo of Thursday March 15, 2012, soldiers are seen at the site of the shooting of three French soldiers in Mautauban, southern France. A gunman on a motorbike opened fire on three uniformed paratroopers at a bank machine Thursday in Montauban in southern France, killing two and critically wounding the other. The incident occurred not far from their barracks. French police have broadened a probe into the shooting deaths of two paratroopers to include counterterrorism investigators and specialists in serial killers, officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Frederic Lancelot)

2 French soldiers dead, 1 injured in shooting attack

Ralf Krueger Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Last updated Friday, March 16, 2012 - 10:56am

PARIS -- Two soldiers in their 20s were killed Thursday when an unidentified assailant shot at a group of soldiers in southwest France, a military spokesman told the German news agency dpa.

Fatal shooting, French soldiers, Shooting, Terrorism, Europe, International Read more Comments

Rescuers and police work amid the wreckage of a tourist bus from Belgium at the accident site in a tunnel of the A9 highway near Sierre, western Switzerland, early Wednesday, March 14, 2012. A bus carrying Belgian students returning from a ski holiday crashed into a wall in a Swiss tunnel, killing 22 Belgian 12-year-olds and six adults, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/KANTONSPOLIZEI WALLIS/POLICE OF VALAIS, Handout)

Swiss bus crash kills 28, including 22 children

Don Melvin, John Helprin The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 9:43am

GENEVA -- A tour bus slammed into a tunnel wall in the Swiss Alps in a horrific accident that killed 22 school children and six adults returning to Belgium from a joyous ski vacation, police said Wednesday.

Switzerland, Tour Bus, Tour bus crash, Tourism, Tourists, Europe, International Read more Comments

A man shovels snow from the street in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. In Serbia, heavy snow continues to fall as some 50,000 people remain stranded in snowbound remote areas, some without electricity. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

European towns cutoff in Winter freeze

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, February 13, 2012 - 10:55am

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Military planes flew in tons of emergency food Monday to towns and villages in eastern Romania, where thousands have been stranded. Some people were cutting tunnels through up to 15 feet (4 meters) of snow to get out of their homes.

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Protesters pass by a burning cinema in Athens, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. Riots engulfed central Athens and at least 10 buildings went up in flames in mass protests late Sunday as lawmakers prepared for a historic parliamentary vote on harsh austerity measures demanded to keep the country solvent and within the eurozone. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

Riots rage in Greece

Staff Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Last updated Monday, February 13, 2012 - 11:34am

ATHENS, Greece -- Greece's Parliament passed an austerity and debt-relief bill on Monday as rioters in Athens looted shops and set buildings on fire.

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Romanian President Traian Basescu, right, watches Prime Minister designate Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, left, currently the head of Romania's foreign intelligence service, deliver a speech, in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. The announcement follows the resignation of former Premier Emil Boc and his government.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romania's government collapses after protests

Alison Mutler The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, February 6, 2012 - 3:00pm

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Romania's government collapsed Monday following weeks of protests against austerity measures, the latest debt-stricken government in Europe to fall in the face of raising public anger over biting cuts.

Financial crisis, Financial protests, Protests, Romania, Europe, European Union, International Read more Comments

(PAUL WHITE/The Associated Press) Businessmen walk past a betting shop in the business district of Madrid, Thursday Oct. 27, 2011. European stock markets shot higher Thursday as investors waded into riskier assets, emboldened by EU leaders’ pre-dawn agreement to slash Greece’s massive debts. In addition, the 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility will be used to insure part of the losses on the debt of wobbly countries like Italy and Spain, rendering its firepower equivalent to around one trillion euro ($1.4 trillion).

US stock futures follow European markets lower

Matthew Craft The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 8:14am

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures are following European markets lower Tuesday. But the losses were trimmed after a stronger than expected U.S. retail sales report.

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(ANDREW MEDICHINI/The Associated Press) In this Friday, July 15, 2011 file photo, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi votes over a crucial euro70 billion ($99 billion) austerity package aimed at convincing investors that the eurozone’s third-largest economy won’t be swept into the debt crisis, at the lower house of parliament, in Rome. Pressure mounted on Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign so a new government could pass the economic reforms Italy needs to avoid financial disaster, as the country’s borrowing rates spiked Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, and talk of early elections intensified.

Key Berlusconi ally urges him to step aside

Colleen Barry, Frances D’emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 8:17am

ROME — Silvio Berlusconi’s main coalition ally urged the Italian premier to step aside Tuesday as political uncertainty in the eurozone’s third-largest economy rocked financial markets for yet another day.

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(ANDREW MEDICHINI/The Associated Press) A man impersonating the statue of Liberty performs for money in front of the BNL bank in Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Europe’s days-old plan to solve its crippling debt crisis has been thrown into turmoil by the Greek Prime Minister’s shock decision to call a referendum on the country’s latest rescue package. Stock markets plunged around the world Tuesday, particularly in Europe, with the Athens exchange sliding 5.5 percent, on worries the Greek government could lose the referendum vote.

US stock futures edge higher ahead of Italian vote

David K. Randall The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 8:10am

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures edged higher ahead Tuesday of a key confidence vote in Italy, the next step in Europe’s unfolding debt crisis.

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(PETROS GIANNAKOURI/The Associated Press) This Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011 file photo shows Greece’s Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras addressing conservative members of parliament in Athens. Greece’s prime minister struggled Saturday Nov. 5, 2011 to form a temporary coalition government, faced with opposition calls for immediate elections that have extended a political deadlock in the debt-shackled country. George Papandreou has agreed to step aside if necessary to help his Socialist party hammer out a four-month coalition he says is vital to securing a new debt deal worth an additional euro130 billion ($179 billion). But his offer was snubbed hours later by opposition leader Antonis Samaras. “We have not asked for any place in his government. All we want is for Mr. Papandreou to resign, because he has become dangerous for the country,” Samaras said in a televised address. “We insisted on immediate elections.”

Greek premier struggles to end political deadlock

Demetris Nellas, Derek Gatopoulos The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, November 5, 2011 - 3:38pm

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s prime minister struggled Saturday to form a temporary coalition government in the near-bankrupt country, extending a political deadlock threatening billions in international rescue funds.

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Obama traveling to Europe for economic summit

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 2, 2011 - 7:30am

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama heads to France on Wednesday evening for a summit of world leaders, but before he does he’ll make another push for passage of a piece of his jobs bill.

Economy, Finance, Global Economy, President Barack Obama, Summit, Europe, National Read more Comments

(JAE C. HONG/The Associated Press) In this July 24, 2008 file photo, then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives at the Victory Column in Berlin. In 2009 President Barack Obama went to London for his first summit of the world’s top 20 economies as a global rock star _ the U.S. president who as a candidate could command giant crowds in Denver or Berlin. This week he arrives in Cannes, France, for another G-20 summit with his star status on the wane, more like a key player in the band instead of the conductor.

For Obama, eurozone crisis takes precedence at G20

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 10:00am

WASHINGTON — The stage this time will belong to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

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US stocks mixed at opening after day-earlier slide

David K. Randall The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - 7:49am

NEW YORK — Stocks are mixed in early trading as investors sort through earnings reports and weigh another sign that Europe’s credit crisis isn’t solved.

Business, Credit, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, S&P 500, Stock Market, Wall Street, Europe Read more Comments