European Leaders Try To Tackle Eurozone's Crisis

BRUSSELS — Confidence in the eurozone’s economy fell further in April, data showed, strengthening the case for a cut in interest rates this week by the European Central Bank. The eurozone is facing a difficult road out of recession and has seen a souring of the mood among companies and consumers since March, after an optimistic start to the year was disrupted by turmoil in Cyprus and Italy.

Germany and France broke their deadlock over a new bailout for Greece ahead of an emergency eurozone summit on Thursday aimed at saving the euro from the worst crisis in its 12-year history.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the eurozone's key players, agreed on a "common position" after late-night talks in Berlin just hours before the summit in Brussels, the French president's office said.European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet took part in the meeting.

The recovery for most of the euro zone will certainly begin in the second half of 2013 PARIS — The eurozone’s crisis is far from over and its members must consolidate their budgets and forge a banking union to put the bloc on a more stable economic footing, the leaders of the IMF and European Central Bank said on Friday.

In Europe, politicians are still arguing over a second bailout plan for Greece. They're also trying to stop investor panic from spilling over to other economies in the eurozone — specifically Italy and Spain. Zanny Minton Beddoes, of The Economist, talks to Mary Louise Kelly about the European debt crisis.

It's a love-fest in Asia futures once again, but will it hold on Friday or through the weekend? One thing's for sure, sentiment was so sour about this 19th summit, that any bit of good news stood a decent chance of temporarily igniting the market. You can actually credit German chancellor Angela Merkel for that sour sentiment because she repeatedly stated Germany would not give in. The latest reports suggest Germany did blink, but not enough to please Italy, Spain, and France.

It's not so much that the European debt relief turned out to be inadequate — it was the politics that proved unrealistic. When leaders don't seem to know what to do, panic sets in. The same inability in Washington to tackle big, systemic problems may cause long-term harm to the American economy.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

European officials are struggling over a solution to a government debt crisis that's affected the European Union for nearly two years. The biggest source of panic is still Greece's government finances. But there are clouds over other countries as well — like Italy and Spain. Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist talks to Steve Inskeep about the financial crisis in the eurozone.