european leaders struck a deal on the eurozone debt crisis. here are the key points. the agreement includes a compromise with private investors. holders of greek bonds have greed take a 50% write down on the value of those assets. also the effective strength of the bailout fund will be boosted to about a trillion euros. but european banks will be told to brace for further turmoil. the banks zill to increase their capital reserves to 9% to protect themselves against potential losses following those write downs or defaults that possibly could occur further down the line. >> at a press conference in the early hours of the morning in brussels, the european council president emphasized the need for tighter fiscal discipline within the eurozone. >> today we decided to go even beyond to the legislation on some points as of no. we also approved ten measures to improve the governance of the euro area. different other ideas have been suggested to reinforce fiscal discipline. therefore, the euro summit decided to reflect on a further strengthening of economic convergence within

they are to improve the cooperation within the eurozone.esterday, in the german parliament, i wish to that europe would come out of the crisis. also, today, this is the message that we all believe -- we all agreed to a package consisting of five elements. the members will make commitments. and also the strengthening of the stability mechanism in the eurozone. >> chris morris and joins me now from brussels. is this the comprehensive solution we were promised? if so, do you think that the european markets, when they open surely, will respond as well as asians seem to be doing? >> is a comprehensive? it is ambitious. that is what they're calling it. all of the details are not there. it was impossible to expect that they would be. for example, angela merkel lead melted that it was impossible to know -- angela merkel admitted that it was impossible to know the complex mechanisms that would be used to leverage the bailout fund. the details have been ironed out. for that, it really remains slightly up in the air. the 50% figure for the write- down

." >> european markets deliver their verdict on a deal to tackle the eurozone crisis. they like it. leaders across the european union agree on cutting the greek debt and raising the bailout fund to a trillion euro. thousands of people flee the thai capital of bangkok after warnings that large parts of the city could soon be under water. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- is south africa's opposition party about to elect its first black parliamentary leader? >> hello. european markets have reacted positively to the deal announced by eurozone leaders to talk the bloc's huge debt crisis. the agreement reached after late-night talks in brussels and means that private banks holding greek debt will accept a 50% loss. banks will also be forced to raise more capital to shield them against any government default. and a mechanism has been approved to boost the eurozone's main bailout fund to $1.4 trillion, effectively a trillion euros. the eurozone leaders also announced tougher controls on member countries' budget and a new leadership structure. le

how important a component are they in helping eurozone leaders and the eurozone bailout fund? >> there are a very important component. chinese policymakers want in on this. for a couple of reasons -- to avoid the risk of global contagion, which could follow from an unwieldy and default in the area. the second reason they want in is to try to broker some progress on trade liberalization they have already mentioned that, as a possible cost of their assistants. it would be an opportunity for chinese interests to take some very handsome prices -- handsomely priced assets in the region. >> richard gibbs, global head of economics at the core security. thank you so much for your insight. the wife of bernie madoff has revealed that she and her husband and together committed -- attempted to commit suicide as their crimes became public. madoff made the admission of interfirst broadcast interview. in 2009, bernard madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for masterminding a scheme that brought investors of an estimated $65 billion. reporting from washington. >> he masterminded the big

we are talking about the eurozone crisis. too big to fail, too big possibly for the european countries alone to deal with anyway. >> eurozone leaders -- many eurozone leaders have plans about what they would like to do, the bailout funds and reducing or running down the debts, but the problem is, they don't have the money. where will that come from? some suggest it could be the emerging economies now that will deliver the money. looking outside the borders of the eurozone for this task. we heard today that the head of the bailout fund is to head to china at the weekend. it could be drumming up support for the bailout funds. because, of course, while the emerging economies are keen to eurozone puts its own affairs and order, it is also dependent on the eurozone for trade and business. so, the fortunes of what happens in the eurozone also impacts the emerging economies, too. amazon dropped 73% after the company invested heavily in the candle tablet computer. it said third quarter net income was $63 million. it also forecast low

the eurozone are protected.his latter point touches directly on the debate in this house later today, and i will say a word on this later in my statement. resolving the problems in the eurozone is the urgent and over-riding priority facing not only the eurozone members, but the eu as a whole -- and indeed the rest of the world economy. britain is playing a positive role proposing the three vital steps needed to deal with this crisis -- the establishment of a financial firewall big enough to contain any contagion, the credible recapitalisation of european banks, and a decisive solution to the problems in greece. we pushed this in the letter we coordinated to the g20 and in the video conference between me and angela merkel, nicolas sarkozy and president obama last week. we did so again at the european council this weekend and will continue to do so on wednesday at an extra european council meeting. but ultimately the way to make the whole of the eu, including the eurozone, work better is to promote open markets, f

the biggest difficulty, i think, is how to expand the firepower of the eurozone. i think there are two potential scenarios playing out. one is sort of an insurance fund, to guarantee some of the losses on risky eurozone bonds. the other is to set up a separate fund into which outsiders would pay money, potentially countries like china and brazil, potentially the international monetary fund as well. those two, though, both have their own risks and both have different opponents for different reasons. >> chris morris there. just picking up on that, first of all, on the sarkozy-cameron split, it matters in a sense, because it goes to the larger fact that this crisis affects everybody. >> absolutely. david cameron saying here the issue is not that it affects the eurozone members themselves, but the whole of europe, and indeed, the wider world. so this is a real concern. david cameron very keen to point out that he will want to protect british interests. so if there is any change, there's also discussion about changing the treaty, about how will this have worked. he's s

let's talk more on the greece and eurozone debt crisis with economic analyst and author michael ross he's in berlin the greek parliament has passed new austerity measures but when it actually be able to implement them considering those intense protests we're seeing from what looks like the majority of the population there in greece. i mean economically they have to put in these authority measures but austerity measures always hard hearted people the people have to suffer no. for the from the mystics their politicians made in the recent years they had a big party everybody saw it coming exact the people know they have to pay their price and the price will be very very hard i hope that greece will not fall apart or goal into radical solutions but michael can you quickly explain why you think austerity measures are necessary surely austerity measures actually restrict economic growth and that's what you need at the moment. you know about bending over debt you have no idea not any of those choices. but to install a society measurements so i mean if your neighborhood is over debt and you

>> greece is not going to drag down the whole of the eurozone. if it is going to be dragged down by greece, it means greece is only response book or 2.7% of the gdp of the eurozone, then there is a problem the way bureau is managed -- euro is managed. the fact we are changing the economy with the program is the last 17 months, and we already see a high trends of increase of our exports and also a good trend of an increase of our revenue. but yet again, it has been 16 or 17 months that we started these very far reforms and we have been in the structural program with the imf and the european union. >> senior advisor to the finance minister. thank you so much for being with us today. of course, we do have coverage from greece and we can now go to chris morris who is following events. >> good afternoon. teachers, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists -- you name it, they are all on strike today. the unions representing more than half the greek workforce asking members to come out on strike. in the last few minutes we heard the first sound of potential troubl

on wednesday, there will be a short summit of all 27 eurozone countries. the 17 countries will then have a vote. they will be the ones who will have to pay. they will meet late into the night and probably early into thursday morning to try to hammer out the final details. they're getting closer on a couple of issues, but they're not there yet. the last five% is the toughest. >> the u.k. and france, we have talked about that. there's a clear disagreement between france and germany on how they tackle this question of the eurozone crisis and in particular how you deal with greece's debt. >> france and germany have tried to present a united front. that has been fraying at the edges. sir's had another round with angela merkel. he is clearly feeling the pressure. the single currency and the whole european concept is under threat. the pressures to ameliorate that threat could put the french credit rating under threat. that could threaten sarkozy's hopes of reelection. he is under pressure. it's clear to say that the next few days will help define what kind of fre

and coming up next peter lavelle and his guests discuss the predicted death of the eurozone that's in our debate show crosstalk. welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle the euro crisis it is a high noon moment for a eurozone looking to stave off another recession while juggling indebted solver's flimsy banks and the specter of economic crisis in the mediterranean this has many seen the worst this is currency could have a future. and it. could crosstalk year old jitters i'm joined by john gaunt in london he is chief executive of vote u.k. out of e.u. also in london we have andrew leigh co he is director and principal of europe economics and in dublin we go to jeff madrick he is senior fellow at the roosevelt institute and author of age of greed the triumph of finance and the decline of america in one nine hundred seventy s. to the present our gentlemen this is crossfire that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it but first tell us about this ongoing almost endless crisis there have been quite a few meetings but not much progress the global economy is emergi

of course, it's all about the eurozone. the deal is done and now it's time to digest. >> yes, but the devil is in the details. share prices have risen sharply across europe. halfway through the day, we have the ftse up 2.5%. the dax and cac 40 are up over 4%. the devil will be in the details. there's a comprehensive road map, a comprehensive timeline, and how to work out all the different elements that go into this deal, from the recapitalization of the banks to everything else, as well. for the moment, investors are saying -- at least the eurozone leaders have come together. they have reacted very well. of course, they will be looking for where the growth will be coming from in europe, as well. that is something we will see when the markets open in new york, as well. we have american gdp, which is also coming up. that's one of the main issues the united states is struggling with pay we will have those figures in a few hours. after a volatile few months that included the downgrading of america's aaa credit rating, we are lo

sarkozy told french television that greece should never have been allowed to join the eurozone at all. in a moment, the reaction from the greek foreign minister, worst air report from our foreign editor. >> financial markets rose following news europe's leaders have agreed on a plan to fix the eurozone crisis. they did not get all the detail they were looking for, but what they heard exceeded expectations and has fought iraq time to deliver on commitments made. -- and has bought europe time to deliver on commitments made. >> i am very aware of the world is watching closely. i think we europeans proved that we came to the right decision. >> i think the results will be welcomed by the entire world, which were expecting strong decisions from the eurozone. these decisions have been taken. >> away from the summit, others were cautious, spying protest, but seeing the outcome as a first step. >> we are in a better position today than yesterday. it is important to keep up the momentum, to people confident. -- to keep people confident. this is something the british government has worked to enc

look, without that vote, then it's another big problem for the eurozone. i think it looks as you're indicating that angela merkel is going to get that vote. under german law, under the court ruling from last month, the parliament needs to vote in terms of these big-picture economic decisions that angela merkel then brings to the table here in brussels. so it's part of the process that allows germany's most -- europe's most important woman, the most important country arguably in this whole process, it's part of the process that allows her to come here and sit down with her fellow leaders and say, all right, i've got my parliament's permission to now start talking about the detail of this sort of level. >> you know, it doesn't look as if we're going to get to the end. day, this is billed as the big dasme i've been saying it for several days now, so, too, have plenty other reporters and commentators, but it doesn't look we're going to get to the end of the day and finally have a piece of paper that gives us details on the figures and numbers involved. it look

in 2011, pretax profit fell to 70 million, a result of the eurozone crisis. the troubling numbers will have an impact on employees. the bank plans to slash 1500 jobs in investment banking next month. the company has picked up in other sectors. growth in retail banking and asset management have helped them offs. there is some relief in greece. the country has already written off f its vestments in greek bonds at losses of 50%, so its exposure is limited at this point. akerman leave the country without record profits, but the bank will likely emerge from the crisis without major damage. >> on to the markets. european stocks traded below eight to stay high. there was a decline in u.s. consumer confidence. this is the summary of the trading in frankfurt. >> investors hope the politicians will be able to solve the problems of greece, but one day before the eu summit, traders in frankfurt did not want to continue monday's rally. the dax ended up slightly in negative territory, while big banks like ubs have been able to convince investors. countries reported -- comp

for the greek economy obviously to collapse and maybe indeed even leave the eurozone. well that's another question which is not to be decided by european congress it can be only decided by crease as such because in the european constitution it country cannot be forced to step out of the euro it can be only used. to something which government has to decide first of all we have to see how we are going to software create problem it is create cannot pay back. stab at all will be there will be a sort of hair card talk about maybe sixty percent or even more which is not decided finally yet but that it is a massive haircut isn't it and for banks the implications for then athens is somewhat in some ways as a cash cow for banks fed with those a huge bailouts do you think the banks really will be willing to help out i think they have no other choice because either greece of default called. default if you're talking about a selective default the banks have to accrete because otherwise they don't get money. and just could we talk about the overall effect this is having on europe b

it still is an awful lot of mess behind in the eurozone for the rest of the members of the spread so much money barely get out so far is there a danger that the rest of the eurozone will be dragged back into recession. wall that will happen as long as they stick with the euro it's a come and see union that is not an optimal comments here that doesn't work for most of its members that belong within the eurozone within the single currency area so the longer they keep the euro going as it is the longer the economic problems will last so really it's a matter of. take fencing off the problem by moving countries like greece italy spain portugal perhaps even ireland as well form the euro and that would be the answer to help their economy start moving again god you but of course you know you talk about the politicians digging their heels in saying they don't want this to happen and what one of the foremost the german chancellor angela merkel has told about this upcoming summit on euro debt this coming weekend she says is going to be an important step because i heard that before but warned on

showing the sentiment regarding eurozone progress. and no surprise then that we did see further currency market volatility following the news that moody's downgraded spain's government bond rating by two notches and conflicting reports again about eurozone refinancing news. so just having a look at the currency levels right now, the euro was the biggest mover gaping on the back of the first report. and we saw a trading ground of 106 at one point. but then retreating following the separate report denying the fact. so around 106 now currently mi. we should also be keeping any on commodity stocks today. crude oil rose to $88 a barrel. then conversely gold prices were dropping around 1.2%. investors shifting some funds into less risky assets. into riskier assets i should say. also let's not forget a bit of a fallout there from the china gdp numbers yesterday showing a slower growth in the second biggest economy. we'll see related japanese stocks here. and also following earnings from apple and intell yesterday. apple not coming out as mar

but the uk is also very closely tied to the eurozone. then as we talked about, there's the effects on business and consumer confidence, partly that come through the financial markets. we saw in august how badly we could be hit once people get scared about europe. let me be clear. i believe europe will probably muddle through, ugly as the process has been and will continue to be, and frightening as it's been. however, the problem is there's perhaps a one in four chance that something really bad will happen. that would lead to a series of national defaults that run from greece, portugal, ireland, spain and take italy as well. there's also a small chance of an even worse outcome in which one or more countries leave the euro. my one in four probability estimate is very rough. there are many different ways that things could go wrong because we have 17 different countries, each with their own political, social and economic systems. so there are a lot of ways things could go wrong. each of them has a low probability but there are just so many o

europe's leaders say they are closer to saving the eurozone. is it enough? fleeing bangkok after thailand's worst floods in decades, residents seek higher ground. the former pakistani president gives us his friend assessment of where things stand with the u.s.. >> there is a breakdown in confidence between pakistan and the u.s.. >> get ready broadway, there is a new twist on the language barrier leaving audiences laughing. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and also around the globe. after a marathon session which stretched into the morning, the leaders of the eurozone said they struck a deal which will help solve the debt crisis. banks are being asked to write off half of what they were owed. global markets cheered what they heard, was this enough to save the euro? clucks europe woke to the news that against expectations, the leaders had agreed on a plan to fix the eurozone crisis. it might not where did the big bazooka some are calling for but politicians claimed that during the night the euro had been saved. >> i think it is much better than before.

the plan faces a crucial test on october 23 when eurozone member states meet for a key summit. why has he chosen this particular time to present the plan? i put that to jeff meet in brussels who is covering the story for us. >> it is a bit of a surprise initiative. i think he decided to push the initiative forward, seeing more negative headlines on the way if somebody does not do something. why now? because there is a forthcoming summit. he knows the french president and german chancellor are planning their own joint initiative next week. i think there is unfortunately an internal war going on between these big figures over who is actually in charge. he's quoted as saying this is the one that must be approved when they meet on october 23, but, of course, the problem is he has set out a plate -- pretty clear agenda and if it does not happen on the day, if there's any fallout, then the market will not like that one bit. >> it is not just banks but governments as well that need help. is there a sense that with slovakia soon to be on board, the eurozone bailout fund can move ahead?

the head of the eurozone's bailout fund is in china for talks to encourage beijing to help eurozone countries. staying with the problems in the eurozone, sally is joining us with some worrying figures on spain. >> it shows we're still looking for growth. one day after the deal took place to save the euro, the crisis was brought sharply into focus.at nearly 5 million people are without a job. spain has the highest unemployment rate in the group of industrialized nations. this could mean huge problems for the spanish government, which faces a general election in one month. >> unemployment is the hot issue of the day, as you can imagine, with almost 5 million people out of work. some other very concerning figures, also, from what we have seen from the institute, saying, for example, that 1.4 million families have no income at all. i have just come back from barcelona . that region normally has the strongest economy in spain. they're talking about the crisis. they're talking about giving out mo aid than they have in decades. more people are losing their houses and being evicted by the banks. more

could be leaned on particularly the united kingdom as one of the n non-eurozone members to try and help out to solve this crisis because, of course, charles, as we all know everybody has something at stake here. >> well, this summit, of course, has been billed as the start of five days to save the euro. how do things go from here? the next meeting is on wednesday, right, nina? >> reporter: yeah, and we have been promised by the president of the european council, also the president of the european commissi commission, emphatically stressing yesterday late in the evening in a press conference that ended the day's talks that there will be a decision. that has been repeated to me on many occasions, even by the head president of the european parliament, there's no question of not having a decision by wednesday. the big question, what will be included in that decision and if we don't get a decision this problem risks becoming more than just a eurozone problem or indeed a european problem but could affect the global economy and that means that some of the people that were here yesterday and we

the crisis is not only damaging the eurozone. it is having a major impact on the global economy. >> it was shawn country should -- jean-claude trichet's last appearance before retiring. he had a warning. the sovereign debt crisis could spread and destabilize the european economy. one key problem is the lack of transparency in financial markets. this makes it hard to predict not gone effects. it is making american banks and insurers nervous. u.s. banks hold a relatively small exposure, but european banks decided to reinsure their investments in u.s. banks using a tool called credit defaults swaps. now those banks hold nearly 25 billion euros agree that. most of the major financial services funds in the u.s. are involved -- goldman sachs, jpmorgan, and bank of america, to name just three. the details of who injured how much money in those institutions remain unclear. bank of america looks to face the biggest blow. it was already hit hard by the financial crisis in 2008. it is slashing tens of thousands of jobs. if the bank of ameri

there will be discussions with in the eurozone and outside the eurozone about how big it needs to be. the answer is bigger than is currently proposed and they need to keep working on it. >> is there a possibility there will need to be treaty changes in the next few months? will the prime minister assure me and citizens in this country that he will use this opportunity to make sure we get rid of ridiculous regulations which are impeding growth and job creation in our country? >> i agree with the honorable lady. we should use these opportunities as the european union changes and the eurozone changes to maximize britain's national interest. we do not yet know how much of a treaty change will be proposed by the germans and others, how expensive it will be. we will have to look carefully to see what is right for britain in response. so far in this government, there has been one tree the change proposed. we expected an important price, which was to get us out of the bailout, which was a clear and present danger to the united kingdom. >> as leader of the opposition, you underestimated the cr

members especially those struggling in the eurozone like greece. well it's not calling for an immediate referendum i think that's a very important point i mean the referendum should it be voted for this on like you know unfortunately but if it was voted for it wouldn't really be for a number of years so it's not immediate i think the concern in government is about immediate referendum and i share that support i don't think it's good to have a rest of referendum the next six months or a year. you know because there is a lot of sensitivity about the eurozone however in a few years' time i think that's a different ballgame but i think the euro is in serious trouble we could have serious ramifications if there's no deal as the next few days which seems likely and i think it opens up the whole issue of that of membership of the european union right across the european union we've spoken to several other members today all of the people the people's pledge council the and a few of them are saying that the referendum will never happen and even if it did it

to cross-talk the eurozone crisis i'm joined by marshall are back in denver he is a global portfolio strategist at madison street partners and a fellow at the economist for peace and security in milwaukee we have jeffrey summers he is an associate professor at the university of wisconsin milwaukee and in london we have pending myer he is a senior visiting fellow at the london school of economics all right gentlemen this is crosstalk that means you can jump in anytime you want i very much encourage it but first tell us how we got to this point on a wing and a prayer. a date with destiny to sort out that year's debt imbroglio was set three weeks ago by nicolas sarkozy and angle americal then it was delayed by three days and on the third day it came through after marathon talks which went on till four o'clock in the morning under the new plan greek debt will be back to one hundred twenty percent of g.d.p. by two thousand and twenty with greek debt holders taking haircuts of up to fifty percent the four hundred forty billion euro e.f. assef will be used to provide risk insurance meaning

who is putting moneney inn the eurozone and why. and later, google on the go. how the search giant plans to harness the power of mobile phones. maria opposites down with executive chairman eric schmitt. we'll be right back. >>> qatar is a tiny country with a big bankroll thanks toan abundant supply of gas and oil. its sovereign world fund has been busy of late investing in, of all places, the eurozone and even greece. maria spoke recently with the country's prime minist about where he sees opportunity. >> qatar holdings has spent heavavily on a variety of holdis in t the sector zone. tell us your thinking on this. why are you investing in this area, uthe ur he zone, during a time when everyone is so worrird about default? >> i think we did this durg 2008, and it looks like we did well. and wbelieve that it is companies which have value and they are down because all the maet is down, not because they have something wrong with them. and for us there is a possibility to build a stake in big companies in germany, france, britain, and this is what we did especially

slovakia ratified at the eurozone bailout. this removed the final hurdle to remove tax revenues to ease -- to use tax revenues to ease the debt crisis. slovakia was the very last country in the eurozone to agree to expand to 440 billion euros. this is the primary weapon against the growing debt load carried by both governments and banks. >> a whole lot of political wrangling and then, 114 votes, 30 no's. the prime minister is relieved. >> i would like to thank all members of the parliament who decided very responsibly but i am sad. >> that is because the vote came with a catch, early elections to be held next march. >> today is a black day for slovakia and the european taxpayer. i am very sorry about that. our coalition partners are trying to discard any pre- election promises. >> they were always for the rescue fund. >> not approving this in the first round was an international disgrace. if the government cannot deal with decisions like this one, i will not be able to -- they will not be able to deal with these in the future.

unfolding growth but what else would be the consequences on the eurozone if greece defaulted . this is this is where things start to become serious because that greek debt is held by banks inside the eurozone there is a potential for those banks to suddenly find themselves essentially insolvent now the most likely candidate for this is the greek banking system greek banks hold a very great deal of greek national debt about fifty five billion euros if a default happens on any real scale that banking system is is likely to be wiped out it might also hit quite dramatically french and german banks we've already seen belgian bank french belgium buying debts last week so for him as a result of just a potential default so yes the consequences could be quite severe for a greek default but a greek default is at the same time pretty much inevitable well those french and german banks have just spoken out against those calls to increase their reserves there pointing out that tough standards will actually make them less stable but isn't the essence of all of this is to make tougher banking

of the eurozone and of the european dream right you know and that the failure of slovakia slovakia to be a part of a united response to that seventeen member states of the european union not acting together. is this something this is something that troubles billionaire investor george soros he and dozens of other business leaders are urging eurozone leaders to take swift action he says all seventeen countries must act together in order to save the eurozone and he says if that doesn't happen he warns that this will lead to the collapse of the global financial system is this is well is this gloomy consequence inevitable well you know george has been sort of been talking about this for a long time and i agree with him but it's important to note that he's been talking about this at least since one thousand nine hundred eight when he had the financial crisis ninety seven and he would a book in ninety eight about this specific fact he thought that the global financial system could not continue the way it was architected because capital flows had become global but economies were still nation

the eurozone so we cannot dismiss the situation and i think. the united kingdom would be better off today in having the ability to trade with other countries than those that are having problems in the uterus so it's being badly hit and my feeling east this that as long as the european union bureaucracy doesn't allow these countries to default and leave the euro zone and be able to devalue their currency we have no solution and this problem is expanding to all countries even those that are not in the euro zone that's why. i i think it's very important that they do you create a referendum where the people here the people whose taxes are being spent in the european union and in the eurozone. can make a decision if they want to be members of the club which is falling apart or they want to leave this court club now we heard we've heard our prime minister cameron saying the there's no way that a referendum whatever happened he wouldn't allow it basically to happen on his watch is there a lot of political motivation do you think behind this and certai

become global markets in the lead up to this week's eurozone summit could be interpreted as confidence that e.u. leaders would pull something off to save the day but after two here is a feeling to come to grips with the greek contagion risk in other e.u. economies and a banking system that is grossly under capitalized there's been a growing sense of impatience even beyond europe successful resolution of the current european crisis not is deeply to us here in the united states because our country has no bigger no more important economic relationship than we have with europe with a weak u.s. economic rebound still in its nascent stages and the chinese economy is slowing the sheer enormity of any failure by the e.u. to come up with something workable after failing for nearly two years was the specter behind the politicians and officials so arguing in the small hours but this plan will be scrutinized like no other for weaknesses which markets will exploit as well as the political torture of its creation with the dowser meeting over how it will stand over the long term but i suppose it be s

as the debt crisis continues in the eurozone, the focus is now on italy. major u.s.redit rating agency moodies downgraded the country's sovereign debt tuesday. italy's rating was lowered to a2, down three notches from aa2. moody's said the downgrade is due to a further worsening in the debt crisis and due to concerns about whether italy can achieve fiscal reconstruction as proposed by the fragile administration of prime minister silvio berlusconi. it was only last month that another u.s. credit rating agency, standard and poor's cut italy's sovereign debt. now both agencies give the country the sixth level from the top. because it's cut by three notches it could cause repercussions in the financial markets which are already being rocked by a postponed decision for bailout loans to greece. >>> eu finance ministers have agreed on tougher measures for controlling budget deficits. they'll be able to impose sanctions on eurozone nations that fail to meet the new conditions. the finance ministers held a meeting in luxembourg tuesday, approving the stricter rules aimed at p