Europe

Standard & Poor's has said it may downgrade the European Union's AAA rating and make further cuts to eurozone banks' credit ratings if a review of eurozone countries prompts mass sovereign downgrades.

Economic growth in the UK will be subdued and output will fail to reach 2008 levels until 2013, according to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

Pressure was building on David Cameron last night as senior backbench Tory MPs called for the Prime Minister to approve a referendum on a new euro treaty and to wring "clear gains" from a European summit scheduled for Friday.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) said France and Germany are among 15 nations that have been put on "credit watch" due to fears over the impact of the debt crisis.

Asian stocks fell overnight after a US congressional committee charged with reducing the nation's deficit failed on Monday to agree on cuts.

Hungary has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) for financial aid as its debt pile grows and its currency weakens.

Global markets fell this morning over fears the new Spanish government - instated over the weekend - will not be able to pull back its domestic economy from the brink of default.

Royal Bank of Scotland is facing legal action over the collapse of MF Global after two pension funds accused the bank of making misleading statements about the broker's $6.3bn (£3.9bn) exposure to European sovereign debt.

A meeting in Berlin between David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be dominated by the European debt crisis, but is expected to also tackle the concept of a tax on financial transactions - known as the Tobin Tax - on which the two nations...

Moody's has downgraded the credit ratings of 10 German public-sector banks, and taken action against another two, saying there is a lower likelihood the German government will step in with a bailout.