The Chinese have spotted another buying opportunity: Europe. After snapping up large tracts of Africa to extract oil and minerals, Chinese businesses are taking advantage of cash-strapped eurozone nations to gain a foothold. Read the full story

Protestors tried to storm Greece’s parliament and hurled paving stones at police, who responded with tear gas Wednesday as tens of thousands of outraged Greeks took to the streets to protest harsh new spending cuts aimed at saving their country from bankruptcy. Read the full story

Europe’s debt crisis mushroomed Wednesday as Spain saw its credit rating lowered, just as Germany sought to reassure nervous investors that Greece would not be allowed to go under, saying Berlin’s share of a key aid package could be approved in the next few days. Read the full story

EU finance ministers today discussed standby plans drawn up by countries using the euro to provide Greece with financial help if it becomes the first state in 11 years of monetary union to seek such aid. Read the full story

Nicolas Sarkozy’s immigrant grandparents came close to being deported from France because they did not have university educations, it emerged today. Read the full story

Gordon Brown’s launch of a Labour election campaign promising economic recovery was in jeopardy last night as a record slump in tax receipts fuelled fears that Britain could slip back into recession. Read the full story

The European Union has shown its righteous wrath by stripping Greece of its vote at a crucial meeting next month, the worst humiliation ever suffered by an EU member state. Read the full story

Goldman Sachs, the giant investment bank, is today at the centre of the row over the Greek government’s finances, amid recriminations over complex financial deals that allowed the eurozone nation to skirt its debt limits. Read the full story

The European single currency is facing an ‘inevitable break-up’ a leading French bank claimed yesterday. Strategists at Paris-based Société Générale said that any bailout of the stricken Greek economy would only provide ‘sticking plasters’ to cover the deep- seated flaws in the eurozone bloc. Read the full story

FINANCE ministers and officials from the G7 countries, meeting in Canada yesterday, insisted there would be a “European” solution to the problems affecting Greece, Portugal and Spain and no need for an IMF rescue. Read the full story

Greece will face the most stringent monitoring of any European Union country as it attempts to balance its finances over the next few years. The news came as the European Commission confirmed its support of Greece’s plans to reduce its deficit. Read the full story