There's increasing speculation that the European Central Bank may intervene to ease the financial
plight
of Spain. It follows several statements from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. From Berlin, Steve Evans.
When Mario Draghi said last week that the ECB would do whatever it takes to preserve the euro, stock market jumped because they read the words as a signal that the bank would start buying Spanish government bonds. In effect, it would take on some Spanish debts. Today, Chancellor Merkel echoed the words in a joint statement with the Italian prime minister. On Friday, she said the same in a joint statement with President Hollande of France. It's led to speculation that she signaled her approval of the buying of Spanish bonds by the ECB. The difficulty is that if
turns out
that the signals have been misread, stock markets might react badly.
In the Olympic swimming pool in London, France have won the final of the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. They held off the celebrated American team, which included the 14 times Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps and their new star Ryan Lochte. In another upset, gold medal favorite Spain were eliminated from men's football after losing to Honduras.
World News from the BBC
Polls have closed in Romania where voters have been deciding whether to
impeach
their center-right President Traian Basescu. Three hours before voting ended, turnout was well short of the 50% needed to make the vote valid. The center-left government accuses Mr Basescu of undermining democracy as Nick Thorpe reports.