German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy talk as they arrive for a press conference after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and EU and IMF representatives over Eurozone bailout plan ahead of the G20 summit on November 2, 2011 in Cannes, France. (David Ramos/AFP/Getty Images)
Elected leaders of 20 largest economies meet in Cannes and are confronted by a simple reality: there is very little they can do to sort Europe's mess while Greece is in political meltdown.
Greece's cabinet has unanimously backed Prime Minister George Papandreou's call for a referendum on the Greek bailout. Papandreou is due to hold emergency talks with other euro zone leaders later Wednesday.
Yesterday world markets went haywire over Greek Prime Minister papandreou's unilateral decision to hold a referendum on the term of the Greek bail-out deal. The more measure reaction of European opinion formers today is less panicked. (Spencer Platt/AFP/Getty Images)
Greek Prime Minister Papandreou's decides to hold a referendum on the terms of the country's bail-out.
In Frankfurt, Germany's Dax benchmark financial index fell 3.8 percent in early trade, while the Cac-40 in Paris dropped 3.4 percent and London's FTSE 100 – not part of the euro zone – traded 2.5 percent lower.
Greek Prime MInister George Papandreou addressing the Greek parliament. His call for a referendum has rattled world markets and angered opposition politicians (YIANNIS LIAKOS/AFP/Getty Images)
BEIJING — It's easy to see why China would want to help Europe, which is China's largest export market. But China will need to justify the move to its own people.
Klaus Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), was to meet with Chinese finance officials and officials from the People's Bank of China.
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