Reuters – Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos faces a critical task of convincing international lenders and political party leaders on Sunday to agree to the stringent terms of a 130 billion euro ($171 billion) rescue plan to stave off looming default.

Reuters – Weakness in banks and commodity stocks dragged Britain’s leading share index lower on Monday as the protracted search for a Greek bond deal and concerns about economic growth kept investors nervous.

Reuters – Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos met leaders of political parties in his coalition on Sunday to persuade them to back painful reforms demanded by the near-bankrupt country’s foreign lenders.

Reuters – Euro zone finance ministers will decide on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens after negotiators for private creditors said they could not improve their offer.

Reuters – Uncertainty over the outcome of talks to restructure privately held Greek debt limited gains in European shares and the euro on Monday ahead of a finance ministers meeting to decide the terms of further aid for Greece.

Reuters – Mass euro zone ratings downgrades are unlikely to shake up investors too much, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

Reuters – Financial markets are unlikely to be derailed by mass euro zone downgrades but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

Reuters – Financial markets are unlikely to be derailed by mass euro zone downgrades but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

AP – ABN Amro, which is owned by the Dutch state, saw its profits fell sharply in the third quarter as it wrote down the value of Greek bonds.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The economic health of southern Europe will be in focus for telecoms investors on Thursday when Greek telecoms group OTE and major investor Deutsche Telekom report quarterly results.