Hours after his rain-soaked inauguration as president of France, François Hollande flew to Berlin for a summit with Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany. The pair met amid gathering clouds over the prospects for the euro zone as the political crisis in Greece rumbles on. Mr Hollande wants Germany’s remedy of austerity for troubled countries to ...

Markets were unnerved by the political crisis in Greece. Many fear that the country will be ejected from the euro zone. Savers reportedly withdrew €1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) from Greek banks, or 0.75% of total deposits, over two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at their lowest marks since January and February r...

May 19th 2012 | from the print edition

from the print edition | The world this week