Financial crisis

"What I want to emphasize is that regional or systemic financial crisis will not happen in China, and the Chinese economy will not head for a hard landing," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last January. Roughly seven months later, China finds itself at the epicenter of a global stock market rout that has vaporized $8 trillion in wealth.

LONDON – European and U.S. shares rebounded on bargain-hunting Tuesday as China cut interest rates after fears of a slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy sparked a "Black Monday" rout across global markets.

ATHENS, Greece – Greece's government hiked taxes and paid billions of euros to its creditors on Monday, as banks reopened just days after the debt-laden country reached a reforms-for-cash deal with its European partners.

There are no explicit provisions in EU rules for summits of eurozone leaders, but they can be held in exceptional circumstances.

U.S. stocks faced their worst day of the year on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging 350 points. It was part of a sell-off that spanned three continents after negotiations between Greece and its creditors broke down over the weekend and Athens closed the nation's banks.

Groaning under at least $73 billion in debt, Puerto Rico — which is being called "America's Greece" — is staggering down a path towards default, a scenario that could ripple across cities and states that depend on bonds for building everything from schools to stadiums.