Slovenia | featured news

Successive Slovenian governments have refused to privatize the country's banks, which made disastrous loans to politically connected business interests and now threaten to drag the country center stage in the euro zone debt crisis.

It's a diplomatic rift that has both countries hungry for a fight. The subject of the spat? A humble pork sausage. Slovenia calls the spicy delicacy "Kranjska klobasa" and Austria "Krainerwurst" — variants of the same name that belongs to the border region the sausage comes from. Both countries have enjoyed the snack for centuries and consider it part of their cultural heritage.

Fitch downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on Friday, indicating there was a 1-in-2 chance of further cuts in the next two years.

England shook off a traumatic start to the World Cup on Wednesday to beat tiny Slovenia and squeeze into the second round while the United States booked their place with a last-gasp goal against Algeria.

The United States rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit on goals by Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley to tie Slovenia 2-2 in their Group C match Friday.

Greece qualified for the World Cup on Wednesday, beating Ukraine 1-0 on aggregate after Dimitrios Salpigidis' first-half goal in the second leg.