Debt Crisis, Eurozone | featured news

Slovakian lawmakers on Thursday approved expanding the size and powers of the EU bailout fund, overcoming an earlier rejection and removing the last hurdle to the fund's use as the continent's main weapon against the debt crisis.

Stocks rose on Thursday after the European Central Bank launched fresh liquidity measures to help banks weather the euro zone's debt crisis, easing one of the major concerns overhanging markets.

By insisting that it receive collateral from Greece in return for aid, Finland threatens to upend an agreement that euro zone countries made in July to expand the E.U. bailout fund.

Standard & Poor's cuts Greece's credit rating, saying eurozone plans to restructure the country's debts would constitute a default.