Country Bailout, Spain Bailout | featured news

European leaders faced increasing pressure on Thursday to respond to the euro crisis, as Spanish bond yields hit a level that has triggered full bailouts of other nations.

Investors fled from Spanish government debt on Monday, an immediate rejection of the country's planned bank bailout by the constituency it most desperately needs to impress: the buyers of its own government bonds.

Spain's banks need at least 40 billion euros (about $46 billion) in fresh capital to preserve the country's financial stability, the International Monetary Fund said Friday in an eagerly-awaited report.

Spain could decide this month to ask for a bailout for its troubled banking sector, a step that would make it the fourth country in the 17-member eurozone to seek help since the EU debt crisis broke out....

The International Monetary Fund says it has not been asked by Spain for a bailout and has not begun preparing one.