By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

LONDON, England - December 15, 2010 - Europe's debt woes have moved closer to the core of monetary union after Standard & Poor's threatened to downgrade Belgium over the failure of Flemings and Walloons to form a government.

The warning comes a day after the International Monetary Fund said Belgium "urgently needed" to control spending as public debt pushes above 100% of GDP. "A clear plan is needed to contain contagion from abroad," it said.

WASHINGTON - December 15, 2010 - As the incoming chairman of the House monetary policy subcommittee, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) will hold the bully pulpit when it comes to the nation's money woes.

He's not wasting any time getting right to the heart of the matter.

LONDON, England - December 13, 2010 - The deal reached by U.S. lawmakers to extend tax cuts and unemployment benefits will spur economic growth, but brings the country’s vaunted triple-A credit rating one step closer to the chopping block.

Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. on Monday warned the proposed package will worsen the country’s already stretched finances. That deterioration increases the likelihood that the rating agency will change its outlook on the U.S. rating to negative over the next two years, it said. Such a shift would signal that a downgrade lies ahead.

NEW YORK - December 13, 2010 - Bank of America restarted about 16,000 home foreclosure cases across the United States earlier this week, a company spokesman said Friday.

Bank of America spokesman Dan Frahm said the bank notified its outside attorneys on Monday to resume foreclosure proceedings on the first significant amount of homes since the bank lifted its repossession ban in October.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

LONDON, England - December 12, 2010 - The EU’s Franco-German "Directoire" and the European Central Bank have between them ruled out all plausible solutions to the eurozone’s debt crisis.

NEW YORK - December 12, 2010 - The Great Atlantic & Tea Co., best known to grocery shoppers as A&P, says it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company, founded in 1859, says it will have access to $800 million in debtor-in-possession financing and that all of its 395 stores, which are located in eight states in the eastern U.S., are fully stocked and open for business.

LONDON, England - December 11, 2010 - U.S. Treasuries last week suffered their biggest two-day sell-off since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The borrowing costs of the government of the world’s largest economy have now risen by a quarter over the past four weeks.