BIG SPRING, Texas - August 11, 2011 - Desperate times call for a tall, cool glass of creativity in this patch of West Texas, where water is scarce and quickly disappearing.

But a plan to pump millions of new gallons of drinking water into the system has many people across West Texas holding their noses.

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - August 11, 2011 - The state of Illinois has reached a new level of broke. Come Monday, it won't have enough cash to bury its indigent dead.

Illinois officials sent a letter to more than 600 funeral directors around the state to let them know there's no money for funerals for individuals on public assistance.

NEW YORK - August 10, 2011 - Standard & Poor’s lowered the AAA ratings of thousands of municipal bonds tied to the federal government, including housing securities and debt backed by leases, following its August 5 downgrade of the U.S., reports Bloomberg.

BERLIN, Germany - August 9, 2011 - Germany’s robust economy is showing signs of a slowdown, raising fears that the linchpin holding together Europe’s fragile financial health could be weakening.

On Tuesday, the country revealed that its exports in June rose by only 3.1%, compared with a 20.1% increase in May, marking the smallest increase in 16 months. A few days earlier, an index of German manufacturing activity dropped from 54.6 in June to 52 in July - the lowest level since October 2009, marking the third consecutive month of declines.

NEW YORK - August 8, 2011 - Standard & Poor's downgraded mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from triple-A to AA+ Monday, citing their direct reliance on the U.S. government, which it downgraded last Friday.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

LONDON, England - August 7, 2011 - The Great Reprieve is exhausted. The world has used up the three years' grace gained by extreme stimulus after the debt bubble burst in 2008.

JERUSALEM, Israel - August 7, 2011 - Trading on Israel's Tel Aviv stock exchange was temporarily halted on Sunday after share prices fell 6% at the open on news of a U.S. credit rating downgrade, public radio reported.

Trading opened as normal on Sunday, the first day of Israel's working week, but mandatory suspensions went into effect minutes into the session as the stock exchange plunged.