U.S. officials have been in frequent private contact with their counterparts in Europe, urging coordinated action in strong terms. But their public statements have been more vague and less accusatory. With his trip to Poland and in recent interviews, Geithner has escalated public pressure on the Europeans to act.

The risk in the strategy is that the United States could be seen as meddlesome by some of the very leaders Geithner seeks to influence — a risk he saw firsthand as a Treasury official in the 1990s when efforts to deal with the East Asia crisis were undermined by Asian leaders’ anger at U.S. and International Monetary Fund officials.

The European Union will not decide whether to give Greece a new installment of bailout money until October, officials said Friday, lengthening the uncertainty about whether the troubled country will default on its debts. Investors had hoped for a quicker sense about the direction of the bailout.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/geithner-calls-for-bolder-unified-euro-zone-measures-to-stem-financial-crisis/2011/09/16/gIQAe9YYYK_story.html?hpid=z2

Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe's debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a "stupid idea" and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others.German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said it would be a folly to boost the EU's bail-out machinery (EFSF) beyond its €440bn lending limit by deploying leverage to up to €2 trillion, perhaps by raising funds from the European Central Bank."I don't understand how anyone in the European Commission can have such a stupid idea. The result would be to endanger the AAA sovereign debt ratings of other member states. It makes no sense," he said.Mr Schauble told Washington to mind its own businesss after President Barack Obama rebuked EU leaders for failing to recapitalise banks and allowing the debt crisis to escalate to the point where it is "scaring the world"."It's always much easier to give advice to others than to decide for yourself. I am well prepared to give advice to the US government," he said.The comments risk irritating the White House. US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has been a key driver of plans to give the EFSF enough firepower to shore up Italy and Spain, fearing a drift into "cascading default, bank runs and catastrophic risk" without dramatic action.Germany slams 'stupid' US plans to boost EU rescue fund

Mr Di Rupo, 60, has already been called the weakest prime minister in Belgian history.

He is a flamboyant, atheist, socialist Francophone fond of large, red, floppy bow ties. At first glance he does not seem to be the man best placed to reconcile conservative, Catholic, Dutch-speaking suburban voters with the federal Belgian government – or the concept of Belgium itself.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/gay-socialist-and-born-in-a-squatters-camp--meet-the-new-pm-of-belgium-6273193.html