Europe  continues to be the boiling cauldron which may affect the US  presidential election and plunge the world into another financial  meltdown. European leaders continue to try and work through the  troubling fiscal issues and squabble over austerity versus spending.

Bank Scandal: A  global investigation into manipulation of interbank lending rates  widened on Friday with Britain's fraud squad taking up the case and  sources telling Reuters that Germany's markets regulator had launched a  probe into Deutsche Bank.

Authorities  in the United States, Europe, Japan and Canada are examining more than a  dozen big banks over suspected rigging of the London Interbank Offered  Rate (Libor). Britain's Barclays has so far been the only bank to admit  wrongdoing, agreeing last week to pay a fine of more than $450 million.

The  rate-fixing scandal has exploded into the front ranks of politics,  especially in Britain, where politicians say the bankers responsible  should end up in jail.

http://news.yahoo.com/ratings-agencies-cut-outlook-barclays-034447288--finance.html

Romania: The  Council of Europe has asked constitutional experts to examine Romania's  suspension of its president after Germany and the United States  criticized the action by the ruling leftist alliance, saying it  threatened the rule of law.

"I  am very concerned about the recent developments in Romania, especially  about actions taken by the government and the parliament in respect of  key democratic institutions," the council's Secretary-General Thorbjorn  Jagland said.

"I have  requested an opinion from the Council of Europe's Commission for  Democracy through Law - of which Romania is a member - on whether these  actions are compatible with democratic principles and the rule of law."

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-romania-politics-idUSBRE8660CX20120707

Germany: Around  half of Germans are prepared to give up some national powers to  Brussels in the pursuit of a common European Union financial policy,  according to a poll by Emnid for the German magazine Focus.

Some  49 percent of the 1,000 Germans surveyed for the poll supported handing  over more power to the EU, in line with the closer European fiscal and  political union championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Some 44 percent  were opposed.

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-eurozone-germany-poll-idUSBRE86608B20120707

Closer Euro Unity - The  desecration of dozens of graves of Germans killed in World War I and  buried in a French cemetery clouded a historic meeting Sunday by the  leaders of the two nations, who urged Europeans to set aside economic  worries and deepen their union.

In  the medieval cathedral in Reims, France, a city battered by the two  world wars, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor  Angela Merkel marked the 50th anniversary of a meeting between France’s  Charles de Gaulle and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer that paved the way for  decades of cross-border partnership.

http://bostonherald.com/news/international/europe/view.bg?articleid=1061144241

Greece: Greece's  new finance minister on Saturday pledged to carry out reforms and  privatizations demanded under its latest financial rescue in an attempt  to regain credibility with international partners stumping up money to  keep the country afloat.

But  he also warned of a tough road ahead in convincing the so-called troika  of European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central  Bank lenders to give Greece more time and money.

"The  negotiations will not be quick - they will be long and arduous," he  told parliament during a debate ahead of a confidence vote on the  government on Sunday.

"Additional  time is required because the recession was bigger than expected. The  extension means someone will have to give us more money and this is not  simple."

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-greece-bailout-venizelos-idUSBRE86607H20120707

Spain: Spanish  Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Saturday that he will take  additional steps to reduce the public deficit in the coming days and  renewed his call on Europe to quickly implement a rescue plan for  Spanish banks.

Rajoy is  expected to announce on Wednesday in Parliament budget measures  including a likely hike in the value-added tax, and cuts to benefits for  public workers.

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/07/us-spain-rajoy-idUSBRE86606F20120707

Italy: A 307-mile highway built by corrupt contractors is falling apart, and now the EU wants its grant money back.

The  highway, which was started in 1929 but not completed until 1974, has  been the subject of decades of controversy and criticism within Italy  because of questionable contracts and allegations of corruption. Now,  the European Union is making Italy pay back $471 million in grant money  after its anti-fraud arm found what it calls “widespread irregularities”  in how the grant contracts were awarded by the Italian regional  governments of Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria.

But  because the grant money is gone, it will be Italian citizens who will  have to shoulder the repayment. “This money had already been spent, so  the Italian state is obliged to give it back to the EU with the burden  subsequently falling on taxpayers,” said Giovanni Kessler, head of the  European Commission’s Anti Fraud Office (OLAF).

http://thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/07/the-mafia-built-highway-that-could-cost-italy-471-million.html

Let Non-Euro Stats In - Italian  Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Sunday that European integration  should not only be based on the countries sharing the euro currency, but  should also include other EU members such as Britain and Poland.

"I'm  a bit uncertain whether we should really try to pursue a more cohesive  European economic and political process simply based on the euro zone,"  Monti told a conference in Aix-en-Provence, in southern France.

"I  know in France that is a widely held view, but I have reservations. It  would be best not to isolate ourselves too much from the other parts of  the European Union," he said.

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/08/us-italy-monti-eurozone-idUSBRE86705F20120708

From the Cornfield, we must remain vigilant less we get caught with our pants down in the event the Euro Zone crumbles.