Merkel: Future of euro at stake

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for tougher regulation aimed at stock and bond traders along with a crackdown on government debt to contain the continent’s financial crisis, warning the future of the euro itself was at stake.

As she urged lawmakers to pass Germany’s share of a new €750bn eurozone rescue package, Mrs Merkel said that defending the shared European currency is “about no more and no less than the preservation of the European idea”.