Britannia Radio

US city placed under a state of emergency: According to the proclamation, no person without a “legitimate reason” will be allowed on any public street or in any other public place in those areas at night, and there will be no gathering of three or more people allowed without obtaining a permit.

Germany and France examine 'two-tier' euro: Germany and France are examining ways of creating a "two-tier" euro system to separate stronger northern European countries from weaker southern states.

Canada's economy is suddenly the envy of the world: The 20 world leaders at an economic summit in Toronto next weekend will find themselves in a country that has avoided a banking crisis where others have floundered, and whose economy grew at a 6.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of this year. The housing market is hot and three-quarters of the 400,000 jobs lost during the recession have been recovered.

Regulators close Nev. bank for 83rd failure in '10: Regulators on Friday shut down a Nevada bank, raising to 83 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.

Main Street Needs a Doctor: Small banks' delinquencies cast doubt on Main Street's recovery.: The latest evidence of Main Street's funk comes from a Treasury report listing banks that are unable to pay dividends on money extended to them under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. These are banks that the regulators handpicked as probable survivors of the financial meltdown, which has claimed 260 institutions since 2008.

Middle Class--Not the Rich or the Poor--Pay Majority of Federal Taxes, Says CBO Data: Middle-class households that earned between $34,300 and $141,900 paid 50.5 percent of all federal tax revenues in 2007 (the most recent year analyzed), according to the CBO study released Thursday, and households that earned between $34,300 and $352,900 paid 66.7 percent of all federal taxes

Peddling Relief, Firms Put Debtors in Deeper Hole: The long recession has delivered an abundance of customers — debt-saturated Americans, suffering lost jobs and income, sliding toward bankruptcy. The settlement companies typically harvest fees reaching 15 to 20 percent of the credit card balances carried by their customers, and they tend to collect upfront, regardless of whether a customer’s debt is actually reduced.