Finance crisis summit in Europe

FRANCE: The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy will meet Saturday in Paris to agree on a European response to the global financial crisis, the French presidency said.

The announcement of the meeting of Europe's major economies came as the Netherlands proposed a European reserve fund to help troubled banks hit by the financial storm. "This summit is aimed at preparing the contribution of European members of the G8 to the next meetings of this forum on the international financial crisis," said an Elysee presidential palace statement. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet and the head of the eurogroup finance ministers' committee, Jean-Claude Juncker, will also attend, it said.

Paris, Thursday, AFP