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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday looks set to launch a fresh effort to invigorate the faltering U.S. recovery, embarking on what could be the first in a series of incremental steps to foster stronger growth.

Asian stocks drifted slightly lower Wednesday and the euro clawed back lost ground as investors waited for the end of a Federal Reserve policy meeting that may act to stimulate the U.S. economy.

The Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to end with a decision to stock up on longer-term Treasury notes in a bid to boost a fading economic recovery.

Greece pledged to bring forward painful austerity measures on Tuesday, convincing international lenders to return to Athens early next week for talks that it hopes will secure the aid it needs to avert bankruptcy.

Strong policies are urgently needed to increase economic growth and reduce the risk of a double-dip recession in the developed world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its revised World Economic Outlook. The IMF also decreased its 2011 global GDP growth forecast to 4 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the June 2011 forecast.

Europe will come under heavy pressure this week to stem its deepening debt crisis but talks among the self-proclaimed guardians of global finance are unlikely to yield bold action.

Europe needs to get its act together and deal with its worsening sovereign debt crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, warning of the risk of severe repercussions for global growth.

Greece promised more cuts to its bloated public sector on Tuesday and held a second conference call in two days with its international lenders, whom it must convince to extend more loans to prevent its coffers running dry next month.

Gold prices rose over the $1,800 mark Tuesday on expectations that the Federal Reserve will decide this week on further steps to stimulate the economy and fresh evidence that the economy needs some stimulation.

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney expects the Canadian economy to grow through the rest of this year and signaled on Tuesday he stands ready to use a variety of tools and policy options to ensure stability.

Members of the conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) want a law to prevent the country's central bank -- currently struggling to tame a super-strong Swiss franc -- from selling its gold reserves, according to a proposal published on Tuesday.

Toronto's main stock index rebounded on Tuesday, after touching a one-week low in the previous session, as bargain-hunters returned to the market and gold miners rose along with bullion prices.

Europe and the United States could slip back into recession next year unless they quickly tackle economic problems that could infect the rest of the world, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

Standard & Poor's cut Italy's credit rating on Tuesday in a surprise move that increased strains on the debt-stressed euro zone and raised pressure on policymakers to take more decisive action to resolve the crisis.

Standard & Poor's cut Italy's credit rating on Tuesday in a surprise move that increased strains on the debt-stressed euro zone and raised pressure on policymakers to take more decisive action to resolve the crisis.

Standard & Poor's cut its unsolicited ratings on Italy by one notch on Tuesday, a surprise move that sharply increases strains on the debt-stressed euro zone and piles pressure on policymakers to take more decisive action to resolve the crisis.

Brazil will propose that it and other large emerging market countries make billions of dollars in new funds available to the International Monetary Fund as a way to help ease the crisis in the euro zone, an official said on Monday.

The head of the World Bank on Monday said a drop in investor confidence was already feeding through to developing nations from a growing debt crisis in advanced economies and urged cooperative action.

Tristane Banon -- the French writer who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault -- said she will sue the former-banker if French authorities decide not to open a criminal trial.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn spoke publicly for the first time since returning to France. During an interview on French television station TF1 on Sunday night, the former head of the International Monetary Fund expressed his infinite regret over his affair with hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo in May.

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday as renewed fears of a Greek debt default prompted investors to book some of last week's gains and turn toward the safety of U.S. government debt.

European equity markets are again plunging in Monday trading largely on fears of a Greek default.

Stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Wall Street on Monday, as renewed fears of a Greek debt default prompt investors to book some of last week's gains and turn to safer assets such as gold.

Greece must implement reforms agreed under an EU/IMF bailout plan and improve tax collection to qualify for further rescue payments, the IMF said on Monday.

Greece on Sunday pledged to take the tough decisions needed to avoid default but announced no new austerity measures to secure international bailout funds next month.

Pakistan will not seek a new International Monetary Fund programme, nor will it ask for an extension of the current one due to end on September 30, because it has no balance of payments crisis and has enough foreign exchange reserves, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Sunday.

Pakistan will not seek a new IMF loan program or ask for an extension when its existing loan package ends on September 30, because it has no balance of payments crisis and has enough foreign exchange reserves, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Sunday.

Brown explained that the financial woes in Europe are, at their essence, a crisis in banking, not debt.

Options for a sustainable economic recovery are narrowing, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of The International Monetary Fund, said in an opinion piece for a German newspaper.