EU solutions to Greek debt crisis

The sinking euro and a downgrade of Portugal's debt put renewed pressure on European leaders Wednesday to come up with a bailout plan for Greece and stem the government debt crisis undermining their shared currency.

But agreement remained elusive as a Thursday summit approached. Markets increasingly expect any bailout for Greece to involve the International Monetary Fund -- and EU governments are discussing whether they would permit that and add financial help from eurozone nations.

Germany is holding back a deal, reluctant to put taxpayer money on the line for Greece. But failure to help an indebted eurozone country would be an admission that Europe can't halt the crisis in its currency union.

The latest vote of no confidence in vulnerable eurozone economies came with Fitch Ratings' downgrade Wednesday of Portugal's debt. The credit ratings agency said Portugal's prospects for recovery were weaker than others in the eurozone and it faces problems shrinking its budget deficit.

The euro hit a 10-month low against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday on the Portuguese downgrades and the uncertainty over Europe's dithering over Greece -- which says it will need eurozone or IMF help if markets keep charging it painfully high costs to borrow.

Greece's debt crisis has undermined the euro by showing that the rules supporting it have not prevented governments from overspending, hitting public accounts. Athens' woes are also putting pressure on other eurozone countries with troubled finances, such as Portugal and Spain.

European diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is heading efforts to get the 16 eurozone nations to meet separately Thursday on the crisis surrounding Greece, in addition to the meeting by all 27 EU member governments.

Eurozone leaders have only met once for a summit before at the height of the banking crisis in 2008. "He is pushing hard for this and we think it is going to happen," said the diplomat.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy is also asking for a eurozone summit, said another EU official. He met French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Wednesday, Sarkozy's office said.

However, Germany is not keen, with a senior government official in Berlin saying "for us, there is no decision at this summit on aid to Greece."

He said aid "comes into question only as a last resort" when Greece has exhausted all efforts to raise money from bond markets.

The German government wants the IMF to be "significantly involved" in any bailout because it believes that it could face a legal challenge from the country's powerful constitutional court unless it can prove that that any European or German aid is the last option left to Greece.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said EU leaders were facing a test of their commitment to the currency union and should set up "a safety net to be used only in case all other means to avoid the crisis have been exhausted."

"What is at stake is the essential principle of financial stability that is at the center of the euro, and the euro is the most important creation of the European project," he told the European Parliament.

He hinted that IMF help would be acceptable but said it needs to be with the EU's blessing "embedded into a giant European framework."

Greek government spokesman George Petalotis also said Greece was waiting for a detailed EU plan that would "exert influence in such a way that our country can borrow, when it requires money."

He stressed that Greece was "not seeking financial help from anyone" but needed an option to avoid crippling interest rates that are undermining Greek efforts to shave billions of euros from its budget this year.

The countries that use the euro pledged last month to help Greece if the stability of the currency zone were threatened -- but agreed no details. Germany says it doesn't need to fulfill that promise yet, especially not to save Greece from years of overspending and faking its budget numbers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel saw no reason to move quickly, saying Sunday that EU leaders shouldn't discuss a potential bailout at the two-day summit starting Thursday because Greece is not yet asking for help and is not on the verge of bankruptcy.

Merkel is also pressing for tough new rules to restrain deficit spending by eurozone members to prevent future debt crises.

Germany's economy minister Rainer Bruederle repeated that position Wednesday, telling the daily Passauer Neue Presse that "aid for Greece would be the wrong signal. We must not create a precedent that other eurozone countries can refer to in the future."

"It cannot be possible that German taxpayers have to pick up the bill for mismanagement in Greece and elsewhere," he said.

HOW TO FIGHT STRESS WITH FOOD

We all know that tension can wreak havoc on our eating patterns. But the right (healthy!) foods can often help tame mindless munching and cravings and, better yet, actually lower overall anxiety and its symptoms. Eight of our favorites:

Dark Chocolate

High in flavonoids, which are lauded for their relaxing properties (chamomile tea is another great source), chocolate also contains phenethylamine, a chemical that enhances your mood. The darker the chocolate, the more healthy substances you're getting in your diet, so look for bars that are 70 percent cacao or higher.

Skim Milk

Turns out that a glass of warm milk really is calming. One study found that women who drank four or more servings of lowfat or skim milk every day were about half as likely to experience stress-related PMS symptoms than those who drank less than one serving a week.

Oatmeal

Carbs help you produce serotonin, a calming hormone that helps fight anxiety's negative effects-which is probably why many of us crave them when we're stressed. Go with the craving and choose healthy sources. Oatmeal is high in fiber, which means that your body will absorb it slowly. In one fell swoop, you'll prolong the serotonin boost, keeping yourself feeling full for longer (and on less) and making sure your blood sugar's in check.

Salmon

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids-abundant in fish like salmon-can help reverse stress symptoms by boosting serotonin levels, and that an omega-3-rich diet can also help suppress the production of the anxiety hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

Walnuts

They've been shown to help lower blood pressure, which is critical for those whose hearts are already working overtime thanks to high adrenaline levels. In fact, research so strongly backs their health benefits that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration goes so far as to recommend 1 1/2 oz per day.

Sunflower Seeds

A good source of folate, which helps your body produce a pleasure-inducing brain chemical called dopamine.

Spinach

Studies show that magnesium, which you'll find in leafy greens like spinach, improves your body's response to stress.

Blueberries

Their antioxidants counteract the effects of stress hormones like cortisol on your body.

Carolyn McCall confirmed as easyJet chief

Low-cost airline easyJet has confirmed that Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, is to be its next chief executive.

A start date for McCall, who has worked at Guardian Media Group for 24 years, has not yet been finalised.

Sir Michael Rake, the chairman of easyJet, said that McCall had been chosen to run the FTSE company following a "thorough process" against a field of "high calibre" candidates.

"Following a thorough process involving a number of high calibre candidates we have unanimously chosen a strong chief executive with the strategic ability, operational capability and passion to drive easyJet through the next stage of its development and we look forward to working with Carolyn," said Rake.

The company said that McCall, who joined GMG as a research planner in 1986 and rose through the ranks to be appointed group chief executive in 2006, had a "proven track record of successful operational delivery in a fast changing online consumer-facing business combined with extensive plc board and government and lobbying experience."

"The Guardian has been my second family for a quarter of a century, and I feel incredibly privileged to be part of such a wonderful and unique organisation," said McCall. "However, the chance to lead a FTSE company of easyJet's calibre is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My priority will be to build on easyJet's strengths – a strong consumer proposition, leadership positions in many of Europe's key airports, and an operating model built around simplicity and low cost."

McCall, 48, has held non-executive roles at New Look, Lloyds TSB and Tesco. During her time at the Guardian she oversaw investment programme in new printing presses which facilitated a move from broadsheet to Berliner format. She was the driving force in the acquisition of a 30% stake in Emap's business-to-business titles in a £1bn deal with equity partner Apax in 2007. The funds for the move were raised from the sale of a stake in Trader Media Group to Apax for £675m. She also oversaw the launch of Guardian Unlimited, parent of MediaGuardian.co.uk, and the establishment of an investment portfolio worth more than £200m.

McCall said that she felt that she was leaving GMG, which has been undergoing a cost-cutting programme to reduce significant losses, "knowing that our journalism has never been more influential or widely read, and with complete confidence that its financial position is secure".

"Carolyn has been an inspired and visionary leader of the Guardian, the Observer and GMG," said Alan Rusbridger, the editor-in-chief of GNM. "She has unwaveringly supported our journalists and, with GMG, worked tirelessly to develop a highly successful media company to protect and nourish our editorial output and aims. She is a digital pioneer, a lovely colleague and a good friend."

Gap in health care protection for children

Hours after President Barack Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged. Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children.

Obama made better coverage for children a centerpiece of his health care remake, but it turns out the letter of the law provided a less-than-complete guarantee that kids with health problems would not be shut out of coverage.

Under the new law, insurance companies still would be able to refuse new coverage to children because of a pre-existing medical problem, said Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the main congressional panels that wrote the bill Obama signed into law Tuesday.

However, if a child is accepted for coverage, or is already covered, the insurer cannot exclude payment for treating a particular illness, as sometimes happens now. For example, if a child has asthma, the insurance company cannot write a policy that excludes that condition from coverage. The new safeguard will be in place later this year.

Full protection for children would not come until 2014, said Kate Cyrul, a spokeswoman for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, another panel that authored the legislation. That's the same year when insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to any person on account of health problems.

Obama's public statements have conveyed the impression that the new protections for kids were more sweeping and straightforward.

"This is a patient's bill of rights on steroids," the president said Friday at George Mason University in Virginia. "Starting this year, thousands of uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions will be able to purchase health insurance, some for the very first time. Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions."

And Saturday, addressing House Democrats as they approached a make-or-break vote on the bill, Obama said, "This year ... parents who are worried about getting coverage for their children with pre-existing conditions now are assured that insurance companies have to give them coverage — this year."

Late Tuesday, the administration said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius would try to resolve the situation by issuing new regulations. The Obama administration interprets the law to mean that kids can't be denied coverage, as the president has said repeatedly.

"To ensure that there is no ambiguity on this point, the secretary of HHS is preparing to issue regulations next month making it clear that the term 'pre-existing exclusion' applies to both a child's access to a plan and his or her benefits once he or she is in the plan for all plans newly sold in this country six months from today," HHS spokesman Nick Papas said.

The coverage problem could mainly affect parents who purchase their own coverage for the family, as many self-employed people have to do. Families covered through employer plans typically do not have to worry about being denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

Parents whose kids are turned down by an insurer would still have a fallback under the law, even without Sebelius' fix. They could seek coverage through state high-risk insurance pools slated for a major infusion of federal funds.

The high-risk pools are intended to serve as a backstop until 2014, when insurers no longer would be able to deny coverage to those in frail health. That same year, new insurance markets would open for business, and the government would begin to provide tax credits to help millions of Americans pay premiums.

An insurance industry group says the language in the law that pertains to consumer protections for kids is difficult to parse.

"We're taking a closer look at it to see what exactly the requirement will be," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the main industry lobby.