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Europe: Divided over a widening debt crisis; Internet: Google gobbles up Zagat; Banks: Bank of America to slash 30,000 jobs; Sales tax: Amazon cuts a deal with California; British banks: Tough new rules proposed

Europe: Divided over a widening debt crisis

Under pressure from European creditors, policymakers in Greece made a “U-turn” this week, agreeing to raise property taxes to plug the gaping hole in the country’s budget, said Kerin Hope in the Financial Times. EU officials had warned Athens that there would be no more bailout money unless Greece got serious about covering this year’s $2.7 billion budget shortfall. The new tax will supplement plans to cut 20,000 public-sector jobs, slash civil servants’ allowances, and reduce the pay of elected officials. With these changes, “we will be on the way to recovery,” said Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.

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