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G-8 leaders put their focus on European financial crisis, amid pressure for growth measures
• CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) -- Drawn together in this serene mountain outpost, leaders of the major industrialized nations are prodding Germany to balance its push for European fiscal austerity with doses of stimulus spending to avoid an economic calamity that could reverberate worldwide.
• With three new members in their midst, the Group of Eight leaders will take measure of themselves as they turn their attention Saturday to reconciling the need to quell European debt crises with the desire to increase demand for goods and spur job growth.
• Facing economic and political pressures at home, President Barack Obama and leaders of Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan were huddling in the casual setting of Camp David's Laurel Lodge looking to build consensus even though a decisive plan of action seemed out of reach at this point.
• The G-8 session here in this secure presidential compound nestled in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains sets the stage for a far more consequential European summit next week where eurozone members hope to come together on specific steps to fight rising debt while spurring a recovery.
• Obama established the tone for the G-8 Friday after meeting with just-elected French President Francois Hollande, declaring that the aim of the summit is to promote both fiscal consolidation and a "strong growth agenda."
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Facebook debut as a public company fails to pop as stock closes nearly flat
• NEW YORK (AP) -- In the hours before Facebook's stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market for the first time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reminded the company's 3,500 employees not to get caught up in the hoopla surrounding its long-awaited initial public offering.
• "Right now this all seems like a big deal," Zuckerberg said before he pushed a button that rang Nasdaq's opening bell from company headquarters at 1 Hacker Way in Menlo Park, Calif. "Going public is an important milestone in our history. But here's the thing, our mission isn't to be a public company. Our mission is to make the world more open and connected."
• Facebook's IPO, it turns out, wasn't as big a deal as expected.
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