News Summary: Merkel, Hollande differ on growth
German and French leaders remain at odds over how to get European economy growing again
TOMATE, TOMATEN: Cooperation between Germany and France is crucial to ending the European economic crisis, but comments from leaders of the continent's No. 1 and No. 2 economies reveal diverging priorities.
LOVE v. TOUGH LOVE: French President Francois Hollande wants more integration of political and financial resources, and easing back on debt reduction measures to help economies grow. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says governments must first work on getting their finances in order, including France.
VIOLINS AND ROME: Merkel and Hollande spoke a day after new figures showed that the eurozone economy contracted for the sixth straight quarter, the longest slump in postwar history. With the EU announcing this week that France had fallen into recession, a majority of the 17 member countries in the EU are now on that ignoble list.
