German Chancellor Angela Merkel may need to surrender her opposition to issuing common bonds in order to stop a debt crisis that is threatening to splinter the euro region. Merkel, who calls the single currency a “work of peace” and part of Europe’s “uniting idea,” is the key holdout on so- called euro bonds. With leaders meeting in Brussels today, her stance may eventually weaken amid signs the heart of Europe is becoming infected by the 21-month debt crisis as yields on Spanish and Italian 10-year bonds reach euro-era records. “Once they look into the abyss of a major speculative attack on Italy,” Merkel will have ... (full story)