U.K. markets were thrown into turmoil after Prime Minister Theresa May faced the biggest challenge to her leadership since she took office, Bloomberg News reported. Sterling slid the most in more than 17 months after ministers including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey quit May’s top team, while Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg called for a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister. Investors priced out the prospect of a rate increase by the Bank of England next year on concern that any revolt against May could ultimately imperil the chances of the U.K.

Italian construction company Salini Impregilo said on Thursday it had presented a non-binding expression of interest for Astaldi, which has filed for creditor protection, Reuters reported. Astaldi, one of Italy’s leading contractors with more than 10,500 employees, filed for court protection in September after delays to the sale of its 33.3 percent stake in the Third Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey. Last month sources told Reuters that Salini was working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Vitale & Co on options for a possible full or partial takeover of Astaldi.

Growth momentum in Europe is fading, with a broad measure of eurozone industrial production flagging in September, the Financial Times reported. Industrial output in the Eurozone decreased by 0.3 per cent in September from August, data from the European Union statistics agency Eurostat showed on Wednesday. The slowdown was better than the 0.4 per cent month-on-month decline economists had predicted in a poll for Reuters, but followed a 1 per cent rise in August. Economic growth in the Eurozone was confirmed at just 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.

Italy’s government debt sold off sharply on Wednesday with the benchmark 10-year yield rising to a three-week high after the country’s government told the European Commission that it would forge ahead with its fiscally aggressive budget, the Financial Times reported. The yield on the 10-year bond hit a session high of 3.547 per cent, an increase of 9.8 basis points, after Italy’s populist coalition government defied calls from Europe to reverse its plans to sharply increase public spending.

The German financial sector is ill prepared to weather a recession, as the long era of economic growth may have inflated asset prices and lured lenders into underestimating future credit risks, Bundesbank has warned in its Financial Stability Review, the Financial Times reported. Germany’s central bank said on Wednesday it was particularly concerned that a surprise recession and a collapse in asset prices could kick off a downward spiral.

European Union states are still divided over an overhaul of rules for the supervision of banks against money laundering, two EU sources said on Wednesday. EU confidential documents show countries had agreed a preliminary common stance on the reform proposed by the European Commission in September which would give more powers to the European Banking Authority (EBA) to counter financial crime, Reuters reported. But one EU source said states were still divided on this issue and it was unclear whether they could reach a deal by the next meeting of EU finance ministers scheduled on Dec. 4.

Food group Barilla said on Wednesday it had presented an offer to buy the second-largest pasta plant in Italy from domestic rival Pasta Zara to boost its production capacity, Reuters reported. Family-owned Pasta Zara has started court proceedings to get creditor protection after its debt spiralled out of control. The factory, which is located near Tieste, in northern Italy, can produce up to 280,000 tonnes of pasta a year, according to one source close to the matter. “The factory ...

Why is Italy’s economy so sickly and has the country’s new government found the cure for its economic ills? As Rome locks horns with Brussels over a draft Italian budget that the European Commission has rejected for breaching EU rules, the Financial Times has consulted leading economists, academics and industrialists about the root causes of the country’s sluggish growth, the Financial Times reported.

Nyrstar NV, one of the world’s largest zinc smelting companies, is collapsing under the weight of its own debt, Bloomberg News reported. The shares plumbed fresh lows on Tuesday and the price of its bonds due next year is now 50 cents on the euro. Analysts say the company is headed for an inevitable restructuring, and the shares will soon be worthless. Here are five charts that explain how this powerhouse producer was pushed to the brink. When it listed in Brussels in 2007, Nyrstar made its money buying zinc ore from mines and smelting the raw material into a refined metal.

Greece’s central bank is working on a plan to help banks cut their bad debts in half, the latest effort to restore trust in the country’s financial system, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Under the proposal, Greek lenders would transfer about half of their deferred tax claims to a special purpose vehicle, which would then sell bonds and use the proceeds to buy some 42 billion euros ($47 billion) of bad loans from the lenders, according to the people. They asked not to be identified because the plan hasn’t been finalized yet, Bloomberg News reported.