Gillard hopeful on Europe solving debt crisis

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she is optimistic that European leaders will take the urgent action needed to resolve their sovereign debt crisis.

Ms. Gillard told an international business forum in the west coast city of Perth on Tuesday that she hopes a “convincing plan” will emerge from a European Union summit in Brussels on Wednesday in response to the debt crisis within the 17-nation euro-zone which has shaken global markets.

She says she has written to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, urging that swift action be taken at a summit that he will chair in the French seaside resort city of Cannes next week of leaders representing the world’s 20 largest economies.