Officials from the European Central Bank are engaged in urgent telephone negotiations over the debt crisis facing both Europe and the United States.

They are discussing the possibility of purchasing Italian government bonds in order to shore up that country's economy and protect the value of the euro, Europe's common currency.

There is also concern that Standard and Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating will shake markets across the European continent.

On Friday Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced new measures to deal with the country's deficit and hasten economic reforms.

European stock indexes fell sharply on Friday amid worries that the debt-ridden governments of both Italy and Spain, with Europe's third and fourth largest economies, pose a threat to the euro.