Jon Corzine, the former head of investment firm MF Global, told lawmakers he did not intend to break any rules and that he has no idea where $1.2 billion in missing money is during testimony before Congress on Thursday. The New Jersey Democrat became the first former U.S. Senator to be subpoenaed by Congress in more than a century. During his testimony, Corzine repeatedly apologized to investors and customers, saying he never ordered any movement of money out of clients' accounts.

European leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday for the start of a two day summit in what many are hoping will be a turning point for resolving the euro zone crisis. Expectations are high that a deal can be brokered by Germany and France to overhaul economic rules and create confidence in the beleaguered currency. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with European officials earlier this week, a sign of American interest in reaching a resolution. But some economists and politicians are beginning to question whether, from the U.S. perspective, the euro is really worth saving.

In an effort to help alleviate the symptoms of Europe's debt crisis, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and other international banks funneled U.S. dollars into European financial systems on Wednesday. The move helped markets by making American dollars more easily available outside the U.S. Stocks shot up in reaction to the news. The increased liquidity had the immediate effect of boosting the Dow Jones industrial average by 484 points. It was the biggest single day gain since March 2009. Some wondered, however, whether the move was a smart long-term investment, or just a temporary fix.

Much of the political turmoil surrounding the euro zone crisis has centered around the question of whether fiscally stronger nations, such as Germany and France, should have to bail out Greece and other struggling economies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held the purse strings along with other leaders who have demanded strict austerity measures in those countries receiving assistance. Merkel is under political pressure at home with many in her government feeling that the Greeks, like the German people, should have lived within their means.

Penn State University has been in full-fledged crisis management mode this week. On Wednesday, football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were both removed from their positions. It was an attempt to answer criticism that the university and football program did not do enough to stop assistant coach Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing young boys on camps over a span of 15 years.

The roller coaster that is Greek politics continued Wednesday. Talks between the three main political parties forming the new unity government remained deadlocked. The most dramatic moment came when Giorgios Karatzaferis, leader of the smallest party walked out of negotiations. He told reporters it was sad that games were taking place between outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou and opposition leader Antonis Samaras. The two men are known to be bitter rivals — but it wasn’t always this way.

Interest rates on Italy's debt have soared to dangerously high levels, as bond yields hit 7.4 percent — the level that has driven other euro zone countries to seek bailouts. In comparison, Germany's interest rates stand at just 0.24 percent. Wednesday's news comes just a day after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged to step down on the condition that Parliament pass an austerity budget required by the European Union. Uncertainty over whether Europe's third largest economy will be able to meet its fiscal challenges will continue to test world markets.

Federal regulators say hundreds of millions of dollars of customer money is missing from MF Global, the brokerage firm which filed for bankruptcy on Monday. It is unclear where the estimated $700 million has gone, and no one has yet been accused of wrongdoing. Headed by former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, MF Global made risky bets on the European debt crisis. The Dow dropped 276 points in reaction to the news of the implosion, reminiscent of the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

Oil prices are solidly back over the $100 dollar per barrel. Political unrest in the Middle East has kept oil rising for the past months followed by concerns that Japan, the world's third largest economy and a nation that imports 60 percent of its fuel, would be reducing its oil usage, knocked oil futures back down briefly last week. But Monday, oil futures for April rose by more than $1 hitting $102.96 a barrel in trading on Wall Street.

Washington is facing two major foreign policy situations. The U.N. Security Council has voted to act broadly in Libya, imposing a no-fly zone and even leaving open other forms of conflict in order to protect the civilian population. With ten member states voting for the measure and five abstaining, it is an historic move in a complicated region. And in Japan, a dire nuclear threat continues while survivors of last weekend's earthquake and tsunami struggle to find food and shelter. How is Washington tackling these two situations? 

Thousands are still missing in Japan and the search efforts are challenging: in addition to the rubble left by the earthquake, large areas of land are still flooded, and more than 200,000 people have been evacuated from areas to protect citizens from radiation poisoning. Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said this is the country's greatest crisis since World War II. The U.S. Navy is flying missions to assess the debris field at sea and drop humanitarian aid. 150 of America's top search-and-rescue specialists from Virginia and California arrived Monday morning to travel to the coastal village of Ofunato in Iwate prefecture.

On December 22nd, 2008, a Tennessee Valley coal-fired power plant ruptured, sending nearly one billion gallons of coal ash into a nearby river, where it turned to sludge. That hazardous sludge was shipped to a landfill site outside Uniontown, Alabama — an area whose demographic is too poor for the kind of political clout that would block the move. The question is: do communities like Uniontown ever really get a say in where hazardous waste goes?  

With the European Union in the midst of a severe debt crisis, foreign ministers of the eurozone are meeting this week to discuss remedies for their financial troubles. Latin America went through a difficult debt crisis of their own back in the 1980s, which is often referred to as the "Lost Decade." What lessons can Europe learn from Latin America to help prevent their own lost decade?

Every year, children go back to school and are asked to write essays on what they did over the summer. As Labor Day approaches, we’re doing the same, with a look at the standout stories we covered over the past few months; from the oil gusher to the economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the heat wave.

We're asking you: What event defined the summer for you, personally and in the news? Leave your six-word summary in the comments or text TAKE and your summary to 69866!

It's been 50 days since oil began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. We've seen botched cleanup attempts, oil-soaked animals, tar balls on beaches and blunders from BP CEO, Tony Hayward. Takeaway listeners have a lot to say on BP's mistakes and whether, as President Obama suggested, the company's CEO should be fired.

World financial markets are poised to react to last week's news that Dubai World, the financial conglomerate largely responsible for Dubai's rapid expansion, will request an extension to pay back some $60 billion in loans. Dubai has the largest population in the United Arab Emirates and up until recently has enjoyed excesses such as building 7 star hotels on artificial islands; the Gulf nation is now trying to figure out how to surf its way through a major debt crisis. 

On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates' central bank announced that they would protect any banks operating in Dubai. We turn to New York Times financial correspondent Landon Thomas, Jr. to discuss the troubles a possible loan default from Dubai could spell for the rest of the world.