Merkel: need 'signal of strength' on regulation

BERLIN (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the world's rich and developing nations to send a "signal of strength" on regulation of markets and the financial industry.

Merkel has stepped up calls for tougher regulation as Germany and its European Union partners push through a huge eurozone rescue package. Politicians argue that markets' behavior worsened the continent's debt crisis.

Merkel recalled Thursday that deeper regulation has been on the agenda since the global financial crisis broke out and "at some point we have to show: we've done it."

She called for a "common signal of strength" from the Group of 20 nations, which meets next month, and urged countries that have been unenthusiastic about tighter rules to recognize the need for them.