President Barack Obamaurged European leaders to prevent a looming overseas debt crisis from dragging down the rest of the world.

He said European must inject money into the banking system. "The solutions to these problems are hard, but there are solutions,'' he said.

The president spoke after several days of difficult turns for his re-election prospects, including last Friday's report that the unemployment rate had risen slightly to 8.2% in May as job creation had slowed, and new signs that the European debt crisis was hurting the US economy.

Market attention is currently focused on Spain whose banks need billions of euros in bailout funds and where unemployment is at a Eurozone high of 24% and the economy is stretched to the breaking point.

In his brief White House news conference Obama also mentioned Greece where elections are taking place June 17 that could determine whether Athens leaves the Eurozone. AP