Bank of America Corp. (BAC) News

BRUSSELS, March 18 (UPI) -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou suggested Greece could turn to the International Monetary Fund if the European Union did not offer help.

Finance ministers of the 16 EU countries that share the euro as currency have been meeting to discuss a rescue plan that would help Greece dig itself out of debt, which is currently at 12.7 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The EU target for government debt is 3 percent of GDP.

While the strong EU countries have repeatedly pledged help, details of a rescue plan have been sparse.

The Times of London Online reported Thursday that Papandreou said he expected the "family" of nations that share the euro would support Greece's austerity program, but he also said the country was positioned to ask for IMF assistance, a step that would be seen as an embarrassment to the EU.

After German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that Germany would not provide cash assistance, Papandreou flew to Brussels to "deliver his ultimatum," The Times reported.

Greece has billions of dollars of debt obligations due by the end of May.

WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- Consumer prices held steady in February with core prices up just 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The report backed the Federal Reserve bank's claim that inflation is a distant worry. Energy prices dropped 0.5 percent, while food prices rose 0.1 percent. Core prices is an index that exclude those two volatile items.

Among energy prices, the cost of fuel oil fell 2.4 percent in the month, while prices for electricity dropped 0.5 percent.

The price of new vehicles rose 0.1 percent, while used vehicles and trucks cost 0.7 percent more in February compared to the previous month. Clothing costs dropped 0.7 percent, while costs for transportation and medical care services rose 0.4 percent.

Compared with February 2009, consumer prices have risen 2.1 percent, Commerce said.

BUTNER, N.C., March 18 (UPI) -- Convicted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff was assaulted in a North Carolina prison in December, three sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Madoff was convicted of running a Ponzi scheme that lost investors billions of dollars. He pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts and was given a 150-year prison sentence.

Neither prison authorities, nor Madoff's attorney, Ira Sorkin, would verify the account, but sources said Madoff suffered a broken nose, fractured ribs and various lacerations in an altercation over a money matter, the Journal said.

Madoff allegedly owed another inmate money, the report said.

A Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, Traci Billingsley, said, "not one inmate told staff he was assaulted."

Billingsley also said the inmate allegedly involved in the incident lived in a different area that was locked down at night and that it was "virtually impossible," for the assault, as described, to have occurred.

One former inmate said Madoff had given him some financial advice, specifically telling him to avoid day trading. "I was trying to get into day trading and he's like, 'That's not for you. That's for individuals like me with millions to spare,' " the former inmate said.