© The Associated Press / Andrew MedichiniItalian Premier Silvio Berlusconi holds a note he wrote during Democratic party leader Pierluigi Bersani's speech, the note reads: "308, -8 traitors; Government upturn; Vote; Take note; Resignation; Italian President; One solution; Let's move", prior to the start of a voting session at the Lower Chamber, in Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011.
In another chaotic day driven by the European debt crisis, the Dow Jones industrial average in New York dropped nearly 240 points in morning trading after Italy's borrowing costs soared to a new record high. Traders were troubled by signs that Europe's unending debt crisis was enveloping the eurozone's third-largest economy.
And across the Adriatic Sea, outgoing Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced that an agreement had been reached with the opposition to create an interim government to pass the country's new debt deal. Papandreou, who was expected to formally resign with hours, wished the next prime minister well but gave no indication of who it would be.
Berlusconi has pledged to resign after parliament passes the financial reforms that European officials have been demanding for months. The process can take up to two weeks, but President Giorgio Napolitano said that would be accelerated to days, allowing him to quickly begin talks on forming a new government or calling new elections.
"Fears are totally unfounded that Italy may experience a long period of inactivity," Napolitano said, adding that "emergency measures" could be adopted at any time.
Italy's key borrowing rate spiked to a high of 7.40 percent on Wednesday, up 0.82 percentage points from the previous day, as markets expressed concern about how swift and complete the political transition would be. That's over the level that eventually forced other eurozone countries like Greece and Portugal to seek bailouts.
Comment: "A senior diplomat familiar with the report said its significance lay in its comprehensiveness, thereby reflecting that Iran apparently had engaged in all aspects of testing that were needed to develop such a weapon."
Senior Diplomat. He has no name, credentials, country? How does he know how Comprehensive it is, was he there, how long was he there, what parts of Iran were visited? Does he have film of the testing(s)? Is there anything tangible to this besides some gag words like a higher up, a senior diplomat, a Congressional, administrative, Soviet weapons scientist, counselor on foreign affairs, official speaking on condition of anonymity..? Will the public ever see the slides? What were the highlights at a private conference of intelligence professionals, who were they, what country or business conglomerate do they work for?
Next up: Powell at the UN with a vial..?