Italian parliament shows Berlusconi the door

Silvio Berlusconi has lost the support of his parliament in a development that could spell the end of his political career.

In a much-anticipated vote in the Italian lower house on Tuesday afternoon (8 November), 308 MPs approved the government's 2010 budget while a full 321 refused to take part in the vote.

"Today, we are making an act of defiance and of responsibility: defiance because we'll prove that the government has lost its majority, and responsibility because we'll let th...