berlusconi agreeing to go. that was at the nun of that breaking news, but according to the latest reports, this idea of a deal that would see mr. berlusconi go are not true. more on that for you as soon as we can. the bbc has discovered fresh evidence that pakistan has been actively supporting the taliban in afghanistan while acting as washington's ally in public. here's david loyn. >> the long war in afghanistan was intensifying in 2006, causing casualties among afghans and troops mainly from the u.s. and u.k. now there's new evidence that pakistan's support for the taliban fighting that war. one insurgent says he was trained by pakistani intelligence, the i.s.i. >> their militia would arrive in cars at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 4:00 p.m. they were wearing military uniforms. the uniforms of the i.s.i. the military commanders give us specialized weapons training. >> the u.s. was certain by 2008 that pakistan had controlled the gunmen who went on the rampage in mumbai, as evidence piled up of a secret double game i

this is who they blame, prime minister silvio berlusconi. today he faces a crucial confidence vote in parliament. analysts say it will be close, although many expect him to win. on thursday, mr. berlusconi claimed defeat would be a disaster for italy. >> to those who ask us to take a step back, we reply in this manner -- we will never bow to this request, not because we want to safeguard our power, but because there is no alternative government, and early elections would not be a solution to the problems we have. >> even if silvio berlusconi wins today, the deepening economic crisis and fears of scandals have weakened him. many italians are bet willing on a general election early next year. daniel griffith, bbc news. >> or correspondent, david willey, is in rome and he explains the fabblingtors that play into this confidence vote. >> it depends on rather complicated arrhythmia tech and last-minute deals in the chamber. i think there are various deputies belonging to mr. berlusconi's own party who had second thoughts about whether or not they

berlusconi is walking on very dangerous ground. chances are that he will not survive very long, simply because opposition to his continuing in office is growing, not only for the opposition but also some of the people in his own party. they think his performance has not been credible. it just as the european leaders meeting in brussels have asked mr. berlusconi to return today with some concrete proposals in his pocket. but what he has got in his pocket is what he is calling a letter of intent. in other words, more promises. and whether this is going to satisfy the prince -- particularly at angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy, who have not hidden their lack of belief in mr. berlusconi's ability to pull a new rabbit out of his hat, as it were, i think it may well be that he decides in the end that's the only way out of this crisis is for him to step down and what the president of italy to call for new elections next year. hitherto, berlusconi insisted he would stay on until 2013. and that an intriguing situation. while the appears so

the crisis in italy has silvio berlusconi fighting for his political survival. the italian prime minister appealed for legislators that he is the best man to deal with the economic crisis. his government faces a vote of confidence and silvio berlusconi says he is sure that they will win. >> silvio berlusconi says there is no credible alternative to his government before he addressed parliament. he has survived 50 no-confidence votes. he regards this as part the problem and not the solution. >> there's no question of our giving up now. not because we are clinging to power, but because new elections are not going to solve any of the problems we're facing. >> some of his own cabinet members seemed to doubt his ability to solve problems. the finance minister was conspicuously absent from tuesday's budget provisions vote. the bank of italy governor has accused berlusconi of dragging his feet on reforms. the opposition politicians stayed away from his speech pointing out that he barely survived the allegations of corruption and the scandals but this was a matter of th

in rome were the italian prime minister silvio berlusconi is facing a confidence vote in parliament. he has faced more than 50 such votes in his last three and a half years as prime minister but in this time of the severe debt crisis in italy as well as a slew of sexual and financial scandals left many believing he is living politically on borrowed time. a scene live in rome, the parliament, where deputies are preparing for the final vote. it is not very clear especially after some members of berlusconi's governing freedom party left their support in doubt. many are expecting a close result. let's go to rome and our correspondent who is monitoring developments as they happened. david, so, he has a very narrow majority in the house. what do you reckon? >> the arithmetic is clear. 630 members of parliament altogether. to get a majority, he has to have half of that plus one, which means 316 votes. it is not absolutely clear whether he can get the votes. some members of his own freedom party have left him in doubt as to whether they will vote for him. i hold no crystal ball. i don't real

silvio berlusconi survived again, but just barely. it called for his remaining allies to celebrate. >> this is a great political victory. the 14th of every month is an unlucky day for the last. they wanted to bring us down on december 14 and now on october 14. now they have failed. >> many in the opposition are convinced that silvio berlusconi's days are numbered following sex and corruption scandals. >> the prime minister meant to prove he can govern. with such a small margin, he has proved he cannot. we cannot permit a situation in which the police would swing their batons. >> a demonstration against the power of the banks was underway in milan. more demonstrations against the banks are planned for saturday. many people say they could easily turn into anti-silvio berlusconi protests. >> the protests have toppled the coalition in slovakia. the government has been dismissed and there are talks about forming an interim government. the president lost an vote of confidence. can world leaders come up with a plan to bail out banks and gove

berlusconi resent being told what to do.rance and germany both know that for any deal to be convincing, it has to explain what would happen to a big economy like italy if it ran into difficulty. the main bailout funds may be increased to as much as $1 trillion -- one trillion euros, but that will not be enough. that is why italy is being told to make radical reforms. this is the italian problem. it has debts of 1.8 trillion euros. the debt is over 180%. its growth is flat. -- the debt is over 118%. but papers are full of bad blood. it stems from this moment at the weekend when the two leaders were asked whether they felt reassured by having met berlusconi. glances and smirks insulted many italians. even the italian president has complained. it led to this brussels official having to insist no insult was intended towards italy. >> no, there was no humiliation involved. >> when berlusconi suggested raising the retirement age to 67 as part of the reforms, his coalition partner said it was impossible. it threatened to bring down

that is because of what berlusconi said yesterday. during a meeting with his party deputies, berlusconi joked because of his party's terrible numbers and own reputation for, shall we say, carousing, they should name of their party of "go italy" to something else. the name is much too inappropriate for me to reiterate on a family channel much less any other channel. reuters said it was a quote a vulgar slang name for female genitalia and reuters took it a step further and said, also used to describe an attractive woman. the telegraph said the meaning of the word can range from babe to crumpet, to the female genitalia. sylvia berlusconi says the demands for his resignation are absurd and he's so unphased he's in russia to celebrate the 59th birthday -- it couldn't be more perfect for this segment. it is the shirtless vladimir putin's birthday. he turns 59. seriously. >>> 10 years since the war began in afghanistan, nearly 100,000 troops are still deployed. 1700 have lost their lives. we will talk about the real new weapon in the america

they did not say they had confidence in silvio berlusconi himself. it seems members of his own government don't have confidence in him. we've had the euro skeptic northern league show their strong hand once again. it seems as though the emergency situation that seemed to threaten the stability of the italian government at this time yesterday has been averted. the leader of the northern league, the euro skeptic party, said that he will support silvio berlusconi. obviously the leaders here, the other european leaders, said that he really has to get italy's finances in order. as i was saying, it's a country with enormous debt, $2.5 trillion, and they've got to try to raise the pension age to 67 from 65 at the moment, in line with longer life spans in italy to try and earn more money to pay down that debt. also raise tax evasion. it stands at about 30% in italy. only greece has a higher level of tax evasion, felicia, at 37%. >> oh, those numbers are staggering. of course, that's exactly what his country men, his people, do not want to have happen. and on

. >>> silvio berlusconi and his famous bunga parties. truly lurid information. >>> and the bottom line on the super committee hearing. if they don't cut we could get hit by an interest hike. let's all go "outfront." >>> i'm erin burnett. "outfront," count down to another downgrade of america? the super committee held a rare public hearing today. they're the group of 12 charged with cutting the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. if they don't do it, we can end up on a rate to higher interest rates and a lower standard of living. here are the dates we need to watch. november 1st, cbo says the super committee must submit their plan for review. that is five days from now. november 23rd, that is the deadline for the final submission. and then december 23rd, the final deadline when congress must up or down vote that plan. the committee must come to an agreement, and congress has to pass it or automatic across the board cuts will be made, half of them coming from our defense budget. the problem is those cuts don't come until 2013. they are too

. >>> silvio berlusconi and his famous bunga parties. truly lurid information. >>> and the bottom line on the super committee hearing. if they don't cut we could get hit by an interest hike. let's all go "outfront." >>> i'm erin burnett. "outfront," count down to another downgrade of america? the super committee held a rare public hearing today. they're the group of 12 charged with cutting the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. if they don't do it, we can end up on a rate to higher interest rates and a lower standard of living. here are the dates we need to watch. november 1st, cbo says the super committee must submit their plan for review. that is five days from now. november 23rd, that is the deadline for the final submission. and then december 23rd, the final deadline when congress must up or down vote that plan. the committee must come to an agreement, and congress has to pass it or automatic across the board cuts will be made, half of them coming from our defense budget. the problem is those cuts don't come until 2013. they are too

silvio berlusconi's short life. 18 years. he has done very well to keep afloat in the present economic climate. i think many of his critics have good reason to complain that he does not seem to be acting on the behalf of italy. do not forget that he is a wealthy businessman. he has problems with the law. he's facing no fewer than four separate trials here and another case in which he is involved with having sex with an underage prostitutes. he has a lot of personal troubles. >> david, we will leave it there. thank you. >> it was a feel-good story of 2010 and it made gripping television. at this time last year, millions of people around the world watched the dramatic operation to rescue 33 miners trapped underground for two months. many of the rescued men have returned to the mine to celebrate what they call a rebirth. [applause] [applause] >> the first man to the surface after 69 days underground. he was greeted first of all by his young son with scenes of joy and disbelief. [applause] everyone's watching these moments. after

berlusconi got fierce critics in the italian industrial world, not the least of which embalm are saadat scalea, the head of the industrial association. it -- not the least of which emma marcegaglia. >> >> marcegaglia is a top business person and president of the industry association, confindustria. her autographs are in demand at a youth conference in milan. many would like to see her go into politics. mingling with the crowd, is that part of a campaign? >> no, i just enjoy being together with young people. i like to talk to them about their future and training. it is something very dear to my heart. b>> marcegaglia manages her family steel factory near barone that in northern italy. pepsi is also the first woman to head the powerful -- she is also the fir woman to head the powerful federation confindustria. most industrialists and business people support her. she also keeps her opponent, silvio berlusconi, in view at all times in her office. >> we have very clearly demanded the government do something to finally begin implementing fundamental reforms. we need tax reform and privatisati

currently being investigated over allegations that he paid women to sleep with berlusconi. that's true that's true or nor is a basically. that's just more all of. it's going to all of these wiretaps the important part of the investigation for that is going to think what's really interesting i don't have a video yeah quickly we can show you know why berlusconi is so interested in these kind of endeavors just just watch him check out the prime minister or the danish prime minister and watch that. so you can see he walks by oh there you go as dexter out can't miss the opportunity to see and slo mo ok. there he goes checking her out so no matter how bad is country is crumbling or how bleak the economic outlook is he does not miss the opportunity to check out women and sleep with prostitutes this is a guy remember this is why this is why we love him here he went to finland years ago if you so that he uses playboy charm of the prime minister who was a woman he said. lard ass so basically he has a real history in this regard i think. this is this is the hopes of europe's debt cris

no, this is a story about silvio burr leerlusconi berlusconi.hat's the italian prime minister, in the news again insisting his infamous bunga parties are innocent get-togethers and not, as widely reported, the lured by sexual escapades of italian emperors past. even though berlusconi has been accused of fraternizing with an underage girl and prostitutes dressed as nuns at his parties, that's amateur hour. as for berlusconi, he defends his antics. he says "there was no sacrilegious behavior at my house. when a guest said are we going to have some bunga after dinner they were talking about dancing. this isn't even his biggest problem right now. he faces constant demands for his resignation as italy's economy gets worse and worse and members of parliament got in a fist fight, a picture from today. he's not doing italy any favors right now. at least this craziness gives us an excuse to play a clip from 1984 "footloose." >> let's dance! ♪ totally loose, footloose, kick off your sunday shoes ♪ ♪ jack get back come on before we crack ♪ ♪ loose you're l

apparently berlusconi's mates don't want to leave the e.c.b. even though they promised some. cosey that if he supported mario draggy as the head of the e.c.b. that he could put one of his french buddies in there into one of these cushy civil servant jobs that get to dictate to the world what where our economic policies will be well apparently now this guy beneath maggie won't leave so anyway berlusconi ended up saying at a certain point i asked her cozy what should i do kill him. nice well you know i was rereading the currency wars book by james our records and he makes a fantastic james g. records yeah and he makes a fantastic point james g. records as i write yes that the relationship between france and italy in the cross sovereign wealth bond. race to see who's the most vulnerable is between france and italy apparently france owns half a trillion italian sovereign debt so as you see this on winding of the eurozone all these banks are collapsing in the euro zone because of their overextension buying each other's debt in this huge ponzi scheme the siege daisy chain of fraud

silvio berlusconi is revealing italy's letter of intent as it's called which pledges a lot of the things demanded by brussels for example to raise five billion euros from state assets and also to cut back on job protection measures he's also pledging to work increase its least pension age to sixty seven it took the offer of resignation by mr berlusconi to get the parliament to pass this and a new round of austerity measures in fact fist fights broke out in the parliament today as tensions rose over all of this it's really been reported mr berlusconi will still quit in the new year in return for getting these measures through one italian politicians said they won't take any lectures from nicolas sarkozy of france which he says has the same aggregated that as rome itself now there's been quite a traditional so warm what's been achieved today the polish leader said that there was a deal on bank recapitalization in place but the prime minister of britain says there's only been good progress to create this before which would support the banks if the greek economy goes under the exact sum by w

but for silv if o berlusconi, wait until we tell you.the world's most renowned political player. >> meeting hollywood's biggest player? what did they have to talk about. wonder if women came up at all. >> i'm guessing -- just a hunch. >> the medical emergency at the bottom of the world probably the worst place to be with a life and death situation going on. >> precisely what one american woman is facing now in a remote research station and needs to get out asap. abc's cecelia vega has the details. >> reporter: it is a frigid 74 degrees below zero at the south pole. it is here totally isolated in a laboratory surrounded by nothing but white where renee douceur may have suffered a stroke. more than six weeks ago. and this is quhwhere she told uy phone she remains trapped. >> it is time for me to get out of here and get on with my medical treatment and hopefully this is not in some sort of degenerating disability. >> reporter: the company that runs the lab where douc ecer is stuck is trying to save her. but the deadly weather, make it too r

no, that is because of what berlusconi said yesterday.ing a meeting with his party deputies, berlusconi joked that because of his party's terrible polling numbers and his own reputation for, shall we say, carousing, they should change the name of their party from go italy to something else. the new name suggested is much to inappropriate for me to repeat on any television channel but other members of the press tried to describe the name of the party in english. so one said, "it was reuters said a vulgar slang team for female genitalia. and then reuters took it a step further and added also used to describe an attractive woman. >>> and the telegraph who said the meaning of the word can range from babe to crumpet to female genitalia. he said he is so unphased by the issue that today he's in russia to celebrate the 59th birthday of -- you know, couldn't be more perfect for this segment, could it? yep. yes, it is. it is the shirtless vladimir putin. seriously. >>> nearly 100,000 troops are still deployed in afrg. 1700 lost their lives. wee ta

that is opposed by the northern league, berlusconi, if coalition partners in government. there is a lot of talk, but no action. another has been a bump in the road when it comes to the eu summit. >> a flurry of activity, but will they disappoint the world again? expectations were high heading up to the summit wednesday, but eurozone governments are warning it could take weeks to finalize a plan to solve the debt crisis. leaders will gather in brussels as planned, but a meeting of finance ministers that was expected to lay the groundwork for the deal has been canceled. the on-again, off-again headlines out of brussels are creating fresh uncertainty about the capability of european leaders to take the steps to end the crisis. that means countries like italy and spain will remain vulnerable to speculative attacks, and greece will continue to languish with little hope of economic growth. >> buses stayed parked in athens on tuesday, and train service ground to a halt. the strike is the latest walkout crippling the public transport system. commuters are frustrated and angry. >>

berlusconi of barely reached -- barely reached the majority.ny new defections from his freedom party in the coming days or weeks could put his coalition at risk once again. in the streets of milan and rom, young italians have been venting their anger against banks and big businesses. between 20 and 30% of young people have no jobs. or any prospect of getting one. berlusconi, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday, has been in and out of power in italy for almost two decades. scandals around his private life, after a very public divorce from his glamorous second wife. he currently faces several trials on criminal charges of fraud and corruption. increasing numbers of italians doubt his ability to steer its way through the euro zone debt crisis. political opponents, even some allies, and many business leaders, are becoming increasingly critical of his lackluster style of governing. he is renowned for his capacity for telling analysts jokes, but those jokes are beginning to wear a bit thin. >> fighting has spread a dent in tripoli weeks after o

recently, a town mayors protested outside the house of prime minister silvio berlusconi. inside, they were working on a plan to save money by merging small municipalities. filettino's demise was all but certain. constant revisions to the austerity package have darkened the mood in the aspiring principality. >> i would have privatized more. that generates cash. and i would have cut spending for politicians. >> as usual, the austerity package ignores the problems of people who already have little. i don't think they will achieve their aims. >> i hope that the hike in sales tax will improve the situation. >> are you worried about it? >> we are all worried, but we have no choice. while residents debate whether to import migrants from libya to boost the population, in rome, the trade unions have taken to the streets. the rumor mill is working overtime. one day the plant is eliminated and the next day is back. restrictions on the labor market were loosened. for different cost-cutting packages were approved within one month and then abandoned. >> it is like being on a sinking sh

silvio berlusconi was given an ultimatum. he was told to go back to rome and present himself again on wednesday with a credible plan for austerity measures. he passed an austerity budget in august, but this does not appear to have convinced the market that italy is serious. since then there's been a lot of infighting between members of his coalition. his popularity rating has reached an all-time low. last night they called a cabinet meeting and were not able to agree on pension reform, which is his ideas for paying off the decks. -- debts. there was no plan overall. people are seeing that he cannot deliver. this puts him in a very difficult position here at home politically. these negotiating weith the head of the northern league, but they not been able to reach agreement so far. >> thank you for that reports from rome. in tunisia there's been the first voting in a democratic election. draft a new constitution. official results will be released later. un secretary general ban ki-moon is worried about a palestinian request for

silvio berlusconi is facing a confidence vote in parliament which could spell the end of his time as italy's prime minister the opposition has challenged him to prove his governing coalition still has a majority after it lost a budget vote berlusconi says he has no intention of stepping down but if he loses it would almost certainly mean new elections he's faced repeated calls to resign from unions and the business community following a string of damaging sex scandals. us president barack obama has promised the toughest sanctions will be placed on iran a relegation is it plotted to kill the saudi ambassador to washington obama says he has evidence proving iran's guilt and insist he will continue to mobilize the international community to ensure a further escalation and make it pay for its behavior iran has dismissed the allegations saying the charges are fabricated to deflect attention from problems in the u.s. . and a self-proclaimed republic of transister a breakaway territory in their republic of moldova not much has changed since it announced independence in one nine hundred nine

sylvio berlusconi and vladimir putin. >> these are your friends?what do you think about our sflensd -- our friends? >> well, i love them both. berlusconi is starting this movement called "occupy my pants," and i think that's really going to take off. >> this book, "the 50 funniest american writers." how did you make the list? it does go back to the 1800s, mark twain. >> it was like putting together a playlist on your ipod. what are the 50 people that really make me laugh? there are some people that you have to have. you have to have mark twain, the onion, that is people that i love, like norah ephron, like bernie mac. >> what do they have in common? it's a best seller. >> what they have in common is they are not dated. mark twain is talking about politicians in a way that we can relate to now. he has a piece in there, he running for president and he says, before i run for president, i'm going to tell you all of the terrible things that i've done so the press doesn't