The centre-left government of Italy's new Prime Minister Romano Prodi has won a key vote of confidence in the Senate, two days after he took office. The upper house approved Mr Prodi's coalition by 165 votes to 155 against. Crucially all seven senators for life backed his government in the house, where he has only a two-seat majority. Mr Prodi's coalition narrowly beat former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in April's election. Mr Prodi has a solid majority in the lower house.

On Thursday, Mr Prodi made his first speech to the Senate as leader, calling the war in Iraq a "grave error" and pledging to push for a troop pullout. Friday's vote was the first of two confidence votes Mr Prodi is facing in the parliament. If he lost, the new government would be forced to resign. In the 640-seat lower house - where Mr Prodi faces a second confidence vote next week - he holds a clear 70-seat majority. The centre-right opposition led by Mr Berlusconi has said it will seek every opportunity to defeat Mr Prodi's administration. On Thursday Mr Prodi announced plans to reverse many of the policies of his predecessor, pledging to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq, and launched a scathing attack on Italy's political climate. Mr Prodi said Italy needed a social, economic and moral jolt to mark a clean break with the past. He said there was a climate of tolerance towards unethical if not downright illegal behaviour in Italy, marked by huge conflicts of interest and shameless enrichment. He said his coalition was ready to govern Italy for the next five years, in order to carry out their objectives. These include tackling economic stagnation and cancelling constitutional changes carried out by Mr Berlusconi's government. As Mr Prodi announced plans to withdraw from Iraq he was shouted down by cries of "shame" from right-wing opposition MPs and it took several minutes to restore order. Mr Prodi gave no date for the withdrawal and said a technical time-frame would have to be worked out with the Iraqi authorities and with the UK and United States. The previous government of Mr Berlusconi had decided to withdraw Italy's 2,600 troops from Iraq by the end of 2006.

The Eurovision Song Contest hopes of 13 countries have ended after the competition's semi-final in Athens. The biggest shock was the elimination of Belgian singer Kate Ryan, one of the favourites for this year's prize. But other hotly tipped performers from Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia did make it through. Finland's masked metal band Lordi will also be in Saturday's final, as will Ireland's Brian Kennedy. The UK did not have to compete in the semi-final. France, Germany, Spain and the UK automatically qualified for the final as the four largest countries in the event. Rapper Daz Sampson will represent the UK on Saturday with his song Teenage Life. Hosts Greece and nine top-scoring nations from last year's contest were also already guaranteed places in the final. Some 23 countries took part in the semi-final, with just 10 final places up for grabs. The winners and losers were chosen by a public text and phone vote. Belfast-born singer Brian Kennedy will represent seven-time Eurovision winners Ireland in the main event. His semi-final success will come as a relief after the country was unexpectedly knocked out at this stage last year. Finnish rock band Lordi, whose masks, armour and jets of flame attracted widespread attention before the event, will also repeat their performance on Saturday. Of the underdogs, Lithuania - whose act comprises six men in suits singing "we are the winners of Eurovision" - were surprise qualifiers for the final. The other qualifiers from Thursday's semi-final were the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, Turkey and Armenia. But Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Slovenia, Albania and Andorra were knocked out. The Netherlands, Poland, Belarus, Bulgaria, Monaco and Portugal were also unsuccessful in the semi-final.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the army chief for praising protests against Islamic militancy. Mr Erdogan said Gen Hilmi Ozkok had been irresponsible in praising those who demonstrated against the killing of a top judge by an Islamist gunman. The gunman said his attack was "to punish" the court for upholding curbs on the wearing of headscarves. Mr Erdogan, whose party has Islamic roots, said the nation had to work to strengthen secularism and democracy. A gunman calling himself "a soldier of Allah" had opened fire in a courtroom in Ankara on Tuesday, wounding four judges and fatally hitting Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital on Thursday to support secularism, many calling for the government to resign. Gen Ozkok condemned the shooting as an act of terror by extreme conservatives. "The protests and the people's sensitivity is truly hope-giving and admirable," he said. "But this reaction should not be limited to a single day, to a single event. It must gain continuity and it should be followed by everyone all the time." Mr Erdogan said: "Expecting and suggesting such protests and reactions for the future can never be the right attitude. "We, as the people who are in positions which require responsibility, should know what we should advise and how." But Mr Erdogan added: "We should all make efforts to strengthen democracy, secularism... and the rule of law." Mr Erdogan's opponents said he should shoulder blame for the attack after he criticised a decision by judges to bar a schoolteacher from promotion for wearing a Muslim headscarf. Turkey's secular establishment, including the military, is suspicious that Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party wants to boost the role of Islam in political and public life.

US shares closed the day flat after a rough week, with stronger gains on European markets on Friday. The Dow Jones index of blue-chip shares closed up 0.14%, with the Nasdaq up 0.62% and the S&P 500 ahead 0.41%. European and Asian stocks had earlier made up some of the ground lost through days of sharp fluctuations. The week has produced some of the heaviest share falls for four years, amid concerns about inflation, interest rates and global growth. The FTSEurofirst index of leading European shares lost 4% during the week, its steepest decline since July 2002. In the US, Friday's uptick followed falls of 291 points on the Dow Jones index during the previous two days. Earlier, the European rebound had proved patchy. Good corporate results had driven markets higher, with British Airways turning in profits up more than 20% and French bank BNP increasing its earnings by 17%. In France, the Cac 40 index added 30.9 at 4939.6, while the German Dax index ended up 30.9 at 4,939.6. But London's FTSE 100 finished the day down 14.20 points, or 0.25%, at 5,657.40, marking an overall decline of 7% in two weeks. Investors said the steep sell-off earlier this week was sparked by higher-than-expected inflation figures in the US, which had fanned fears of further interest rate rises in the world's largest economy. Such rises would put a brake on consumer spending and corporate investment, squeezing profits and jeopardising growth in the global economy. On top of that, many of the main stock indexes were trading near record levels. Investors said that while they were optimistic about future prospects, there were concerns that some shares had become overvalued. Analysts said volatility was likely to be less severe in coming sessions. "Our view is that a consolidation phase, in which the markets trade sideways for a time, is likely to follow," said Michael Lenhoff of Brewin Dolphin Securities. But he added: "Valuations are nowhere near bubble proportions." The cautious showing in Europe and the US followed similar behaviour in Asia. Tokyo's Nikkei closed 0.4% higher after news of better-than-expected economic growth in the first three months to March. Sydney's main index ended 0.4% higher, Seoul's climbed by 0.5% and Hong Kong's rose by 0.3%. But India's Sensex had the most dramatic fall, down 3.9% after a 7% slide on Thursday.