china s economy cools slightly, but still hot enough to beat the forecast. uk lawmakers close ranks to try and block news corp s bid for bskyb. first up though here in the italian capital, the government is preparing to speak to parliament for a marathon debate over the next couple days, designed to gain the necessary approval for painful austerity measures. these are ones designed to prevent this country from becoming the fourth eurozone nature to go cap in hand to the imf, the eu and the ecb. pauline. european stock market investors are watching italy s debt crisis very closely. here is where they stand at the moment. let s take a look at the moment. the london ftse making some gains, so is the xetra dax t. zurich smi is pretty much flat at the moment on this wednesday morning. nina? pauline, of course, the effects of italy s debt crisis are being next right across the board. let s have a look at where the ftse is. the milanese has lost about 4,000 points in the last