Italy at Breaking Point, 

Merkel Calls for 'New Europe'

Italian borrowing costs reached breaking point on Wednesday after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's insistence on elections instead of an interim government opened the way to prolonged instability and delays to economic reform.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Italian 10-year bond yields shot above the 7 percent level that is widely deemed unsustainable, reflecting investors' concerns that they may not get their money back and prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to issue a call to arms.

Merkel said Europe's plight was now so "unpleasant'' that deep structural reforms were needed quickly, warning the rest of the world would not wait.

"That will mean more Europe, not less Europe,'' she told a conference in Berlin.

She called for changes in EU treaties after French President Nicolas Sarkozy advocated a two-speed Europe in which euro zone countries accelerate and deepen integration while an expanding group outside the currency bloc stayed more loosely connected — a signal that some members may have to quit the euro if the entire structure is not to crumble.

Merkel Calls for 'Breakthrough to a New Europe'

"It is time for a breakthrough to a new Europe,'' Merkel said. "A community that says, regardless of what happens in the rest of the world, that it can never again change its ground rules, that community simply can't survive.''

A senior EU official said changing the make-up of the euro zone has been discussed on an "intellectual" level but had not moved to operational or technical discussions, while a French government source said there was no such project in the works.

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THE ANTICHRIST MAYBE WAITING IN THE WINGS!

CHRIST IS AT THE DOOR~LET HIM IN!~BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!