Patriotism

   


Italian prime minister Prodi steps down

Rome, Feb 22 (DPA) Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned from his post after his government lost a key parliamentary vote on the country's foreign policy.

Prodi tendered his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano Wednesday after holding an emergency cabinet meeting in Rome.

His centre-left government had earlier failed to win over support from parliament's upper house in a vote on Italy's peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and other foreign policy issues.