Greek

The new Greek prime minister, Lucas Papademos,
won a vote of confidence in Parliament on
Wednesday, following his appointment to replace
George Papandreou.
The motion was passed by 255 in favor to 38 against,
as 293 of Parliament's 300 lawmakers cast a vote.
The vote paves the way for Papademos's
government of national unity to take the reins and
seek to restore political and financial stability in
Greece.

Papandreou quit last week, forced out by public
anger at the budget cuts he was pushing through to
get international funds to pay his country's debts.
Fears that Greece might default caused shock waves
through the European and American banking systems
and sent stock markets on a wild ride that at times
wiped billions of dollars of value out of existence.

Papademos, a former banker and European Central
Bank vice president, became his country's interim
prime minister Friday after several days of political
wrangling.

Under a motion of confidence, lawmakers signal to
the head of state whether the government has the
support of Parliament. A loss typically results in the
government's dissolution and the holding of a
general election, unless the head of state asks
someone with more support to form a government.

Papademos had been expected to survive the vote,
since the new national unity government has the
approval of Greece's main parties.
He has a tough job ahead, however, in implementing
unpopular reforms before elections due in about
three months' time.

Papademos told Parliament on Monday that staying
in the eurozone "is the only choice" as his country
seeks to avoid default.