Cliffhanger, Italian Job-style

1. What do you think was the most significant thing that happened this week?

While the Italian referendum technically happened last Sunday, the world spent this week grappling with the fallout. On Dec 4, Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi lost a referendum on constitutional reforms. You could say that the Italians were made an offer that they were able to refuse.

By promising to resign if he lost the referendum, Mr Renzi had effectively turned a reform skirmish into a vote on his leadership. And so, the people rejected the reforms that would have given the country's prime minister greater power, and in doing so, rejected him. By the middle of the week, Mr Renzi had formally resigned.