Businessman Blackmailed Berlusconi: Cops

Says one of those call girls, an aspiring model

(NEWSER) - The tawdry allegations against Silvio Berlusconi just keep on coming: Now, a call girl (who claims the Italian premier paid her more than $14,000 for sex) says he used his private jet to supply marijuana to the sex parties at his villa. “There was grass available in all the rooms,” Nadia Macri, 28, tells investigators—although she says she never saw Berlusconi himself smoking. More»

Italian PM accused of intervening in teen girl's theft case

(NEWSER) - A major Catholic magazine in Italy has blasted Silvio Berlusconi for having what it calls “a disease, something uncontrollable” when it comes to women, the Daily Telegraph reports. The latest accusation in the PM’s never-dull love life: That he stepped in and helped get an underage girl out of prison, scot-free. “It is incredible that a man in such a position does not have the necessary self-control,” wrote La Famiglia Cristiana. More»

Judge asked to grant fast-track trial

(NEWSER) - Italian prosecutors have filed a request for Premier Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial for alleged abuse of power and sex with an underage prostitute . Authorities are seeking an immediate trial. A judge now has five days to decide whether to indict the 74-year-old leader or dismiss the request, allowing investigations to continue, the AP reports. More»

Veronica Lario will take reduced alimony payment

(NEWSER) - Love hurts, but it's divorce that's pummeling Silvio Berlusconi's wallet, reports the Independent . He's agreed to fork over a $105 million villa that soon-to-be ex-wife Veronica Lario is extremely attached to, and she in return will settle for alimony much less than the $5.3 million a month she had originally demanded. The missus, armed with Berlusconi's string of sex scandals, had vowed to make things messy if the Italian PM didn't go along with one of the most expensive divorce settlements in history. More»

Turns out El Duche was a douche

(NEWSER) - Benito Mussolini and Silvio Berlusconi: Both charismatic leaders of Italy, both wildly popular, both…voracious sexual omnivores. The Independent takes a look at two recent publications—a diary by Mussolini’s mistress, and a memoir by a prostitute who supposedly spent two nights with Berlusconi. A sampling of the salacious details:

• The morning after: Berlusconi offered up coffee or tea and gave a gem-encrusted tortoise as a parting gift; Mussolini’s flings ended without “coffee, liqueur, or even a piece of cake,” writes Clara Petacci in her diary.