Court Tosses Berlusconi Corruption Case

Italian PM offers up an interesting defense

(NEWSER) - Despite calls for his resignation , Silvio Berlusconi will not step down—or apologize—following reports of his involvement with a 17-year-old belly dancer. His defense: “It’s better to like beautiful girls than to be gay,” Ireland's RTÉ reports. At a motorcycle industry show, he insisted he hadn’t done anything wrong and said he continues to “work without interruption” while, admittedly, “occasionally [looking] a beautiful girl in the face.” 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»

Italian PM defiant as multiple criminal cases reopen

(NEWSER) - Silvio Berlusconi, fighting for his political life after a court ruled he was not immune from criminal prosecution, called the ruling politically motivated and vowed to stay on as Italy's prime minister. Already weakened by sex scandals, Berlusconi will now face at least two trials, one concerning witness tampering and the other tax fraud. "I will go on. We must govern for five years, with or without the law," he said. And then, raising a clenched fist: "Viva Italia, viva Berlusconi!" More»

Lawyers argue 'more equal' PM shouldn't be prosecuted

(NEWSER) - All Italians are equal but some are more equal than others, according to lawyers seeking to prevent Silvio Berlusconi from standing trial on corruption charges. A constitutional court examining the legitimacy of a law shielding prime ministers from prosecution—which was introduced by Berlusconi himself—was told the leader is no longer "first among equals," but "first above equals." Outraged opposition pointed out that the logic resembles a rationalization presented in a sinister future depicted in George Orwell's Animal Farm. More»

(NEWSER) - Besieged Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is “a national joke,” Michael Wolff writes in Vanity Fair. He’s also immensely popular. In the midst of his most recent sex scandal, he and his party were handily reelected. What’s the deal? To begin with, “he controls his country’s dominant political party, its primary television networks, and its government.” So what if he's an incorrigible Lothario—"a dime-store Sinatra”—whose wife airs their dirty laundry and seeks divorce? More»