Berlusconi: So Sue Me, I Like Gorgeous Babes

Silvio Berlusconi says he's the best prime minister Italy's ever had and resigning has never crossed his mind, despite a string of sex scandals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Berlusconi scoffed at claims by businessman Giampaolo Tarantini that he invited women to Berlusconi's parties and paid them to sleep with with the prime minister, saying that while he had certainly been at the same events as Tarantini, where there were plenty of attractive women, he'd never paid for sex in his life.

Yes, Tarantini "came to some dinners bringing beautiful women with him," Berlusconi said at a joint news conference with the Spanish prime minister. "To my male colleagues present here I say: Raise your hand and tell me you don't think it's nice to rest your eyes on pleasant and enjoyable feminine presences, rather than sitting at a table with people lacking aesthetic qualities." The day before, at a gathering of party activists, Berlusconi joked that women in the audience who wanted to ask questions should leave their phone numbers with organizers. (More Silvio Berlusconi stories.)