Silvio Berlusconi

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Berlusconi Rape Comment Triggers Outrage

Too many beautiful women to protect, says prime minister

(Newser) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's comment that his nation is facing increasing rapes because Italy has such "beautiful women" has sparked an uproar, reports the Times of London. He vowed to deploy more soldiers to fight crime, but said it will be impossible to protect everyone. "We could...

Bush Makes Last Calls to World Leaders

Round of goodbyes includes Putin, Brown, Saakashvili, Berlusconi

(Newser) - With just hours left in his presidency, President George W. Bush today made a round of phone calls to leaders around the globe. A National Security Council spokesman said the president was simply saying his goodbyes, thanking the leaders for the hospitality they had shown him and first lady Laura...

Berlusconi Repeats Obama 'Suntan' Joke

Italian prime minister plunges into controversy again

(Newser) - Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, who raised eyebrows worldwide when he recently referred to  President-elect Obama as "handsome, young and suntanned," has repeated what he apparently thinks is a good joke—this time extending it to include model Naomi Campbell. "We would all like to be tanned like...

Berlusconi Under Fire for Obama 'Suntanned' Joke

(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi is in a bit of a pickle after calling Barack Obama “handsome, young, and suntanned,” the London Times reports. Political opponents in Italy called on the gaffe-prone prime minister to apologize. “To say that the US president is young, good looking, and suntanned will sound...

Berlusconi Breaks Podium at Rowdy White House Soiree

Dubya's last fan gets a little excited

(Newser) - Affairs don't get much more formal than a White House official dinner, but last night's reception in honor of Silvio Berlusconi had all the seriousness of a frat party. The Italian prime minister was so excited to toast President Bush that he knocked into the lectern, which collapsed in pieces....

Italy's National Airline Could Shut Down Within Week

Balky unions have hampered efforts to find buyer for bankrupt Alitalia

(Newser) - Italy’s aviation authority is poised to ground Alitalia permanently if the bankrupt national carrier doesn’t present a credible reorganization plan by Thursday, ANSA reports. The airline is laden with debt and flying under a provisional license, one the aviation authority will revoke if it doesn’t get an...

Oh Napoleon: Tiny Leaders Rule G8

Five don't pass the 5'6'' mark

(Newser) - The leaders at this week's G8 summit are all political big shots, but they're pretty diminutive face-to-face—five don't even make it past 5'6''. Russia's Dmitry Medvedev brings up the short end of the stick at 5'2'', and Canada's Stephen Harper is the only one to pass the 6' mark....

Italians Impatient With Alitalia Rescue Efforts

Berlusconi's pleas for patriotism fall on deaf ears

(Newser) - Fed up with government efforts to resuscitate Alitalia, many Italians think Rome needs to face reality and let the airline die, Bloomberg reports. PM Silvio Berluconi characterizes Alitalia’s survival as “a matter of national security,” but it hasn't turned a profit in nearly a decade. The latest...

Italy Calls In Shrinks for Garbage Crisis

Berlusconi dispatches psychologists as part of promise to clean up mess

(Newser) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a “final solution" to Naples' trash problem—and it includes psychologists, Der Spiegel reports. Naples, whose overflowing landfills have led to intermittently trash-choked streets for years, will soon be invaded by an army of volunteers, including a group of psychologists trained in counseling...

Divorced Berlusconi Challenges Communion Ban

He confronts startled bishop at mass

(Newser) - Beleaguered Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi caused a scene in a church over the weekend, loudly demanding from a startled bishop in the middle of mass: "When are you going to change this rule that stops me taking communion?" Berlusconi, like other divorced Catholics who remarry, is banned from...

'Super' Mafia Witness Gunned Down in Naples

Slain informant was helping cops bust garbage gangs

(Newser) - The boss of a garbage disposal firm with Mafia links who had turned informant was gunned down in a bar near Naples yesterday, the Guardian reports. The murdered man had been helping police target gangs that control waste disposal in the city, currently gripped by a garbage crisis. He had...

Italian PM Fair Game in Trial Involving US Rendition

Berlusconi can be called to testify on secret matters in kidnap trial, judge rules

(Newser) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi can be called to testify in the upcoming trial of US and Italian spies, an Italian judge ruled today. A CIA-led group is accused of kidnapping a suspected terrorist off the streets of Milan and torturing him for four years under the US' "extraordinary...

'Post-Fascist' Elected Mayor of Rome

Italian capital shifts right for first time in more than 60 years

(Newser) - After decades of center-left rule, the city of Rome elected a rightwinger with a past in a neo-Fascist group as mayor yesterday. Gianni Alemanno, whose party calls itself "post-Fascist," won a runoff election for control of the Italian capital, handily beating the country's outgoing deputy prime minister. Alemanno...

Air France-KLM Pulls Offer for Alitalia

Berlusconi scrambles as bankruptcy looms for Italian carrier

(Newser) - Air France-KLM has withdrawn its offer to buy Alitalia, leaving the cash-poor Italian carrier with few options. In a tersely worded statement, the world's largest airline said its Alitalia overture—which had been opposed by Alitalia's unions—was "no longer valid." With no suitors forthcoming and cash reserves...

Why Italy's Obama Lost
 Why Italy's 
 Obama Lost 
ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2008 4:50 PM CDT

Why Italy's Obama Lost

Veltroni’s personality wasn't enough to overcome frustration with left

(Newser) - An Italian politician who aggressively modeled his campaign on Barack Obama’s fell to once-and-future prime minister Silvio Berlusconi this week—and the shallowness of Walter Veltroni’s message is to blame, Dominic Standish argues in Spiked. He appropriated the slogan “Yes we can” and even re-named his party...

Naples' Trash Tops Berlusconi's To-Do List

Incoming Italian PM says he'll be in garbage-strewn city three days a week

(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi said today his first task as Italy's prime minister will be to clean up garbage-strewn Naples, the BBC reports. After a clear victory for his center-right coalition in this week's elections, the 71-year-old media tycoon promised to spend three days a week in the city and to "...

Here Comes Another Helping of Berlusconi

Conservative mogul set to lead Italy again after rival concedes vote

(Newser) - Conservative media mogul Silvio Berlusconi looks set to reclaim the Italian premiership, the AP reports, after center-left rival Walter Veltroni conceded defeat this evening. Berlusconi's coalition is expected to win control of both houses of Italy's legislature.

Weary Italians Go to the Polls
 Weary Italians Go to the Polls 
Apr 14, 2008 7:13 AM CDT

Weary Italians Go to the Polls

Economic malaise awaits country's new PM

(Newser) - Polls are open in Italy's parliamentary election, which Silvio Berlusconi appears likely to win. Whether the two-time prime minister or Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni triumphs, the next Italian leader has to kickstart a stagnated economy; growth this year is expected to be as low as 0.3% —or even...

Berlusconi on Course for Comeback
Berlusconi on Course for Comeback
Apr 11, 2008 7:47 AM CDT

Berlusconi on Course for Comeback

Rich, charismatic ousted PM will win new term, polls say

(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi is marching toward a third term as prime minister of Italy, according to polls ahead of parliamentary elections Sunday. The Croesus-rich media magnate has used his business credentials to convince Italians that he's got the solutions to unemployment, declining economic competitiveness and stagnant growth.

Berlusconi Calls Rival an Obama Copycat

He ridicules the self-drawn comparisons

(Newser) - Silvio Berlusconi is calling his election opponent a Barack Obama copycat–and not in a good way. To keep his 7-point lead in the polls, Italy's former leader has distributed a package to his People of Freedom (PDL) candidates on how to bash Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni in the media....

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