Enjoy, readers:
"Trial sought for Italy’s Berlusconi; Premier alleged to have paid for sex with girl, 17" by Colleen Barry, Associated Press / February 9, 2011
MILAN — Prosecutors allege embattled Premier Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with a young Moroccan, nicknamed Ruby, who has since turned 18, and then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for the suspected theft of $4,103, allegedly fearing her relationship to him would be revealed....
See: Berlusconi Burlesque
Berlusconi, 74, himself said he made the phone call out of the goodness of his heart. The premier has been dogged by scandals related to his relationships with young women and parties at his villa. He denies ever having paid for sex and has accused prosecutors of seeking to drive him from office. Ruby has said they never had sex, though she says he gave her $9,400 on their first meeting and jewelry later....
I want to know when the scum is coming up on war crimes charges for joining the Iraq and Afghanistan actions.
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Just wondering why he won't listen to you ladies:
"Women lead widespread protests in Italy, urge scandal-plagued Berlusconi to resign" by Associated Press, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day, Silvio.
ROME — More than 100,000 Italian women and their supporters turned out across the country to protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, saying his dalliances with young women humiliate the sex as a whole and degrade female dignity.
Women gathered to press Berlusconi to resign in more than 200 cities and towns, from the tiny island of La Maddalena in Sardinia, to large cities such as Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, and Venice. Anti-Berlusconi demonstrations also were planned in other European cities, including Athens, Brussels, London, Paris, and Tokyo.
How come these guys never listen?
Backers of the 74-year-old Berlusconi, who is under investigation for allegedly paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl, dismissed the protests as strictly political. The teenager, a Moroccan night club dancer, has said Berlusconi lavished cash and jewelry on her. Both deny that they had sex....
This has been the most sensational investigation in more than a decade of criminal cases against Berlusconi, mainly for dealings in his billion-dollar empire of TV, film, advertising, and other business interests.
The prime minister, who willingly acknowledges his fondness for pretty young women and is being divorced by his wife for his purported dalliances, claims he is being victimized by left-wing prosecutors who want to topple him from power.
In L’Aquila, a mountain town where Berlusconi has boasted about his reconstruction efforts after an earthquake in 2009, women said they were still waiting for government-promised funds for a center for abused women.
Just when you need him he comes up limp.
In the main protest, Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, a central square which can hold about 100,000 people, was packed with mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and many husbands and boyfriends as music blasted across the space, including Aretha Franklin’s song “Respect.’’
Caricatures of some of the women promoted by Berlusconi, including former showgirls who are now ministers in his government or other officials from his conservative People of Freedom Party, decorated the walls surrounding the square.
I'm sure they are very well qualified in the goings down, I mean, goings on of government.
Berlusconi’s penchant for choosing starlets for political posts has been denounced by his estranged wife, Veronica Lario, a former actress....
Berlusconi say she is just being a bee-ach?
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"Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has dodged corruption trials and no-confidence votes with the skill of an Olympic athlete, faced a potentially fatal challenge to his power yesterday when a judge ordered him to stand trial on prostitution and abuse-of-power charges....
How was he in bed?
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"Sex parties allegedly arranged for Berlusconi" by Associated Press / March 16, 2011
MILAN — Premier Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage Moroccan teen 13 times at his villa near Milan, prosecutors said in a document filed yesterday seeking indictments against three aides for allegedly soliciting prostitutes for the Italian leader.
The seven-page document alleges that the sex-fueled parties started with dinner, progressed to erotic dancing involving the premier, and culminated with Berlusconi’s choice of a sex partner, or partners....
I've had enough of this Italian romance novel chosen by the BG.
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Related: Berlusconi plans to appear at trial
Berlusconi attends court hearing in his tax fraud case
Oh, he f***ed taxpayers, too?
"Italy to try parents of American student" by Associated Press / February 16, 2011
PERUGIA, Italy — The parents of Amanda Knox, an American student convicted of murder in Italy, were ordered yesterday to stand trial for alleging that Italian police abused their daughter, a lawyer and media reports said.
Curt Knox and Edda Mellas were indicted in Perugia for libel, said the Italian news agency ANSA. Lawyer Luciano Ghirga confirmed the indictment and said trial was set for July 4.
He said the couple did not attend the hearing.
The charge stems from an interview they gave Britain’s Sunday Times years ago in which the father alleged that police had physically and verbally abused his daughter during questioning after the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher, before Knox was arrested. Police have denied harming Knox.
A Knox family representative said there would be no comment.
Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Kercher in the apartment she shared with Knox in the central Italian city of Perugia. Kercher was stabbed to death the night of Nov. 1, 2007.
I notice the LURID SEX GAMES they subjected the poor girl to remain unmentioned.
Don't believe me, readers: do your own searches on Foxy Knoxy.
Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, and Sollecito, 25 years. Both deny wrongdoing and their appeals trial is underway.
Another man, Rudy Guede, was also convicted in the killing. Italy’s highest criminal court has already upheld Guede’s conviction and his 16-year prison sentence.
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"Knox court given conflicting details
PERUGIA — A key prosecution witness testifying in Amanda Knox’s appeals trial gave conflicting testimony yesterday about whether he saw the American near the crime scene the night her British roommate was murdered. The witness was Antonio Curatolo, a homeless man who is now in prison (AP)."
Not much love going on in Italy these days:
"Italy faces immigration crisis, UN warns" by Associated Press / March 22, 2011
ROME — The United Nations warned yesterday that Italy is facing a humanitarian and sanitation crisis on the tiny island of Lampedusa because of the arrival of some 15,000 Tunisian migrants, amid fears more will flee there after coalition air strikes on Libya.
Related: Tunisian Terrorists Causing Trouble in Italy
And here they were already having problems with Roma.
Lampedusa is housing some 4,800 Tunisians, almost doubling the island’s population of 5,000 and putting a severe strain on its immigrant holding center which has a capacity of just 850.
Italy had been transferring migrants off the island to be processed at holding centers elsewhere. But those centers are now full, leading to a backlog in Lampedusa, the primary point of arrival for North Africans because of its proximity....
Nice description of what are basically concentration camps.
Italy has been sending back the majority of the 14,918 Tunisians and Egyptians who have arrived following the popular revolts, saying they do not qualify for asylum or refugee status as there are no wars or humanitarian crises in their countries.
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Oh, wait, there is still some love left in Italy:
Pope reaffirms Jews’ innocence in Christ’s death
I see the Pope is puckering up again.
Court rules crucifixes OK in schools
Italian renaissance
Boston inherits estate in Italy — with occupants
It's a real cat house -- right on the front street.
