Milan: The nightclub dancer at the centre of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" sex trial told a court on Friday that guests at the media tycoon's parties dressed as nuns, nurses and US President Barack Obama.
Karima El Mahroug, better known by her stage name "Ruby the Heartstealer", spoke as a witness in a trial at which talent scout Lele Mora, television anchor Emilio Fede and former showgirl and regional councillor Nicole Minetti are accused of inducing and aiding prostitution.
Berlusconi is being tried separately for paying for sex with El Mahroug when she was a minor and then abusing office by having her freed from police custody after her arrest for theft.
Her appearance is nevertheless an embarrassment for the 76-year-old billionaire, serving as a reminder of the legal threats the leader of the centre-right and key partner in the governing coalition faces....
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10:20 PM, May 17, 2013
Rome: Prosecutors have urged a Milan court to hand a six-year prison sentence and life ban from office to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for having sex with a minor and for abuse of power. Prosecutor Ilda Boccassini asked the court to give Berlusconi five years in jail for corruption and one year for paying an underage prostitute for sex. Moroccan belly dancer Karima el-Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby the Heart Stealer",...
10:48 AM, May 14, 2013
Milan: A Milan appeals court upheld a four-year sentence for tax fraud against former prime minister and centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday, adding to the complications facing Italy's fragile coalition government. In addition to the jail sentence for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his television network Mediaset, the court's ruling would also bar Berlusconi from holding public office for five years. However, neither...
07:40 AM, May 09, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Brazil's top-flight football club Botafogo have denied that their star midfielder Clarence Seedorf could return to Italian outfit AC Milan next season as coach. The 37-year-old is reportedly top on Milan president Silvio Berlusconi's list to replace under-pressure Massimiliano Allegri next season, reports Xinhua. "If he is able to be a Botafogo player and coach Milan at the same time, he can go. But I really need...
12:50 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Rome: Italian centre-left politician Enrico Letta named a coalition government on Saturday, making one of Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies deputy prime minister and ending two months of damaging political stalemate. Letta has said his priorities would be the economy, unemployment and restoring faith in Italy's discredited political institutions as well as trying to turn Europe away from austerity to focus more on growth and investment. An inconclusive general election in...
06:35 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Rome: Italian centre-left politician Enrico Letta said on Saturday he had won support of other parties to form a coalition government that will include one of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies as deputy prime minister. Letta met President Giorgio Napolitano after talks with Berlusconi and leaders of his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party to confirm that he had reached an accord which would clear the way for...
11:10 PM, Apr 27, 2013
The ads caused an uproar online and came just after India passed a new law on violence against women. ...
06:51 PM, Mar 25, 2013
A Milan court has delayed former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex-for-hire trial after receiving new medical documents confirming that an eye inflammation has prevented his attendance. Berlusconi has been hospitalized since Friday, and his legal team has sought delays in two trials that are nearing verdicts at a politically delicate moment for Italy. ...
11:06 PM, Mar 13, 2013
An Italian court on Thursday sentenced former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to a one-year jail term for making public the taped contents of a confidential phone call in a case related to a 2005 banking scandal. The sentence, which was read in court by the judge, came as Berlusconi is facing two other trials for alleged tax fraud and paying for sex with an underage prostitute. ...
05:55 PM, Mar 07, 2013
A center-left group of parties appears to have the best shot at forming a coalition government in Italy after an inconclusive national election, but the challenge is steep and comes amid public anger over austerity measures. If Italian parties fail to form a governing coalition, new elections would be required, causing more uncertainty and a leadership vacuum, and that possibility has rattled financial markets across Europe. ...
11:50 AM, Feb 27, 2013
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday indicated he was open to an alliance between his center-right coalition and the center-left group that won most seats in Italy's parliamentary election. ...
03:25 PM, Feb 26, 2013
The voting in Italian elections finished on Monday. As counting is on, indications are that none of the two alliances will be able to form a government. While sources say that this is normal in Italy, the deadlock could mean that the fate of AgustaWestland hangs in balance. AgustaWestland is at the centre of the chopper deal controversy involving Indian defence officers. ...
07:47 AM, Feb 26, 2013
Italians finish voting in one of the most closely watched and unpredictable elections in years on Monday with a surge in protest votes fuelling concern that the ballot may not produce a government strong enough to pull Italy from its economic slump. ...
10:32 AM, Feb 25, 2013
Will Italy stay the course with painful economic reform? Or fall back into the old habit of profligacy and inertia? These are the stakes as Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. ...
01:07 PM, Feb 24, 2013
There is a political war of words in Italy. Taking a jibe at Finnmeccanica, former premier Silvio Berlusconi said that bribes are necessary for business. But facing the heat, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has assured to get to the bottom of the deal. ...
11:32 AM, Feb 15, 2013
Defending Finmeccanica SpA's jailed ex-chief executive officer Giuseppe Orsi, Italy's three-time former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today said bribes are a necessary part of doing business globally. ...
10:09 AM, Feb 15, 2013
Defending Finmeccanica SpA's jailed ex-chief executive officer Giuseppe Orsi, Italy's three-time former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday said bribes are a necessary part of doing business globally. ...
06:11 PM, Feb 14, 2013
AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi is optimistic they can bring Brazilian playmaker Kaka back from Real Madrid. ...
08:54 AM, Jan 21, 2013
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to pay his estranged wife Veronica Lario 100,000 euros a day as part of a divorce settlement, the daily Corriere della Sera said on Friday. The newspaper said the 36 million-euro-a-year settlement, reached after three years of negotiations, was filed with a court in Milan around Christmas. ...
11:30 PM, Dec 28, 2012
Italian caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti indicated in a newspaper interview published on Sunday that he would probably not stand in a February election but would try to convince the winner to complete the reforms his government has begun. Monti, who is expected to end weeks of speculation about his political future told La Repubblica daily he would use it to present a list of reforms that the next government...
06:55 PM, Dec 23, 2012
