30 women hired for Berlusconi’s parties to be questioned

September 19th, 2009 LONDON - Giampaolo Tarantini, the businessman who claims to have supplied Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, with a stream of women for parties, has been arrested at Bari airport in southern Italy. Antonio Laudati, the chief prosecutor in Bari, said Tarantini had been arrested at Bari airport for "dealing in drugs" and in case he tried to flee the country.

September 13th, 2009 LONDON - Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi's daughter Marina, who is ranked the 10th most powerful businesswoman in the world by Fortune magazine, has come to her father's defence, saying he has been "stabbed in the back" by months of revelations about his sex life. The 43-year-old came to his defence after Giampaolo Tarantini, a businessman under investigation for alleged drug and prostitution offences, told prosecutors in Bari, southern Italy, that he had supplied 31 women for the prime minister's parties between last September and January, reports The Times.

September 12th, 2009 LONDON - Responding to the sex scandal engulfing Silvio Berlusconi, Umberto Bossi, the key coalition partner in the Italian PM's government, said he believed Mafia had orchestrated all the dirty activities. "I think everything has been put in place by the Mafia," Bossi, the leader of the Northern League, said as he arrived at an event in Pian del Re in the north of the country.

August 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Patrizia D'Addario, the escort girl who claims to have slept with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is reportedly planning to write a book about her erotic adventures. Meanwhile, D'Addario, 42, who recorded her encounter with the 72-year-old tycoon on her mobile telephone, visited police in Bari on Wednesday and sources at the prosecutor's office said she was there to file a counter claim against her former lover's wife and to discuss the allegations of attempted murder, reports The Times.

July 30th, 2009 LONDON - Patrizia D'Addario, the escort girl who claims to have slept with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has been accused of attempting to murder a former boyfriend. D'Addario, 42, who recorded her encounter with the 72-year-old tycoon on her mobile telephone, visited police in Bari on Wednesday and sources at the prosecutor's office said she was there to file a counter claim against her former lover's wife and to discuss the allegations of attempted murder, reports The Telegraph.

July 30th, 2009 LONDON - Patrizia D'Addario, the escort girl who claims to have slept with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is to appear at a themed party entitled 'I Love Silvio' in her honour at a Paris nightclub. The 42-year-old is embarking on the publicity campaign tomorrow, reports The Times.

July 17th, 2009 LONDON - An ex Italian MEP has hit out at Silvio Berlusconi, claiming that he was prevented from standing again for the Italian PM's party in the European election last month because he did not fit in with the party's "revolution" of selecting attractive young women. In 2004, Marcello Vernola, 48, was elected to the European Parliament for Forza Italia, now part of the centre-right People of Liberty (Pdl) party.

July 15th, 2009 LONDON - Prosecutors probing into the payments made to escorts and showgirls to attend parties at the homes of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are likely to extend their investigation to women who allegedly accompanied him to a spa in Umbria last year. A magazine had earlier reported that PM had spent a weekend in a luxurious Umbrian health spa with an entourage of women, including an actress and a former showgirl who have worked for his television stations, when he was supposed to attend a political rally.

July 12th, 2009 LONDON - While Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was busy attending world leaders at the G8 summit in his country, a new chapter unfolded in the sex scandal haunting him for months. A magazine has alleged that the PM had spent a weekend in a luxurious Umbrian health spa with an entourage of women, including an actress and a former showgirl who have worked for his television stations.

June 19th, 2009 LONDON - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is involved in a fresh sex scandal after a former model claimed to have pictures showing the two of them in his bedroom. Patrizia DAddario, who claims that she and other women were paid to attend Berlusconis private parties, said Thursday she had secretly recorded video footage of her encounters in the prime ministers Rome residence.

June 19th, 2009 LONDON - Former French President Jacques Chirac has revealed that he was left startled by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's rather "unseemly" interest with the opposite sex. On Wednesday, Berlusconi denied that young women had been paid to attend parties at his villas.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - Silvio Berlusconi's wife seems to have won the battle against Italian prime minister's eye for attractive young women. His party has decided not to promote the four starlets Berlusconi recommended as candidates for the European Parliament.

April 29th, 2009 LONDON - Silvio Berlusconi's 'exasperated' wife has launched a scathing attack on the Italian Prime Minister, insisting that she's 'suffering' from his fascination with young women. Veronica Lario described Berlusconi's behaviour as "shameless rubbish" and compared him with Napoleon and a Roman emperor.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Women have invaded men's terrain a little further - a new study has found that ladies buy eight out of 10 bottles of wine to drink at home. The study, which shows women as the major buyers of wine, prompts experts to urge wine brands to cater for feminine tastes, reports The Sun.

March 26th, 2009 LONDON - A third of Brit women stay connected with their friends via texting or the Internet, according to a survey. Conducted by Food firm Skinny Cow, the survey revealed that almost one in five females could remain without seeing their best pals for six months.