Berlusconi again backs Blair for EU President’s post

October 5th, 2009 LONDON - Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is bidding to become the first President of Europe, stands to pocket a whopping 3.65 million pounds, if he is successful in his endeavor. Blair could be named President this month following Ireland's vote.

October 1st, 2009 LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to become the first President of the 27-member European Union. According to The Sun, Blair will be nominated by EU leaders in Brussels if, as expected, Ireland backs the hated Lisbon Treaty in tomorrow's referendum.

September 30th, 2009 Berlusconi calls Obama 'tanned' againROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is poking fun at President Barack Obama again. Berlusconi has told a rally in Milan that he was bringing greetings from the United States from "What's his name? Some tanned guy.

September 27th, 2009 LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been cashing it up by attending various lecture events and corporate work, and for a latest event, admirers have paid 180 pounds to have a photograph with him. Blair will attend the Surrey Regional Economic Summit in British Columbia on October 6, during which as many as 100 people will be whisked through in a one-hour session, where they would get an opportunity to meet and have photographs taken with the former prime minister.

September 21st, 2009 LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair thinks his successor Gordon Brown is a political "quitter" who could stand down before the next election. According to a new book, Blair has told his inner circle that Brown does not have enough political courage.

September 10th, 2009 LONDON - After Silvio Berlusconi's recent comments that "all Italians want to be like me," a columnist has said that the premiere casts an impression of being an "angry, defeated and depressed man who is at odds with everyone". The columnist claimed Berlusconi has based his 15-year political career on image-making through his television and advertising empire, but the image is wearing thin - thanks to the controversies, reports The Times.

September 7th, 2009 Berlusconi: Relations with church excellentROME — Silvio Berlusconi says relations between his government and the Catholic Church, which have been strained by a sex scandal involving the Italian premier, remain excellent. Berlusconi said Monday that contacts with the church are kept up "almost daily" by his top aide.

September 1st, 2009 Pope backs Italy church in Berlusconi rowROME — Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday gave his full support to the Italian Catholic Church after it was dragged into a media row linked to Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal. The Italian Bishops Conference said Benedict had spoken by telephone with its president, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, to discuss the "current situation." Benedict expressed to Bagnasco "his esteem, gratitude and appreciation," the Bishops Conference said in a statement.

July 29th, 2009 LONDON - A TV actress, who is known as the 'Queen Bee' and has a tattoo dedicated to "SB" on her ankle, has become the latest star of the 'Silvio Berlusconi saga'. Sabina Began, 35, is said to have introduced Berlusconi, 72, to Giampaolo Tarantini - the man who hired girls, including escorts, for parties at the Premier's official residences, reports The Telegraph.

June 19th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Middle East envoy Tony Blair has said that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement could be reached "within the year," but only if all sides agree to peaceful negotiations. The former British Prime Minister said there was a "great sense of hope and expectation" in the Middle East after US President Barack Obama's recent outreach speech to the Islamic world delivered in Cairo.

June 16th, 2009 LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to be grilled in a secret Iraq War inquiry ordered last night by his successor Gordon Brown.ccording to The Sun, Blair will be a main witness in the probe. The country's military top brass will insist that its occupation force was too small, under funded and poorly equipped.

May 25th, 2009 LONDON - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair begged his wife Cherie to ensure he was not photographed next to Silvio Berlusconi when the Italian Prime Minister met them during a summer holiday wearing a bandanna. The episode happened during the British couple's visit to Berlusconi's villa on the Italian island of Sardinia in 2004, when the Italian politician had been recuperating from a hair transplant.

May 22nd, 2009 LONDON - English barrister Cherie Blair has revealed that her husband, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, loses his temper with her if dinner is not on the table when he gets home. In an interview with Total Politics, she revealed him to be a "very traditional" man, reports the Telegraph.

May 6th, 2009 NEW YORK - Rumours are abuzz that the 18-year-old girl at the center of the storm surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is his daughter. As per sources, Noemi Letizia calls the Italian leader 'Papi' or 'Daddy', reports the New York Post.

May 5th, 2009 Berlusconi denies claim he had affair with teenROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi says the suggestion by his wife and the media that he had a relationship with an 18-year-old girl is a "lie." Berlusconi went on state-run television Tuesday to repeat that his wife Veronica Lario should publicly apologize for embarrassing him and admit that she was wrong. Lario has said she wants a divorce, citing Berlusconi's frequent flirtations with younger women.