Lots of women and parties: 1st details emerge in probe of man linked to Berlusconi scandal

September 26th, 2009 Berlusconi, pope meet 1st time since sex scandalROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi had his first meeting Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI since the Italian leader was implicated in a sex scandal that broke last spring. Vatican spokesman the Rev.

September 21st, 2009 Italian man in PM's sex scandal gets house arrestROME — Italian news reports say a businessman involved in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal has been placed under house arrest as part of a drug probe. The ANSA news agency said Monday that Gianpaolo Tarantini was granted house arrest in Rome after a judge said there was no risk he could flee Italy.

September 11th, 2009 Berlusconi daughter comes to his defenseROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter has come to her father's defense, saying he's been "stabbed in the back" by months of "slanderous" newspaper revelations about his sex life. Marina Berlusconi's comments, in an interview Friday with the Corriere della Sera, came a day after Berlusconi again denied having ever paid anyone for sex and brushed off suggestions he might resign because of the scandal.

September 10th, 2009 Berlusconi says he won't resign over sex scandalROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi brushed off questions about any possible resignation over his sex scandal Thursday, saying he has been Italy's best premier ever. Berlusconi also said he was considering suing the woman at the center of the scandal.

September 9th, 2009 Papers publish excerpts in Berlusconi scandalROME — Thirty women. Eighteen parties.

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.

August 7th, 2009 Berlusconi: I have nothing to hideROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi made one of his strongest denials yet in a scandal over alleged relationships with young women, insisting on Friday he has nothing to hide and nothing to apologize for. Berlusconi responded to apparent criticism from his daughter, Barbara, who said in an interview with a magazine this week that politicians cannot afford to differentiate between their public and private spheres and should work to improve moral values.

August 4th, 2009 Berlusconi daughter: politicians must be moralROME — Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier engulfed in a sex scandal over alleged encounters with young women, has been taken to task by his daughter, who is quoted as saying in an interview that public officials should enhance moral values. Barbara Berlusconi also said that public officials cannot afford to differentiate between their public and private spheres, the Italian edition of Vanity Fair reports in an interview to be published Wednesday.

July 23rd, 2009 New tapes released in Italian PM sex scandalROME — An Italian magazine released more tapes Thursday of purported conversations between Silvio Berlusconi and a high-class prostitute, keeping up the pressure in the sex scandal engulfing the Italian premier. L'Espresso, a leftist news weekly, has been releasing the recordings of the alleged conversations between Berlusconi and the escort over several days in an apparent effort to embarrass the conservative premier.

July 6th, 2009 ROME - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in an interview published Monday, has denied the existence of photographs whose publication could further embarrass him as he prepares to host a Group of Eight summit later this week. Berlusconi was reacting to a report by the London-based Sunday Times that a series of photographs taken at the premier's luxury Sardinian villa would surface ahead of the G8 summit, which begins Tuesday in L'Aquila, Italy.

June 23rd, 2009 Report: Italy's Berlusconi denies he paid womenROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has told a gossip magazine he has never paid a woman for sex, as he continues to be dogged by suspicions stemming from his purported fondness for young models and starlets. Berlusconi gave his first direct response to the claims in an interview with Chi magazine to be published Wednesday.

June 19th, 2009 Catholic paper urges Berlusconi to clarify scandalROME — An influential Catholic newspaper urged Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Friday to respond to allegations that women were paid to attend his parties. Avvenire, the newspaper of Italy's bishops conference, ran an editorial saying the latest claims in a scandal linking Berlusconi to young women and models are raising questions not only among opponents but his supporters too.

May 30th, 2009 Reports: Berlusconi moves to block topless photosROME — Italian media say Premier Silvio Berlusconi has moved to block publication of hundreds of photos, including images of young women either topless or wearing bikinis at one of his Sardinian villas. TV and newspaper reports say Berlusconi wrote recently to the Italian watchdog for privacy issues.

May 30th, 2009 LONDON - Silvio Berlusconi, apparently, has a thing for controversies. Speculations regarding the Italian prime minister's relationship with an 18-year-old aspiring model are still on, and now, a new scandal has popped up.