New tapes released in Italian PM Berlusconi’s sex scandal

October 3rd, 2009 Rally held in Rome to defend press freedomROME — Tens of thousands of people, including journalists and media rights activists, gathered in a Rome square Saturday to defend press freedom, accusing Premier Silvio Berlusconi of trying to silence critical voices. Berlusconi, a media magnate, has dismissed the accusations as a "joke" and the demonstration as a "farce." He said this week that there is more press freedom in Italy than in any other Western country.

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 16th, 2009 News Corp.'s Sky Italia sues Berlusconi's MediasetNEW YORK — News Corp.'s Sky Italia has sued two units of Italian broadcaster Mediaset, the latest step in an ongoing battle over pay TV between media moguls Rupert Murdoch at News Corp. and Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister.

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 22nd, 2009 Berlusconi: 'I'm no saint'ROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi joked Wednesday that he is "no saint," in his first public comments on his sex scandal since a news weekly released what it said were conversations between him and a prostitute. Berlusconi has been entangled in scandal for months over his alleged encounters with young women.

July 21st, 2009 Opposition takes on scandal-plagued BerlusconiROME — Italy's opposition charged Tuesday that Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal has damaged the image of the Italian government, as a news weekly released more recordings of what appear to be conversations he had with a prostitute. In a motion before the Senate that was blocked by conservatives, the opposition called on politicians to show "decorum" in their private lives and be cautious in their acquaintances — the latest fallout from the scandal surrounding Berlusconi's alleged encounters with young women.

July 20th, 2009 Berlusconi attorney disputes tape veracityROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi's attorney has disputed the veracity of tape recordings released by an Italian newsweekly that purports to show the premier asking a prostitute to wait for him in bed while he showers. Attorney Niccolo Ghedini says in a statement that the recordings are "without any merit, completely improbable and the fruit of invention." The left-leaning L'Espresso magazine put the audio of the recordings on its Web site Monday and alleged they were made by a prostitute during encounters with the premier.

July 20th, 2009 Italy magazine revives Berlusconi scandalROME — An Italian newsweekly has released tape recordings of what it says was the night Silvio Berlusconi spent with a prostitute in which the premier is purportedly heard asking her to wait for him in bed while he showers. Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, disputed the veracity of the tapes, saying Monday they were "without any merit, completely improbable and the fruit of invention." The escort, Patrizia D'Addario, has said she taped her encounters with Berlusconi as well as the parties he threw for young women at his residences — which have become the source of major scandal for the 72-year-old leader.

July 8th, 2009 Italy lawmaker resigns after making racist chantROME — An Italian lawmaker in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's coalition has resigned after being filmed singing a racist chant about Naples and its residents. Matteo Salvini, a member of the often xenophobic, anti-immigrant Northern League party, resigned his seat in the lower chamber of Parliament on Tuesday.

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.

June 11th, 2009 Berlusconi's estranged wife: dignity besmirchedROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's estranged wife believes her dignity has been besmirched in the fallout from a scandal that began with her suggestions that her husband had an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old model. "What is true is that I have always loved him and planned my life in function of my marriage and my family," she said in a front-page letter published in Thursday's edition of Corriere della Sera, Italy's leading newspaper.