A convicted Mafia hit man today claimed Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi made a deal with the mob in the 1990s in exchange for political support.

A court-appointed expert said today there was not enough evidence to conclude that a murdered British student had been sexually assaulted or strangled, nor was it possible to narrow the window of time in which she was killed.

A court in Perugia will decide today whether to authorise a second post mortem examination on the body of murdered British exchange student Meredith Kercher.

Pope John Paul II was responding well to treatment after being taken to a Rome hospital with breathing problems brought on by the flu, the Vatican said.

Security was heightened on the Sardinian’s exclusive Emerald Coast today for the arrival of British prime minister Tony Blair, who was to stay at the luxury villa of his Italian counterpart and close ally Silvio Berlusconi.

A baby weighing 285 grams (9.97 ounces) at birth has been released from a Florence hospital, and doctors there, calling her good health a miracle, said today she was the tiniest baby known to have survived.