Several of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s top aides are defying him in his bid to collapse Italy’s coalition government, a rare challenge to his authority.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has scrapped a planned appearance at a conference on family values in Milan next week, amid reports of encounters with a prostitute and his ties to an under-age Moroccan girl.

The Italian parliament today gave final approval to lifting a constitutional ban that kept the male descendants of Italy’s last king out of their homeland, paving a way for their return after 56 years of exile.