Defence lawyers for Silvio Berlusconi are making their final arguments in the former premier’s corruption trial before the court begins its deliberations.

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s legal woes returned to haunt him as Milan prosecutors asked he be sentenced to five years in prison for bribing his former tax lawyer.

Silvio Berlusconi has failed in an emergency bid to obtain a High Court order preventing evidence being taken in a UK court relating to corruption allegations.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was in court in Milan yesterday for a hearing into claims he paid a former lawyer €416,000 for false testimony about his business dealings.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi slammed judges as “a cancer of democracy” during his first appearance at a trial for bribery, one of three court cases he is currently facing.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi says his justice minister could succeed him as the conservative party leader, further signalling his intention not to seek re-election when his term ends in 2013.

The News of the World has publicly apologised to victims of the newspaper’s phone-hacking controversy, saying that the invasions of privacy “should not have happened”.

News of the World publisher News International was today preparing to pay out millions of pounds in compensation after it admitted liability for intercepting the telephone messages of a number of public figures including actress Sienna Miller.

ITALIAN premier Silvio Berlusconi’s immunity from prosecution in two unfinished court cases could be overturned by a judicial hearing that opened yesterday.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi’s immunity from prosecution in two unfinished court cases could be overturned by a judicial hearing that opened today.

DAVID MILLS, an Emmy Award-winning television writer who contributed to dramas The Wire and ER, has died at age 48 after apparently suffering a brain aneurysm, HBO said.

Judges say prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s trial on corruption charges will continue, despite a ruling by Italy’s highest appellate court that overturned the conviction of the British lawyer the Italian leader allegedly bribed.

ITALY’S highest court last night overturned a guilty verdict for British lawyer David Mills, who was accused of taking a bribe to lie in court to protect Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Italy's highest court is hearing the appeal today of British lawyer David Mills, who was found guilty of accepting a bribe to lie in court to protect Silvio Berlusconi.

ITALIAN premier Silvio Berlusconi did not attend a hearing yesterday in a case accusing him of bribing a British lawyer to lie in evidence.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi did not attend a hearing today in a case accusing him of bribing a British lawyer to lie in evidence.

The tax fraud trial of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi reopened today after a year but was immediately adjourned to January.

Italy’s magistrates staged courtroom protests across the country today over premier Silvio Berlusconi’s latest attack on prosecutors and judges.

An appeals court in Milan today upheld the conviction of British lawyer David Mills for accepting a bribe to lie in court to protect Silvio Berlusconi.

PRIME Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday dismissed suggestions that he should step down for the good of Italy’s image, saying he was the only person qualified to lead the country now and by far the best in Italian history.

A COMBATIVE Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed yesterday to govern with “even more grit” after Italy’s top court lifted his immunity and he dismissed corruption charges against him as “laughable”.

A DEFIANT Berlusconi, already weakened by a sex scandal, has vowed to stay despite the ruling by the constitutional court, which he called a political organ.

PEMBROKE WANDERERS coach Craig Fulton has been forced to name three goalkeepers in his squad as the national champions get their EuroHockey League campaign underway in Barcelona tonight.

Italy's top court today overturned an immunity law shielding Premier Silvio Berlusconi from a corruption trial in Milan.

ITALY’S Silvio Berlusconi faced a day of reckoning yesterday as the Constitutional Court began mulling whether to strip him of immunity from prosecution on pending corruption charges.

HOPE springs eternal for some of the lesser lights in Munster hockey as the domestic season gets underway this weekend.

TREBLE-CHASING Railway Union will hope to put one foot in the semi-finals of the Irish Hockey League tomorrow as they take on Cork Church of Ireland at Garryduff (2pm).

A man who has no recollection of setting fire to the top deck of a bus - causing an estimated €109,467 worth of damage - has given a four year sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A MILAN appeals court acquitted former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in a corruption case yesterday, upholding an earlier acquittal in one of several cases faced by Italy’s richest man.

British singer Amy Winehouse almost revealed more than her soul while performing in Los Angeles last night when she suffered an onstage wardrobe malfunction.

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi faced a new trial today on charges of corruption along with the estranged husband of British culture minister Tessa Jowell.

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi faced a new trial today on charges of corruption along with the estranged husband of British culture minister Tessa Jowell.

Lawyers for Silvio Berlusconi have asked Italy’s top court to overturn a ruling to keep the main judge hearing the trial of the former premier and the estranged husband of British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

An Italian appeals court ruled today against removing the main judge in the trial of former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and David Mills, the estranged husband of British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, in a setback for the defence, Italian news agencies have reported.

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, undergoing heart tests after fainting during a rally, will be discharged from a Milan hospital today, his doctor says.

Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has been undergoing heart tests after fainting during a rally, will be discharged from a Milan hospital tomorrow, his doctor said.

The trial of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and the estranged husband of Britain’s culture minister opened today on charges of false accounting, embezzlement and tax fraud in the purchase by Berlusconi’s Mediaset empire of TV rights for US movies.

A MILAN court yesterday ordered former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges of corruption along with the estranged husband of Britain’s culture minister.

A Milan court today ordered former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills to stand trial on charges of corruption.

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the estranged husband of British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, David Mills, were today ordered to stand trial on charges of false accounting, embezzlement and tax fraud in the purchase of TV rights for US movies, his lawyer said.

A Rome hearing today on whether to indict former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and lawyer David Mills on corruption charges was largely devoted to technicalities, a defence lawyer said.

Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder today unveiled his backroom staff after persuading Kevin Bond to swap Portsmouth for St James’ Park.

An Italian judge today said he will start hearing the case on whether to indict Premier Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills, estranged husband of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, on corruption charges in June after a general election.

ITALIAN prosecutors have requested that the estranged husband of Britain's culture Secretary Tessa Jowell stands trial for corruption alongside Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.