Milan magistrates have ordered police to search for a Moroccan nightclub dancer at the centre of a sex trial involving Silvio Berlusconi, now seeking a fifth term as prime minister in an election next year, after she failed to show up in court.

Strippers in nun costumes danced in front of Silvio Berlusconi at his villa, a witness told a Milan court where the former Italian prime minister is on trial for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.

GEORGE CLOONEY and his ex-girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis, were among more than 200 witnesses accepted by a Milan court in the trial of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

Actor George Clooney is among more than 200 witnesses accepted by a Milan court in the trial of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

ITALY’S scandal-plagued Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faced fresh legal and political headaches yesterday, with sliding approval ratings and fresh revelations of parties and young women paid for sex.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, already facing criticism over the country’s financial crisis and engulfed in a sex scandal, may have to face another trial in Milan.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is facing new accusations over a prostitution scandal that has added a fresh distraction as Italy struggles to avert a debt crisis which could tear the eurozone apart.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi made a rare appearance in open court but left after two hours, saying the hearing at his tax fraud trial was a waste of time and accused prosecutors of having no case against him.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi made a rare court appearance today, greeting supporters who gathered outside a closed-door hearing in a tax fraud case.

FROM jewels and antiques to loans for young starlets, Italy’s billionaire Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent €34 million in 2010.

THE head of Italy’s highest court slammed Silvio Berlusconi’s “neurotic” accusations that the justice system was biased yesterday as the prime minister awaits trial for abuse of power and having underage sex.

PROSECUTORS are investigating whether Premier Silvio Berlusconi had sex with an underage prostitute and then abused his power in trying to cover up the encounters with the girl.

ITALIAN Premier Silvio Berlusconi yesterday dismissed as “media trash” reports that two television executives helped introduce an underage girl into his entourage.

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.

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.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is launching legal actions against media in Italy and abroad, including Britain, France and Spain, for libel in their coverage of his private life, his lawyer has said.

Under-fire Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi tried to laugh off the increasingly sordid sex scandal enveloping him today, joking that he was "no saint".

THE approval rating of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has been dogged by a messy divorce and accusations of cavorting with teenage girls and escorts, has fallen below 50% for the first time.

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday said photos in a Spanish newspaper of topless women sunbathing at his seaside villa were an invasion of privacy and his lawyer said he would take legal action.

Former Italian premiere Silvio Berlusconi has been cleared in a Milan corruption case, news reports said today.

The acquittal of former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on corruption charges should be reversed, a prosecutor told a Milan court today.

Italy’s top criminal court today ruled that former Premier Silvio Berlusconi should face an appeals trial on corruption charges.

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.

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.

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who was hospitalised for tests after he fainted during a rally, will stay in the hospital for a couple more days, doctors and friends of the media mogul said today.

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 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.

Centre-left leader Romano Prodi said today he intends to govern Italy for the full five years of Parliament’s term, and said Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s refusal to acknowledge that Prodi won the elections is “not my problem, it is his.”

A top Italian court tonight confirmed the slim electoral victory of centre-left leader Romano Prodi in the lower house of parliament, although was not conceding defeat.

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 intend to indict Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on corruption charges after concluding an investigation into whether he had bribed British lawyer David Mills, two Italian newspapers have reported.

Italian prosecutors have concluded an investigation into whether Premier Silvio Berlusconi bribed British lawyer David Mills to give false testimony and they intend to seek his indictment on corruption charges, Italian newspapers said today.

PREMIER Silvio Berlusconi’s new government won approval yesterday in Italy’s lower house of parliament, following a combative speech in which he pledged to boost the economy and promised “extraordinary” results ahead of next year’s elections.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s new government won approval today in Italy’s lower house of parliament, following a combative speech in which he pledged to boost the economy and promised “extraordinary” results ahead of next year’s elections.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces a vote of confidence in his country’s parliament today, a day after he presented his revised programme and vowed to lead his new government until a general election next year.

A Milan court acquitted Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on corruption charges that have dogged him throughout his term, a ruling he said was ”better late than never”.

A MILAN court yesterday acquitted Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi of corruption charges - a major victory in the billionaire business baron’s decade-long battle with legal woes he blamed on left-wing prosecutors.

A Milan court today acquitted Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi of corruption charges – a major victory in the billionaire business baron’s decade-long battle with legal woes he blamed on left-wing prosecutors.