Berlusconi's aides defying him

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.

Carlo Giovanardi, a long-time stalwart, said on the eve of a showdown in parliament that more than 40 of Berlusconi’s centre-right MPs will vote to keep Premier Enrico Letta’s five-month-old government afloat.