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30 Mar 2011 12:30

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Politics: Berlusconi’s defense team wants George Clooney

  • Get me Clooney, on the double! It’s been a rough stretch for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who’s facing trial for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute. In making this case, the prosecution has focused on Berlusconi’s lavish parties, at which it’s alleged the leader would indulge his carnal desires. In an effort to clear his name, synonymous as it now is with “mischief,” his defense team named 78 witnesses, among them American film star George Clooney. They believe Clooney (as well as his Italian girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis) will be able to attest to the “mode of conduct” at the parties, which they insist was “elegant” and certainly not lewd.  source

16 Mar 2011 15:28

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Politics: Silvio Berlusconi admits to being “mischievous,” nothing more

  • 13 times (allegedly) that Berlusconi had sex with a 17-year-old source
  • » He denies this, obviously. As does the girl he’s alleged to have slept with, Karima el Mahroug (better known publicly by her pseudonym, Ruby The Heart Stealer). The Italian Prime Minister mocked the accusations against him, claiming that the charge, which cites 33 total women he was alleged to have slept with, is silly because he’s too old. “I’m 75, and even if I’m a bit mischievous, 33 girls in two months is too much even for someone who is 30.” It says something about Berlusconi’s personality that he’s still coyly describing himself as “mischievous,” even as he faces this major legal threat. He’s basically ceding that yeah, he might sleep around every now and then, but not THAT much. Wouldn’t you generally want to avoid in any way alluding to such a thing?

15 Feb 2011 10:13

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World: Berlusconi’s facing trial in wild underage prostitution case

  • YES Berlusconi’s trial starts in April; get yo cameras ready!
  • yes The girl Berlusconi reportedly had paid for sex was over the age of consent in Italy, which is a fairly-young 14.
  • yes Prostitution in Italy is also pretty much legal, meaning that Berlusconi likely broke no laws for simply paying for sex.
  • no Paying for sex with someone under 18 isn’t legal. Ruby Heart-Stealer wasn’t 18 before the incident. Oops. source
  • » And there’s an Egypt tie to this story, too: Perhaps the most bizarre spare detail of the entire incident might be the reason why Berlusconi was caught this time. See, Ruby Heart-Stealer, a Moroccan whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, was arrested last May for theft, and he called the Police to intervene – because, get this, he believed she was Hosni Mubarak’s niece. Random. Berlusconi and Heart-Stealer both deny they had sex, though there must have been an interesting story about how they met, then. Right?

13 Feb 2011 12:05

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World: 200 cities + a tawdry sex scandal = A huge anti-Berlusconi protest

Hundreds of thousands of women took part in today’s protests. This is why, if you’re the leader of Italy, you don’t get associated with scandals involving underage prostitutes. source

27 Jan 2011 13:36

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World: Italian PM Berlusconi accused of another underage prostitute liaison

  • Another day, another sex scandal: The water continues to heat up on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as the police have alleged a second liaison with a seventeen-year-old prostitute. While prostitution is not illegal in Italy, and the age of legal consent is fourteen, it is illegal to hire a prostitute under the age of eighteen. (photo via europeanpeoplesparty) source

28 Feb 2010 10:46

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Biz: Apple nails foreign contractors for using underage workers

  • 133k number of workers Apple’s contractors, over 102 facilities, use to create their products
  • 17 number of violations it found as a result of its own internal audits of contractors
  • three number of cases it found of contractors purposely hiring underage workers; that’s bad source