Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reports today, via the BBC, that the money has already changed hands. Berlusconi and Veronica Lario had been together married since 1990 (they've been together since 1980), and have three children (all in their 20s) together.

All this unpleasantness began because Berlusconi, who is 73 and the prime minister of an actual country, decided to go to the birthday party of Noemi Letizia, the daughter of a business associate. He gave her a necklace and a signed picture of himself (please do not try the latter as a gift yourself). "It was a lovely surprise to see the man I call Papi (daddy) at my party," she told various newspapers.

Lario was less warm in her message to the media. She told Italian wire ANSA that news of his party-attending "really surprised me because he has never come to the 18th birthday parties of any of our children despite being invited."

Berlusconi, who's fortune is estimated at around $13bn, also tried to get hot models and stars to run for elected office. Today's he's probably thankful that Italians don't have Thanksgiving and he doesn't have to sit down with his soon-to-be-ex wife and kids for perhaps the most awkward meal ever. Especially as an escort is about to publish a book detailing alleged trysts she had with the PM.

Berlusconi, who has an endless paper trail about his alleged affairs with hookers, didn't have the best meeting with Barack and Michelle at the G20 last week week. Rather than hugging him, like she did many other leaders and his outstretched arms invited, the American First Lady gave him a cordial handshake. Perhaps because, after last year's election, Berlusconi cracked about Obama's race, "[He's] young, handsome, and even has a good tan." Note the look at the President's face in this picture. He's not impressed.

Flying home to Italy after the G20 meeting, Berlusconi again brought out the t-word when he told supporters about his presidential encounter:

What's his name? Some tanned guy. Ah, Barack Obama... You won't believe it, but the two of them sunbathe together, because the wife is also tanned.

Now, we can understand him going after Obama. Well, we can't, but in theory we can imagine a billionaire scoundrel who suppresses public opinion in his newspapers taking a cheap shot at a wildly popular politician. But taking on Michelle Obama, who's just cute as pie and only sometimes gets into the political fray? That's inexcusable.

Left-wing papers and tabloids have been absolutely drooling over the details of Berlusconi's private life, but it wasn't until recently that Catholic newspaper Avvenire gave into public pressure and an opinion on the salacious gossip. And did they ever! Editor Dino Boffo wrote:

People have understood the unease, the mortification, the suffering that this arrogant neglect of sobriety has caused the Catholic Church.

Perhaps Boffo thought that his association with the church would save him from Berlusconi's wrath, but even Jesus couldn't stop the prime minister.

Il Giornale, a paper owned by Berlusconi's brother, retaliated by claiming the Italian secret service was investigating Boffo's secret gay life and revealed readers that he had been named in a 2004 sexual harassment suit, which alleged he made threatening calls to his male trick's girlfriend. Those Italians sure have mastered the art of the sex scandal!

Boffo yesterday admitted that he paid a fine in the suit, although claimed that someone else had used his cell phone to make the calls. He also insists the Italian interior minister told him no gay-related investigations had ever occurred. No matter, because Boffo resigned from his post, for the "barbaric" articlel had tarnished his name and gave his family a collective headache. Perhaps it's the work of Satan?

My life, the life of my family and that of my newsroom have been violated in an act of sacrilege I would have never thought imaginable.

The fallen editor goes on to wonder what Berlusconi and his allies' newspaper war means for free press in Italy. Well, not much, for Vittorio Feltri, editor of the paper that dragged Boffo's name through the mud, said they ran printed the story "to interest public opinion and to sell newspapers." Perhaps something got lost in translation, for "interest" definitely sounds like "influence."

He is specifically pissed at La Repubblica, a left-wing Italian paper that has published 10 questions they demand Berlusconi answer, over and over again. They are about his 18-year-old mistress (the model who calls him "daddy"), and also about other hilarious things he has done:

La Repubblica has frequently re-published its 10 questions for Berlusconi, which demand him to reveal how he met Letizia and where, why he has contradicted himself repeatedly and whether he has frequented other minors.

But the questions also asked him to justify selecting numerous showgirls as candidates for his conservative People of Freedom party, and asked if he was really unaware that 42-year-old escort Patrizia D'Addario who says she slept with him last November and dozens of others he allegedly entertained were prostitutes.

He is also mad at a French newspaper for talking about a tape involving more of his sexual exploits.

Silvio, we know the libel laws are way less friendly here in the US than they are in most of western Europe, but still: you are a corrupt amoral whoremonger with a thing for jailbait! You, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, pay for sex with prostitutes when you are not sleeping with minors!

[Photo: AP]

The entire Italian political system is a ridiculous farce. Berlusconi owns all the tv stations, he's faced a dozen legal battles on corruption and bribery, hardly any Italian corporations even pay taxes, members of the legislature have unlimited expense accounts and receive perks like free tennis lessons, and the country's economy is crumbling. And besides all that, Berlusconi has almost openly kept an 18-year-old mistress, photos have been published of half-naked parties at his villa, and there have literally been recordings released of his dalliance with an escort his corrupt businessman friend got him.

But, you know, that's all par for the course in Italy! The patriarchy is living large out there, according to Milan professor Chiara Volpato, in a Times op-ed.

Less than half of the women in Italy have jobs, but they have 80 minutes less "leisure time" every day, because they have to cook and clean for their Vespa-riding gadabout husbands and lazy, spoiled sons. And despite the fact that it's a Catholic country, the birthrate is incredibly low—we are guessing because young and smart Italian women are getting the hell out of Italy en masse. And the TV! Berlusconi knows what makes good TV: silent, scantily-clad ladies attending to the needs of old dudes.

And traditionally, women have supported Berlusoni, because, as we said, they don't get to have jobs, so they watch his TV networks all the time. But now that might change, because of the constant fucking around and being generally an astounding pig.

So rise up, women of Italy! You have nothing to lose but your greasy dirtbag men!

One of the conversations appears to back claims that Italy's leader has a giant bed with a connection, as yet unclear, to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

After an exchange in which the prime minister seems to be offering a present to D'Addario, he says to her: "I'm taking a shower." He then asks her to wait on the big bed. She asks which one. He replies: "Putin's".

Right. Is that some sort of little joke or does Putin have a bed at Silvio's vacation home? And if he does, does he know what Silvio's doing in it?

''I've never paid a woman. I never understood where the satisfaction is when you're missing the pleasure of conquest,'' Berlusconi told Chi.

Well, leaving aside the fact that Berlusconi is lying, we are pretty sure the original accusation was that Silvio's friend, businessman Gianpaolo Tarantini, was the guy who paid the ladies to party. Also hasn't he bought his barely legal model girlfriend lots and lots of expensive gifts? If this counts, that counts, Silvio.

Anyways! Here is the latest: Silvio says the lady who says Tarantini paid her to party with Silvio is actually getting paid to lie about him, and now the Catholics might not support Silvio so much, and the Pope delivered a veiled insult, and Silvio is now bitching about immigrants to prop up his fascist support.

It is still really unclear whether or not any of this will actually hurt him, though, because Italians basically expect their men to be lazy, layabout skirt-chasers without a shred of moral fiber, and also the opposition is, as always, in disarray.

Last November, a Mr. Gianpaolo Tarantini, invited three young ladies over to Berlusconi's house in Rome for a perfectly harmless and innocent dinner party that they were paid to attend. And then two of the ladies, and Gianpaolo, left, and now those ladies who left say the one who stayed behind is an escort, and then the escort said she had sex with Berlusconi.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.One of the ladies who left before the alleged sexing is only going public because Berlusconi "failed to make good on promises to help her obtain building permits for a planned hotel." Also there might be incriminating photos!

And:

"I've worked in the theatre and I know about make-up. He had a lot on. It made him look orange and when he laughed you could see the wrinkles," she said.

Despite this sideshow, Berlusconi's party won a modest 35% plurality in this month's European elections, and his opposition is almost non-existent, as Italy is basically sliding back into Fascism again.

Berlusconi attended model Noemi Letizia's 18th birthday party; his outraged wife then stated publicly he didn't attend his own sons' 18th birthday parties. She filed for divorce.

The fracas over Berlusconi's real intentions with the woman has been covered frequently in Murdoch's Times of London, which recently ran an editorial about the Italian prime minister headlined "The clown's mask slips" and beginning, "The most distasteful aspect of Silvio Berlusconi's behaviour is not that he is a chauvinist buffoon." OK!

Murdoch insists his papers are just covering a legitimate scandal that's been the talk of the Italian press while Berlusconi insists the News Corp. overlord has ulterior motives. The Italian tycoon has called out Murdoch as biased on a Berlusconi-owned TV channel; Murdoch fired back on his Fox Business Network, saying it's not his fault his employees find Berlusconi sleazy.

The real fight: Berlusconi owns an Italian pay-TV system Murdoch once tried to take off his hands, while Murdoch's upstart Italian satellite TV operation has seen customer taxes double under Berlusconi's government, to 20 percent.

That's the thing with guys in their 70s: No matter what they say they're fighting about, it's usually really about a girl simultaneous control over popular opinion, mass communications mediums and technological innovation in the modern world.

[NY Times]

First, another naked photo of the first lady of France was sold at auction. For $19,600! Last year, someone bought a different cheesecake photo of the wife of your president for $91k. Should we be more embarrassed for France or for these rich people who don't know how to Google Image Search?

But then Italy got all competitive, so their insane and corrupt Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was photographed hanging out with a bunch of naked ladies and a naked former Czech Premier, at his Villa Certosa, in Sardinia.

El Pais published all the saucy photos, and you can look at them on the internet, in case you are curious about the upcoming European parliamentary elections or something.

The suit was filed in Rome civil courts, and will certainly test the Italian implementation of the European Union Copyright Directive — a law similar to the DMCA in the U.S., but considered a little more friendly to copyright holders. It can't help YouTube that the case will be argued in a country where Berlusconi was just reelected to another term as prime minister after being acquitted last year of corruption charges stemming from allegations of bribing judges. (Photo by AP/Andrew Medichini)

• Hey, ladies, Sheryl Crow reads the Wall Street Journal. Shouldn't you? [NYT]
  
• Is Rebecca Dana going to the Times or is she staying at the Observer? [B&C]
  
• "If the Times Co. planned to unload the Globe, they'd have done it before telling the world the paper wasn't actually worth all that much." [Boston Phoenix]
  
• More Bartiromo analysis: If you let women into the financial services industry, of course guys are gonna try and fuck them. [MarketWatch]
  

• TimesSelect will work until its current subscribers die, at which point there'll be no one left who has ever read it. [MediaPost]
  
• The Tribune sale is never, ever, ever going to end. [AP]
  
• Nikki Finke's no Dean Baquet fan. [LAWeekly]
  
• Rupert Murdoch is a driven professional newspaper man. Also, evil. [Forbes]
  
• "Insiders" are "abuzz" about the "complete diss" of "some guy" who didn't get an award at his company's picnic. [WWD]
  
• Former Italian P.M. Silvio Berlusconi likes the ladies; is sorry for liking the ladies. [Guardian]

Ted Turner - Ah, Murdoch's first big American kill. One could lay the blame for CNN creator Turner's ultimate biz demise more properly at the feet of Time Warner, but Turner vs. Murdoch was too classic a matchup not to believe in. The conservative, rapacious Australian tabloid mogul versus his bizarro-world counterpart — an American redneck news hawk with liberal, philanthropic delusions of grandeur. These days, Turner can only seethe about Murdoch's lack of charity, when it's pretty certain that Turner would be more than willing to cross the street to kick him.

Dennis Potter - The grim reaper's touch has placed the caustic British TV dramatist beyond Murdoch's vengeful reach. That must be particularly galling, since in a 1994 interview shortly before his death, Potter famously noted that he had named his cancerous tumor after Murdoch.

John Malone - Perhaps the first serious challenge to the Murdoch family's dominance of News Corp. came via John Malone's Liberty Media. The American company had amassed a considerable though not yet controlling stake in News Corp., which Murdoch interpreted as a threat; Malone's complaints about Murdochian "empire building" at the expense of shareholder return also didn't help. The threat evaporated with a deal trading the News Corp. shares back as part of an $11 billion asset swap, including the transfer of a controlling interest in DirecTV over to Liberty. Malone and Murdoch are talking sweetly of each other and the deal now, but the Malones are probably off the Christmas card list for a year or two, at least.

Sir Richard Branson - After his NTL cable company lost its bid for commercial broadcaster ITV to Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting, Branson called Murdoch a "threat to democracy" and agitated for a government breakup of News Corp. — or to put it in terms Murdoch would understand, a "regime change." Branson is yet another flavor of billionaire wackjob in his own right, and his knighthood can't make the famously establishment-hating Murdoch love him any more.

Silvio Berlusconi - Murdoch has been tangling with Italian media boss and former prime minister Berlusconi for quite some time, and the former's dogged persistence has brought growing penetration of Italian media. Add that to Berlusconi political downswing and his propensity to collapse on camera, and Ruperto looks buonissimo by comparison.

Kerry Stokes - A not-so-miniature Murdoch in the making, Stokes controls Australia's Seven Network, which has already tangled with News Corp. over a failed channel meant to compete with Murdoch's Ozzie properties. Stokes and Seven are on the rise now though, after opting into a AU$4 billion joint venture deal that frees up lots of cash for acquisitions and new launches.

George Michael - Called Murdoch "the devil" and a "media dictator." Michael claims Murdoch is out to get him, but the pop singer may launch a vicious retaliatory strike at any time.

Judith Regan - More on the shit list than the enemies list, due to the whole OJ book thing. But it's very easy to get promoted to enemy status, by way of something relatively innocuous, like say, a lawsuit. Developing.

[Photo: Getty]

If you're going to have a weird malfunctioning-robot fainting spell, it's probably best to do it away from the news cameras. Recently ousted Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had his TMZ moment at a rally this weekend, appearing to blow a fuse while speaking at a Milan rally celebrating his own self. Observe as a handler pries Berlusconi's hands off the lectern, then as the two are surrounded by a mob of security goons/technicians. Berlusconi is said to be recovering nicely, though his camera sense has significantly degraded since his virile days of banging the meter maid.

Heart scare won't stop Berlusconi in politics [Reuters]

• How long will Sumner Redstone hold on to Midway games? Hopefully, long enough to give us a few more Photoshopped pieces like the one above. [NYT]
  
• Lou Dobbs is sort of a dick. Also, there's an article about him in the New Yorker. [NYer]
  
• Not that you care, but the government is pretty much at war with the idea of an independent press, and the government is winning. Oh, look, Britney's hanging out with Paris Hilton! Sorry, what were we saying? [NYT]
  
• Rupert Murdoch v. Silvio Berlusconi: whose ticker will give out first? [NYT]
  
• James Murdoch: Just as canny as his dad? [Economist]
  
• Observer to go tabloid in attempt to appeal to women and their diminutive limbs. [NYM]
  
• Slate's Jacob Weisberg would rather be online than anywhere else. So, you know, don't try and tempt him away with a real job, print people. [Guardian]
  
• Don't be alarmed, but some people think Fox News may be biased. Just gays and Democrats, though, so no worries. [NYS]
  
• Of interest only to British media junkies: Publisher Kimberly Quinn to leave the Spectator. Guess she ran through the roster of contributors. [Guardian]
  
• Tyler Br l has hired an editor for Monocle. Nothing earth-shattering, really... it's just the Tyler Br l thing. [WWD]