Berlusconi's popularity wilts as lurid tapes allege sex for favours

Lurid new revelations about Silvio Berlusconi’s alleged antics with a call girl led the Italian Opposition to press yesterday for the first parliamentary debate on the damage being done to the country’s image by its errant Prime Minister.

The political pressure increased on Mr Berlusconi, 72, after secret recordings by the prostitute Patrizia D’Addario plumbed new depths of indignity, with discussions of the Prime Minister’s antipathy to condoms, his alleged predilection for threesomes and whether he suffered from sexual disease.

A voice said to be Mr Berlusconi’s can also be heard in another recording bragging: “Now I am unbeatable — three times!” It turned out that this was a reference to the number of G8 meetings he has hosted — more than any other international leader.

Ms D’Addario also gave a lengthy interview to a Spanish magazine claiming that she had spent the night with Mr Berlusconi but refused to charge her usual fee of ¤because, she alleged, he had promised to sort out planning problems with a family building project.

Yesterday’s disclosures marked the latest chapter in a sex-and-parties saga that has run for months and included the announcement that Mr Berlusconi’s wife will sue for divorce over his friendship with a model aged 18. It finally became too much for the centre-left Opposition, the Democratic Party (PD), which drafted a motion stating that the constant drip of revelations had “weakened the image and authority of the Italian Government”.

Mr Berlusconi’s majority coalition in the Senate delayed the motion last night but was shaken by a dip in its leader’s popularity rating to below 50 per cent for the first time since his election last year, suggesting that Italians are beginning to tire of the affair.

In the second series of tapes and transcripts to be published by the left-of-centre weekly L’Espresso, Ms D’Addario discussed Mr Berlusconi with Gianpaolo Tarantini, the man who allegedly hired her to go to the Prime Minister’s official residence last October. Mr Tarantini, who is being investigated over allegations of corruption and abetting prostitution, told Ms D’Addario that Mr Berlusconi would not be “taking you like an escort, he will be taking you as a friend of mine that I brought along”. He told her that Mr Berlusconi did not use condoms.

Another recording allegedly captured a conversation between Ms D’Addario and Mr Berlusconi on November 5, the morning after she claimed to have stayed with him at the Palazzo Gravioli in Rome. He allegedly asked her if she would like tea or coffee and then told her: “There is everything you want.”

In a third recorded conversation, purportedly from October 2008, Mr Berlusconi told his guests that he had to go to Berlin for a meeting of economic leaders from Europe and Asia. He talked about his own central role as host of the G8, reminding his audience that he was the only leader to preside over it three times — in Naples in 1994, Genoa in 2001 and L’Aquila in 2009.

Yesterday’s recordings followed Monday’s release of a tape that features a conversation said to have taken place between the Prime Minister and the escort girl before they spent the night together.

“I’m going to take a shower too. If you finish before me, wait for me on the big bed,” said a man’s voice purported to be the Italian Prime Minister.

“Which bed? Putin’s?” queried his female companion, “Oh, how cute, the one with the curtains.”

In another conversation, Ms D’Addario is allegedly heard telling Mr Tarantini that the Prime Minister had inquired about her friendship with another woman at the party, Barbara.

Ms D’Addario said: “I said we have known each other a long time, and that Barbara is also a friend of mine; and he said that he has a friend and that he wants me to be licked by her.”

Mr Berlusconi’s office declined to comment on the tapes yesterday. The Prime Minister’s lawyer has disputed the veracity of the tapes, saying that they were “the fruit of invention”.

A poll for Ipr Marketing showed that trust in Mr Berlusconi as a leader had fallen four points in the past two months, with 50 per cent saying that they had “little” or “no” trust in the Prime Minister, while 49 per cent of those polled had “fair” or “a lot” of trust in him. A similar poll by Ipr Marketing in September 2008 found that 60 per cent had “fair” or “a lot” of trust in Mr Berlusconi.

Ms D’Addario, 42, claims to have made her recordings during two visits to Palazzo Grazioli with a number of other women in October and November last year. Mr Berlusconi has not denied that the woman went to his Rome residence, but last month he said that he did not know she was an escort — a claim rejected by Ms D’Addario, who said that she told the Prime Minister how she came to be a prostitute.

Over seven pages and a photoshoot in the Spanish magazine Interviu, Ms D’Addario claimed yesterday that Mr Berlusconi boasted in front of a coterie of attractive women at a party that he would resolve her family building project.

She said that she did not charge him when they slept together because she believed he would live up to his promises. But, she added, Mr Berlusconi reneged. “I feel disillusioned and tricked. Someone in power like this should not behave this way,” she said.

She claimed that she was paid 2,000 euros to attend a party on October 15 last year at which Mr Berlusconi introduced himself to her and then introduced his dog, Frufru, a present from George W. Bush. “The premier asked if I would stay the night at the palace but I said no. It wasn’t part of the deal. I didn’t want to stay,” she said.

She said that she told Mr Berlusconi how her father committed suicide after the failure of a building project in Bari which was blocked for environmental reasons. According to Ms D’Addario, the Italian leader started to sing “This girl has a project in Bari”. He offered to send two people to resolve the problems connected with her father’s building project, she alleged.

She said that she returned for another party on November 5 and claimed that she spent the night with Mr Berlusconi. She said they did not eat until midnight or 1am and she left at 11am the next day. “I didn’t charge anything, I didn’t receive anything. It was all for a promise,” she said.

Simple, Inexpensive Method To Detect Melamine Poison In Food

ScienceDaily (July 22, 2009) — Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky, members of the University of Minnesota’s BioTechnology Institute, developed an enzyme that is used in Bioo Scientific’s new MaxDiscovery™ Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine contamination in food. Melamine is an industrial chemical that killed six Chinese children and hospitalized 150,000 last year after it was added to milk to increase its apparent protein content. Some children may have life-long chronic kidney problems resulting from melamine exposure.


Development of the test responds to a call from the World Health Organization (WHO) for a simple, inexpensive method to detect melamine contamination in infant formula and other liquids. Until now, melamine testing required expensive laboratory equipment and skilled personnel. This kit simplifies the testing and reduces the cost of melamine detection. The MaxDiscovery Melamine Test kit can detect melamine in milk, powdered milk, cream, ice cream and chocolate drink. Bioo Scientific has plans to adapt it to detect melamine in seafood and meat.

Researchers at the BioTechnology Institute (BTI) developed the enzyme, melamine deaminase, used in the MaxDiscovery Melamine Test kit and the enzyme will be produced in the BTI Pilot Plant fermentation facilities. Melamine deaminase works by breaking one of the C-N bonds in melamine to release ammonia, which can be detected by a simple test that turns the liquid blue. Jennifer Seffernick, a research associate in Wackett’s lab, discovered the enzyme while conducting research on biodegradation of s-triazine herbicides. It is one of many examples of how basic research can lead to new technologies that benefit society.

"Development of the melamine enzyme and the test kit is an example of how universities and industry can collaborate to foster basic science, education, and technology that benefits society," says Wackett, who is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the College of Biological Sciences.

"Larry Wackett's research has revealed the power of microbial enzymes to modify and destroy toxic substances in the environment," says Joe Krebs, director of Protein Chemistry and Engineering at Bioo Scientific. "Our new enzymatic detection method takes this work in a new direction to provide a better approach for the detection of melamine contamination in the global food supply."

Research to develop the enzyme for the melamine test was supported by the University's Biocatalysis Initiative.

"This is an example of how a small but strategic investment in scientific research can make a big difference," says Robert P. Elde, dean of the College of Biological Sciences and interim director of the Biotechnology Institute.

Melamine was originally used to make durable plastic for dishes and countertops. It is also a widely used additive to cement. But in recent years it has been misused as a food additive because it contains a large amount of nitrogen (a nutrient), is cheap, and is falsely recognized as protein by the most common chemical assay used to test for food protein. This has led to a practice of adding melamine to any food where its value is enhanced by increasing the apparent protein content. For example, melamine-tainted pet food killed nearly 1,000 U.S. pets during one episode in 2007.

Frogs get married in India

Thousands of guests and paparazzi were on hand to witness the marriage of Ram and Sita in the village of Madhya Baragari in India.

Why was the couple so popular? They are both frogs.

Why were they getting married? To bring rain.

This year, India has suffered its worst start to the vital monsoon rains in eight decades, causing drought in some states. Farmers in the village fell back on the trusted local method of marying off frogs to bring the badly needed monsoon rains.

The two frogs are named after India's most revered mythological couple from an ancient Sanskrit epic called Ramayana. The story depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. According to Hindu Net, it is "a source of spiritual, cultural, and artistic inspiration," and it "helped mould the Hindu character, inspring millions of people with the deepest of love and devotion."

Following ancient Hindu belief, the frogs' heads were smeared with vermilion paint and the pair were held up in the air in a ritual in front of a traditional clay candle.

The villagers pooled their money together this week to perform the marriage. The women at the wedding fasted beforehand and then invited the river to join the ceremony and give its blessing, as is customary in Bengali tradition.

UN Body Offers Help on Estemirova

GENEVA — Seven UN human rights experts asked Russia on Tuesday to allow them into the country to help investigate last week’s murder of leading rights activist Natalya Estemirova.

The move by the seven — from developed and developing countries — followed a call by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for a thorough and independent probe into the killing, which sparked worldwide condemnation.

The experts said they recognized that the Russian authorities had condemned the murder and pledged that every effort would be taken to catch and punish the killers of ­Estemirova, who represented Moscow rights body Memorial in Chechnya.

“However, these assurances will be worth little unless the authorities take steps that go beyond what has been done in the past, which has all too often led to a cycle of impunity,” they said in a statement issued through the Untied Nations.

“We offer our assistance to the Russian authorities in light of the failure to effectively and impartially investigate the killings and attacks on a number of human rights defenders in recent years … and to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

The seven, special rapporteurs to the UN Human Rights Council, included extrajudicial execution sleuth Philip Alston of Australia; violence against women specialist Yakin Erturk of Turkey; and Manfred Nowak of Austria, who reports on torture.

Their intervention was seen as aimed at getting around the blockage on quick investigations on such issues in the council, where Russia lines up with a majority group of Islamic and African states that resists action affecting any of them.

Estemirova was abducted in her native Chechnya on July 15 and her body was found in the neighboring Ingushetia later that day.

Aso pulls plug on Lower House

Prime Minister Taro Aso played his ultimate trump card Tuesday and dissolved the Lower House, turning a deaf ear to vociferous opponents of the move from within his own party.

The Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan have now entered a head-on battle for the helm of government in an election that many expect will see the LDP stripped of its decades-long grip on power.

Aso's Cabinet approved setting the general election for Aug. 30. It will be the first postwar Lower House campaign held in the heat of August.

"I have dissolved the Lower House to ask the people which political party can safeguard their well-being," Aso told a news conference to mark the end of the Diet session.

While emphasizing his accomplishments in fighting the recession, he also apologized for "amplifying public distrust on politics caused by my poorly prepared remarks," referring to a series of gaffes and policy flip-flops.

During a morning meeting, Aso's bid to dissolve the chamber was approved by all of his ministers, including Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, who earlier indicated he might not sign the dissolution paper.

In order for the Lower House to be dissolved, approval from all Cabinet ministers is necessary. Refusal would prompt dismissal of the minister in question and the prime minister signing instead.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura quoted Aso as telling the Cabinet that members of the LDP "are responsible for creating a safe and energetic society for the future."

"We need further cooperation and understanding from the people," Aso said. "And that is why I would like to dissolve the chamber and seek the people's judgment."

Following the Cabinet's move, the LDP held a meeting of all its Diet members, during which Aso apologized for triggering public distrust with his policy miscues.

"I am deeply sorry for my statements and the flip-flops that triggered public anxiety and distrust in politics, resulting in the drop in the LDP's support rate," he said.

During the meeting, which was originally going to be closed to the media because party executives feared Aso would be exposed to harsh criticism from his foes, he also recognized that the devastating defeat in the recent Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly race and other recent LDP losses in local elections were partially a reflection of his inability to lead and unite the party.

"It is an undeniable fact that the people's evaluation of me and the LDP's internal disarray had a negative impact" on the recent local elections, Aso said. "I am also sorry for my lack of power to bring the party together."

Despite the LDP executives' fears, the meeting went relatively smoothly and most of the statements by lawmakers were supportive of Aso and called for party unity before the election.

Hideaki Omura, an LDP Lower House lawmaker, stood and reminded his colleagues their true foe is the DPJ.

"Everyone, our enemy is the populist party, the opposition party, the DPJ," Omura shouted during the meeting. "Japan cannot move forward if we don't crush the DPJ."

After hearing the voices of strong support from his party, Aso, in tears, said he believed the LDP had come together.

"I only have one wish — I hope that all of the candidates for the Lower House general election present today will be back together," Aso said. "To do this, there is nothing else to do but unite and fight together."

Afterward, former Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa, who had been a key player in anti-Aso movement, complimented him for his apology and said the meeting helped promote party solidarity.

"I always believed it was of the utmost importance for (Aso) to express his remorse and apologize to the public, so it was good that he articulated this," Nakagawa said.

Before the meeting, Nakagawa and other lawmakers had called on LDP executives to hold a joint plenary that could have led to a decision to hold a party presidential election to pick a new leader. The request was denied, and a regular meeting was held instead.

"I'll be a good sport and help support" party unity, Nakagawa said.

Koichi Kato, another prominent LDP lawmaker involved in the effort to oust Aso, said the election will be "special."

"In the worst-case scenario, this could well be the last election for the LDP," he said, indicating the party might end up disbanding. "There's a strong wind blowing against us, and if we don't give it everything we have, there might not be a next one."

City rapist gets nine years

A Norwich man who forced a passer-by to perform a sexual act on him and then lied to police by claiming she was a prostitute has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

Joseph Edwards, 35, of Fakenham Road, Taverham, was found guilty of rape at an earlier trial after being caught in the act by police, thanks to a "public spirited" man who lived nearby and guided officers to the scene of the attack while it was still taking place.

Norwich Crown Court heard how Edwards had grabbed the woman as she was walking home in the city from a day out with friends and family on February 22 this year.

Tim Squires, a fireman who lives near the scene of the attack on Lower Clarence Road, Norwich, heard the victim's cries and saw the attack happening through his flat window, before calling the police and staying on the phone to them until officers had arrived and found Edwards and the victim.

Recorder Guy Ayers described Edwards as a "thoughtful and manipulative rapist" after hearing that when he was caught, he had initially told police the victim was his girlfriend, and then when she refused to agree he said she was in fact a prostitute.

Prosecutor John Farmer read out a statement from the victim about the impact the attack had on her life, in which she said she was now scared to leave the house and was continually worried that she would bump into Edwards in the city.

It said: "Before, I was outgoing, carefree, and perhaps a bit naïve, but now I am always worried someone might grab me from behind. I have found the whole thing extremely traumatic. I was afraid I would bump into him in shops in the city."

In mitigation, Richard Wood said that Edwards had no similar previous offences, and that he had "drink demons" which he was trying to overcome.

Sentencing him to nine years in prison and an indefinite period of time on the sex offenders' register, Mr Ayers said: "People must be able to walk the streets at night without fear of attack by people like you."

The recorder also awarded £500 to Mr Squires for his part in helping to ensure Edwards was caught.

Harry Potter book to raise thousands

It was sitting neglected at a second-hand bookshop, but now a rare first edition Harry Potter book is expected to conjure up thousands of pounds when it casts a spell on eager bidders at an auction in Norwich.

The auction, being held at St Andrews Hall from 9am tomorrow , is expected to attract scores of fans who are eager to bag the copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Auctioneer Gary Barnes said that the client, a book collector who did not want to be named, was browsing a second-hand book sale in Dereham when he spotted the book on sale for just 99p.

He said: “He couldn't believe it when he saw it was a first edition, it's a very rare book indeed - you can tell by the number line.

“Unfortunately 99p had been written inside the cover by the sellers in pen, which has knocked a lot off the value, but other than that it is in absolutely first class condition and we are still hoping it will realise a substantial amount, around £1,000 to £2,000, although it could go for anything.

“There is a reserve, although I am not at liberty to say how much it is, but as you can imagine it's quite substantial. The timing is quite good with the film out at the moment too. I've never sold one of these before and I am very excited about it, as are my children.”

The book is the first in the Harry Potter series, which was written by JK Rowling. It describes how Harry discovers he is a wizard, makes close friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and with the help of his friends thwarts an attempted comeback by the evil wizard Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents and tried to kill Harry when he was a baby.

The Specialist Book Auction, by Barnes Auctioneers of Norwich, will include other rare Harry Potter books as well as early editions of The Lost World, Robinson Crusoe, and Tom Brown's Schooldays.

It will run between 9am and 2pm tomorrow, and as it is a private auction, people will be asked to submit written bids.

The book was to be displayed in St Andrew's Hall between 9am and 3pm today for people to view.

Harry Potter is very much in the spotlight at the moment with the recent release of the latest film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which is currently attracting millions of fans and filmgoers around the country.

Have you made an unusual find? Call reporter Sam Emanuel on 01603 772438 or email sam.emanuel@archant.co.uk.

Padmanathan takes over as new LTTE chief

The LTTE has officially appointed its international relations chief Selvarasa Padmanathan, alias KP, as the group’s new head.

"We, the executive committee of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, wish to officially let our beloved Tamil people and the international community know that Selvarasa Pathmanathan, who had been appointed as head of international relations by our national leader, will lead us into the next steps of our freedom struggle according to the vision of our esteemed leader,” an LTTE statement said on Tuesday evening.

The statement also declared the LTTE had set up a new headquarter at an undisclosed location.

Its previous headquarters of Killinochi was overrun by the Sri Lankan army in January. This was before the Lankan forces captured the entire territory held by the Tamil Tigers later in May.

"We have set up a head office for our liberation movement and formulated various sector-based working groups and an executive committee to take our struggle vigorously forward. We shall share the details of these in due course,” the statement said.

The Sri Lankan army completely defeated the LTTE militarily and killed a majority of its top leaders and commanders earlier this year. This included its chief V. Prabhakaran. But the organisation's support base in the Tamil diaspora across the globe is still strong.

The LTTE is banned in over 30 countries, including the US, UK and India. Its new head Padmanathan is a fugitive wanted by the Interpol. He is accused of gun-running and money laundering for the LTTE.

The LTTE has vowed to renew its fight for a free Tamil Eelam. The statement comes even as Sri Lanka has launched a diplomatic offensive to crack down on the remnants of the LTTE overseas.

The LTTE has already declared that it would shun violence and strive to attain its goal of an independent "Tamil Eelam" through non-violent means. It has set up a committee headed by its legal advisor Rudrakumar Vishwanathan to set up a "transnational government" in exile.

"If the Sinhala nation and those countries that support it consider that the Tamil people's freedom struggle has been defeated through the capture of historical homeland areas of the Tamil people and the massacre of thousands of Tamil civilians, we shall shatter that illusion,” the statement said.

'I'm no saint': Berlusconi

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, facing a snowballing call girl scandal, has urged his detractors to understand that he is no saint, the ANSA news agency reported.

"I'm not a saint," the billionaire leader said at the inauguration of a highway construction project in northern Brescia.

"You understand that, and let's hope the people at La Repubblica understand that," he added, referring to the left-leaning daily that has carried an unending stream of reports on the prime minister's alleged peccadilloes since late April.

The series began with an unexplained relationship between the 72-year-old PM and an 18-year-old aspiring model who calls him "Daddy," sparking divorce proceedings from second wife Veronica Lario.

The scandal moved on to compromising photos taken at Mr Berlusconi's luxury villa in Sardinia, published by the Spanish daily El Pais, before dwelling at length on Mr Berlusconi's alleged night with call girl Patrizia D'Addario, 42.

On Monday and Tuesday the weekly L'Espresso - which owns La Repubblica - posted audio clips on its website seemingly proving the liaison.

La Repubblica followed up on Wednesday with excerpts from the pair's supposed breakfast the next morning.

Last month Mr Berlusconi said he would not change and claimed Italians wanted him as he was.

"I am like that and I will not change. People want me the way I am," he told a news conference.

"They want me because I am good, generous, sincere, loyal and I carry out my promises."

The media tycoon also pointed to a 61 per cent approval rating, but the latest opinion survey published by La Repubblica put it at 49 per cent.

It was the first time the figure has dipped below 50 per cent since Mr Berlusconi's election in April 2008.

Ms D'Addario has said she filmed Mr Berlusconi's bedroom with her cellphone as well as the bedside table with a framed photograph of Ms Lario.

Mr Berlusconi denied ever having paid money for sex, saying: "I have never seen the satisfaction that there could be in it without the pleasure of conquest."

Millions watch as eclipse blacks out Asia

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century has cast a shadow over much of Asia, plunging hundreds of millions into darkness across the giant land masses of India and China.

Ancient superstition and modern commerce came together in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which could end up being the most watched eclipse in history, due to its path over Earth's most densely inhabited areas.

While the well-heeled took to the skies to watch the phenomenon from specially chartered planes, others took to holy waters to purify themselves as the sun's rays were snuffed out from Mumbai to Shanghai.

The cone-shaped shadow, or umbra, created by the total eclipse first made landfall on the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly before 6:30 am local time.

It then raced across India, blacking out the holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, squeezing between the northern and southern tips of Bangladesh and Nepal before engulfing most of Bhutan, traversing the Chinese mainland and slipping back out to sea off Shanghai.

Monsoon clouds in India and bad weather over eastern China spoiled the party for millions who had got up early to watch the solar blackout.

In Mumbai, hundreds of people who trekked up to the Nehru planetarium clutching eclipse sunglasses found themselves reaching for umbrellas and rain jackets instead.

Heavy overnight rain turned torrential just as the eclipse was due to start.

"We didn't want to watch it on television and we thought this would be the best place," said 19-year-old student Dwayne Fernandes.

"We could've stayed in bed," he said.

"Maybe, we'll just tell people we did see it," suggested his classmate Lizanne De Silva.

A total solar eclipse usually occurs every 18 months or so, but Wednesday's spectacle was special for its maximum period of "totality" - when the sun is wholly covered - of six minutes and 39 seconds.

Such a lengthy duration will not be matched until the year 2132.

Superstition has always haunted the moment when Earth, moon and sun are perfectly aligned. The daytime extinction of the sun, the source of all life, is associated with war, famine, flood and the death or birth of rulers.

Desperate for an explanation, the ancient Chinese blamed a sun-eating dragon. In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to "swallow" the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its light and causing food to become inedible and water undrinkable.

In the run up to Wednesday's eclipse, some Indian astrologers had issued predictions laden with gloom and foreboding, while superstition dictated that pregnant women should stay indoors to prevent their babies developing birth defects.

A gynaecologist at a Delhi hospital said many expectant mothers scheduled for July 22 caesarian deliveries insisted on changing the date.

For others it was an auspicious date, with more than 1 million Hindu pilgrims gathering at the holy site of Kurukshetra in northern India, where bathing in the waters during a solar eclipse is believed to further the attainment of spiritual freedom.

Those who could afford it grabbed seats on planes chartered by specialist travel agencies that promised extended views of the eclipse as they chased the shadow eastwards.

Travel firm Cox and Kings charged 79,000 rupees for a "sun-side" seat on a Boeing 737-700 aircraft that took off before dawn from New Delhi for a three-hour flight.

In Shanghai, hotels along the city's famed waterfront Bund packed in the customers with eclipse breakfast specials.

"The clouds move in and out, then all of a sudden you see it," said Glenn Evans, 46, a US executive with a cosmetics company who lives in Shanghai and was viewing the eclipse from a rooftop bar along the Bund.

The last total solar eclipse was on August 1 last year and also crossed China.

The next will be on July 11, 2010, but will occur almost entirely over the South Pacific, where Easter Island will be one of the few landfalls.