The week at a glance...Europe

Perugia, Italy

Another Amanda Knox trial: American student Amanda Knox is on trial once again for the 2007 murder of her British housemate Meredith Kercher while the two were exchange students in Italy. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were initially found guilty, but were acquitted by an appeals court, which ruled in 2010 that overzealous prosecutors had pursued a vendetta against Knox despite a lack of evidence. That acquittal, in turn, was reversed by the Supreme Court this year. Knox is not required to be present at the new trial, which will focus on whether Kercher’s DNA could be found on a knife from Sollecito’s kitchen. “I was already convicted wrongfully, and this is everything to fear,” Knox said. “This, as an innocent person, is the ultimate nightmare.”

Rome

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Berlusconi snubbed: Silvio Berlusconi’s own party stood up to him this week and refused to allow him to topple the government. Last week, the billionaire former prime minister pulled his People of Freedom party out of the governing coalition in a bid to force new elections and delay his incarceration—due to start this month—on a tax fraud conviction. Lawmakers in his party, though, balked at plunging Italy into yet another paralyzing political crisis. After they said they would vote with the government in a confidence motion, Berlusconi backed down. “Italians are crying out that they cannot take any more blood in the arena, with politicians who slit each other’s throats and then nothing changes,” said Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

Athens

Golden Dawn arrests: Greek authorities arrested six members of Parliament from the far-right Golden Dawn party last week, accusing them of founding a criminal gang. On a platform of rabid opposition to immigration, the party rose to become Greece’s third-largest political force last year, riding a wave of discontent over harsh austerity measures, and since then has grown increasingly thuggish. The arrests stem from an investigation into the murder last month of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas. A judge this week released three of the lawmakers pending trial. Party head Nikos Michaloliakos, one of those arrested, said the ongoing crackdown on Golden Dawn supporters would “open the gates of hell” in Greece.