Milan
Trials of Berlusconi: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been ordered to stand trial on charges that he paid an underage prostitute for sex and then abused his office to cover up the deed. Karima el Mahroug, known as Ruby the Heartstealer, says she took money from Berlusconi and attended his parties but did not have sex with him. The scandal, which has dogged the prime minister for months, is merely the latest in a string of lurid allegations. The difference this time: Last month, Italy’s constitutional court ruled that Berlusconi’s office no longer gives him automatic immunity from criminal charges. Over the next two months, he will face trial in the Ruby case as well as three unrelated embezzlement and fraud cases. Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of women demonstrated in cities across Italy under the slogan, “If not now, when?”—calling on the prime minister to step down and stop humiliating women.
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