Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to be prosecuted again - this time for statutory rape:
The Milan chief prosecutor said a request for a fast-track trial would be submitted to a court on Wednesday.Hopefully they'll finally get him this time. OTOH, if there's any real chance of that, he'll just pass a law granting himself impunity again; it doesn't matter that it will be overturned by the constitutional court, because it will help run out the clock on Italy's crazy statute of limitations (which is based on final conviction rather than charge - meaning every appeal helps run out the clock).Mr Berlusconi is alleged to have paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then intervened to get her released from custody in a separate case.
The woman, known as Ruby, is now 18 and denies that they had sex.
