Sex and politics – Italian style. Will a model-turned-minister prove the undoing of Silvio Berlusconi, just as Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky led to his impeachment?

Mr Berlusconi will be 114 years old in 2050, the target set by this week’s G8 summit to halve greenhouse gases, so when the prime minister got home it was no surprise to find the country fixated on more immediate issues – namely can he pass laws quickly enough to save himself from further scandals and legal trouble.