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Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Is Dead

Published

2 years ago

June 12, 2023

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Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister who reshaped Italy’s political and cultural landscape while fending off multiple legal and s*x scandals, has died aged 86, his spokesman confirmed to AFP Monday.

The billionaire media mogul was admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukemia.

His admission came just three weeks after he was discharged following a six-week stay at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, during which time doctors revealed he had a rare type of blood cancer.

Berlusconi had suffered ill health for years, from heart surgery in 2016 to a 2020 hospitalisation for coronavirus. Despite being re-elected to the Senate last year, he was rarely seen in public.

But he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a junior — and occasionally troublesome — partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

Berlusconi led Italy three times between 1994 and 2011, for a total of nine years, wooing voters with a promise of economic success only to be forced out as a debt crisis gripped his country.

But his influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting interests, while his playboy antics kept him in the headlines even in his final years.

“Silvio Berlusconi made history in this country,” ex-prime minister Matteo Renzi said on Facebook.

“Many loved him, many hated him: everyone today must recognize that his impact on political but also economic, sporting and television life was unprecedented,” he said.

Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, two ex-wives and five children, some of whom help run his empire, recently estimated to be worth some seven billion dollars.

While it is too soon for details of his funeral, Berlusconi built a Pharaoh-inspired marble mausoleum at his villa in Arcore, near Milan, to house his family and friends when they die.

– Bunga bunga parties –

Charismatic, clownish and with a fine grasp of what his audiences wanted, Berlusconi used his media interests to project an image of a strong, self-made man that voters could emulate — a tactic later used by US president Donald Trump.

Berlusconi began his career as a real-estate magnate before investing in television channels which broke the mould in Italy, featuring shows particularly popular with housewives, later a pillar of his electorate.

He portrayed himself as both the messiah and a martyr and enjoyed widespread popularity, though detractors accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.

His fans admired his plain speaking, although many Italians were acutely embarrassed by his crude jokes and insults on the international stage, as well as his endless legal cases, which resulted in one conviction for corporate tax fraud.

While Italy’s economy floundered, the self-professed playboy was hosting his notorious “bunga bunga” sex parties, which triggered a series of trials that were only wrapped up in recent months.

In 2010, 17-year-old Karima El-Mahroug, known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, claimed to have been paid by Berlusconi for sex. He was later also accused of bribing witnesses to lie about the parties, although he was ultimately acquitted.

Headline

Travelling To US To Give Birth For Citizenship Illegal — US Mission

Published

3 minutes ago

August 6, 2025

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The US Mission in Nigeria has cautioned Nigerians, especially expecting mothers, against travelling to the United States solely to give birth and secure US citizenship for their children.

In a post on its official X account on Wednesday, the Mission stressed that such birth tourism is not permitted under US visa regulations and carries the risk of outright denial.

It said, “Using your visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States so that your child will have U.S. citizenship is not permitted.”

It added that consular officers will refuse any visa application if there is reason to believe that birth tourism is the applicant’s intent, a warning aimed at sparing travellers the expense and disappointment of rejection.

“Consular officers will deny your visa application if they have reason to believe this is your intent, ” the post read.

Headline

Shooter Injures Five Soldiers At US Military Base

Published

52 minutes ago

August 6, 2025

Editor

A shooter wounded five soldiers at Fort Stewart before being apprehended by law enforcement on Wednesday, the US military base said.

“All soldiers were treated on-site and moved to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment,” said a post by the official Facebook page of the base, which is located in the southern state of Georgia.

The base went into lockdown shortly after law enforcement was dispatched to respond to the incident, according to the post, which said the shooter was now in custody, but provided no details about their identity or potential motive.

“There is no active threat to the community,” the post said, adding: “The incident remains under investigation and no additional information will be released until the investigation is complete.”

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and that the White House is “monitoring the situation.”

Though relatively rare, military facilities have not been left untouched by the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States, where conservative politicians have sought to block many restrictions on firearms.

Headline

Ghana Defence, Environment Ministers Killed In Helicopter Crash

Published

2 hours ago

August 6, 2025

Editor

Ghana’s defence and environment ministers were killed in a helicopter crash Wednesday, the Ghanaian presidency said, hours after the armed forces reported a chopper carrying three crew and five passengers dropped off the radar.

Edward Omane Boamah became President John Mahama’s defence minister earlier this year shortly after Mahama’s swearing-in in January.

Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed was serving as the minister of environment, science and technology.

Everyone onboard was killed in the accident, authorities said.

“The president and government extend our condolences and sympathies to the families of our comrades and the servicemen who died in service to the country,” said Mahama’s chief of staff Julius Debrah.

Boamah was helming Ghana’s defence ministry at a time when jihadist activity across its northern border in Burkina Faso has become increasingly restive.

While Ghana has so far avoided a jihadist spillover from the Sahel — unlike neighbours Togo and Benin — observers have warned of increased arms trafficking and of militants from Burkina Faso crossing the porous border to use Ghana as a rear base.

A medical doctor by training, Boamah’s career in government included stints as communications minister during Mahama’s previous 2012-2017 tenure. Before that, he was the deputy minister for the environment.

The Ghanaian Armed Forces had reported earlier Wednesday that an air force helicopter had fallen off radar after taking off from Accra just after 9:00 am. It had been headed towards the town of Obuasi, northwest of the capital.

The statement had said that three crew and five passengers were aboard, without specifying at the time that the ministers were among them.

Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Ghana’s deputy national security coordinator and former agriculture minister, was among the dead, along with Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama’s National Democratic Congress party.

As Ghana has pursued increased diplomacy with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — all ruled by juntas who have broken with the ECOWAS west African regional bloc — Boamah led a delegation to Ouagadougou in May.

He had been set to release a book titled “A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy”, about former president John Atta Mills, who died in 2012.

All flags were to be flown at half-staff, Debrah said, while the presidency said Mahama had cancelled his official activities for the day.