Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has blamed “feminist, communist” judges for a €200,000-a-day divorce settlement following the break-up of his second marriage.

Mr Berlusconi told the La7 TV network that he was appealing against the settlement with ex-wife Veronica Lario.

Italian media initially reported the settlement amounted to €100,000 a day. But Mr Berlusconi said the figure, with arrears, was double that. He said: “These are three women judges, feminists and communists, OK? These are the Milan judges who have persecuted me since 1994.” (AP)

Fat chance to join a gym

A Texas gym has opened with an exclusive rule for joining: new members have to be at least three and a half stone overweight.

Downsize Fitness wants them to feel comfortable while exercising, so there are no mirrors inside and the windows are fogged. Even the equipment is designed for heavier people.

Entrepreneur Francis Wisnewski said he started the gym because “I’ve been overweight my whole life, and I was embarrassed to go to the gym myself”. (PA)

Tag burglar caught in act

Burglar Richard Almaraoui was quickly caught red-handed after breaking into a flat – while wearing an electronic tag.

The 33-year-old was jailed for five years after admitting breaking into the flat in Norwich, the Eastern Daily Press reported.

Norwich Crown Court was told that police were able to track him down as his tag – fitted for previous offences – revealed he had been at the address from where the computer was stolen. (PA)

Memory lost in Germany

Austrian police have made an appeal to the public for help over a tourist thought to be German languishing in the country for the past seven weeks, who has lost his memory and has no identification papers.

All the police know is that the man arrived wearing hiking gear in the German town of Lindau on Lake Constance by train on November 19, went to the tourist office and walked over the border to nearby Bregenz.

Since then the man, aged around 50 and who on account of his “High German” accent is strongly believed to be a German, cannot remember his name or where he comes from. (AFP)

Man dies while zorbing

A supposedly thrilling ride down a ski slope inside a giant inflatable ball ended in tragedy for two Russian men inside.

One died and the other was badly injured when the transparent plastic ball – called a zorb – veered off course and sailed over a cliff in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia.

The men’s terrifying ride, which was captured on video, prompted the head of the national emergency rescue services to demand Russia address its lax enforcement of safety rules for winter sports.

The sport of zorbing originated in the 1990s in New Zealand and is now done around the world. (AP)