Italy's first family soap opera was back on the front pages yesterday after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's wife said his party's selection of women to run in European elections was a "shamelessly trashy" process.
Veronica Berlusconi, who has publicly lamented her husband's eye for younger women in the past, also accused him of going to the birthday bash of an 18-year-old woman in Naples but not attending the coming-of-age-parties of his own children.
Veronica, 52, who rarely appears with her husband, said she agreed with Italian newspapers' descriptions of her husband's party's choice of female candidates as "entertainment for the emperor", in what newspapers saw as a reference to him.
The latest public clash between the Berlusconis, which dominated mainstream newspaper front pages along with swine flu and Fiat's rescue of Chrysler, follows a media debate over "starlets in politics".
"Women in Politics - Veronica's Wrath," was the way La Stampa of Turin put it. (Reuters)
Chinese seal fetches €1.68 million
A Chinese bidder yesterday snapped up an 18th-century Qing Dynasty seal for €1.68 million at a Paris auction held despite protests from Beijing.
The white jade imperial seal, which Beijing says was looted from the Summer Palace in 1860, was acquired by a Chinese national who refused to give his name, telling reporters he was acting on behalf of an art collector in France.
Sold as part of a collection of Asian art, the seal went for more than five times its estimated price of €300,000, after a tense bidding race with another Asian buyer in a packed auction room.
The authorities that manage Beijing's Summer Palace, former home to China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) emperors, issued a sharp protest over the sale, saying the seal was looted by British and French forces in 1860.
Mounted with two carved dragons back to back, the seal comes from the personal collection of a descendant of Elie Jean de Vassoigne, a French general who commanded some of the invading troops. The 10-centimetre piece bears an inscription reading "peace and tranquility to the nation". (AFP)
What's in a name?
US pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting US officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.
At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the "H1N1 virus".
"This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about," Mr Vilsack said.
Israel has already rejected the name swine flu, and opted to call it "Mexico flu". Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork.
The Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.
And there is growing sentiment in the farm sector to call it the North American virus - although disease expert Anthony Fauci told a Senate hearing the "swine flu" designation reflected scientific naming protocol. (Reuters)
TV profanity crackdown
The Supreme Court upheld a US government crackdown on profanity on television, a policy that subjects broadcasters to fines for airing a single expletive blurted out on a live show.
In its first ruling on broadcast indecency standards in more than 30 years, the high court handed a victory on Tuesday to the Federal Communications Commission, which adopted the crackdown against the one-time use of profanity on live television when children are likely to be watching.
The case stemmed from an FCC decision in 2006 that found News Corp's Fox television network violated decency rules when singer Cher blurted out an expletive during the 2002 Billboard Music Awards broadcast and actress Nicole Richie used two expletives during the 2003 awards.
No fines were imposed, but Fox challenged the decision. A US appeals court in New York struck down the new policy as "arbitrary and capricious" and sent the case back to the FCC for a more reasoned explanation of its policy. (Reuters)
Researchers clone glowing puppies
South Korean scientists yesterday said they have created dogs that glow red by using a cloning technique that opens the way for research into human diseases.
The four cloned beagles known as Ruppy - Ruby Puppy - contain a fluorescent protein that makes them glow red under ultraviolet light. Even in daylight, their skin and claws appear pink. Scientists said the creation of the glowing pups shows it will be possible to implant genes related to human diseases into dogs for research purposes.
"They are the world's first transgenic dogs," Professor Lee Byeong-Chun who leads the Seoul National University (SNU) team said. "This means we'll be able to switch genes in dogs for genes related to human diseases such as Parkinson's Disease for research," he said, adding that dogs suffer from 224 illnesses that also afflict humans. (AFP)