Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid an underage prostitute $60,000—but it wasn’t for sex, he says. Berlusconi, who is on trial for sleeping with Karima el Mahroug when she was underage, says he wanted to help her launch a beauty center so she could escape prostitution. "The girl told a very painful and moving story," he said, adding that he believed Mahroug was former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s grandchild. "Once again Berlusconi has managed to transform something grave and serious into a ridiculous comedy that is simply sad," said one opposition politician.
Read it at The Guardian
