ROME (AP) — Italy prosecutors have opened an investigation into the possible poisoning death of a Moroccan model who was a key witness in the trial against ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi over his...

MILAN (AP) — European Parliament President Antonio Tajani apologized Thursday for remarks interpreted as praise for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and insisted he is "a committed...

MILAN (AP) — Italy's premier opera house, La Scala in Milan, is under fire over a proposal to grant a board seat to Saudi Arabia's culture minister with the promise of 15 million euros ($16.8...

ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi is back. Again.

The three-time Italian premier, who has made a career out of rebounding from legal woes, personal scandal, heart trouble and political setbacks, announced Thursday he is running for the European Parliament in May elections.

The 82-year-old Berlusconi said he wanted to "bring my voice to a Europe that should change, a Europe that has lost profound thinking about the world."

MILAN (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi is back in the soccer business.

Less than 18 months after selling AC Milan, Berlusconi's family holding company Fininvest announced Friday it had acquired 100 percent of Serie C club Monza in a deal reportedly worth between 2.5 million and 3 million euros ($3 million-$3.5 million).

Former Milan vice president Adriano Galliani was nominated Monza's CEO.

MILAN (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi is reportedly getting back into football.

The Gazzetta dello Sport says Berlusconi's family holding company Fininvest has reached a deal to purchase Serie C club Monza in a deal worth between 2.5 and 3 million euros ($3-3.5 million)

MILAN (AP) — UEFA banned AC Milan from European competition for one year on Wednesday for overspending on player transfers and wages in one of the toughest sentences handed down for breaching financial fair play regulations.

Milan will be excluded from next season's Europa League unless an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is successful.

MILAN (AP) — The Ricketts family that owns the Chicago Cubs says it is negotiating to purchase the debt-ridden AC Milan soccer team.

The Milan office of the Edelman public relations firm, which has been hired to represent the Ricketts, says the entire family is interested in Milan for "a medium- to long-period investment" and wants to create "a strong bond with the city."

The interest comes as seven-time European champion Milan faces UEFA sanctions over a breach of financial fair play regulations.

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — AC Milan faces UEFA sanctions after an attempt to reach a settlement over a breach of financial fair play regulations was rejected by European football's governing body.

Milan last year spent more than 200 million euros (then nearly $250 million) on new players amid questions over the financial stability of the Chinese-led consortium that purchased the club from Silvio Berlusconi for $800 million in April 2017.

ROME (AP) — A court in Italy has ruled that former three-time Premier Silvio Berlusconi is eligible to seek public office again, nearly five years after a tax fraud conviction sidelined him as a candidate and amid political gridlock that could result in a second national election this year.

MILAN (AP) — The populist leaders of the 5-Star Movement and the League announced progress Thursday toward forming a new Italian government after two months of political stalemate.

ROME (AP) — Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the populist, right-wing League appeared headed to forming a government Wednesday after ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose party is a political partner of the League's, said he wouldn't get in the way.

ROME (AP) — Italian voters' love affair with Silvio Berlusconi may be waning, judging by the slumping fortunes of his Forza Italia party in recent elections.

But Italians are invited to explore the politician's relations with women in a new film by Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino.

ROME (AP) — Italy's populist 5-Star Movement says it's open to finding agreement with the Democratic Party on forming a government, but that its members would have to vote on any such alliance.

The country's March 4 parliamentary election produced an inconclusive outcome. A new round of consultations on creating the next Italian government began on Tuesday.

ROME (AP) — Italy's president asked the populist 5-Star Movement on Monday to see if it can find a parliamentary majority with the Democratic Party, after weeks of consultations failed to yield a government following inconclusive March 4 elections.

MILAN (AP) — A court in Italy convicted a mob boss, three police investigators and a close associate of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi in a case showing collusion between the Sicilian Mafia and state institutions after a deadly wave of mafia bombings during the early 1990s.

ROME (AP) — A rival pair of populist and stridently anti-European Union political forces surged in Italy's election for Parliament, but without enough support to govern the country alone, projections showed early Monday.

With the prospect of a hung Parliament looking increasingly likely, the nation faced a long slog to the formation of a viable government.

"Ungovernable Italy" headlined daily newspaper La Stampa as the early numbers rolled in.

ROME (AP) — The man tapped by Silvio Berlusconi as his likely choice for Italy's next premier met Wednesday with laid off Italian union workers and vowed to pull strings to intervene in the politically clamorous closure of their Turin refrigerator factory.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani met with the delegation on the sidelines of a parliamentary plenary meeting in Brussels, a sign that Italy's election isn't far from his mind even as he continues with his day job.

ROME (AP) — Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi jumped into politics a quarter-century ago vowing to save Italy from the communists. Now he's waging a crusade to keep Italian populists out of the government.

To be clear, the 81-year-old Berlusconi cannot seek his fourth premiership or even run for a seat in Parliament in Italy's March 4 election due to a tax fraud conviction.

ROME (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has asserted that 600,000 migrants who arrived illegally in Italy are "ready" to commit crimes, and he vowed they would be sent back to their homelands if an election next month propels his center-right party into government.

The leaders of the main rival parties in the March 4 parliamentary election retorted Monday that some policies from Berlusconi's three stints in office helped create the conditions that brought so many newcomers to Italy.

ROME (AP) — The head of an anti-migrant party who is running to be Italy's premier came to the defense Monday of an Italian gubernatorial candidate who advocated for clamping down on immigrants' numbers to preserve "our white race."

While political opponents condemned the comment by Attilio Fontana, who is running for the governorship of prosperous Lombardy, his League party leader, Matteo Salvini, said Fontana had rightly raised a worry about an "invasion" by Muslims.

ROME (AP) — Italian ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi, known for his "bunga bunga" parties and fondness for younger women, is praising Catherine Deneuve for warning against a courtship backlash following the swell of sexual misconduct allegations against prominent men.

MILAN (AP) — In one of the tightest Serie A title races of recent seasons, there is one noticeable absentee.

AC Milan was expected to be back at the top after spending more than 200 million euros (nearly $250 million) on new players in the offseason.

However, it approaches the halfway stage a lowly 11th in the standings, and there have been claims over the financial stability of the Chinese-led consortium that purchased the club from Silvio Berlusconi for $800 million in April.

MILAN (AP) — UEFA has rejected AC Milan's bid for an agreement to end a financial fair play investigation that threatens to derail the plans of the club's new Chinese owners.

While Milan spent more than 200 million euros (nearly $250 million) on new players in the offseason, there have been questions about the financial stability of the Chinese-led consortium that purchased the club from Silvio Berlusconi for $800 million in April.

COMO, Italy (AP) — Italy's governing Democrats led a rally Saturday to warn about fascism making a comeback in the nation that once suffered under fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and which is now seeing a rash of right-wing protests against migrants.

ROME (AP) — The president of Italy's Senate is leading a new political force appealing to disaffected Democrats as the nation's splintered left struggles against a surging populist party.

Pietro Grasso, who was national anti-Mafia prosecutor before entering politics, announced Sunday that Free and Equal, the group he's leading, will promote reducing social inequality in Italy.

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Lawyers for Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian government sparred Wednesday in Europe's human rights court in an unusual, high-profile case that could help the 81-year-old tycoon's attempted political comeback.

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The Latest on Silvio Berlusconi's appeal at the European Court of Human Rights over his barring from public office in Italy (all times local):

3:50 a.m.

Lawyers for Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian government have sparred in Europe's human rights court in an unusual, high-profile case that could aid Berlusconi's efforts for a political comeback.

ROME (AP) — A Milan court has ruled that billionaire media magnate and former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi no longer must pay 1.4 million euros ($1.65 million) a month in alimony.

Italian news reports said the appeals court agreed with Berlusconi that ex-wife Veronica Lario is self-sufficient economically and doesn't need to support the lifestyle she had while married to him.

MILAN (AP) — He's 81 years old and can't run for office because of a tax fraud conviction, but Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's three-time former premier, is again playing kingmaker in his country's political arena.

After a long period of relative quiet on the political scene, Berlusconi has been spearheading a center-right coalition that hopes to ride momentum from a weekend election victory in Sicily to a return to national power in a parliamentary vote early next year.

MILAN (AP) — Both a center-right coalition backed by former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the populist 5-Star Movement claimed momentum going into a national election next year following the results of Sicily's regional vote on Monday.

Center-right candidate Nello Musumeci garnered 39.9 percent of the vote representing four parties including Berlusconi's Forza Italia and the Northern League, with most precincts counted.

PRAGUE (AP) — Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis was already the second-richest person in the Czech Republic — and now he's set to become the country's most powerful politician, despite fraud charges against him.

Some call Babis the "Czech Berlusconi," a reference to Italy's former billionaire premier Silvio Berlusconi. Others consider him a local version of U.S. President Donald Trump. He is known for his slogan "everybody steals" and his resolve to run the state like a company.

MILAN (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi threw his political weight behind a non-binding referendum on autonomy in his native region of Lombardy — though he said Wednesday he wasn't sure whether he can vote himself.

Berlusconi joined Roberto Maroni, president of the prosperous Lombardy region, to show his support for its autonomy. Both Lombardy and neighboring Veneto are voting Sunday for greater autonomy.

MILAN (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has thrown his political weight behind a referendum on autonomy in his native region of Lombardy, but said he isn't sure whether he can vote himself.

Berlusconi joined Lombardy's president, Roberto Maroni, on Wednesday to show his support for a pair of non-binding ballot measures to be voted on Sunday in the prosperous, Northern League-governed regions of Lombardy and neighboring Veneto.

ROME (AP) — Backers of Italy's populist 5-Star Movement are protesting the initial passage of revised election rules they contend are designed to foil their bid to gain national power for the first time.

The Chamber of Deputies — the lower chamber of the Italian Parliament — approved the rules late Thursday despite defections by some lawmakers from parties that are officially backing the changes.

ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi can no longer order AC Milan's manager to change the lineup to his preferred "Christmas tree" 4-3-2-1 formation and fire the coach if he refuses.

Maurizio Zamparini, another notoriously impatient owner who has made more than 40 coaching changes in 15 years, still presides over Palermo, but which is in Serie B.

ROME (AP) — Italy's ruling center-left Democratic Party is picking up the pieces after a weekend drubbing in local elections while former Premier Silvio Berlusconi is basking in his latest political rebound and an alliance with an anti-immigrant right-wing party.

Democratic leader Matteo Renzi acknowledged internal divisions that have torn the Democratic Party apart, saying in a Facebook post Wednesday that he wanted to move beyond them to confront the issues that Italians care about.