Obama Meets With Berlusconi June 15

Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, who apparently loves young starlets a little too much, is meeting with Obama today.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's meeting Monday with President Barack Obama offers the Italian leader a chance to rehabilitate his international reputation after a scandal over his link to an 18-year-old model and ahead of a major summit he is hosting next month.
Obama is looking for common ground on boosting the troubled economy, and the two leaders are likely to discuss the differing approaches of the U.S. and most of Europe — a topic that will feature prominently at the July summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations in L'Aquila, the Apennine mountain town that was devastated by an earthquake this spring.
"I think (Obama) will want to encourage as much conversation and public statements as possible about strong U.S.-European cooperation to ensure quick recovery of the economy," said Heather Conley, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Europe Program.
The leaders offer a striking contrast: Berlusconi, a media mogul and one of Italy's richest men, has been plagued by criminal trials, conflict-of-interest accusations, tawdry scandals and headline-making gaffes that have drawn scorn from other countries but have done little to lower his high popularity rating at home.
Among other unguarded comments, Berlusconi made headlines shortly after the U.S. presidential election when he said Obama is "young, he's handsome and he even has a good tan." Read the rest at AP