Italian Women

ROME — Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy gave a lesson on Islam and copies of the Koran to a few hundred young Italian women yesterday as he arrived in Rome for his fourth visit in a year. It was the second time the Libyan leader — who travels with female bodyguards and fancies himself a self-styled feminist — had staged such an event for Italian women, who were recruited by a modeling agency and paid an undisclosed sum to attend. Michela, who asked that her last name not be used, said three of the participants converted to Islam on the spot.

ROME THERE ARE men you marry and men you flee. The goal is to figure out which is which before any permanent damage is done. Italian women are hoping it isn't too late. Their nearly 20-year political marriage to disgraced Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has finally come to an end. While the immediate cause for the split was Italy's financial woes and debt crises, Berlusconi's behavior with minors and prostitutes had already turned him into Europe's most isolated ruler.

KUWAIT CITY -- Foreign Minister Franco Frattini of Italy appealed for a "civilized dialogue" between religions as he stood inside Kuwait's Grand Mosque at the start of a Middle East visit he hopes will help win the release of two Italian women kidnapped in Iraq. The Italian government has been working feverishly to free the women, who were seized Sept. 7, weeks after an Italian freelance journalist was abducted and slain in Iraq. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government had been sharply criticized for not doing enough to secure the journalist's release.

ROME — Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy gave a lesson on Islam and copies of the Koran to a few hundred young Italian women yesterday as he arrived in Rome for his fourth visit in a year. It was the second time the Libyan leader — who travels with female bodyguards and fancies himself a self-styled feminist — had staged such an event for Italian women, who were recruited by a modeling agency and paid an undisclosed sum to attend. Michela, who asked that her last name not be used, said three of the participants converted to Islam on the spot.

ROME THERE ARE men you marry and men you flee. The goal is to figure out which is which before any permanent damage is done. Italian women are hoping it isn't too late. Their nearly 20-year political marriage to disgraced Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has finally come to an end. While the immediate cause for the split was Italy's financial woes and debt crises, Berlusconi's behavior with minors and prostitutes had already turned him into Europe's most isolated ruler.

PORTO ROTONDO, Sardinia - Perhaps it was the setting - one of Italy's most romantic resorts. Or the company - standing next to Italy's famously flirtatious prime minister. But the normally stern Vladimir Putin showed the world another side of his character yesterday, laughing off questions about an extramarital affair with a champion gymnast. While Putin denied the rumors, he seemed to delight in projecting a new image to the world: ladies' man. The news conference that followed meetings at Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi's lavish Sardinian villa...

I met Jason by accident. While driving through Tralee, Ireland, I hit a curb, which resulted in a flat tire and left my friend and me stranded on the side of the road. We were two women in a strange country without a spare when a four-door sedan pulled up. If this were a John Grisham thriller, the story would take a turn for the worse and end with the neighbors testifying in front of a jury that they saw nothing but an abandoned car when they woke the next morning. But this isn’t fiction -- this is Ireland.

ROME - More than 100,000 women have signed a petition saying they are offended by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - an initiative launched by a newspaper after the premier made a sexist remark to an opposition politician. Berlusconi, 73, made the jab during a call in to a late-night talk show Oct. 7 that featured, among other guests, Rosy Bindi, a 58-year-old former minister who dresses conservatively, wears glasses, and has short, gray hair. “You are always more beautiful than intelligent,’’ Berlusconi told her. She snapped back: “I’m not one of the women at...

It's known as one of the most glamorous red carpets of the year, with movie stars, models and even a few star quarterbacks putting on their most fashion-forward outfits for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala. Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Heidi Klum, Tim Tebow and Florence Welch were among those to weave through the tented grand Fifth Avenue entrance to celebrate the new fashion exhibit that compares and contrasts the designs of two Italian women: Miuccia Prada, who...

I met Jason by accident. While driving through Tralee, Ireland, I hit a curb, which resulted in a flat tire and left my friend and me stranded on the side of the road. We were two women in a strange country without a spare when a four-door sedan pulled up. If this were a John Grisham thriller, the story would take a turn for the worse and end with the neighbors testifying in front of a jury that they saw nothing but an abandoned car when they woke the next morning. But this isn’t fiction -- this is Ireland.

ROME - More than 100,000 women have signed a petition saying they are offended by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - an initiative launched by a newspaper after the premier made a sexist remark to an opposition politician. Berlusconi, 73, made the jab during a call in to a late-night talk show Oct. 7 that featured, among other guests, Rosy Bindi, a 58-year-old former minister who dresses conservatively, wears glasses, and has short, gray hair. “You are always more beautiful than intelligent,’’ Berlusconi told her. She snapped back: “I’m not one of the women at...

PORTO ROTONDO, Sardinia - Perhaps it was the setting - one of Italy's most romantic resorts. Or the company - standing next to Italy's famously flirtatious prime minister. But the normally stern Vladimir Putin showed the world another side of his character yesterday, laughing off questions about an extramarital affair with a champion gymnast. While Putin denied the rumors, he seemed to delight in projecting a new image to the world: ladies' man. The news conference that followed meetings at Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi's lavish Sardinian villa started off with...

KUWAIT CITY -- Foreign Minister Franco Frattini of Italy appealed for a "civilized dialogue" between religions as he stood inside Kuwait's Grand Mosque at the start of a Middle East visit he hopes will help win the release of two Italian women kidnapped in Iraq. The Italian government has been working feverishly to free the women, who were seized Sept. 7, weeks after an Italian freelance journalist was abducted and slain in Iraq. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government had been sharply criticized for not doing enough to secure the journalist's...

BAGHDAD -- Two Italian women working for an aid agency in Iraq have been kidnapped, the agency said yesterday. Gunmen in olive-green uniforms broke into the group's Baghdad offices and took the women, along with two Iraqis, neighbors said. The attack was only the second known kidnapping of foreign women since the wave of abductions began earlier this year. The first involved a Japanese aid worker captured in Fallujah in April along with two other Japanese, who were all released a week later.