Silvio Berlusconi calls Barack Obama tanned - again

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's gaffe-prone prime minister, has again referred to US President Barack Obama as "suntanned", days after being snubbed by Michelle Obama at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

"I bring you greetings from a person who is called...a person who is sun-tanned...Barack Obama," the smiling 72-year-old politician told a crowd of cheering supporters in Milan on Sunday. "You wouldn't believe it, but they go sunbathing at the beach together - his wife is also sun-tanned." He said his rapport with America's first black president was "easy-going" and described Mr Obama as a "fine man" with a good sense of irony, as the crowd chanted "Silvio, Silvio" and his campaign slogan, "Thank goodness for Silvio". At the G20 meeting last week, Mrs Obama pointedly chose to shake Mr Berlusconi's hand rather than give him hug and a kiss on the cheek, as she did to other world leaders. Mrs Obama's reserve may have reflected White House reluctance to appear too cosy with a man who has been dogged since April by scandals over his personal life, including accusations that he "consorts with minors" and that he slept with a high-class prostitute at his private mansion in Rome... Telegraph