Does the fate of history’s boldest experiment in political and economic integration now rest on the travel habits of a shapely young belly dancer?
Karima El Mahroug, aka “Ruby the Heart Stealer,” failed to appear at a scheduled court appearance in Milan Monday, where she was scheduled to take the stand in the trial of Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister accused of paying to have sex with a minor. This came just days after Mr. Berlusconi withdrew his center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party’s support for current Prime Minister Mario Monti and announced his intent to again run for his country’s top office. In response, Monti, the steady-handed technocrat whose reform agenda had stabilized bond markets and mitigated the risk that Italy would be forced out the euro zone, declared on Saturday that he would resign.
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