The Wire

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has died at 86.  He had had leukemia complicated by a lung condition and a dose of long COVID.

After a career in property development, construction a media TV empire and buying his favourite football team AC Milan, he turned to politics in 1994.  He formed the Centre Right Forza Italia party and swept into power in a matter of months.

Dogged by many scandals, he nevertheless held the top job in Italian politics 3 times from 1994 to 2011.  After time suspended from office, he bounced back to become a member of parliament at the last election.