An Italian erotic novel has raised intriguing questions about Silvio Berlusconi's government and its penchant for plucking attractive women from obscurity and propelling them into politics.

The book has been written by Maria Gabriella Genisi, 44, who alleges she was offered a candidacy in the Italian prime minister's People of Liberty (PDL) party only to be dumped so that the seat could be given to a government minister's mistress.

The rejection inspired her to write the book, cryptically titled The Goldfish Doesn't Live Here Anymore, about a supermarket checkout girl who has a love affair with a fictional minister.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is "excited" but "nervous" about performing in person for the first time since becoming France's first lady at a celebrity-studded concert in New York to mark Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday.

Dave Stewart, the British singer-songwriter who will perform two duets with Miss Bruni on Saturday night and is a driving force behind the Mandela Day celebration, offered the insights on his friend after he spoke to her in Paris.

"Carla's excited and a bit nervous," said Stewart, who rose to fame with Annie Lennox as The Eurythmics.

BRUSSELS (Reuters Life!) - It is a little known fact that Belgium's finance minister wears blue and white striped boxer shorts and the Brussels underpants museum has a pair to prove it.

Belgian artist Jan Bucquoy said that the framed underwear represents a utopian longing for an equal society.

"If I had portrayed Hitler in his underpants there would not have been a war. I think in this way you can contribute to a better world," Bucquoy told Reuters on Friday.

"If you are scared of someone, just imagine them in their underpants. The hierarchy will fall and you will see that this is a guy like any other. We are all equal, all brothers."

Today is hot. The sunlight is bright white, the sky clear Finnish blue. There's a water war going on in the garden with the neighbour kids. "He who controls the water, controls the war". I have threatened the WMD of a bucket of ice-cold water if one drop comes in my direction.

Close friends coming over for grilling. Not "What do you know about 9/11". The Krapula Sisters are also on their way. (Look it up).

Looks like we are into another recording on the H2 later on. I have started documenting the patio discussions to prove that they are not at all as funny as Ricky Gervais' podcasts.

Thanks again Bremen Beatman for the link. BTW CH I think you like a movie called 'The Visitor' from 2008, now in DVD. Richard Jenkins is great in it, (They all are) and it's about finding the beat in life, done in a very gentle, understated way. I find it really amazing that director was able to make us, the audience, simultaneously care about 4 quite different characters. Even though you sense that they could never all be together for long and thus an unhappy ending was on the way.

You can't be me, I'm taken