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It is now well past the stage when anyone outside Italy regards attacks by Silvio Berlusconi on his "enemies" in the judiciary as anything other than the deluded rants of an old despot – Europe's answer to Gaddafi. And if the courts finally nail him – he is soon to go on trial on a charge of having sex with an under-age prostitute – it will, for most of the Teflon-tycoon's subjects, seem like the dream gift, as the country celebrates its 150th birthday next month.