MILAN - The Moroccan woman at the centre of a sex scandal involving former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is testifying publicly for the first time. Karima el-Mahroug took the witness stand Friday in the trial of three Berlusconi aides charged with recruiting her and other women for prostitution. They deny the charges. El-Mahroug, known by the nickname Ruby Heart Stealer, has made carefully orchestrated statements to the media since the scandal broke but has never publicly given sworn testimony. Both she and Berlusconi deny having had sex.

Britain moved closer to a referendum on Europe after a eurosceptic lawmaker said on Thursday that he would put forward legislation backed by Prime Minister David Cameron guaranteeing a vote by 2017. Cameron ordered all Conservative lawmakers to give their full backing to the bill, which the party rushed out earlier this week in a bid to satisfy the increasingly rebellious eurosceptic wing of the party.

By Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday France needed to present a credible program of structural economic reforms if the EU is to grant it two more years to bring its budget deficit down as promised. Barroso, who was due to meet French President Francois Hollande in Brussels later in the day, was speaking as new data showed Europe's second largest economy slipped into a shallow recession.

By Silvia Ognibene SARTEANO, Italy (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta took his ministers to a conference center in a former abbey in Tuscany for a retreat on Sunday to thrash out differences that have already threatened the stability of his fragile coalition. The two-day bonding session near the town of Sarteano was billed by Letta's office as a chance to discuss some of the thorniest policy issues facing the coalition between the main traditional rivals on the left and right of Italian politics.