Sources told Reuters that magistrates were treating the death as murder. A bottle of whiskey and packed suitcases were found near her body, reports said.

Marrazzo resigned in late October after he was allegedly blackmailed by four Italian policeman who obtained a video of him having sex and taking drugs with another Brazilian transsexual known as Natalie, who was friends with ‘Brenda.’ After initial denying the incident, he soon admitted to having hired the prostitutes and using cocaine.

Gianfranco Fini, a former neofascist and now deputy leader of the ruling party, has decided to appeal directly to voters in the same month that Mr Berlusconi faces new trials for corruption. Mr Fini is the leading contender to succeed the Prime Minister — although Mr Berlusconi has said that he will not resign even if convicted. Mr Fini, who is Speaker of the Lower House, has shed his extreme-Right past and adopted a statesmanlike stance, and on Wednesday will publish The Future of Freedom, subtitled Unasked-for Advice to Those Born in 1989.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s office called the report in the Times of London “completely groundless.” The defense minister said the paper published “rubbish.”

The Times reported that Italy had paid “tens of thousands of dollars” to Taliban commanders and warlords in the Surobi district, east of the capital, Kabul. The newspaper cites Western military officials, including high-ranking officers at NATO.

It accused Rome of failing to inform its allies, misleading the French, who took over the Surobi district in mid-2008, into thinking the area was quiet and safe. Shortly thereafter, the French contingent was hit with an ambush that killed 10 soldiers and had big political repercussions back in Paris.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai and French government officials refused to comment on the report.

Some lotto-tourists flew into Italy for just a few hours to try their luck.

But nobody picked the winning combination. The SuperEnalotto jackpot has now surpassed the previous European record of £107m, set in Spain in May.

On Tuesday, La Repubblica and its sister publication, the news weekly L’Espresso, published the latest conversations taped surreptitiously by Patrizia D’Addario which she claims prove that she and Mr Berlusconi had a sexual relationship. Ms D’Addario, a high-class escort, claims she and other women were paid to attend parties at Mr Berlusconi’s residence in Rome.

Mr Berlusconi’s lawyer, Nicolo Ghedini, denied the authenticity of the tapes, calling them “completely improbable and the fruit of invention”.

One of those arrested is Luigi Fallico, a former member of the Italian left-wing terrorist group the Red Brigades, police said Thursday.

The arrests happened after raids throughout the country as part of an investigation into the group.

Italian investigators uncovered the plot through phone interceptions, police said. The alleged terrorists had initially planned to attack the town of La Maddalena, the original location of the summit.

The suspects face charges of terrorist activities and weapon possession.