Berlusconi mocked over miracle

The leader of the right-wing opposition in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, has been criticized and mocked for suggesting he had performed a miracle.

Mr Berlusconi was quoted as saying that he once told a young man in a wheelchair to get up and walk -- and the man did so a few days later.

The leader of the governing left-wing party, Walter Veltroni, called the remarks offensive nonsense.

But the BBC Rome correspondent says Mr Berlusconi, who is tipped to win next year's general election, is an astute campaigner -- and will have noticed that this week's biggest television audience was for a film about the miracles of Italy's favourite saint, Padre Pio.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service