The Italian parliament approved a controversial immunity bill that would allow Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to avoid an embarrassing corruption trial just days before Italy takes over the presidency of the European Union. Members of lower house, where Berlusconi's right-wing coalition holds a majority, backed the bill by 319 votes to 17 with 13 abstentions, two weeks after the Senate also approved the proposed legislation. Members of the main leftist opposition parties boycotted the vote to protest the bill, which would protect the state's five top officials from legal prosecution during their terms in office. The law would effectively avoid the intense embarrassment of a possible conviction for Berlusconi during Italy's six-month EU presidency, which starts July 1.

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