Silvio’s Snips

Ancient Rome is suddenly looking more youthful, and not because those shiny new Vespa scooters are everywhere. After a mysterious month-long absence, in which Italians speculated that their leader was recovering from plastic surgery, Prime Minister SILVIO BERLUSCONI finally stepped back in front of the cameras last week. Noticeably tauter around the throat and eyes, the billionaire politician conceded only that he “took a few hours for myself every morning to get back in shape.” Face-lift or not, the hubbub proves that “more than a Prime Minister, Berlusconi is a star,” says newspaper editor Giuliano Ferrara. Let’s just hope this doesn’t give jowly old Ted Kennedy any ideas.