Italy's Berlusconi hospitalized but vows to resume campaign

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized with severe kidney pain on Tuesday but his political party said the 82-year-old planned to quickly resume campaigning for European Parliament elections due next month. He has been dogged by health concerns in recent years, undergoing open heart surgery in 2016, but he has never indicated he is ready to retire from politics and is standing as a candidate for the May 26 European elections. “As soon as checks currently been carried out are over, he has promised to be present at the Forza Italia event scheduled for this afternoon with the European election candidates,” a spokeswoman for Forza Italia said in a statement.