Italy faces an election by mid-April which could return media magnate Silvio Berlusconi to power after he blocked attempts to form an interim government.

President Giorgio Napolitano summoned the speakers of both houses of parliament on Tuesday and is expected to dissolve parliament by Wednesday. By law, he would then have to call an election within 70 days.

April 13 is seen as the most likely poll date, just two years after Romano Prodi narrowly beat Berlusconi in the last election.

Two high-ranking officials from the European Union and the United Nations - one British, the other Irish - have been ordered to leave Afghanistan.

The two men, based in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, had been holding meetings with different tribes and groups, including possibly the Taleban.

The Afghan government has given them 48 hours to leave and the UN has said that it will comply with the request.

But officials hope to resolve what they have called a misunderstanding.

"We are currently trying to clarify the situation with the Afghan authorities, and we are hopeful that our staff member and the UN can continue with the essential work that is required to deliver peace, stability and progress to the people of Helmand province," said UN spokesman Aleem Siddique.

Italy's top court upheld a verdict on Friday acquitting former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a corruption case, a lawyer for Berlusconi said.

"It was high time. Twelve years have gone by since the start of this trial, in which Silvio Berlusconi was crucified, has been slandered around the world and now his innocence has finally emerged crystal clear," lawyer Niccolo Ghedini told Reuters.

Italy's richest man, owner of broadcaster Mediaset (MS.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), was first acquitted in the case in 2004. An appeals court upheld that verdict in April this year, and it was again upheld on Friday by Italy's Cassation Court, meaning the verdict is now definitive.

Berlusconi, head of the centre-right opposition, was accused of bribing judges to stop the sale of food group SME to a rival businessman in the 1980s.