Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is "better than he was", his friend Fedele Confalonieri said on Friday after visiting him in hospital, where he is being treated for a lung infection caused by chronic leukaemia. The 86-year-old billionaire media tycoon was rushed to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Wednesday, triggering speculation that his life might be in danger and drawing a stream of family and friends to his bedside.