Berlusconi to appeal in tax case

26 October 2012 Last updated at 21:15 ET

Lawyers for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are to appeal against his jail sentence for tax fraud, media reports say.

The appeal will be lodged by 10 November, reports said, and could take several years.

Mr Berlusconi and others were convicted of inflating the price of distribution rights bought by his Mediaset group to avoid paying taxes.

On Friday a Milan court sentenced him to four years but later cut it to one.

The media mogul was also barred from holding office for five years.

A furious Mr Berlusconi later went on national television to condemn the sentence as "intolerable judicial harassment".

He has long complained that he is being persecuted by left-leaning judges in Milan.

"It is a political, incredible and intolerable judgement," Mr Berlusconi said on Italia 1 - one of the TV stations he owns.

"It is without any doubt a political verdict just as all the cases invented against me are political."

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• Accused of having paid for sex with an underage prostitute and of abuse of power for asking police to release her when she was arrested for theft
• Convicted of tax fraud in case focusing on the purchase of the TV rights to US films by his company, Mediaset
• Two other corruption cases - involving alleged tax evasion by his Mediaset company and the alleged bribing of British lawyer - expired under statute of limitations

Mr Berlusconi has faced a number of trials but it is the first time he has been sentenced for any crime concerning his business activities.

He has in the past either been cleared, or cases have run beyond the judicial time limit.

In 1997 he received a suspended sentence for false book-keeping but that conviction was reversed on appeal.

In the latest case, prosecutors said that part of the money declared for the purchase of US film rights was skimmed off to create illegal slush funds, reducing tax liabilities for Mr Berlusconi's Mediaset group.

The court handed Mr Berlusconi a longer sentence than the three years and eight months requested by prosecutors. However, it later announced that the sentence would be cut to one year due to a 2006 amnesty law aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.

It ordered him and his co-defendants to pay 10m euros (£8m) in damages.

Both the jail term and the ban from holding office will only take effect if the sentence is upheld by a higher court.

Sex case

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says Mr Berlusconi is unlikely ever to serve his sentence as the conviction first has to be confirmed by two successive courts of appeal.

Those appeals could take years, he adds.

In February a court threw out a corruption case against him after the statute of limitations had expired.

He is also currently on trial charged with paying for sex with an underage girl and trying to cover it up. He denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Berlusconi, 76, was forced to resign as prime minister of a centre-right coalition last November, and recently said he had no plans to stand again in elections due next year.

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Tree import ban to halt disease

27 October 2012 Last updated at 01:01 ET

A ban on the import of ash trees will come into force on Monday in an attempt to halt the spread of a deadly disease, the environment secretary has said.

The Chalara fraxinea fungus, which causes Chalara dieback, has already killed 90% of ash trees in Denmark and has been found in East Anglia.

Owen Paterson has denied that ministers were slow to react to the outbreak.

He said 50,000 ash trees had already been destroyed to try to prevent the spread of the disease.

Until earlier this week, the disease had only been recorded in a few nursery specimens.

Ash trees suffering with C. fraxinea have been found across mainland Europe, with Denmark reporting the disease has wiped out about 90% of its ash trees.

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I have already prepared the legislation and we're ready to go"

End Quote Owen Paterson Environment secretary

Experts say that if the disease becomes established, then it could have a similar impact on the landscape as Dutch elm disease had in the 1970s.

This outbreak resulted in the death of most mature English elm by the 1980s. Elms have recovered to some extent but in some cases only through careful husbandry.

The East Anglia outbreak has been confirmed by plant scientists from the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) at the Woodland Trust's Pound Farm woodland in Suffolk, and Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Lower Wood reserve, in Ashwellthorpe.

Mr Paterson said: "We will bring in a ban on Monday. I have already prepared the legislation and we're ready to go. The evidence is clearly there."

The disease has the potential to devastate the UK's ash tree population.

Visible symptoms include leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees and it can lead to tree death.

In Europe, affected trees are not just in woodlands but are also being found in urban trees in parks and gardens and also nursery trees.

Chalara dieback of ash has been listed as a quarantine pathogen under national emergency measures and the Forestry Commission has produced guidance, including help on how people can identify possible signs of infection.

Experts are urging people to report suspected cases of dieback in order to prevent the spread of the disease to the wider environment becoming established.

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Women who quit smoking 'cut risk'

27 October 2012 Last updated at 02:36 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Women who give up smoking by the age of 30 will almost completely avoid the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases, according to a study of more than a million women in the UK.

The results, published in the Lancet, showed lifelong smokers died a decade earlier than those who never started.

But those who stopped by 30 lost, on average, a month of life and if they stopped by 40 they died a year younger.

Health experts said this was not a licence for the young to smoke.

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'I started aged 11'

Angela started smoking when she was 11.

"Before I knew it, I was addicted," she said.

She used to hide her habit by taking the dog out for a walk. At one point she was smoking 10 cigarettes a day and more if she was going out.

After several attempts to quit she was successful: "I had a bit of a health scare and that really gave me the motivation to finally kick the habit."

She is now 29 and says it is "brilliant" news that quitting before the age of 30 could make a big difference to her health.

"It's amazing, I can feel it already actually."

The study followed the first generation of women to start smoking during the 1950s and 60s. As women started smoking on a large scale much later than men, the impact of a lifetime of cigarettes has only just been analysed for women.

"What we've shown is that if women smoke like men, they die like men," said lead researcher Prof Sir Richard Peto, from Oxford University.

He told the BBC: "More than half of women who smoke and keep on smoking will get killed by tobacco.

"Stopping works, amazingly well actually. Smoking kills, stopping works and the earlier you stop the better."

Early death

The records from 1.2 million women showed that even those who smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes a day were more likely to die sooner.

Sir Richard said that it was exactly the same picture as for men.

The British Lung Foundation said the prospects for long-term health were much better if people stopped smoking before they were 30, but cautioned that this was not a licence to smoke "as much as you want in your 20s".

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Smoking

• Smoking is responsible for more than five million deaths worldwide every year
• Smoking tobacco is a known or probable cause of around 25 diseases
• Cigarette smoke contains 4,000 chemicals that can damage the human body
• Eighty of which are known to cause cancer

Source: BBC Health

Its chief executive, Dr Penny Woods, said: "Stopping smoking can also be difficult to do - an estimated 70% of current smokers say they want to quit, so you shouldn't start and just assume you'll be able to quit smoking whenever you want to.

"The best thing for your health is to avoid smoking at all."

Prof Robert West, from the health behaviour research unit at University College London, said it was important to remember that smoking had more effects on the body than leading to an early death, such as ageing the skin.

"Around your mid-20s your lung function peaks and then declines. For most people that's fine - by the time you're into your 60s and 70s it's still good enough. But if you've smoked, and then stopped there is irreversible damage, which combined with age-related decline can significantly affect their quality of life.

"Obviously there is an issue around smoking if they want to get pregnant because it affects fertility and then there are the dangers of smoking during and after pregnancy."

The chartered health psychologist, Dr Lisa McNally, who specialises in NHS stop smoking services, also emphasised other factors.

Speaking to BBC News, she said: "There's the danger isn't there that people could almost take permission to continue to smoke to 30 or even to 40, but actually in my experience younger women quit smoking for other reasons other than life expectancy.

"They're more concerned about the cosmetic effects."

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Councils prepare for cold snap

27 October 2012 Last updated at 03:06 ET

Councils in England and Wales say they are ready to cope with icy road conditions as the first cold snap of the season sets in.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said hundreds of gritters were on standby to treat roads as required.

Some have bought new equipment to avoid being caught out by a cold snap and about 1.3 million tonnes of salt has been set aside in council depots.

It came as snow caused hazardous conditions in parts of Scotland.

Significant snowfall hit parts of Scotland, including the Highlands, north east, Central, Tayside and the Borders on Friday evening, with drivers warned to take care.

Further heavy wintry showers were predicted to spread southwards overnight.

BBC forecaster Laura Gilchrist said there would be wintry showers in the east of Britain - from the north-east of Scotland to the south-east of England - for much of Saturday.

She said there would be cloud and rain but less cold conditions in the far north-west of the country. And it would be cold and sunny elsewhere.

Freezing overnight

"Sunday will be cloudy with rain at times, but not as cold as Saturday, across the UK," said the forecaster.

Temperatures are likely to be around freezing overnight in cities across England in the early hours of Saturday. And they are expected to dip below freezing in rural Highlands and Cumbria.

Temperatures are unlikely to rise above 9C on Saturday in most parts of the UK.

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Latest local news, travel and weather

Referring to winter preparations, an LGA spokesman said: "Councils have invested in new fleets of GPS-tracked gritting trucks, mini-gritters and specialist vehicles for narrow and hilly streets.

"Thousands of grit bins have been placed in estates and side streets, residents have been given their own bags of salt along with salt spreaders in some neighbourhoods, and arrangements have been made with parish councils, farmers and community groups to grit hard-to-reach areas."

The spokesman said council websites would be updated with the latest information on weather, gritting routes and school closures.

He said details would also be shared on social media platforms, adding that leaflets had been sent out advising residents on winter services.

Many local councils have set up dedicated Twitter feeds, called "gritter Twitter", allowing users to see which roads in their areas have been gritted.

Peter Box, who chairs the LGA's economy and transport board, said: "Modern communication is essential so people know if roads are passable, they know if schools or offices are closed or open.

"Whatever this winter throws at us, motorists and residents can count on council highways teams being well-prepared to keep roads safe and traffic moving."

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Burma images 'show mass burnings'

27 October 2012 Last updated at 03:40 ET

A human rights group has released satellite images of what appears to be the destruction of a coastal Burmese district riven by ethnic unrest.

Human Rights Watch says the images show that more than 800 buildings and houseboats were burned to the ground in Kyaukpyu, in western Rakhine state.

It says the victims were mostly Muslim Rohingyas, targeted by non-Muslims.

Officials say 64 people have died in recent unrest, but HRW says it fears the figure could be much higher.

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The US-based group compared satellite images of the Kyaukpyu district taken on 9 and 25 October.

On 9 October, hundreds of closely packed houses can be clearly seen in rows along the peninsula - which sits at the mouth of an inlet - as well as scores of houseboats along the northern shoreline.

But in the image taken on Thursday, few boats remain and the 35-acre district is almost entirely empty of houses. HRW says there are "no indications of fire damage to the immediate west and east of this zone of destruction".

The group gave no indication of casualties from the unrest, but said many of the inhabitants are thought to have fled by boat out to sea.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the violence showed that Burma's government "urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya" in Rakhine state, which is also known as Arakan.

"Unless the authorities also start addressing the root causes of the violence, it is only likely to get worse," said Mr Robertson.

The UN earlier warned the country's reform programme could be put at risk by continued communal violence between local groups of vigilante Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas in the western state.

At least 64 people were killed this week, officials said, in the first serious outburst of violence since June, when a state of emergency was declared in Rakhine.

At that time deadly clashes claimed dozens of lives and thousands of people were forced to flee their homes - many are yet to return.

HRW said it feared the death toll from the latest unrest could be much higher, based on witness reports and "the government's well-documented history of underestimating figures that might lead to criticism of the state".

Rohingya refugees

Non-Muslims are reporting that this time they too were fired on by government forces during the unrest, and suffered many casualties.

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What sparked the violence in June?

The rape and murder of a young Buddhist woman in Rakhine in May set off a chain of deadly religious clashes.

Why was a state of emergency declared?

A state of emergency allows the introduction of martial law, which means the military can take over administrative control of the region.

Who are the Rohingyas?

The United Nations describes Rohingya as a persecuted religious and linguistic minority from western Burma. The Burmese government, on the other hand, says they are relatively recent migrants from the Indian sub-continent. Neighbouring Bangladesh already hosts several hundred thousand refugees from Burma and says it cannot take any more.

The government has declared a curfew in the affected areas, but its response since the violence first broke out in June is being widely criticised as inadequate, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok.

On Friday six towns were hit by clashes and a night-time curfew is in place in several locations including Min Bya and Mrauk Oo where the latest spate of violence began.

It is unclear what prompted the latest clashes. The Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims, believed to be mainly Rohingya, blame each other for the violence.

In Bangladesh, border officials said they believed several boats with Rohingyas on board were waiting to try to cross the river from Burma. One official said 52 Rohingyas had been sent back in the last few days.

Muslims throughout Burma have abandoned plans to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Adha because of the violence.

There is long-standing tension between the ethnic Rakhine people, who make up the majority of the state's population, and Muslims, many of whom are Rohingya and are stateless.

The Burmese authorities regard the Rohingya as illegal immigrants and correspondents say there is widespread public hostility to them.

In August, Burma set up a commission to investigate the violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the west of the country. Authorities earlier rejected a UN-led inquiry.

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Troop deaths 'not friendly fire'

27 October 2012 Last updated at 05:19 ET

A Royal Marine and an Army medic who died in Afghanistan were not killed by British forces, an intial report by the Ministry of Defence says.

The preliminary review was looking into the deaths of Cpl David O'Connor, 27, of 40 Commando, and Cpl Channing Day, 25, of 3 Medical Regiment.

The pair were fatally injured in a gun battle on Wednesday while on patrol in Helmand province.

An Afghan man thought to be an off-duty policeman also died in the incident.

Cpl O'Connor, from Havant in Hampshire, and Cpl Day, from Comber in County Down, came under fire near the village of Char Kutsa, in the Nahr-e Saraj district.

The MoD says its analysis of the deaths is still continuing and "further investigation into the involvement or otherwise of the dead Afghan male is ongoing."

It said analysis is likely to take some time while forensic and other tests are carried out.

'Terrible tragedy'

In the meantime, the MoD says its preliminary investigation went against Afghan police claims the pair were shot by their own comrades.

The initial review at the scene, by Nato specialists and Afghan government representatives, concluded the shooting was not a "friendly fire" incident involving British forces.

Instead the shooting is thought to have been was caused by what the MoD suggests was "a third party or parties whose identities have yet to be established but who are not UK personnel".

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the deaths were "a terrible tragedy" and it was still unclear what exactly had happened.

"We know there were three people dead, one of them wearing civilian clothes," he said.

Asked if it was another so-called green on blue attack - where Afghans turn on their Isaf partners - Mr Hammond said: "There is a possibility that that is what has happened but it is not clear at this stage who the shooter actually was."

Parallel investigation

Afghan officials had said the British patrol had shot dead an off-duty Afghan policeman who was not in uniform but was carrying a weapon as he washed in a stream - mistaking him for an insurgent.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt said it was not yet clear who fired first or why.

Cpl O'Connor was deployed to Afghanistan at the end of September as a section commander in the acting rank of corporal.

A Royal Military Police investigation is also being conducted alongside the MoD's inquiry.

Cpl Day, who joined the Army in 2005 and was deployed to Afghanistan on 2 October, was the third British female to have died while serving in Afghanistan since 2001.

A total of 435 British military personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since operations started in 2001.

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Church bid to strip Savile honour

27 October 2012 Last updated at 05:48 ET

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has written to the Pope to ask if Jimmy Savile's papal knighthood can be posthumously removed, the Church has confirmed.

The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichol, called for the removal of the late TV presenter's name from papal honours lists to recognise the "deep distress" of abuse victims.

Police have confirmed Savile could have sexually abused some 300 people over 40 years.

Savile was granted the highest honour in the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1990.

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Pension pots 'could fund housing'

25 October 2012 Last updated at 22:21 ET

A possible 100,000 to 300,000 homes could be built in the UK every year without using any government money, a study has claimed.

The Future Homes Commission, set up by the Royal Institute of British Architects, said council pension funds could be used to reach the target.

Some of the assets in local government pension schemes could be pooled to provide a £10bn housing fund, it said.

Housing Minister Mark Prisk said the ideas would be considered carefully.

He described the proposals as innovative and interesting.

'No better time'

The report said a housing revolution that would lead to economic growth and create tens of thousands of jobs was possible without increasing government debt.

Commission chairman Sir John Banham said local councils should lead new development.

"There is no better time to tackle the UK housing crisis," he said.

"After a year-long national inquiry, the Future Homes Commission has concluded a housing revolution is entirely possible and will lead economic growth.

He added: "We need to increase massively the number of quality homes being built for many years to come, but also to develop communities which enhance the quality of life for both new residents and those living in existing communities nearby. All this has to, and can, happen without any additional government funding.

"We strongly believe that local government can become the leader of new development once again, by using their assets and powers to create the type of mature, sustainable, mixed tenure communities that Britain needs and that institutional and international investors want to invest in."

Borrowing ability

The Local Housing Development Fund would be used to build quality homes that could be sold in the future to replenish the pot.

The study said the UK needed a threefold increase in the number of new homes to help end the "blight" of poor housing.

Councils have responded positively to the report but said the government must also ease restrictions on the ability of local authorities to borrow for house building.

The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects , Angela Brady, said the commission's recommendations "provide an excellent starting point for delivering a radically improved housing market".

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Briton 'to admit' weapons charges

25 October 2012 Last updated at 22:26 ET

A retired businessman extradited to the US on charges of selling weapons parts to Iran is to change his plea to guilty after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

Christopher Tappin, 65, had always denied trying to sell batteries for surface-to-air missiles, claiming he was the victim of an FBI sting.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead said Mr Tappin would enter a guilty plea when he appears in court next week.

Mr Tappin, from London, was due to go on trial in Texas on 5 November.

If convicted, the former president of the Kent Golf Society could have faced 35 years in jail.

Mr Tappin was arrested by UK police in 2010 and fought a two-year battle against extradition.

The former director of Surrey-based Brooklands International Freight Services strongly denied the charges, saying he believed he was exporting batteries for the car industry in the Netherlands.

Mr Tappin was eventually flown to the US in February after British judges said the extradition was lawful.

The grandfather-of-one was then held at New Mexico's Otero County detention centre for two months before being released from custody on bail of $1m (£620,000).

His bail conditions required him to wear an electronic tag, to surrender his passport, and to travel only to El Paso and Houston, where he has been staying with one of his lawyers.

Speaking in April, Mr Tappin, of Orpington, south-east London, said: "I'm not a terrorist.

"I've never had any connections with terrorism and I'm just appalled that things could come to this sort of stage - especially in my life now, when I'm 65, been retired for four years and enjoying retirement."

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Teacher training tests toughened

26 October 2012 Last updated at 03:21 ET By Hannah Richardson BBC News education reporter

Entry tests for people wanting to become teachers will be more rigorous to raise the quality and standing of the profession, the government says.

Teacher trainees in England face tougher tests in English, mathematics and reasoning from next September.

They were developed by a panel of heads and experts following complaints current tests were too easy.

Education Secretary Michael Gove says the "rigorous selection" of trainees is key to raising standards.

He added: "These changes will mean that parents can be confident that we have the best teachers coming into our classrooms.

"Above all, it will help ensure we raise standards in our schools and close the attainment gap between the rich and poor."

Limited retakes

The move follows a government-commissioned review by a panel of heads and educationists of the current skills tests for people wishing to become teachers.

The new exams replace simple arithmetic with more complex mathematical problems without the help of calculators.

And there will be longer written exercises rather than straightforward word identification. In English, as now, candidates will be tested on spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Continue reading the main story

We also want teaching to be a real choice for top graduates"

End Quote Charlie Taylor Teaching Agency

The pass mark has been raised are also questions in verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning.

These will take the form of on-screen and verbal tests to assess the candidates' ability to solve problems, recognise patterns, think laterally, evaluate and analyse issues.

But, perhaps most importantly, from September 2013 anyone wishing to train to be a teacher must pass these tests before attending a training course. Currently trainees sit these later on in their course.

Candidates will also be limited in the number of times they can retake the test, being allowed to sit it three times. Anyone who fails three attempts will not be allowed to take the test again for a further two years.

But unions have expressed concerns about the move - saying it places too much emphasis on those who are new to teaching.

Undermining profession

Association of Teachers and Lecturers past president Julia Neal said: "If you're going to raise standards it's not just about recruiting teachers in the first place, it is actually keeping them and retaining them.

"I do think that sometimes there's a message going out which is really just undermining the profession. Are we saying that teachers at the moment aren't good enough because they haven't passed these tests?

"I do worry about the message that's going out about the profession."

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Charlie Taylor, Chief Executive of the Teaching Agency, and Joe Grant, a prospective trainee teacher, discuss the planned changes

The current tests were introduced between 2000 and 2003, amid concerns about the standard of teachers' literacy, numeracy and ICT.

The government says the plans are part of wider measures to raise the quality of teachers in England to match the best-performing countries in the world.

Charlie Taylor, chief executive at the Teaching Agency, which is responsible for administering the new test, said it was part of his strategy "to create an outstanding workforce of teachers".

"This is what parents expect and children deserve.

"We also want teaching to be a real choice for top graduates and by raising the bar on entry, we will further raise the status of the profession."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said all teachers needed strong literacy skills and a good grasp of mathematics.

"It is however surprising that Michael Gove is showing such interest in the entry requirements for teacher training courses, while at the same time advocating that schools should be free to employ unqualified teachers.

"The real issue is the training and support that teachers are given once they have entered into teaching training."

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