Turks hit by deadly Syrian clashes

17 July 2013 Last updated at 16:06 GMT Clashes are said to have started after al-Nusra rebels attacked a convoy of Kurdish women fighters A Turkish boy has died and another has been seriously wounded by stray gunfire from clashes across the Syrian border.

Mahsun Ertugrul, 17, died after a stray bullet struck him in the chest in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar.

The bullets came from the northern Syrian town of Ras-al Ain, during a battle between Syrian anti-government rebels and Kurdish fighters.

The fighting reportedly killed at least 10 people. Recently, several Syrian clashes have spilled into Turkey.

The latest incident highlights the growing concern that Syria's civil war is dragging in neighbouring states.

'Rain of bullets'

The death of the teenage boy sparked anger in Ceylanpinar, where locals tried to prevent an injured Syrian who was evacuated to Turkey from being taken to hospital.

A 15-year-old boy from the same town was in intensive care after a stray bullet struck him in the head.

An official from Ceylanpinar told BBC Turkish the town was under a "rain of bullets" coming across the border.

Vice-Mayor Ahmet Ayrilmaz said many buildings were hit by bullets.

Mr Ayrilmaz confirmed that some injured Syrian rebels were brought to town for treatment, provoking reaction from the locals.

The Turkish army released a statement saying they opened fire from a border post in retaliation for the stray bullets.

Local media reports say people in Ceylanpinar are avoiding going out on the streets.

Strategic town

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, said clashes started on Tuesday after fighters from the Islamist rebel group al-Nusra attacked a convoy of Kurdish women fighters and took a gunman hostage.

Nine jihadists and two Kurdish fighters were killed in clashes, the Observatory said.

There was no independent verification of the account.

The pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency reported that 15 people had died.

Clashes between Kurds and anti-government Syrian and foreign fighters have erupted since Kurds began asserting control over parts of north-eastern Syria from late last year.

Ras al-Ain is home to a majority Kurdish population and is of strategic importance given its location close to Turkey.

Kurdish fighters are trying to ensure neither the regime of President Bashar al-Assad nor the opposition takes control of the area.

In the worst example of the spillover of violence into Turkey, 52 people were killed when twin car bombs ripped through Reyhanli, another border town, on 11 May.

Turkey accused Syria of involvement in the attacks but Damascus has denied any role.

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Costa Concordia captain in deal plea

17 July 2013 Last updated at 14:32 GMT Captain Francesco Schettino has argued that his manoeuvring of the ship closer to shore helped save lives Francesco Schettino, the captain of the shipwrecked Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, has requested a new plea bargain after an earlier try failed.

His lawyers said he offered to serve three years and five months in jail in exchange for a ruling that he was only partially responsible for the disaster.

Thirty-two people died when the ship hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012.

Capt Schettino is on trial for multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship.

He denies the charges, and his defence said it intended to show that "no single person" was to blame for the incident.

The captain could face a maximum of 20 years in jail if found guilty.

The trial opened on 9 July but was adjourned because of a nationwide lawyers' strike.

'A formality'

Capt Schettino's defence team had already failed to secure a plea-bargaining deal during pre-trial hearings in May.

On Wednesday, one of his lawyers, Donato Laino, said he held little hope that judges would accept their proposal this time. The bid was essentially "a formality since the prosecution will tell us 'no'", he said.

Continue reading the main story 13 Jan 2012: Costa Concordia runs aground 31 Jan: Search for bodies abandoned12 Feb: Fuel removal operation finally begins24 March: Fuel removal work completed15 Oct: Capt Schettino appears at court inquiry22 May: Court decides to try Capt Schettino for multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship9 Jul: Trial of Capt Schettino begins and is adjournedCapt Schettino is accused of steering the luxury liner too fast and too close to the shore, and of leaving the ship before all of the 4,229 passengers and crew were taken off.

But the captain has argued that his manoeuvring of the ship closer to shore saved lives.

Prosecutors say he was performing a risky night-time sail-past salute to people on the tiny island of Giglio.

The ship was holed by rocks on the left-hand side, causing it to list, as passengers dined on the first night of the cruise.

A chaotic and disorganised evacuation ensued. By the time the order to evacuate came, the Costa Concordia was listing so far to one side that many lifeboats could not be used.

The liner still lies partially submerged off the coast of Giglio while salvage crews work to refloat it.

The trial is being heard in Grosseto, a city 90 miles (145km) north-west of Rome which is nearest to the site of the wreck. The proceedings are taking place in the city's theatre, rather than its small courthouse.

Some 350 witnesses could be called in the case.

In addition to the hundreds of survivors seeking compensation, the local authorities in Giglio are hoping for at least 80m euros (£68m; $105m) to make up for alleged lost revenue and the eyesore that has been on its shoreline.

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Bolshoi violinist dies in pit fall

17 July 2013 Last updated at 16:34 GMT The Bolshoi is one of the world's greatest ballet theatres and opera houses A senior violinist at Russia's Bolshoi Theatre has died after falling into the orchestra pit below the stage.

Viktor Sedov, 65, a veteran of the opera house's orchestra for four decades, played in the second violins.

Bolshoi spokeswoman Katerina Novikova confirmed the incident happened on Tuesday and Sedov died of his injuries in hospital on Wednesday.

She added Sedov was much loved in the theatre for his "sense of humour and extraordinary erudition".

The exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear.

His death is the latest tragedy at the Bolshoi, considered one of the world's greatest theatres.

Anatoly Iksanov, the former head of the Bolshoi Theatre, was removed from his post earlier this month, following a series of scandals including an acid attack on the ballet company's artistic director, Sergei Filin.

The Russian government appointed a new general director, Vladimir Urin, who previously headed Moscow's highly-regarded Stanislavsky Musical Theatre, in an attempt to lead the Bolshoi out of its crisis.

Soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko and two alleged accomplices have been charged in connection with the attack on Filin and are in jail awaiting trial.

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Formula 1 boss Ecclestone indicted

17 July 2013 Last updated at 21:20 GMT Mr Ecclestone's motor racing business is a lucrative global venture German prosecutors have indicted Formula 1 motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone on a bribery charge.

The charge relates to a $44m (£29m) payment to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky of Bayern Landesbank, linked to the sale of a stake in F1.

Mr Ecclestone denies bribing Gribkowsky, and says the money was intended to stop the banker from exposing him to a UK tax inquiry.

Mr Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail in Munich.

Speaking to the Financial Times on Wednesday, Mr Ecclestone said: "I have just spoken to my lawyers and they have received an indictment. It's being translated into English."

"We are defending it properly. It will be an interesting case. It's a pity it's happened."

Mr Ecclestone has six weeks to respond to the indictment, Formula One Group said in a statement.

'Silly things'

The charges are related to the 2006 sale of a 47% stake in Formula 1 by Bayern Landesbank, which had acquired it from the bankrupt Kirch media group.

Gribkowsky had been in charge of managing the sale to private equity group CVC Capital Partners.

Continue reading the main story

If this is the end of the road for a man of rare influence and notoriety, it has been a long on”

End Quote Anndrew Benson BBC F1 correspondent CVC has since reduced its stake in a series of deals. It has not commented on the indictment.

At his trial last year, Gribkowsky admitted corruptly receiving $41.4m (£26.6m) in bank commissions and a large payment via the Ecclestone family's Bambino Trust.

He maintained he had been paid to undervalue the shares.

But Mr Ecclestone says he paid Gribkowsky to keep him quiet, believing the banker was planning to give false information to the UK authorities about his tax affairs.

Mr Ecclestone said at the time that proving the allegation was false "would have been very expensive for me".

"The tax risk would have exceeded £2bn. I paid him to keep calm and not to do silly things," he said.

Mr Ecclestone has until mid-August to respond to the charges. The court will then decide whether to take the case to trial - it could be heard by mid-September.

He faces a possible jail term if found guilty, something he has previously said would force him to stand down as head of F1.

His lawyer told the Financial Times the indictment was largely based on statements from Gribkowsky, and that Mr Ecclestone intended to dispute these.

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Stolen artwork 'burned' in Romania

17 July 2013 Last updated at 21:40 GMT The art is valued at between 100m and 200m euros Romanian investigators have found the remains of paint, canvas and nails in the oven of a woman whose son is charged with stealing masterpieces from a Dutch gallery in October last year.

Paintings by Picasso, Monet and Matisse were among the artwork stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum.

Olga Dogaru admitted last week to torching the artwork to "destroy evidence" after her son's arrest.

The art is valued at between 100m and 200m euros ($130m- $260m, £86m-£172m).

The missing works include Monet's Waterloo Bridge, Picasso's Harlequin Head, Matisse's Reading Girl in White and Yellow and Lucien Freud's Woman with Eyes Closed.

Forensic specialists found "small fragments of painting primer, the remains of canvas and paint", as well as some copper and steel nails that pre-dated the 20th Century in Mrs Dogaru's oven, the director of Romania's National History Museum told the Associated Press news agency.

However, Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu refused to say definitively whether or not the burnt remains were from the seven stolen paintings.

Continue reading the main story Pablo Picasso's 1971 Harlequin HeadClaude Monet's 1901 Waterloo Bridge, London (above) and Charing Cross Bridge, LondonHenri Matisse's 1919 Reading Girl in White and YellowPaul Gauguin's 1898 Girl in Front of Open WindowMeye de Haan's Self-Portrait from around 1890Lucien Freud's 2002 Woman with Eyes ClosedHe said that if this were proved to be the case, it would be "a crime against humanity".

Mrs Dogaru reportedly claimed last week to have hidden the artwork in an abandoned house, as well as in a cemetery in the village of Caracliu. She said she dug them up and incinerated them after police began searching her village.

"I placed the suitcase containing the paintings in the stove. I put in some logs, slippers and rubber shoes and waited until they had completely burned," the Romanian Mediafax news agency reported her as saying.

Six Romanians have been charged with involvement in what was the biggest art theft in the Netherlands since 20 works disappeared from Amsterdam's Van Gogh museum in 1991. They go on trial next month.

Forensic specialists have been analysing the ashes since March and are expected to submit their findings to prosecutors next week, Mr Oberlander-Tarnoveanu said.

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Greek MPs back public sector cuts

17 July 2013 Last updated at 23:16 GMT Chris Morris in Athens: "Protesters rallied outside parliament until the last possible moment"

The parliament in Greece has narrowly approved a public sector reform bill that will see thousands of people lose their jobs.

In a 153-140 vote, MPs backed the bill tied to the country's fresh 6.8bn euros (£5.8bn) of bailout loans, needed to keep Greece afloat.

During the debate thousands of protesters rallied outside the parliament in the capital Athens.

Greece has recently been hit by a series of strikes against the cuts.

The coalition government led by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras says it has no choice but to enforce further painful adjustment.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was congratulated by MPs after the vote 'Unsustainable' debt

Under the bill, more than 4,000 state employees, including teachers and local government workers, face dismissal this year.

In addition, 25,000 will be put into a "mobility pool" by the end of the year.

The employees will have an eight-month period on 75% of their salaries in which to seek redeployment, by which point, if they are not transferred to another department, they will face redundancy.

Many Greeks believe that once in the pool they will inevitably become jobless.

It is thought up to 11,000 could lose their jobs by the end of 2014, to comply with the demands of the troika - the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Thousands of protesters outside the parliament building went home bitterly disappointed after the vote.

Previous austerity measures have led to cuts to salaries and pensions in the public sector.

The trouble is that despite all the measures that have been taken, Greece's debt is still regarded as unsustainably high, the BBC's Chris Morris in Athens reports.

He says that sooner or later a new debate will have to begin, about writing off another chunk of the debt. And that could mean that other countries in the eurozone - who have lent huge amounts to Greece - will not get all their money back.

Tax evasion

The vote late on Wednesday came just hours before German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is due to visit Athens.

Mr Schaeuble is seen by many Greeks as one of the main advocates in the EU of the tough austerity policies.

Security is being stepped up in the capital amid fears of protests. The measures include a ban on demonstrations in the city centre.

Greece has an unemployment rate of 27%. Public unrest has led to political instability and four different governments in as many years.

The country has been dependent on loans from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, since May 2010.

On Tuesday, MPs voted in favour of prosecuting former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou over allegations that he tampered with a list of 2,000 suspected tax evaders. Mr Papaconstantinou has denied any wrongdoing.

Correspondents say tax evasion is a major problem in Greece and one of the main reasons for its financial crisis.

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Russian activist Navalny convicted

18 July 2013 Last updated at 06:17 GMT The verdict did not come as a surprise to Navalny Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny has been found guilty of embezzlement, in a trial he claims is politically motivated.

Judge Sergei Blinov said the anti-corruption campaigner had defrauded a timber firm.

Mr Navalny has always denied the charge, insisting he was brought to trial because of his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

The verdict means he may not be able to run for Moscow mayor in September.

Alexei Navalny arrived at the courtroom in Kirov to hear the verdict, after a 12-hour overnight train journey from Moscow.

The BBC's Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford said Mr Navalny smiled in a resigned manner when the almost inevitable guilty verdict came.

The key question now is whether Judge Blinov will give the full six year prison sentence for which the prosecution have asked, our correspondent says.

Mr Navalny recently said he would like to stand for president, but if he is jailed for that long he will be unable to contest the 2018 presidential election.

'Crooks and thieves' Mr Navalny, 37, was found guilty of heading a group that embezzled 16m rubles ($500,000, £330,000) worth of timber from the Kirovles state timber company while working as an adviser to Kirov's governor Nikita Belykh.

"The court, having examined the case, has established that Navalny organised a crime and ... the theft of property on a particularly large scale," Judge Blinov told the court.

Mr Navalny, tweeting before the verdict, said the judge was simply repeating the accusations made by prosecutors.

"So... there will be no nice scenario with an acquittal," he tweeted.

Alexei Navalny tweeted his views on the case from the courtroom

In his closing remarks earlier this month, Mr Navalny was unrepentant, saying the case had been fabricated to remove him from politics.

Continue reading the main story Born 4 June 1976 at Butyn, in the Moscow region Graduated in law at Moscow's Friendship of the Peoples University in 1998Became a Yale World Fellow in 2010Lives in Moscow with his wife and two children "We will destroy this feudal society that is robbing all of us," he raged.

"If somebody thought that on hearing the threat of six years in prison I was going to run away abroad or hide somewhere, they were mistaken. I cannot run away from who I am."

Mr Navalny came to prominence when he inspired mass protests against the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin in December 2011.

He is now one of the key figures of the opposition - a thorn in the side of the political establishment, campaigning against the endemic corruption, our correspondent says.

Mr Navalny has also coined a phrase to describe the ruling party United Russia that has stuck in everyone's minds - "the party of crooks and thieves".

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