Allegations and accusation, legal argument, encouraging data, and landmark investigations – this week has seen inflation and the deficit falling with retail sales rising in the UK, the law finally catching up with Silvio Berlusconi and further developments in the landmark Savile investigation – just a few of the news stories that grabbed our attention this week.
Jimmy Savile Scandal continues
The Jimmy Savile scandal was branded a ‘cesspit’ this week by the BBC’s own chairman, Lord Patten who has said he feared that the television and radio star may have been helped in his sordid sexual exploitation of teenage girls by other BBC employees. Lord Patten and others at the BBC are still struggling to explain who knew what and when about the decision to drop a Newsnight investigation into allegations against Savile
Officers have searched a cottage belonging to Savile in Allt na Reigh in Glencoe, Scotland, to look for “any evidence of any others being involved in any offending with him” and it’s been revealed that dozens of big name stars from the 1960s and 70s have contacted Max Clifford “frightened to death” they will become implicated in the widening Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal. The PR specialist has said the stars, some of whom are still well known today, were worried because at their peak they lived a hedonistic lifestyle where young girls threw themselves at them and they ‘never asked for anybody’s birth certificate’.
Seven alleged victims of Savile made complaints to four separate police forces, Surrey, London, Sussex and Jersey, while the disgraced television presenter was alive but it was decided that no further action should be taken. Scotland Yard is leading the current investigation into accusations of abuse by former BBC DJ and presenter Savile, which now involve around 300 potential victims.
Berlusconi Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Fraud
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who describes himself as the most persecuted man in history, was found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison in a film-rights case involving his Mediaset SpA (MS) television company.
The Milan court declared Berlusconi guilty of evading huge amounts of tax by exaggerating the cost of film rights that he purchased for his Mediaset television empire. The prosecution said Mediaset executives inflated the price for the TV rights of some 3,000 films as they re-licensed them internally to Berlusconi’s networks, pocketing the difference. Some of the assets were diverted to overseas funds in Switzerland and Hong Kong in the €200m scam.
The tax-fraud verdict came after Berlusconi announced that he would not stand as the centre-right candidate in next year’s general elections. He decided to step aside “for the love of Italy” he claimed. Berlusconi has accused prosecutors of trying to destroy him politically and has said that he has spent more than 400 million euros on his legal defense in more than a dozen corruption trials since he entered politics in 1994.The Milan court banned Mr Berlusconi from holding public office for three years, although this sentence might not be imposed before the appeals process is completed.
UK economy emerges from recession
Business groups have given a cautious welcome to the news that the UK economy emerged from recession in the three months from July to September, helped by the Olympic Games. The economy grew by 1.0%, according to official gross domestic product figures (GDP), which measure the value of everything produced in the country.
Economists warned that if “one-off” factors such as the Olympics and the Jubilee were stripped out, underlying growth in GDP – the official measure of the size of the economy – was still slow. Andrew Smith, chief economist at accountancy group KPMG, said the UK economy still looked “pretty flat“. He added: “It’s not exactly a recession, but not exactly a recovery either”. While technically we are now out of the double-dip recession, it would be unfortunate if attention was distracted away from the big picture. However, positively with inflation falling – the three-year squeeze on households is easing. Households are paying off their debts, and there is even the prospect of a recovery in consumer spending next year as the overall level of disposable income rises (with more people employed, total take-home pay will increase despite individual incomes still falling in real terms). Nevertheless, the economy had been in recession for the previous nine months and has still not recovered the levels of output seen before the financial crisis in 2008.
‘Frankenstorm’ headed towards the US east coast
Hurricane Sandy, which has been dubbed a “Frankenstorm” may become the worst to hit the U.S. Northeast in 100 years if current forecasts are correct. Forecasters say Hurricane Sandy may develop into a superstorm as it meets another low-pressure system rushing eastward across the U.S. With landfall still not expected until next week, the storm’s path may still shift, though its size and predicted power mean damage will be widespread regardless of where it strikes directly, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It has been reported that the hurricane which has passed through the Bahamas this week has killed over 40 people across the Caribbean. New York City officials discussed plans for evacuations and subway closings to deal with Hurricane Sandy and a state of emergency has been declared in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and a coastal county in North Carolina. Sandy is expected to strike the US late on Monday or early Tuesday somewhere along the US east coast, a day before Halloween and a week before millions of Americans go to the polls to choose a next president.
Ash tree import ban to halt disease
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. However, the government has been warned that a ban on imports of ash trees from Europe may not be enough to stop an epidemic of a deadly disease wiping out most of the species’ 80m trees in the UK. The environment secretary, Owen Paterson, told the Commons on Thursday that the ban would be introduced in a bid to halt the disease, which has already killed 90% of ash trees in Denmark. The president of the Country Land and Business Association, Harry Cotterell, said the UK faced a “national tragedy” as ash trees make up around 30% of the wooded landscape, across woodlands, hedgerows and parks.
Photo credits: ibtimes.com, mirror.co.uk, huffingtonpost.co.uk