Italian prosecutors claim the firm the biggest in Europe conducted a determined campaign codenamed Operation Jove to soften up Italian doctors bombarding them

Italian prosecutors claim the firm, the biggest in Europe, conducted a determined campaign, codenamed Operation Jove, to soften up Italian doctors, bombarding them with free gadgets, medical apparatus and cash, as well as paying for them to attend “medical tours” such as one at Monte Carlo which happened to coincide with a Formula One race event there.. A woman who ran over her unfaithful husband in a hotel car park was convicted of first-degree murder yesterday despite eliciting sympathy from the court and even from the hard-nosed Houston district attorney’s office. During the trial, Mr Harris was depicted as a manipulative, abusive, unfaithful skunk who flirted so outrageously with his receptionist that some of his employees became physically ill.”You can’t help but feel sympathy, but you know the solution is to get a divorce,” the prosecutor, Mia Magness, said in her closing statement to a jury of nine women and three men. “She should do like every other woman in Harris County and take him to the cleaners Get his house, car kids, make him wish he were dead. But you don’t get to kill him.”Mrs Harris’ lawyers argued the killing was an accident, that the door of the four-wheel-drive had obscured her view of her husband, that she loved him too deeply to want him dead. The most damaging testimony against her came from her 17-year-old stepdaughter who was in the car with her. Lyndsey Harris said her stepmother flew into a rage and said she wanted to “hit” her husband moments before she did it.Mrs Harris faces life imprisonment, but lawyers intend to argue for mitigation on the ground of “sudden passion” at her sentencing hearing If they prevail, she could spend two years behind bars..

Yasser Arafat agreed to appoint a prime minister to take over the day-to-day Palestinian leadership in a letter to Tony Blair, a diplomatic source said yesterday. Both the US and Israeli governments are refusing to speak to Mr Arafat.The idea of a Palestinian prime minister was floated as a way of getting round Israel’s refusal to deal with Mr Arafat, and President Bush’s call for Mr Arafat to be replaced as Palestinian leader. The idea is that Mr Arafat will be “kicked upstairs” to a symbolic role as Palestinian leader with a prime minister taking over the day-to-day running of what is left of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and negotiations with the Israelis.The news came against the backdrop of a new round of talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials. The appointment of a prime minister is one of the provisions in the “roadmap”, a peace plan drawn up by what has become known as the Middle East “quartet” – the US, Russia, the EU and the United Nations.

“The letter said, for the first time, that Arafat accepts the roadmap without reservations, and he accepts all the steps outlined in the roadmap, including that he appoint a prime minister,” an anonymous Palestinian official was quoted as saying yesterday.Mr Arafat may have felt pressured into accepting a prime minister. The US and Israeli governments have been trying to marginalise him and his popularity among Palestinians is at a low ebb. Many Palestinians say the only reason they support him as Palestinian leader is because Mr Bush called for him to be replaced. They say it’s up to them to choose their leader, not President Bush.Since the Israeli elections last month, there has been renewed talk of the Israeli army forcibly expelling Mr Arafat from the Occupied Territories. His expulsion was discussed often last year – Mr Sharon was said to favour it, and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Foreign Minister, was a vocal supporter.The “roadmap” calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace deal, and calls for an end to the violence and Palestinian reform as steps along the way. Both the Palestinians and Israelis have expressed reservations.

Ariel Sharon was recently quoted as dismissing the plan and the Israeli government has emphasised that it is committed to President Bush’s speech calling for a “two-state solution”, rather than the “roadmap”.But Mr Sharon, whose personal enmity towards Mr Arafat is well known, and who has insisted there can be no new peace negotiations until Mr Arafat is replaced as Palestinian leader, did say last month that he would settle for Mr Arafat remaining in a symbolic role with a prime minister running the PA.But this plan has its problems. Firstly, Mr Arafat still holds enormous power in the PA and a prime minister could be seen as his puppet Secondly, there is no obvious candidate for the job. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported yesterday that the US is pushing for Salam Fayyad, the new Palestinian Finance Minister, to become prime minister.Mr Fayyad won praise from international diplomats for his efforts to reform the Palestinian economy and rein in corruption He is regarded as talented and honest. But it is not clear whether he would have sufficient support among Palestinians or a power base within the PA Nor is it clear he would want the job.. The United States moved yesterday to take the heat out of the North Korean crisis by stating that United Nations sanctions against Kim Jong Il’s isolated nation were not an option at present. Mr Williamson stressed that the Bush administration wants a diplomatic solution to its dispute with North Korea.His remarks followed a fresh burst of bellicose warnings from North Korea after the UN’s nuclear monitoring body, the International Atomic Energy Agency, referred the issue to the Security Council – a process that could lead to the imposition of sanctions.American intelligence believes Pyongyang is within months of producing material for several atomic weapons. The UN referral, though expected, further heightened tension in the region.Matters were further complicated by a crime scandal in South Korea that could hardly have been worse timed.