12/11/2011 BBC Weekend News

Italy's MPs approve tough austerity measures to tackle the country's

debt crisis. The move paves the way for Silvio Berlusconi to resign as

prime minister. The Government denies claims that

its planning to lay off wounded soldiers.

The Arab League suspends Syria, telling its rulers to stop

Good evening. Italy's MPs have approved a package of tough

austerity measures to tackle the country's growing debt crisis. The

move now paves the way for the country's Prime Minister, Silvio

Berlusconi to resign, possibly as early as tonight, and the formation

of a new government. Christian Fraser is in Rome for us tonight.

Thank you very much. We just had the vote. I can tell you it has

been approved without any amendments to the bill. That is

part one of events this evening. Part two is a cabinet meeting, the

prime minister's offices behind me, lots of people are here. Some of

them shouting resign. They expect Mr Berlusconi to leafier in an hour,

go up the hill to meet the President Napolitano, to tender his

resignation. That's what we think will happen but there are no

guarantees, not in Italian politics, and certainly not with Mr

Berlusconi. For 17 years, Silvio Berlusconi has held a mysterious

grip on Italian voters. Today, they gathered outside the prime

minister's residence to glimpse what may prove his final day in

office, well aware events this weekend will have huge bearings on

their future. With the clock ticking, the lower house of

parliament gathered for an emergency debate on the austerity

Bill, which would set in motion the changing of the Guard. Mr

Berlusconi pledged to leave power once the Bill was approved and

although his likely successor Mario Monti was given a rapturous welcome

yesterday, it is the outgoing government but is now manoeuvring

for position. Mario Monti can only deliver change with the support and

approval of a fractious Italian parliament. You must know that the

resignation of Mr Berlusconi is not a solution in itself. It's an

important step. In fact, the uncertainty would spread disaster.

The onus is on at present Napolitano. His role is symbolic in

Italy but he must find consensus to appoint a new prime minister and he

must do it in a matter of days. Italy depends on it and so does the

rest of Europe. Christian, we saw in your report,

the disagreements emerging. How important will that be when it

comes to the future of this package? I think all eyes at the

moment are on Silvio Berlusconi is party. You cannot underestimate the

Italian system. There's all sorts of powers, best of his interest,

privileges behind me in the building behind me. They hoped that

sense will prevail this weekend and people will not want to go to

elections, but you have no guarantees in this system at the

moment, because they could be as many as 10 cabinet ministers about

to lose their job and they are now jockeying for position in the new

government to see it they will be part of Mario Monti's plans. We saw

how difficult it was with Greece to get an interim Prime Minister in

place. This is Italy. Welcome to the main event. Christian, thank

you. The Ministry of Defence has

dismissed claims in a leaked Army memo suggesting injured soldiers

could lose their jobs as a result of more cuts to personnel. The MoD

said the memo, which was obtained by The Daily Telegraph, was

incorrect. It also rejected suggestions that it was planning

further cuts than those already announced. Our defence

correspondent Jonathan Beale reports.

It's the time of year that the entire nation remembers the

sacrifice of those who have served in uniform. This morning,

politicians paid tribute to former marines who have now left the

service. Soon, many more will be joining their ranks. A leaked

internal Army memo suggests thousands of troops will be made

redundant than originally planned. Keen to distance themselves from

the document, the army admits with more defence cuts, difficult

decisions will have to be made. have been set the task by a

government to get the army down by a Twenty20. As the person

responsible for our programme, you would not expect me to do anything

other than actually look at all the possibilities. Last year the MoD

announced it would make 7,000 troops redundant. This year, it

rose by another 5,000, to 12,000 redundancies. This document

suggests the final figure could be more like 16 and a half 1,000

soldiers losing their jobs. One of the most difficult issues as what

to do with those who have been injured and wounded. Ben Parkinson

lost his legs and suffered brain injuries in Afghanistan. His family

has been fighting to keep his job in the Army but the leaked memo

suggests those injured will not be exempt from the next round of

redundancies. This must be an incredible blow to the morale of

those deployed and about to deploy, who know the terms are not as blunt

as a peer in the memo, but we know, long term, the aim of the MoD is to

offload the wounded as quickly as possible. The memo, written by a

junior officer, was sent to commanders in Afghanistan. But

tonight the defence secretary, having himself returned from

Helmand province, tried to reassure the troops. Anyone injured, who was

undergoing medical treatment, will not be eligible for consideration

for a redundancy programme, so long as that medical treatment is under

way. The second round of redundancies will be announced

early next year. For the government and the army, the challenge is to

maintain morale while implementing painful cuts.

Syria has been suspended from the Arab League over its failure to end

the violence against anti- government protestors. The League,

which has been meeting in Cairo, is also going to impose economic and

political sanctions on the country. Our correspondent Jon Leyne is in

Cairo. How sick of the good is this move by the League? -- How sick of

the can? It's a huge blow to President Assad. Who would have

thought the Syrian Arab League would be suspended. And equally

it's a huge boost to the protesters. They are celebrating outside League

headquarters here. In the short term, it could lead to an increase

in violence in Syria. After all, it's going to encourage the

protesters to go onto the streets and that will surely lead to more

repression from the Syrian government. In the longer term,

this could well be the cue for more UN action and maybe a Security

Council resolution imposing some kind of economic pressures on Syria.

Nobody is expecting the military intervention that happened in Libya

after the Arab League voted to support UN no-fly zone there. But

it could increase economic pressure, on the Syrian government, and it

sends a strong signal from the Arab League that they believe President

Assad days are numbered. Thank you very much. Two Britons have been

killed in a helicopter crash in Majorca. Spanish police say the

helicopter came down in a mountainous area of the spanish

island. The Foreign Office had said they

are in contact with the victims' families.

The manager of Tottenham Hotspur football club, Harry Redknapp, is

to face trial over allegations of tax evasion during his time as

manager at Portsmouth. Mr Redknapp and the former Portsmouth chairman,

Milan Mandaric, will appear at Southwark Crown Court on January

23rd next year. In Iran, 17 people, many of them

soldiers, are believed to have been killed in an explosion at a

military arms depot near the capital Tehran. 16 others were

wounded. The Iranian authorities are treating the blast, which was

reportedly felt for miles around, as an accident.

Union leaders have dismissed as daft a suggestion by a government

minister that public sector workers in England and Wales planning to

strike over pension changes should walk out for just 15 minutes. The

Cabinet Secretary Francis Maude said the token industrial action

would stop workers losing a day's pay and minimise disruption to the

public. Our Business correspondent Joe Lynam reports.

Last June hundreds of thousands of public sector workers walked out

over the Government's plans to water down their pensions. To

prevent a repeat of that, talks are under way between the unions and

the Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, and the Treasury Secretary

Danny Alexander. Unions have voted for the next strike to take place

on November 30th. In today's Financial Times, there is an option

of staging a token 50 minutes strike without losing a day's pay

whilst negotiations continue with the government. Public sector

employers are in favour of the plan. It's a complex issue we are dealing

with. I recognise the feeling on the trade union side but this

doesn't give us a chance to carry on with those important discussions.

The trade unions dismissed the idea. Each part of a public sector has

different pension schemes and they need to be thoroughly examined, so

between now and 30th November, it's not long to sort out these problems.

I hope Francis Maude negotiate more with us and less time coming up

with daft ideas about 15 minutes since. The government wants public

sector workers to retire later, staff would have to pay more into

their pension pots, and all its new public sector staff would join a

less generous pension scheme. If the strike goes ahead by public

sector workers, the government has warned it may be tended to change

the law surrounding strike action. That would mean at least half of

all union members would have to cast a ballot for a strike have

legal force. Only a quarter of union members and a public service

have voted for the current industrial action.

Football, and England and Wales are both in action in international

friendly matches today with players from both teams wearing black

armbands displaying the poppy emblem. England have just kicked

off against World Champions Spain at Wembley. But earlier, Wales

comfortably beat Norway in Cardiff. There were first half goals from

Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy. But two goals in 60 seconds from Sam

Vokes secured an emphatic 4 -1 win for the home side.

And in Formula 1, Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel will be in pole

position tomorrow in Abu Dhabi. The World Champion secured his 14th

pole position of the season, equalling a record set by Nigel