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Michael Jackson’s former doctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles, it has been confirmed.

Dr Conrad Murray is expected to deny the charges in court later. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Photographers and news cameras have begun to gather at the Los Angeles International Airport Courthouse in anticipation of his appearance.

Jackson died at his home last June at the age of 50.

His death was ruled as homicide, mainly caused by the anaesthetic Propofol.

A cocktail of drugs – including sedatives Midazolam and Diazepam, the painkiller Lidocaine and the stimulant Ephedrine – were also detected in his body, a coroner confirmed.

The prosecutors allege that Dr Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson".

Members of Michael Jackson’s family have gone to the court where Dr Murray is expected to arrive shortly.

Legal fight

Dr Murray had been hired to be Jackson’s personal physician last spring as the singer prepared for his comeback concerts in London.

"We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell"

Ed Chernoff
Lawyer for Dr Conrad Murray

Profile: Dr Conrad Murray

He told police he had been giving Jackson Propofol as part of his treatment for insomnia, according to an affidavit made public in August.

But he has always maintained he did not prescribe nor administer anything that should have killed the singer.

After a week of speculation over the manslaughter charge, Dr Murray had been expected to surrender to authorities last Friday.

But a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney said the office had decided to delay action until Monday.

The statement came after several days of negotiations, where Dr Murray’s lawyers tried to arrange for him to surrender to prosecutors in an attempt to avoid him being handcuffed and arrested.

Speaking before the charges were filed, the physician’s defence lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said the doctor was prepared for the legal battle ahead.

"We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell," he said.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

By Richard Galpin
BBC News, Kiev

The people of Ukraine now await the word of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Will she or won’t she accept the election result

Will she or won’t she pursue her political ambitions through the courts or in protest action on the streets

It is not often that the woman with the famous golden braid, whose glamour permeated the Orange Revolution five years ago, retreats into the shadows and maintains a strict silence.

But this is a moment of truth for her and she has a tough set of options.

‘People’s verdict’

Her chance to reach the pinnacle of power has been thwarted by a foe who has risen from the dead, Viktor Yanukovych.

There could not be a greater irony for those involved in the Orange Revolution which swept aside Mr Yanukovych in 2004 after he almost came to power in a fraudulent election.

WHY UKRAINE MATTERS

• Russian Black Sea fleet based in Sevastopol, Crimea
• Most Europe-bound Russian gas piped through Ukraine
• Large ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking minority in Crimea and industrialised east
• Strong nationalist, pro-Western sentiment in west
• Aspirations for EU and Nato membership, though latter strongly opposed by Russia

Why the future was not Orange

Ukraine election result: Voters react

But the odds are now stacked against Mrs Tymoshenko.

Not only has the Election Commission confirmed Mr Yanukovych’s victory, she is also being chided by the international community.

At a news conference in Kiev on Monday, a team of election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was blunt in its assessment of Ukraine’s post-election landscape.

"Yesterday’s vote was an impressive display of democratic elections. For everyone in Ukraine, this election was a victory," said Joao Soares, the team co-ordinator.

"It is now time for the country’s political leaders to listen to the people’s verdict and make sure that the transition of power is peaceful and constructive."

Those two sentences alone may have been enough to cut the ground from underneath Mrs Tymoshenko’s feet.

Challenging the election result in the courts or on the street without the cover of credible allegations of fraud would be a tough sell even to her own supporters.

‘Victory’ rally

So what will she decide to do Will she still try to leave her mark

There are very few who believe she could muster serious number of protestors to back her cause.

And she is under pressure to make a decision sooner rather than later.

Mr Yanukovych’s supporters are now arriving in the capital, Kiev, partly to celebrate his victory.

But the choice of venue is no coincidence.

They are gathering in front of the Central Election Commission because they are also protesting about the failure of Mrs Tymoshenko to accept her defeat and resign as prime minister.

Mr Yanukovych’s Party of Regions has openly said it is prepared to "defend his victory".

So the longer Mrs Tymoshenko delays her decision, the higher political tensions here will rise.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

By Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, BBC News, Kandahar airbase

If the success of all military operations depended on surprise, Operation Moshtarak would be doomed before it began.

But casting convention to one side, Afghan and Nato Isaf commanders behind the coming Moshtarak (meaning "together" in Dari) have purposefully given their insurgent enemy as much notice as possible that they are preparing to arrive in his midst.

For weeks now troops on the ground have been informing villagers in Helmand province that a major force is on its way.

Gatherings of elders are being held, where Afghan government officials are trying to persuade the local population in the areas of Marjah and Nad Ali to turn their backs on the Taliban and welcome Afghan government forces.

And stacked up in hangars here on the airbase are bundles of printed leaflets waiting to be airdropped when the weather clears.

They carry a stark message. "Moshtarak, the Combined Force and the people", it says, "will defeat the insurgents and bring a better life. Where will you stand Help us and report enemy activity on this number."

‘Fan club’

So why give the Taliban the heads-up and allow the insurgents time to escape or – just as likely – to scatter the paths of oncoming troops with lethal IEDs (improvised explosive devices)

I put this to the man in charge of all 50,000-plus Nato/Isaf troops in southern Afghanistan, British Maj Gen Nick Carter.

"What we don’t want to do is to have any collateral damage or to create civilian casualties. We want the population to act as our fan club when our Afghan security forces and ourselves arrive there.

"Because they will not only act as a restraint on potential insurgents, they will probably tell us where the improvised explosive devices are planted, and they will be positive towards our arrival."

That could be wishful thinking. The Taliban have had years to establish themselves in the lush valleys and concentrated mud-walled compounds of that part of central Helmand.

Once famed for the sweetness of its melons, the area is now a major centre for opium production, a multi-billion dollar business nationwide that has sucked in farmers, the Taliban and members of the government alike.

The Taliban will be loath to relinquish control and on Monday a purported spokesman was quoted as saying his forces would fight to the death.

Wherever the sympathies of the local farmers and villagers lie, the one thing guaranteed to alienate them is if their homes are turned into a battleground between the insurgents on the one hand and the coalition and Afghan government forces on the other.

Nato’s new strategy in Afghanistan, signed off late last year by US President Barack Obama, rests on two principles – protecting the civilian population and partnering more closely with Afghan forces.

To that end, say Nato commanders, Operation Moshtarak has been planned from the end backwards, in other words with all phases geared to bringing security and good governance to central Helmand where it has been beyond government control until now.

They admit that many previous coalition operations have ultimately failed because after defeating the insurgents on the battlefield they have had too few forces to hold the ground and there has been too little political will to improve the lives of the population.

This time, they insist, will be different, with a comprehensive civil-military plan to establish the rule of law in central Helmand, bringing in newly trained police and a commitment to support the plan by the government in Kabul.

But the proof of success or failure will probably not be known for several weeks.

If the civilian population ends up being more secure as a result of this operation then it will be judged a success, if not then the first big test of Nato’s new strategy in Afghanistan will have resulted in failure.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Michael Jackson’s former doctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles, it has been confirmed.

Dr Conrad Murray is expected to deny the charges in court later. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Photographers and news cameras have begun to gather at the Los Angeles International Airport Courthouse in anticipation of his appearance.

Jackson died at his home last June at the age of 50.

His death was ruled as homicide, mainly caused by the anaesthetic Propofol.

A cocktail of drugs – including sedatives Midazolam and Diazepam, the painkiller Lidocaine and the stimulant Ephedrine – were also detected in his body, a coroner confirmed.

The prosecutors allege that Dr Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson".

Members of Michael Jackson’s family have gone to the court where Dr Murray is expected to arrive shortly.

Legal fight

Dr Murray had been hired to be Jackson’s personal physician last spring as the singer prepared for his comeback concerts in London.

"We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell"

Ed Chernoff
Lawyer for Dr Conrad Murray

Profile: Dr Conrad Murray

He told police he had been giving Jackson Propofol as part of his treatment for insomnia, according to an affidavit made public in August.

But he has always maintained he did not prescribe nor administer anything that should have killed the singer.

After a week of speculation over the manslaughter charge, Dr Murray had been expected to surrender to authorities last Friday.

But a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney said the office had decided to delay action until Monday.

The statement came after several days of negotiations, where Dr Murray’s lawyers tried to arrange for him to surrender to prosecutors in an attempt to avoid him being handcuffed and arrested.

Speaking before the charges were filed, the physician’s defence lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said the doctor was prepared for the legal battle ahead.

"We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell," he said.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Company suggests ‘driver error’ may be to blame as damage to firm’s value is put at $4bn

Toyota denied today that brake problems on its Prius hybrid cars were a safety issue in Britain despite speculation in Japan that the crisis could deepen tomorrow if the company recalls 270,000 vehicles in the US and Japan.

In a defiant move, executives assured the Department for Transport’s Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa) that the latest problem to affect its cars, in which a software glitch in the third generation Prius affects the brakes on rough and slippery surfaces, does not endanger drivers.

It claimed the problem might be caused by “driver error”, but Vosa reserved the right to insist on a recall if it concludes the problem poses a danger. One Prius driver said his car surged into the wrong lane at a roundabout when he pressed the brake, forcing him to swerve violently to avoid oncoming traffic.

More than 8m Toyotas are already being recalled worldwide after it emerged last month that an accelerator problem was causing cars to speed out of control. Hundreds of thousands more could be taken off the roads if the Prius problem is considered worthy of a recall. Today, damage to the manufacturer’s value was calculated at around $4bn (£2.56bn) by Brand Finance, which publishes an annual ranking of the world’s most valuable brands.

There have been at least 100 complaints about the Prius braking system in the US. Toyota said it sold 6,689 of the potentially affected third generation Prius cars in the UK between August and the end of January. It could not say how many complaints it had received so far in the UK.

“Customers have reported that under certain braking conditions, such as when hitting a bump, pothole or driving on a low-grip surface, they notice a change in the brake feel,” it said. “This change in brake feel is due to the specific set-up of the anti-lock braking system. Prius’s braking ability is not compromised and Toyota does not believe this is a safety issue.”

Vosa said: “They have assured is it is not a safety issue with the Prius. We are continuing to monitor the situation. We will take necessary action if we believe it is a safety issue.”

Toyota warned the government about a possible problem with the Prius on 1 February, the same day it registered a recall on more than 180,000 other cars in the UK because of the accelerator problem.

In a message to customers, Toyota did not rule out a recall of the Prius and said it would make an announcement to customers shortly. Any recall is likely to start in Japan and the US before being introduced, if necessary, to about 60 other territories where the market-leading petrol and electric hybrid has been sold, Toyota sources in Japan were reported as saying.

Among those who have complained is a London-based banker who claimed the brakes on his Prius went wrong in October and have continued to do so intermittently.

“One night I was coming down from a moderate hill to a roundabout and as I was turning left the car surged forward,” said the banker, who asked not to be named. “It made me out of control and I ended up on the other side of the road. I had to swerve very quickly and if there had been a car coming in the opposite direction I would definitely have hit it.”

Writing on the Toyota Owners Club forum, he said: “We all know that all the Prius in the world are made exclusively in Japan. So if America and Japan have the problem then the rest of the world has the same problem too. It is as if we are not important, as if our lives are more expendable than the Americans or the Japanese.”

Toyota GB said: “This is something we can’t comment on until we see the vehicle. We have not seen any evidence of brakes failing. There could be driver error.”