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>> and now, bbc world news. >> hello,ern, welcome to news today on bbc. >> the headlines a unanimous verdict, michael jackson's is found fwlt of causing the singer's death. in los angeles, hundreds of fans celebrate the court's decision. brrkt cheering] >> dr. conrad murray faces up to four years in jail. >> the crisis threatens to engulf italy and burlesconi refuses to resign over the country's spiraling debt. and a fouth woman accuses herman cain of inappropriate behavior. it's 10:00 in the morning here in singapore. >> it's 2:00 a.m. here in london.

welcome to news day. >> after a six-week trial, michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and gross negligence in the pop star's death. the verdict was delivered by a jury in los angeles and comes two and a half years after jackson died of an overdose of sedative. the bbc's reporter reports from the court where the verdict was handed town. >> ladies and gentlemen of the jury, i'm advised the jury has reached a verdict. >> we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant, conrad robert murray, guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter. >> there was a scream from la toya jackson from the public gallery but nothing if the man who had been michael jackson's doctor, the man who provided the

powerful drug which killed him but not the care to keep him alive. >> is this your individual and personal verdict, juror one? >> yes, sir. >> junior two? >> yes, sir. >> conrad murray was found criminally responsible for michael jackson's death. for fans outside court, it was the verdict they wanted, the verdict they'd been waiting for. >> he deserves it. murray, you're going down and we knew from day one you were guilty. >> what's your reaction? >> he's guilty. i'm happy he finally got justice. people said so many negative things and try to make it like he killed himself, he would not do that to himself. >> it's hard to overemphasize the power michael jackson still has for people who idolized the man and his music. >> michael jackson was shown rehearsing for a demanding run of concerts in london. hours later, he was dead. a shocking recording of him was played in court, clearly

drugged, it's barely audible, but he says he wanted the shows to be the best he'd ever done. >> i want to make it the best performance in my life. >> all these drugs were found at his house. medical experts explained pro-ip fol was a hospital anesthetic which should never be used to treat insomnia and not at home without proper monitors and constant care. conrad murray was being paid 100,000 pounds a month but was out of the room when michael jackson stopped breathing. >> michael jackson trusted conrad murray. he trusted him with his life. he paid with his life. conrad murray, in multiple instances, deceived, lied,

obscured, but more importantly, conrad murray acted with criminal negligence. >> during that period of time -- >> the defense claim mice call jackson injected himself with the drug that killed him. >> what they're asking you to do is to convict dr. murray -- murray for the actions of michael jackson. if you're going to hold dr. murray responsible, don't do it because it's michael jackson. this is not a reality show. it's reality. >> but the swrur decided dr. conrad murray was responsible for michael jackson's death and convicted him of invol tear manslaughter. >> the verdict brings to an end what's been a huge media event here in los angeles with the trial being shown live on television every day. dr. conrad murray will be sentenced at the end of the month and faces up to four years in prison. >> correspondent david willis joins us from l.a.

david, this was the verdict that many people were expecting. >> it was. there was generally a thought that the prosecution, throughout the course of their six-week trial, had done a pretty good job of putting their case together, they had the resources, had the visual aids in court, they looked to prove that conrad murray was reckless and his actions had caused the death of michael jackson. there was a key moment when the jury, the seven men and five women, filed in to deliver their verdict. i'm told that none of them looked at conrad murray and he must have known then that the writing was on the wall. guilty on that one charge of involuntary manslaughter. >> and he himself showed no emotion whatsoever. it's extraordinary to see when that verdict was handed out.

>> absolutely. he'd apparently been talking to friends of his, to girlfriends, before the verdict was handed down and he clearly thought that it was very possible that he could be found guilty. what i think would have come as more of a surprise to him, though, is the fact that the prosecution was successful in arguing that dr. murray should be kept in custody and his bail should be revoked until the sentencing takes place in three weeks' time. so somewhat to his and many other poem's surprise, he was led away in handcuffs as members of michael jackson's family wept in the public gallery. >> thank you very much for that. joining us from l.a. is a legal expert who has been following this trial and welcome to bbc news. what's this -- was this the right outcome in your opinion?

>> there's no question. this is a case that i think was very simple. should he or should he not have administered pro-ip fol outside of a -- propofolo outside of a surgery. i think it was clear you can't do that. therefore he was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. >> the judge found it necessary to keep conrad murray in custody until the sentencing in three weeks, why is that? >> the presumption of innocence before the trial that may allow you to be out of jail pending your trial disappears when that jury returns with a verdict of guilt. but the other thing is the judge looked at two things beyond that. one is, is he dangerous to be at large and is a riving of flight? this court found that he posed a danger to society and remanded him immediately into cust de. >> what are the ramifications,

legally, for a sentence like this, given the fact that he's had no previous criminal convictions. is it perhaps sending a message to the medical world, perhaps? >> i think so. cases like elvis presley's death and anna nicole smith's deaths and doctors with celebrities seem to go out and do things that are unthinkable to all of us and most especially to physicians. you can't do that and can't take that temptation to please somebody and d what they may wavent because you're the dr. the hippocratic oath says, first do no harm. legally it's far beyond that. you can't engage in behavior that poses a substantial risk to someone, that was giving him an anesthetic at his house without monitoring him. i think the jury was quick, swift, and sure with the correct verdict. >> the question now is, will he be given the maximum sentence? what duke is likely to happen? >> i think he most likely will. it's such a short sentence for

manslaughter, there's four degrees of homicide here in the u.s. first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, which is recklessness -- >> but he can get out after three years? >> with good time, two to three years. you have to give him the maximum to get any kind of jail time that's meaningful in a case like this. as i was saying, with this lowest degree of homicide, it's only a four-year potential sentence. >> thank you for joining us. many of michael's fans waited outside the courtroom for the duration of the trial. we have the spokesman for the michael jackson world network fan club. >> it was a harder life for michael jackson than perhaps any of us really knew. to hear that the slur -- to hear the slurred voice recordings to see the photos of the autopsy, it's traumatizing for anyone, but especially for the fans.

but there are two sides to it. i think the concert footage at the he hearse -- rehearsals showed a healthy michael jackson. to a degree he had issues with sleeping and other things that dr. conrad murray was hired to help with. but he was healthy. i think that's the worst part of this, someone who is healthy could have been looked after, treated in a proper way, and sadly, mistakes happen and we're now left without michael jackson. >> disarray in italy adding to europe's economic woes. finance ministers are switching their focus from athens to rome where prime minister burlesconi is facing a growing mutiny within the ranks. there are concerns that the injure zone's third largest economy may be unable to repay

its mass i debts. we speak to a political analyst who just returned from a political conference in italy. good to have you with us in the studio. thank you for coming in. gosh, there is so much to talk about with the situation. firstly, apart from -- and perhaps most importantly, how did italy end up in such a dire situation? >> it's a combination, the debt has been growing since the 1980's. burlesconi, even though he presented himself as a liberal and reformed prime minister is very conservative. he didn't do any reform about the labor market, so italy is pretty much in the same situation it was in the 1990's and last time we were in this situation was in 1993. a very similar situation, the prime minister resigned and government was in play to get italy into the ewe roe. that may happen again tomorrow. if the vote goes against him. >> it's interesting, isn't it. is this about burlesconi and the

political dysfunctions that have been very much part of his premiership that perhaps may have prohibited implementing economic measures they may have been needed or sit about contagion and the greece effect that many people are talking about? >> it seems like it's really about burlesconi. early this morning there was a rumor about him resigning. a rumor spread by one of his top aids. immediately, the stock market started looming. but then again, burlesconi on facebook said, i'm not going to resign, i'm going to face my majority and face a vote of confidence so the market went down again. it seems burlesconi is a problem. he's not credible because he didn't do anything. he accepted the letter from the european bank and from the monetary fund but they don't actually believe burlesconi is

fwoning to act because he hasn't acted in eight years. >> this is a man with nine lives. i don't know how many court cases to date, four, five? >> endless. and the corruption scandals. >> but it could be this that pulls the pins from his premiership. is he going to go? >> it's likely, tomorrow it's likely to be the end of burlesconi. literally tonight, he rushed back -- >> a big moment, isn't it? predicting that this could be it. >> it is the first time i actually feel. what may happen, not going to be a defeat in the parliament. i've been checking my sources today. the opposition is not going to vote against the budget, he's going to have about 304 m.p.'s that will allow the budget to pass which will give a good sign to the market and europe and the same time not having a majority

in the lower house will force burlesconi to resign. it's not going to be a full-on defeat but he will have to accept. >> it will be interesting to see how it plays out. thank you for joinings. >> you're watching news day on the bbc. live from singapore and london. still to come, first the floods, now the fear of defeat. officials warn that thousands could be at risk in bangkok. >> in the u.s., more allegation of sexual misconduct threaten herman cain's republican presidential bid. international criminal known as the jackal is on trial. he is a venezuelan who is serving a life sentence for the murder of two mismen. from paris, we have a report. >> brought into court in a

police van, the man known as carlos the jackal, once one of the world's most wanted fugitives, began his trial by defiantly declaring that he was a professional revolutionary. sanchez is being defended by a lawyer who he married in a muslim ceremony in jail. >> he's in a fighting spirit, as always. we're going to fight. 3 years later, and 17 years after he was kidnapped by the french state, there's no reason that the judicial institution that depends on the french state should be used to try someone for propaganda. and serve other interests than those of justice. >> he's already serving life in prison for murdering two french secret service agents and their lebanese informant. now he's being tried other four bombings in the 1980's which killed 11 people and injured more than 140 o's.

>> today, he's going to have to explain himself on a whole range of attacks. very victims -- for victims, what's important is it's the end of a culture of impugn the. >> he eluded capture until french special forces caught him in sudan in 1994. now 62, his trademark che go var rather style berets have gone but for 30 years his was the feas of violent international militancy. >> good to have you with us. the headline this is hour, michael jackson's personal doctor has been found guilty of causing the singer's death. dr. conrad murray faces up to four years in jail.

>> as the euro zone crisis threatens to engulf italy, sylvio burlesconi refuses to resign over the country's spiraling debt. floodwaters have been eblinging closer to the center of bangkok and have now reached the northern most station on the city's intercity rail system. the floods claimed more than 500 lives and cost more than $8 billion. the government proposes a reconstruction package to cover cleanup and rehabilitation costs. but the the director of theation bank of bangkok said more money will be made available. >> the prime minister's flood management package is the first of several major initiatives to be rolled out in the coming weeks to repair homes, businesses, farms and government offices affected by the flooding. the package also includes support for flood prevention measures to protect and

safeguard important economic assets like industrial estates north of bangkok from future floods. the government estimates the cost of floods at about 2% of g.d.p., which is not a lot, it's not a little, and the cost of rebuilding will total billions of dollars. the ample e.b. shares the government's sense of priorities to recover from the cry isis -- crisis as quickly as possible and prevent floods like this one, the worst since 1942, from happening again. >> the parliament has approved the carbon pollution tax. under the new scheme, the 500 worst polluting firms will be forced to pay a price on carbon emissions from july of next year. it's aimed at making firms more efficient and its impact will be felt across the economy. the australian government is

committed to reducing pollution levels by 2020. a scandal threatens herman cain's run for the president in next year's presidential election. he's been accused of inappropriate behavior from a woman who approached him for career advice. the alleged incident is said to have taken place 14 years ago. sharon bee elect is -- bialek is the first woman to -- is the fourth woman to make such accusations but the first to do so publicly. the cain campaign denies the charges. >> in all my 40 years of running businesses, i have never sexually harassed anyone. number two, while at the restaurant association, i was accused of sexual harassment. falsely accused, i might add. i was falsely accused of sexual

harassment and when the charges were brought, as the leader of the organization, i recused myself and allowed my general council and my human resource officer to deal with the situation. and it was concluded after a thorough investigation that it had no basis. >> the bbc's steve gibson is in washington and explains why it's taken so long for sharon bialek to expose mr. cain's behavior. >> she says that she has come out in her words to give face and voice to what happened all those jeers ago. and because she says she has heard of other women making similar complaints against mr. cain, the case that you heard him specifically referring to there in a press conference was actually last week, was one of the other women who has come forward to say he sexually harassed them.

that particular case was settled between her, the complainant, and the national restaurant association, of which mr. cain was head at the time. i think the difference now with the sharon bialek case is there was a pretty graphic account given before the television cameras by a woman who doesn't mind her identity being known to the american public and even though the cain campaign put out a statement saying the accusations are completely false, they reiterated that he never sexually harassed anyone, this is not going to go away. he'll be under pressure to give a specific response to sharon bialek's very graphic allegations. >> let's get more on our top story, michael jackson's personal doctor found guilty of causing his death. reverend jesse jackson says michael jackson is a legend and his memory will live on. >> he's the greatest entertain

ever lived. his singing, dancing, choreography, he belongs to the ages and to all our memories. the good news is, so much of his great works were recorded. we'll have michael forever as dancer, singer, choreographer, humanitarian. that's what we shall cherish and we shall remember. >> but do you believe the way in which he died will be a memory that many will now take with them when they look back at michael jackson's career, given the fact that this court hearing uncovered the very sad fact that he was addicted to medication? >> it does, but you know, i was prepared to go with michael to london for the big opening concert. our spirits were so high, there was such anticipation, of course his death was so sudden, mid day became midnight and in what many

ways, we are still grieving over the sudden loss of michael. >> did you ever meet dr. conrad murray yourself? >> i don't think so. i've seen him, but i did not meet him or know him. but michael trusted him very much. >> do you have any feelings towards him now? toward dr. murray? >> i do not -- he will serve his time, once the judge determines the level of sentence. i guess i really can't get past anything other than how bad we feel, how sad we feel because the loss of myal, and seemingly lost him unnecessarily. >> we now know the sentence will be handed out in three weeks' time where he could face a maximum sentence of four years. does the length in which he will spend behind bars matter to you?

>> well, it does matter, but the judge announced after the jury rendered their verdict today. i suppose the complexities of the judicial system does not have as much of my attention as michael's life and sudden death. i'm gld that that the jury found him guilty and that he will serve some time, but nothing about this case can ever bring the justice which is the restoration of michael's life. we have to deal with michael in our memories now forever. >> reverend jesse jackson. there's beeber fever in london on monday as he switched on the christmas lights a the city's two biggest shopping centers.

daniel grivels griffiths reports. >> listen to that welcome. >> what's up, everybody! >> justin, thank you for coming out. these guys are very excited to see you. >> i'm excited to be here. it's a pleasure pob back here in london and to have all my fans here, it's really special. thank you guys for coming. >> he was in loob to switch on the christmas lights at two of the city's biggest shopping centers. and the fans who call themselves beliebers, loved every minute of it. >> he's just amazing. >> and then the big moment. >> five, four, three, two, one. >> justin bieber may be facing troubles in his private life but tonight was all about forgetting that. having a little festive fun. >> headlines on the way.

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>> inspector... >> i have a couple of questions i'd like to ask you, >> sir, if the stuff was in the wine, he'd be dead too.