kevin connolly reporting. let's get more on the basis for the appeal. kevin connolly reporting.on the basis for the appeallj think the essential basis for the appeal will be that the core of this case, of course, is her retraction of the allegation of rape. her lawyers are going to argue that she will retracted that allegation essentially because she was forced to by the police. she was questioned for a very long time at a moment when she was very vulnerable just after she said she was raped and she did not have legal representation during that interview. the lawyers have other issues with how she was treated — a lack of sensitivity, a lack of awareness of how ptsd might have affected her, so several issues like that are at the core of it —— but at the corner that was how that retraction was achieved because she i'iow retraction was achieved because she now continues to maintain that she was indeed raped and that retraction should not have this degree of weight attached to it by the cypriot court system. kevin connolly on that healing in cyprus. —— healing in cyprus. the outgoin

orour europespondent kevin connolly has the story.ee legal proceedings began, the young british woman at the heart of the case was the victim with claims of rape. she came to court today to be found guilty of making a false statement, for what some say was an imaginary crime. her lawyer says the police investigation and the process were flawed. >> we believe that there have been many vlations in the procedure. the rights of a fair have been violated. we are planning to appeal the decision to the supreme court. hopinghat they will find justice. at least from the supreme court. >> these are the young is really isto who originally faced accusations that they raped the young woman. they were freed and allowed to fly home after retracting the allegation. she said she only changed her story about the young menwa because she put under huge pressure by police, questioning her when she was vulnerable. r hedefense team likely to base eir appe on how she was questioned for eight hrs without access to a lawyer d coerced into a grieving that her c

our europe correspondent, kevin connolly, has the story. his report does contain flash photography.e legal proceedings began, the young british woman at the heart of the case was a victim, making a complaint of rape. she came to court today to be found guilty of making a false statement about what the law in cyprus says was an imaginary crime. her lawyers say both the police investigation and the court process were flawed. we believe that there have been many violations in the procedure and the rights to a fair trial for our client have been violated. we are planning to appeal the decision to the supreme court, hoping that our client will find justice in cyprus, at least from the supreme court. these young israeli tourists were released from police custody and allowed to fly home after the woman retracted her allegation of rape. she said she only did so because she was put under huge pressure by police questioning, and she was vulnerable and didn't have a lawyer. women's rights activists outside the court argued that the young woman was a victim, not a criminal. some wore scarves sh

kevin connolly, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.ul mahdi, says us air strikes on what he called "iraqi armed forces" were a violation of sovereignty. iran has condemned the attacks, which it claims left at least 25 members of an iranian—backed iraqi militia force dead. facilities in iraq and syria were targetted on sunday, in retaliation for attacks on bases used by american troops. dense fog has swept across parts of northern and western india. it's being blamed on cold weather combined with pollution. the conditions have led to disruption on roads and rail, and hundreds of flights have been cancelled. the country's meteorological authority says the north of the country, including the capital, delhi, is experiencing one of its coldest spells in well over a century. firefighters in australia are facing another day of extreme conditions as the nation battles one of its worst ever bushfire disasters. in victoria, there are reports that hundreds of people are stranded on a beach in mallacoota as a fast—paced bushfire approaches the tow

kevin connolly, bbc news. jon donnison has been following this case.gn office have issued a statement. they are seriously concerned about the fair trial guarantee, about what they are calling a deeply distressing case and saying they are going to raise the matter with the cypriot authorities. as we heard in kevin's piece there, there is it seems going to be an appeal, that is according to this young woman's lawyers. in the meantime, she is, of course, facing sentencing in just over a week's time. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are joe twyman, who's the director of the polling organisation deltapoll, and claire cohen, the women's editor at the telegraph. police in spain have concluded their initial report into the deaths of a british father and his two children, who drowned in a hotel swimming pool. they told the bbc that gabriel diya, his nine—year—old daughter, comfort, and 16—year—old son, praise—emmanuel, died becaus

earlier, we heard from our europe correspondent, kevin connolly.the background to thejudgement. this revolves around a judgment on this young woman as a witness. the districtjudge in famagusta has said essentially that he has found her to be an unreliable witness and that in retracting her allegation of rape, she was effectively, in so doing, admitting that she had made up the allegation in the first place. so the whole affair revolves around the disputed circumstances of a night in a hotel room in cyprus in july. this young woman was having a holiday romance with one israeli. she says she was gang—raped by a group of his friends. they've always denied that. after they were released, she was questioned. the police say she changed her story, and it's that changing of the story which lies at the heart of today's conviction under the cypriotjudge of public mischief, which is in effect falsifying a legal claim. so no sentence today, but a criminal conviction and a long appeals process to follow, i think. the woman, who was 19 at the time, says she was