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The UK’s property market is benefiting from its normal spring pick up, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says.

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

A 79-year-old man has been charged with the murder of his wife in Kent, police have said.

Alan Thomas, of Deanwood Drive, Gillingham, is accused of killing his wife Winifred, 77, whose body was found in Gillingham on Sunday.

Mr Thomas is due to appear at Medway Magistrates’ Court later.

Police were called to an address in Deanwood Drive at 1030 BST on Sunday, and said shortly afterwards that they were treating the death as suspicious.

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

The brother of a murdered Dorset woman has visited Italy where a teenager’s disappearance may be key to the case.

Heather Barnett, 48, had been mutilated and had hair strands placed in her hand when she was found dead by her children at their home in Bournemouth in 2002.

Police think the case is linked to the 1993 disappearance of Elisa Claps, who is also thought to have been murdered.

Ms Barnett’s brother, Ben, met Miss Clapp’s family who spoke of their hopes police were close to solving the cases.

Cut hair

Remains found bricked into a church roof in Potenza, where Miss Claps lived, are thought by her family to be that of the missing 16-year-old.

It is understood she had been stabbed in the chest more than once and then suffocated, BBC South Home Affairs Correspondent Damon Embling said.

Strands of someone else’s cut hair had been placed in Ms Barnett’s hands, and it is this which produced possible links to the case of Miss Claps.

Women have come forward both in Bournemouth and in Potenza, saying they have had their hair cut in suspicious circumstances.

Dorset Police have been to Italy many times to investigate a possible link with the unsolved murder of Ms Barnett who was found at the family home in Capstone Road, Charminster.

Her brother told BBC News while he was in Potenza: "I just wanted to express my sadness that they should be in this situation.

‘Long 17 years’

"It was quite upsetting to meet Elisa’s mother, she’s still deeply, deeply upset as you would expect.

"The people of Potenza… that I’ve spoken to are very much behind what we’re doing in the UK to try and find the killer of Elisa Claps and the killer of my sister.

"Whether it’s one of the same person I don’t know."

Miss Claps’s brother, Gildo, said through an interpreter: "For 17 years we’ve been frightened to find out the truth, they were horrible, very long 17 years.

"We’ve known for years about the link between Potenza and Bournemouth and the person that killed Elisa might be the same person who killed Heather, so for me it’s very important to meet Ben."

Italian police believe one of the last people to see Miss Claps alive was Danilo Restivo, who lived in the same town in Italy.

Mr Restivo who now lives in Charminster, Bournemouth, has also been questioned by Dorset Police over Heather Barnett’s murder.

He has denied knowing anything about either case.

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

US President Barack Obama has revived a civilian nuclear energy pact with Moscow, which was shelved in the wake of Russia’s 2008 conflict with Georgia.

Mr Obama resubmitted the pact to Congress, saying US-Russian co-operation over Iran justified the move.

The planned agreement would allow the transfer of technology and equipment, including reactors.

Mr Obama has vowed to "reset" relations with Moscow, which became strained under his predecessor George W Bush.

As well as co-operating on Iran, Russia and the US have also this year agreed to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty governing nuclear arsenals.

Washington summit

In his letter to Congress, Mr Obama said: "The level and scope of US-Russia co-operation on Iran are sufficient to justify resubmitting the proposed agreement to the Congress.

"I have determined that performance of the proposed agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defence and security."

The pact had been signed in 2007 by Mr Bush and Vladimir Putin, who was Russian president at the time.

But the conflict in Georgia meant the deal was never put to a Senate vote.

Russia and the US have taken a number of steps on nuclear issues this year.

Last month they agreed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, reducing each country’s deployed nuclear arsenal to 1,550 weapons.

Also last month the nations agreed to dispose of tonnes of surplus weapons-grade plutonium under a deal signed at a nuclear summit in Washington.

The war between Georgia and Russia was sparked by fighting in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia in August 2008.

Hundreds of people are thought to have died in the five-day-long conflict and thousands were displaced.

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

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has arrived in the US for four days of talks aimed at repairing rocky relations between Kabul and Washington.

US envoy to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry said he believed the visit would leave the two nations "well aligned".

While the Afghan leader is expected to focus on civilians being killed by foreign troops, US officials are likely to tackle Mr Karzai on corruption.

He is scheduled to meet President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

‘Candid relationship’

Relations between Kabul and Washington nose-dived last year after Mr Karzai won an election widely condemned for corruption.

But the BBC’s state department correspondent Kim Ghattas says the US has rolled out the red carpet for Mr Karzai’s visit.

Mr Eikenberry said every relationship experienced "ups and downs" and insisted Mr Obama had full confidence in Mr Karzai.

"What measures true partnership is the ability, when the stakes are as high as they are for Afghanistan and the US, to be able to work our way through difficulties," he said.

Gen Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, insisted he had a good relationship with Mr Karzai.

"I think it’s important that I have an effective, candid, responsible relationship. And I’ve been real happy with it thus far," he told reporters.

As well as holding three hours of talks with Mr Obama, the Afghan leader is also scheduled to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The trip comes at a crucial time for Afghanistan.

Nato is preparing for an assault in southern Kandahar province, and Afghan officials are set for a forthcoming meeting of tribal leaders who will discuss how to promote peace.

The US hopes to start pulling out troops from July 2011, but the country has seen a marked increase in violence over the past year.

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