Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fraud trial has been adjourned until 18 January. The proceedings were to have opened today but Mr Berlusconi is attending a summit meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome.

The Italian prime minister is accused of tax fraud in connection with his media empire. The case was suspended last year, when the Italian parliament passed a law giving him immunity from prosecution. That law was scrapped by the Constitutional Court last month.
 

Mr Berlusconi is facing a number of court cases, which he claims are all politically motivated. On 27 November he will be appearing in a bribery trial.