MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian court is expected to rule on Wednesday on whether legendary fashion duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana should be sent to prison for allegedly hiding hundreds of millions of euros from the tax authorities.

The case, one of the few prominent tax disputes to go to court in Italy, dates back to 2004, when the pair sold their brand to Luxembourg-based holding company Gado to allegedly avoid declaring taxes on royalties of about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

Cash-strapped Italy has recently stepped up action on tax evasion, something that was also featuring high at this week's Group of Eight meeting.

The Italian tax agency has carried out highly publicised tax raids at chic tourist locations while increasing scrutiny on corporate structures.

Dolce and Gabbana, who count pop singer Madonna and model Naomi Campbell among their clients and who draw inspiration from Italy's "dolce vita" (sweet life) style of the 1950s, have denied the charges.

Several of their business associates are also on trial in Milan.

Separate to the criminal case, Italy's Tax Commission slapped the stylists earlier this year with 343.4 million euros in fines for not declaring in Italy earnings related to Gado, current owner of the D&G and Dolce & Gabbana brands.

Prosecutor Gaetano Ruta, who is working on the criminal case, said late in May the two should be sentenced to two and half years in jail as they were the people who "indirectly" benefited most from the operation.

"Gado was 80 percent controlled by D&G srl which was owned 50 percent each by Dolce and Gabbana," Ruta has said.

The harshest sentence available to the court in these cases is five years. The two fashion designers can appeal against a potentially negative verdict twice before it gets to Italy's highest court, a process that could take years.

Previous tax cases involving celebrities in Italy have led to out-of-court settlements.

In 2000 the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti paid more than $12 million in back taxes, while former MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi agreed to pay $51 million to Italy's tax agency in 2008.

($1 = 0.7779 euros) ($1 = 0.7467 euros)

(Additional reporting by Manuela D'Alessandro; Editing by David Holmes)

It has added the 499th and 500th names of fugitives to have appeared over the years on its regularly updated list.

The FBI says citizen cooperation has led to 155 of the fugitives being apprehended or their bodies found.

The two new additions are Jose Manuel Garcia Guevara, who allegedly murdered a 26-year-old woman in the presence of her 4-year-old stepson in Lake Charles, La., in 2008; and Walter Lee Williams, a former California professor wanted for the alleged sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad to engage in illicit sex acts with children.

Guevara is believed to be in Mexico. Williams has lived in Palm Springs, Calif., and has traveled extensively in the Philippines and has reportedly lived in Indonesia, Polynesia and Thailand.

In an interview with Matt Lauer ahead of the opening of George W. Bush's presidential library in April, former first lady Barbara Bush was asked how she felt about her son Jeb, the former governor of Florida, being a possible presidential candidate in 2016.

"," Barbara Bush replied bluntly.

Her husband doesn't agree, at least according to Jeb.

In an interview that aired on Sunday's This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Jeb Bush, who served two terms as governor of Florida, was asked what his father thought about his potential candidacy.

"What about your dad?" ABC's Jonathan Karl asked the former Florida governor. "Has he offered you any advice? Does he think you should run?"

"I think we've got a split ballot amongst the Bush Sr. family," Jeb Bush, 60, said with a laugh. "Pretty sure that's the case."

Jeb's brother, former President George W. Bush, has said he thinks Jeb should run for president.

Jeb, considered among several early contenders for the Republican nomination in 2016, has , but says he won't decide until at least 2014.

"My thinking is not to think about it for a year," Jeb Bush . "Life teaches you that you need to make decisions in the right timenot too early, not too late. ... I'll check in maybe a year from now, 15 months from now, something like that."

Earlier in the ABC interview, Jeb was asked about his 89-year-old father's failing health.

"I think it was hard at first for my dad to transition to being immobile," Jeb Bush said. "[But] I think he's found the right balance. I think he's in a good place, he's mentally alert, he's funny as all get out. He's spiritually in a place that we should all envy. He's more comfortable with his age. And that makes me happy."

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Normally, that would be understandable given all the negative news of the last week, but the president has to be concerned that the biggest drop came among people under 30 years old. His support among that key group dropped an astonishing 17 points in the last month.

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A deeper dive into more specific questions shows that Obama is seeing his marks fall across the board, although on issues like the economy, the deficit, and immigration, his numbers are mostly unchanged. (Or at least within the margin or error.) When asked how he's handling terrorism, however, the president's numbers take the biggest hit. He's still at a 52-percent approval rating, but that's down from 65 percent in January, after having a consistent rating in the 60s since 2010.

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On most of the questions, regarding Snowden's revelations, the country seems pretty evenly split, both on whether what the government is doing is good or bad, and one whether leaking the information was good or bad. When asked if the U.S. should attempt to bring Edward Snowden back to America for prosecution, 54 percent said yes, and 42 percent said no. But when asked if the administration has "gone too far ... in restricting people's civil liberties in order to fight terrorism," a full 55 percent say either the government has been "about right" or has gone "not far enough," suggesting there's plenty of more wriggle room on that front. (White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonoughthat Obama doesn't believe the administration as violated privacy and that he'll say much "in the days ahead." NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander ison how the snooping has helped stop terror attacks early this week as well.)

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In the CNN poll, 8 percent of Americans believe they are currently being investigated by the NSA, while 34 percent believe their data hasn't even been collected. You can see . [PDF file]

In an address to parliament, President Jacob Zuma said South Africans should not create a "superficial" image of Mandela but remember his lifetime of work.

Zuma also spoke of the need to improve the lives of the country's black majority, many of whom live in poverty nearly two decades after the end of racist white rule.

Mandela is being treated for a recurring lung infection. There was no update on his condition as of Thursday evening, though Zuma on Wednesday had reported that Mandela was responding better to treatment.

Family members again visited the former president on Thursday.

The leader of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, Mandela spent 27 years in prison during white racist rule. He was freed in 1990 and became South Africa's first black president in 1994.

Mandela's official Twitter feed noted that Thursday was the 49th anniversary of the former president's arrival at Robben Island, the prison off the coast of Cape Town where he spent the majority of his incarceration.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exposure to pesticides and other chemicals is linked to an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a fresh look at some past research.

Dr. James Bower, a neurologist from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the finding is consistent with previous research but the study still can't prove that pesticides cause people to develop the neurological condition.

"We're definitely learning that Parkinson's disease is not caused by one thing. We're finding a lot of risks for Parkinson's and pesticides are just one of many," said Bower, who wasn't involved with the new study.

In 2011, a study of U.S. farm workers from National Institutes of Health found some pesticides that are known to interfere with cell function were linked to the development of Parkinson's disease.

Another study that was published in 2012 also reported that people with Parkinson's disease were more likely to report exposure to pesticides, compared to people without the condition (see Reuters Health story of Nov 13, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/17ndoUU.)

The disease affects about 500,000 Americans.

For the new study, Dr. Emanuele Cereda, of the IRCCS University Hospital San Matteo Foundation in Pavia, Italy, and his coauthor pulled data from 104 studies that were published between 1975 and 2011 and examined the link between pesticides and Parkinson's disease.

Overall, they found exposure to pesticides was tied to a 58 percent increased risk of developing the disease.

That increase, according to Bower, would be equivalent to 10 more Parkinson's cases among every 1,000 40-year-old residents living in Olmstead County, Minnesota.

Currently, Bower said about 17 of every 1,000 40-year-old Olmstead County residents will go on to develop Parkinson's disease.

The new study's researchers also found that certain pesticides - such as the plant killer paraquat and fungus killers maneb and mancozeb - were tied to a doubling of Parkinson's disease risk.

Bower said these findings are more applicable to farm workers who regularly use pesticides - not necessarily people who use weed killers around their homes.

Cereda told Reuters Health in an email that the study's results suggest that people should avoid contact with pesticides or - at least - wear proper protection when handling the chemicals.

"The use of protective equipment and compliance with suggested, or even recommended, preventive practices should be emphasized in high-risk working categories (such as farming)," he wrote.

Bower echoed that statement and said people who work with pesticides should wear protective equipment that is recommended by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration - also known as OSHA.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Zc2z2q Neurology, May 28, 2013.

There was no official update on 94-year-old Mandela after his second night in the hospital. His condition was described as "serious but stable" on Saturday.

The office of President Jacob Zuma had said that Mandela was taken to a Pretoria hospital after his condition deteriorated at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The anti-apartheid leader has now been taken to a hospital four times since December, with the last discharge coming on April 6 after doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and drained fluid from his lung area.

Members of Mandela's family on Sunday were seen visiting the Pretoria hospital where he is believed to be staying. They included Makaziwe Mandela, the eldest of the ex-leader's three surviving children, and Ndileka Mandela, one of his 17 grandchildren.

Worshippers at a Sunday church service in the Johannesburg township of Soweto prayed for the recovery of Mandela, who was freed in 1990 after 27 years as a prisoner of white racist rule and won election to the presidency in all-race elections in 1994. He retired from public life years ago and had received medical care at his Johannesburg home until his latest transfer to a hospital.

At the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, Father Sebastian Rousso said Mandela, seen by many as a symbol of reconciliation for his peacemaking efforts, played a key role "not only for ourselves as South Africans, but for the world."

There is a stained glass image of Mandela with arms raised in the Catholic church, a center of protests and funeral services for activists during the apartheid years.

"We still need him in our lives because he did so much for us," said Mantsho Moralo, a receptionist who was in the congregation. Siyabonga Nyembe, a student, described Mandela as a "pillar of strength" for South Africans.

A stream of tourists visited Mandela's former home, now a museum, on Vilakazi Street in Soweto. Visitors and vendors wished a quick recovery for the man whose sacrifices in the fight against apartheid made their lives better, even if South Africa today is struggling today with high unemployment and other severe challenges.

"He's like one in a million. I don't think we're ever going to get a leader like him. We're living the life that we have because of him and for that we wish him well," said Seponono Kekana, who toured the brick, one-storey house.

On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the ruling African National Congress to Mandela's home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage - the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year - showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his long imprisonment. The bulk of that period was spent on Robben Island, an outpost off the coast of Cape Town where Mandela and other prisoners spent part of the time toiling in a stone quarry.

The Sunday Times, a South African newspaper, quoted Andrew Mlangeni, an old friend of Mandela, as saying he wished the former president would get better but noted his infirmity had become a drawn-out process. He said Mandela had been taken to the hospital "too many times" and that there was a possibility he would not be well again.

"The family must release him so that God may have his own way. They must release him spiritually and put their faith in the hands of God," said Mlangeni, a co-defendant of Mandela in the 1960s trial on sabotage charges that led to a sentence of life imprisonment for them and other anti-apartheid leaders.

"Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too," Mlangeni told the newspaper.

Nhlanhla Ngcobobo, a street vendor who works a few steps from the Mandela Family Restaurant next to the former leader's old home, said the ailing Mandela was a kind of psychological anchor for his compatriots. South Africa has held peaceful elections since 1994 and remains an economic powerhouse on the continent, but many worry that the sense of promise that Mandela represented in the early years of democracy is in peril.

"There's a lot of corruption and when Mandela dies, people will start feeling they can do what they like and corruption will be worse than it is," Ngcobobo said. "By him being alive, there's a lot more order."

---

Associated Press writer Wandoo Makurdi in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

The assembly voted Thursday to grant a 50-year concession to plan and build the canal to a Hong Kong-based company whose only previous experience appears to be in telecommunications.

The legislation expected approved Thursday contains no specific route for a canal and virtually no details of its financing.

Nicaraguans have tried for centuries to attract investors who would build a canal across the nation.

Seeing our fragilehanging alone in the blackness of space tends to be a life-altering, or at least perspective-changing, experience. If more people around the world are treated to that unforgettable sight, humanity might handle the planet with a bit more care, said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"Ultimately, my vision is that lots of people get to go to space," Grunsfeld said here Saturday (May 18) at Maker Faire Bay Area, a two-day celebration of DIY science, technology and engineering. "If we get more people, we'll have folks who can articulate a view of the Earth that leads to more people who want to keep the Earth a nice place to live." []

The leaders of the worlds two most powerful countries conducted business at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, bringing international attention to the serene Coachella desert valley. And a successful summit has the potential to have a lasting impact thatll make overseas investors and tourists want to put their money into the region.

The next time I go to China, Ill have these front page headlines with Xi and Obamaand Im going to sell that, said Wes Ahlgren, Chief Operating Officer of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, which helps locals get foreign investments and agreements to start their own businesses.

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If you have government backing, or appear to be related to government, Chinese businessmen trust you and youre more likely to get investors, he explained. If youre in with the government, youre in with business.

Small businesses may not have seen a direct boost in sales or customers as a result of the presidential summit, but local business owners from a variety of industries say the international exposure in the long-term will be the biggest benefit of this high-profile visit.

Andy Jessup Jr., General Manager of Jessup Auto Plaza said his company doesnt do any direct business with China since his inventory primarily consists of American models such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. But he still thinks the summit will increase future economic prospects.

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We may not be able to track a return on investment within the weekend the presidents stay here, but I am sure the significant exposure builds a momentum of interest for future visits by families and consideration of relocation by businesses, he said.

This meeting brings notoriety back to the desert, said Larry Davis, Vice President of Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, and former Chairman of the Cathedral City Chamber of Commerce. It was called the playground of the presidents. President Ford, President Nixon, President Kennedy and President Reagan spent a lot of time here, so I think this re-emphasizes the wonderful community we have.

Cellos Restaurant owners Bonnie Barkley and Tom Stefernak havent seen the economy picking up in their industry and they expect to continue struggling through the summer months without much of a bump in business from the presidential summit. But they dont see a downside of their region hosting the meeting.

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"I think it's exciting and it showcases our valley, Barkley said. I think its more important that they are marketing [Sunnylands] as the White House of the west. Its a brilliant plan, which she hopes will help drive future tourists to her restaurant.

And that might just happen, if the projected numbers turn out to be correct.

This [meeting] will have a big impactwere looking at tourism growing by the hundreds of thousands over the next five years, Ahlgren said with a smile.

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