Bringing you the news, sport, travel and weather for the Channel Islands

BBC Radio Jersey

An expert witness in the trial of a man accused of murder in Jersey has called into question the reliability of phone record data.

Jamie Lee Warn, 55, denies killing Zsuzsanna Besenyei in May 2018 and perverting the course of justice.

Image source, States of Jersey Police

The defence asked Mr Lawson about a pair of black rubber gloves that the police found in Mr Warn's backpack.

Mr Lawson said they were standard on building sites and widely available to anyone working in that industry. He said they were available to buy from a wide variety of builders' merchants.

Christopher Watts, a Digital Forensic Investigator, was asked specifically about data from mobile phone cell masts

Mr Watts said there are limitations to its use and it should not be relied upon to give an accurate picture of activity on the day of Ms Besenyei's death.

The trial now moves to closing statements which will be heard this afternoon.

BBC Radio Guernsey

Image source, Guernsey Police

A chicken reared by children at a Guernsey school has been "kicked to death", police say.

The bird was found dead after the incident at La Mare de Carteret Primary School between 14:30 on Friday 8 March and 07:00 Monday 11 March, Guernsey Police said.

They are appealing for information about the "deeply unpleasant and despicable act".

La Mare's headteacher Kim Hutchinson said the school children were "very upset".

"The chickens were incubated in school two years' ago and it has been a great source of comfort to many children to see their chicks grow from the first day they were hatched.

"The children look after them every day and enjoy collecting the eggs," she added.

Guernsey Police said it was "extremely troubling that anyone thinks a chicken should be kicked to death".

"We have a number of leads, and we say to whoever did it: come forward and admit in now," the force added.

Rory O'Reilly
BBC Radio Guernsey

People from Guernsey will need to pay for an international driving permit to use their car in a number of EU countries from the end of the month.

It's part of a number of changes that will come into force as a result of Brexit.

In December, Guernsey passed laws to bring the island in line with the Vienna Convention, which means motorists will now need to pay for an International Driving Permit (IDP) to use their car in most EU countries.

Here are the countries in which you didn't previously need an IDP, but will after Brexit...

An IDP isn't necessary to drive in UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Jersey or the Isle of Man and a number of other exceptions including Spain, Iceland, Malta and Cyprus.

The permit costs £13 pounds and the form can be found here, external.

Rob Byrne
BBC News Online

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are also off the European Union's so-called grey list, after making changes to their tax laws, it has been confirmed.

The EU has now published the full conclusions of its 2019 tax blacklist screening process., external

Rob Byrne
BBC News Online

Britain's Crown Dependencies have not been included on the European Union's 2019 tax blacklist, after making changes to their laws in 2018.

Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man could have featured after they were asked to introduce safeguards against firms artificially routing profits to the low-tax islands.

It is not yet clear whether the islands are still on the EU's so-called grey list.

The European Council said the revised list, external of non-cooperative jurisdictions now included 15 countries, including 10 new additions.

They are: Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu.

The council also extended deadlines to 11 jurisdictions to pass the necessary reforms to deliver on their commitments, it said.

The 5,000-year-old Jersey stone monument was also damaged with a trowel, conservationists say.

Rob Byrne
BBC News Online

European Union finance ministers will finalise their 2019 tax blacklist at a meeting in Brussels today.

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man will not be on the 2019 list, according to analysis from the charity Oxfam., external

Also avoiding the blacklist are the British overseas territories of Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, along with Panama and Hong Kong, according to the analysis based on the EU’s screening criteria.

Image source, European Photopress Agency

In 2018, the Crown dependencies were warned by the EU they needed to makes changes to their tax laws, or face blacklisting in 2019.

These changes seek to stop companies with little physical presence artificially routing their profits to the islands, where they go largely untaxed.

The dependencies’ expected omission from both the so-called grey and blacklists is part of a move to “whitewash some of the world’s worst tax havens”, Oxfam said in its report.

The islands have insisted they are co-operative on tax matters and the law changes made before the end of 2018 address any EU concerns.

Arriving for today’s meeting,, external European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said the publication of the second ever EU-wide blacklist showed “huge progress on transparency.”

He told reporters he expected there to be 15 jurisdictions on the 2019 blacklist, and 34 on the grey list, contradicting Oxfam’s analysis.

The release of today’s lists comes as MPs seek greater transparency over company ownership in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, with a vote expected before Britain leaves the EU.

BBC Radio Jersey

Elderly residents at St Ewold's care home in St Helier will be moved out of their rooms for up to eight weeks during an £8m renovation to the site.

Rooms will be refitted with new showers, wash basins and radiators.

Image source, Google

Work won't start for at least another year following the addition of a new dementia care wing at the site.

BBC Radio Guernsey

The president of Guernsey's education committee has said he's "very pleased" after making savings of £1.8m last year.

Deputy Matt Fallaize said his department is planning not to overspend at all this year.

He wants it to be done through "sustainable efficiency savings" rather than "arbitrarily cutting services", and warned that "considerable additional savings" will need to be made in the future.

Simon Fairclough
Guernsey Political Reporter

People as young as 18 will be able to stand for election in Guernsey if deputies agree to changes next month.

It's just one of the proposals included in a policy letter from the States Assembly and Constitution Committee (SACC).

Since the island-wide voting referendum five months ago, SACC has been working on plans to make the electoral changes a reality at next year's election.

These include:

• Reducing the age of eligibility to stand as a deputy from 20 to 18
• Introducing rules on donations and loans to candidates and parties
• Requiring political parties who want to promote candidates at a General Election to formally register
• Putting in place spending limits for political parties in the election period
• Creating advance polling stations to enable people to vote in the week before the General Election

Members will consider a policy letter on the issue in April.