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{{Italian PM Enrico Letta is due to present the government’s 2014 programme as speculation mounts he is to be replaced by party leader Matteo Renzi.}}

The two men held face-to-face talks on Wednesday about Italy’s latest political crisis.

Mr Letta, who formed a Democratic Party-led (PD) coalition last April after an election stalemate, has been publicly criticised by Mr Renzi.

Mr Renzi, the mayor of Florence, became PD leader last December.

Their meeting on Wednesday morning lasted around an hour at the prime minister’s office, the Chigi palace, before Mr Renzi left without making a statement, reports say.

Italian media reports speak of crucial hours for the future of the government, with a Democratic Party meeting scheduled for next week brought forward to Thursday morning.

The 39-year-old mayor of Florence has already said he favours early general elections.

The prime minister, whose coalition includes small centre-right parties, has said his reform programme, entitled “Commitment 2014”, will focus on “economic revival”.

President Giorgio Napolitano, who appointed Mr Letta as prime minister, said a decision on the fate of the government was up to the PD.

One centrist MP in the coalition, Andrea Romano, told Italian TV he hoped the prime minister would show “generosity” and allow the PD leader the chance to govern.

But Renato Brunetta, a leading opposition politician with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, complained on Wednesday that Italy was returning to an era of unstable government.

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{{Experts from around the world are gathering in London to discuss “the global crisis” in the wildlife trade.}}

Conservationists say animal trafficking is reaching unprecedented levels and species such as rhinos, elephants and tigers are under threat of extinction.

The aim of the meeting, hosted by the Zoological Society of London, is to find new ways to protect animals and reduce demand for wildlife products.

An action plan will be fed into another meeting hosted by the UK government.

This will take place on Thursday at Lancaster House, with international leaders gathering to discuss a global response to animal poaching.

They will be joined by Prince Charles and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. They have jointly released a video campaign urging people to “unite for wildlife”.

Prof Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), said: “It’s clear that illegal wildlife trafficking is completely out of control, and we need to bring the best minds together to really identify some clear solutions and show clear leadership and direction.”

He has organised the two-day conference with other NGOs, which include the Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF, Traffic and Conservation International.

Wildlife poaching has seen a recent boom, and it is worth an estimated £12bn ($19bn) each year.

In South Africa, in 2007, 13 rhinos were killed for their horns, but in 2013, 1,004 rhinos were slaughtered by poachers.

With ivory fetching up to £40,000 ($65,000) per kilo, elephants too are suffering dramatic losses. An estimated 20,000 of the giants were killed in Africa during 2012, according to work carried out for the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Prof Baillie added: “I was working in central west Africa a little over 10 years ago – and more than half the elephants I saw would now be gone.”

The meeting will also look at the trade in other species, including tigers, which are thought to number just 3,200 in the wild, and pangolins, which are traded at high volume.

The conservationists at the conference will discuss ways to stem the growing markets for wildlife products.

Naomi Doak, from Traffic, said the demand for animal products in Asian counties such as Vietnam was growing.

“There is still a very strong underlying belief in rhino horn’s medicinal value, but we’ve seen a move away from that towards its use as a reinforcer of social status; a validation almost of people’s emerging position in an economy that is growing incredibly fast,” she said.

The meeting will also look at how conservationists can better protect animals.

Prof Baillie said: “People on the ground need to have the tools, the technology and the money to implement conservation effectively. They are up against massive crime networks that are extremely well resourced – and they are outmanned and outgunned.”

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{{A controversial bill in Spain to end women’s right to abortion on demand is set to be passed after an opposition challenge was defeated in parliament.}}

The challenge from the Socialists was defeated by 183 votes to 151 in parliament, where the conservative Popular Party has a solid majority.

The ruling party allowed a secret ballot and six MPs abstained.

Some of its own MPs oppose the bill, which critics say will force Spanish women to travel abroad for abortion.

Opinion polls suggest up to 80% of Spaniards, including practising Catholics, believe the draft law is unnecessary.

The Church itself backs the bill, which is championed by Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, who said lawmakers had to balance the rights of women with those of unborn children.

However, with resistance to the legislation growing, the government may make amendments before finally passing it into law later this year.

{{At least 12 people have been killed in a multiple bombing Tuesday afternoon at a movie theater in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, a hospital official said.}}

Syed Jamil Shah, press officer for the city’s Lady Reading Hospital, said at least 17 others were injured.

A senior Peshawar police officer, Ijaz Ahmed, said three hand grenades hit the Shama Cinema, which is infamous in the city for showing pornographic movies.

One blast was inside the cinema, and the other two outside, he told reporters.

The movie theater had received security threats, and police had advised that metal detectors should be set up outside it. This advice was not heeded, Ahmed said.

A witness, Waliur Rehman, told media he was watching a film when the blast rocked the building. People started running outside.

“There was a cloud of dust and smoke,” he said. “The first blast was followed by another — and then another — explosion.”

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, denied any involvement by the militant group.

Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, borders the tribal districts that are a stronghold of the Pakistan Taliban.

A week ago a suicide bomber blew himself up near a hotel restaurant in Peshawar, killing nine people and injuring more than 30 others, according to local officials.

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