The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah

ROME (AP) — Tensions in Italy's uneasy ruling coalition increased Wednesday as the government's allies denounced an accelerated date for a high court decision that could see former Premier Silvio Berlusconi banned for years from public office.

Although Berlusconi isn't in the government himself, steady support from his center-right People of Freedom party is necessary to keep Premier Enrico Letta's 10-week-old government alive, since Letta's center-left Democratic Party doesn't have enough support in Parliament to control both houses.

But Berlusconi's allies hobbled Parliament's work following the Court of Cassation's decision to schedule an appeal in the media mogul's tax fraud trial for July 30, months earlier than expected. The high court said it moved up the date to prevent the statute of limitations from expiring on one of the charges on Aug. 1.

As if those tensions weren't enough for Letta's fragile government as it tries to revive growth and create jobs, Standard & Poors's Rating Service on Tuesday downgraded Italy's credit rating and warned of further reductions if Italy's economic prospects stay bleak.

Last week, relations had already become tense among Italy's unusual ruling alliance of rivals after the International Monetary Fund urged Italy to bring back a property tax that Letta reluctantly agreed to suspend to placate Berlusconi and his populist following.

The increased IMF pressure, the ratings drop and the high court development all "converge on a single aim — the collapse of the Letta government and the destabilization of Italy," said Alessandro Pagano, a lawmaker from Berlusconi's party.

He called the speeded up court timetable a kind of "judicial vice being tightened around" the conservative leader.

Berlusconi's lawyers had expected the high court to rule no sooner than the fall in his appeal of his tax fraud conviction involving his Mediaset empire, which saw him sentenced to four years in prison and barred from holding public office for five years.

Berlusconi was convicted in a scheme that involved inflating the price his Mediaset media empire paid for TV rights to U.S. movies and pocketing the difference. Berlusconi has said he did nothing wrong and has accused Milan magistrates of pursuing politically motivated cases against him.

Even if the top criminal court upholds the sentence, there is little risk that the 76-year-old Berlusconi, because of his age, would ever serve time behind bars.

Nevertheless, the debate over the high court decision was already having its effect on the work of the government and Parliament Wednesday: Coalition leaders scrapped a planned meeting to discuss the unpopular property tax and a meeting of chamber whips was suspended at the request of Berlusconi's allies so they could huddle to discuss the Cassation decision.

To protest the derailment of work over Berlusconi's plight, senators from the legislature's third-largest bloc, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, took off their jackets — mandatory dress code for men in the upper chamber — further heating up the political climate.

"If that's how Parliament is, if it does nothing, then we'll work out of Parliament," 5-Star leader Beppe Grillo said. "Autumn is around the corner, and with it possible economic collapse."

Letta has said he doesn't believe the court's accelerated calendar will affect his government. But even the leader of a center-right party that used to be a loyal ally of Berlusconi was irked by the behavior of Berlusconi's lawmakers.

"It's not possible that Parliament shuts down for one party's problems, with so much to do," said Roberto Maroni, head of the Northern League. Letta's government appears to be "on the true brink of a crisis."

A close Berlusconi ally, Maurizio Lupi, tried to tamp down worries about the government's survival, saying the accelerated court decision "puts at risk not the coalition, but democracy in this country."

"We will continue to do our work and move forward," said Lupi, who serves in the government as infrastructure minister.

The July 30 high court hearing leaves Berlusconi's defense team less time to prepare arguments. His lawyers only lodged the appeal on June 19. Usually it takes months to schedule such a hearing in Italy's notoriously slow justice system.

Berlusconi has faced dozens of legal cases in his two decades in politics, but has most of the time has either been acquitted or seen the charges dismissed when statutes of limitations expired.

Last month, Berlusconi was convicted, sentenced to seven years and banned from politics for life for paying an underage prostitute for sex during infamous "bunga bunga" parties and pressuring public officials to cover it up. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing that verdict as well, a process that could take a couple of years.

In Italy, sentences are considered final after two levels of appeals are exhausted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that China's rise is good but its theft of U.S intellectual property must stop as the global powers held annual talks that signaled more cooperation on tackling climate change while underscoring their deep differences on human rights.

The gathering took place a month after the U.S. and Chinese presidents' summit in California that tried to set a positive tone in relations but also made clear Washington's growing anxiety about Chinese cybertheft.

"We both will benefit from an open, secure, reliable Internet. Outright cyberenabling theft that U.S. companies are experiencing now must be viewed as out of bounds and needs to stop," Biden said in his opening remarks at the State Department.

He cited the "emerging and continuing growth of the Chinese economy" as good news, with Beijing's rise "good for America and the world." Yet such progress, Biden said, "comes with some new international responsibilities."

In the first of two days of Cabinet-level discussions they talked about trade and investment barriers, and the nuclear program of North Korea, where the U.S. wants China to lean on its troublesome ally to disarm. Also on the agenda were territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, where assertive Chinese behavior has unnerved its neighbors.

The most tangible outcome Wednesday was an announcement of new initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The two sides agreed to cooperate on cutting emissions from vehicles and coal combustion, and to promote more efficient use of energy in buildings, transport and industry. Implementation plans will be ready by October, the State Department said.

Secretary of State John Kerry returned from his wife's bedside in Boston and issued tearful thanks for the outpouring of good wishes for Teresa Heinz Kerry, hospitalized as she recovers from a seizure-like episode. He returned later Wednesday to Massachusetts, with deputy William Burns now taking his place at the talks.

The Chinese side was led by Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who said U.S.-China relations had "reached a new starting point" after the June summit between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping.

"China will stay committed to reform and opening up," Yang Jiechi said, adding that his nation was committed to being a responsible player in the international system.

But he made only passing reference to cybersecurity as one of the "global challenges" that the U.S. and China should work together on. They have discussed it this week, but remain at odds over what is acceptable behavior in cyberspace. U.S. officials are resisting China's attempts to compare their concerns over U.S. surveillance for intelligence gathering — as revealed by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden — with American concerns about theft of intellectual property and proprietary business information.

Differences also came to the fore when Kerry made forceful comments to China on the importance of human rights to the United States, according to U.S. officials who briefed reporters about the closed-door exchanges, describing them as "lively."

In his public remarks, Yang said Beijing was willing to discuss human rights with the U.S. However Vice Premier Wang stressed that China — a one-party state intolerant of political dissent — won't accept views that "undermine our basic system."

China has also been reluctant to deepen military ties, which Biden stressed were important for avoiding the risk of confrontation between the two countries in the Pacific.

Despite those reservations, the two sides broached the sensitive issues of nuclear policy and missile defense for the first time in annual talks. China is concerned that U.S. moves to boost its capabilities in response to the emerging threat from North Korea are aimed at China too.

Another U.S. concern, the low value of China's currency and its impact on the skewed trade balance, has eased as the yuan has appreciated in value against the dollar. But the U.S. is still prodding Beijing to expedite economic reforms.

Biden said China needs to free its exchange rate, shift to a consumption-led economy instead of relying on exports and enforce intellectual property rights. He said the U.S. welcomes China's growth, but it should be based on international rules.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urged China to "follow through decisively" on its economic reform commitments.

U.S. businesses and lawmakers want easing of barriers to American trade and investment, a roll back of subsidies for Chinese state-owned enterprises and progress on negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty.

China objects to security screening of its companies as they look to invest in the U.S.

In Congress, a Senate committee was examining China's biggest takeover of a U.S. company, a proposed $4.7 billion bid by Shuanghui International for pork producer American Smithfield Foods Ltd.

A bipartisan group of 15 senators has asked Lew to consider U.S. food security and food safety issues when the deal has a national security review. That could fuel China's suspicions that its companies are subject to tougher scrutiny than other foreign investors in America.

The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah

ISLAMABAD: The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, expressed concern on Wednesday over the government’s decision to delay the proposed All Parties Conference on security.