07/08/2011 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. Scotland Yard say 26 officers were injured in

violence last night in north London. More than 40 people were arrested

after buildings were set on fire, shops were looted, and police

officers were attacked in Tottenham. The disturbances began after a

peaceful protest about the fatal shooting by police last week. A

double-decker bus in flames on Tottenham High Street. Shops, too,

set ablaze by rioters. Firecrackers and bricks were hurled at police

lines. Among those injured, were 26 police officers. Even as horses

were sent in to scatter the rioters, parts of Tottenham were being

destroyed. The violence followed what had been a peaceful protest

earlier in the day at the police shooting of a local man last week

who had died from his injuries. kept a dignified response to that.

We're allowed that protest to take place. However, once and extreme

violence, and it was violence that could not be anticipated on that

scale, ones that occurred we moved the appropriate level of resources

in. The target of the anger last night was the police. And then the

squad car is attacked here before being set ablaze. Community groups

said that relations with the police had deteriorated ahead of last

night. The local MP appealed for calm. We now need restraint and

calm. I say to those that wanted to come to Tottenham to cause violence

and disturbing to stay away. We don't need you. We don't want 25

years of rebuilding community and trust destroyed because of mindless

nonsense. On the streets, there is now an eerie calm, as residence

inspect the damage. Tottenham is one of London's poorest areas and

last night it paid a heavy price. Let's go live to Tottenham and our

reporter. Bring as up-to-date with the latest developments. We had

that statement from the local MP in the last half an hour. He was

extremely angry, I suppose is the right word, against the people

responsible for this. He blamed it on a minority from outside the

Tottenham area. He said they came here and took advantage of a

sensitive subject. This afternoon this is still cordoned off by

police. You cannot go down here but you can see the signs of what

happened. There were bricks and glass all over the floor. Down

there is a burnt-out police car, one of three set alight, and also a

double-decker bus. Fire officers are down there as well because this

is not only a criminal investigation but in terms of

safety they have to work out of people can be allowed into their

homes. Lot of people live above the shops on that road which were set

on fire and they have to figure out if people can get back inside.

Officials from the world's major economies have been taking part in

emergency discussions about how to contain the debt crisis in the

eurozone that's led to turmoil on the global markets. The European

Central Bank will consider later today whether to start buying up

the debt of Italy, the biggest economy to be hit by the crisis.

The four survivors of a polar bear attack, in which a British teenager

was killed, are expected to be flown back to the UK later today.

They've all been treated in hospital in Northern Norway. Two