06/12/2011 BBC News at Six

Unprecedented violence even for Afghanistan. For the first timebomb

attacks across the country target Muslims at prayer on one of their

holiest days. Nearly 60 killed, Shia Muslims were

commemorating their holiest day. Many were women and children.

It is the first time on such an important religious day in

Afghanistan, terrorism of that nature is taking place.

We'll look at what lies behind this deadly new development.

Also on tonight's programme: Trapped in a box and buried in this

woodland. The harrowing story of a woman attacked by the man she had a

child with. The boss of British Airways, one of

Britain's most influential businessman, launches a wide-

ranging attack on the Government's economic policy.

This is a huge opportunity lost as a result of the actions of the

chancellor. It is It is making the UK uncompetitive.

Manchester Police carry out their biggest one-day drugs raid and they

invite local people to watch them do it.

It gives you the opportunity to see what they are doing and to let

people they are dealing with it. They are tackling drugs.

The destructive power of the volcano and the high tech sonar

images that reveal what's going on Coming up, it is a make or break

night for Chelsea in the Champions Good evening and welcome to the BBC

News at Six. It has been a day of unprecedented violence in

Afghanistan. For the first time, civilian worshippers were the

targets, leaving at least 58 people dead and hundreds injured. The

victims were Shia Muslims, who make up a minority in Afghanistan, and

they were commemorating their holiest day. There were two attacks,

a massive explosion in the capital, Kabul, and another in the northern

city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Quentin Afghan Shias in Kabul beat

themselves in a traditional A massive explosion from a suicide

bomber tears through the crowd. It is chaos. Hundreds are hurt. Dozens

dead. The dying and injured are piled up in trucks. At a city

hospital, they struggled to hope with wave after wave of victims.

And on the pavement outside, a mother mourns for her lost son. "my

heart is broken "she cries. Desperate and in despair, more

gathered for news of missing family and friends. This is a a day of of

mourning, say this man. It is an attack against humanity and attack

against Islam. It was part of a co-ordinated

attack against Shias. A bomb exploded in Mazar-i-Sharif, but the

Kabul attack was bigger in the heart of the city. The people here

are angry. There has been tensions between Afghanistan's Sunnis and

Shias, but this violence on this scale, is unprecedented.

In Germany, President Karzai had just finished attending a summit

when -- on his country's future. This is the first time on an

important religious day in Afghanistan, terrorism of that

horrible nature is taking place. We all wish the best for those who are

injured and quick recovery and patience to the families of those

who have lost their dear ones. As the injured were being treated,

the Taliban issued a statement saying they hadn't carried out the

attack. The Government says they are lying. These attacks turn this

Muslim day of mourning into a day of terrible loss, bringing a new

kind of suffering to this already We can talk to Quentin Somerville

in Kabul now. Are we any closer to knowing who is behind these

unprecedented attacks as you call them?

George, let me tell new the last few moments we have heard President

Karzai cancelled his planned trip to the UK to return here to

Afghanistan. We don't know yet who is behind these attacks. President

Karzai and his Government thinks it is the Taliban. Who is it that

might benefit from introducing this new strain of violence? There are

plenty of militant groups, many of them based across in the border who

would benefit from an unstable Afghanistan.

A mother who was buried alive in a cardboard box has told Leeds Crown

Court she was attacked with a stun gun, bound and gagged and taken to

the countryside where she was dumped. Michelina Lewandowska said

her partner told her he had hated her for four years before allegedly

carrying out the attack with another man. Both men deny

attempted murder. Ed Thomas is in Huddersfield now. Yes, Michelina

Lewandowska spoke only in Polish as she gave her evidence today, but

she described the moments she was tasered before being buried alive a

few hundred meters from where we are now. She also told the court

how she used her engagement ring to scratch away at the box she was in

and she also spoke about how she Michelina Lewandowska lived here

with her son Jacob and his father, Marcin Kasprzak, the man she

accuses of firing a taz irat her inside the house and trying to bury

her alive. Speaking in court from behind a screen to protect her

identity, today she told the jury, "I was trying to push him away. He

was using this Taser. He knelt down. He pressed my ribs with his knee

and continued to use this Taser." The prosecution say this man,

Patryk Borys, was also there that night and helped carry Michelina

Lewandowska out of the house in a computer box, up these steps and

into a car. The jury heard how she was taken here, before being

carried to the top of the hill. Once the men reached the top of the

hill, the court was told how they dug a hole using two shovels and

placed the box with Michelina Lewandowska into the ground. The

prosecution say they covered her with soil before placing a branch

on top. But she managed to escape and she told the court, "I started

to tear the box apart. I was focusing on the owning I had made.

Soil was getting in. My face was getting dirty. I could see black

sky and leaves. I was so exhausted.". Michelina Lewandowska

then said she staggered on to the road and managed to flag down a car.

The prosecution claim what happened inside this house was well planned

because her boyfriend wanted to get rid of her and start a new life

The prosecution also claim Marcin Kasprzak was getting bored with the

mother of his child and wanted to start a new life. But both he and

his co accused, Patryk Borys, deny attempted murder. We expect to hear

more evidence tomorrow from Michelina Lewandowska about what

she says happened to her here in In the last hour the Prime Minister

has said he is prepared to veto a new EU treaty designed to save the

single currency if it goes against Britain's interests. David Cameron,

who is heading to Brussels for a summit of EU leaders later this

week, said any new agreement would need safeguards. What I'm saying if

and eurozone countries need to come together and do need to do more

things together, if they choose to use the European treaty, Britain

will be insisting on safeguards too. As long as we get those then that

treaty can go ahead. If we can't get those, it won't.

David Cameron was talking to Nick Robinson. We can talk to him now.

Is this line in the sand moment for David Cameron, do you think?

Well, it is supposed to beted Prime Minister -- to be the Prime

Minister sending out a signal, a signal that says, Britain, he, will

not stand around while the 17 eurozone countries make up their

minds what to do to get not just themselves out of the economic mess

they are in, but everyone else who is affected by it. That is why he

is saying that today. Now, it is a signal meant to be heard not just

in European capitals, but to be heard here in Westminster as well,

where many Euro-sceptics, many Conservative backbench MPs are

saying to the Prime Minister, "Look, if Europe wants something from us,

we should demand something fundamental from them." Namely a

renegotiation of Britain's entire membership of the European Union.

Now the Prime Minister has not specified exactly what he thinks

Britain's national interests are, except for two things - what he

said is he wants to protect London as the centre of financial services

in Europe and another thing, he wants to make sure that those 17

eurozone countries can't club together in order to change the

rules of the so-called single market that affect British

companies. So it is a threat of a veto. It will produce headlines

tomorrow. Will he use it? My bet, The boss of British Airways, Willie

Walsh, has attacked the Government's economic policy. Along

with other airline chiefs Mr Walsh has been highly critical of a

proposed rise in air passenger duty. The row between airlines and the

Government has been ticking over for a while, but today it gained a

lot more momentum. The boss of BA, has accused ministers of harming

economic growth by imposing a steep increase in Air Passenger Duty.

This is a huge opportunity lost as a result of the actions of the

chancellor. It is making the UK uncompetitive. It is making it

impossible for us to compete on a global scale and it is damaging the

UK economy. It is damaging job creation and it is the wrong thing

to do. The duty will increase by 8% in

April next year, after a freeze this year. BA says it will now

scale back a planned 800 job creation programme to 400 and it

will postpone bringing an extra Boeing 747 into service.

The announcement by BA comes at an awkward time for the Government

because it is on the same day that ministers have been launching the

latest phase of the growth strategy with more than �100 million for

investment in manufacturing. The Business Secretary, Vince Cable,

was visiting a Birmingham based company, it makes components for

the aerospace industry. He was unveiling the Government plan to

encourage more investment in hi- tech UK suppliers. I put to him

BA's accusation that other Government policies might be damage

to go growth. We have got to raise revenue as

well as deal with public spending. Of course, we have passenger duty

as do many other countries, but they don't pay value-added tax on

their flights and nor do they pay fuel duty.

The head of the CBI was on the tour with the Secretary of State. He

welcomed the new manufacturing initiative, but came down on BA's

side over Air Passenger Duty. I think the Government has got to

be careful with its tax raising measures. We know it needs to bring

in tax, even with the deficit reduction cuts it is making. It has

got to balance the books, but Air Passenger Duty is a tax on travel.

It is paid for by the passengers. It weakens the the airline's

ability to service the economy and I hope the the Chancellor will

think again. With the latest figures from the

high street revealing subdued spending, the Government won't find

it easy to boost growth across the 200 jobs are to go at Kraft Foods.

The company which bought Cadbury say the job losses will be made

through redeployment and voluntary redundancies.

Kraft Foods was criticised for closing the factory near Bristol

Bristol after having previously said they would keep it open.

Police in Manchester have had their largest big raid and they envited

the public to come and see them do Judith Moritz reports, there were

dozens of arrests. 6am this morning and 1,000 police

officers are on the move whilst Manchester sleeps, they are ready

for action. The plan, to spring the city's drug

dealers from their beds. Mary Murphy and lee Ann are along for

the ride, two of 150 local residents invited to watch. The

minibus takes them on a rare guided tour to the home of a suspected

drug dealer. Police.

Early morning drugs raids like this are not particularly unusual for

Greater Manchester Police and what is different is is having a coach

load of local residents along to watch. A suspected dealer wasn't at

home, but the women were impressed by what they saw.

The whole work they had to do and preparation, and coming to the

property and having to go in, it was dramatic.

It was amazing being up and seeing those officers and the great

community people from across Manchester coming out because they

care enough to see what the police are doing.

Operation Ar day shus was designed to be high-profile. Thoughts of it

all all being a publicity stunt were dismissed.

We have had 70 plus arrests today. That's significant. If that's

publicity, I mean some of these people won't be spending Christmas

at home. The police authority will take account of the operation today.

We will also then examine the sustainability of operations such

as this. The force helicopter was in use foo

too and -- too and whilst the police wouldn't discuss how much

the operation had been cost, but said a major shock had been

Bomb attacks in Afghanistan have targeted Muslims at prayer, nearly

60 people were killed. Coming up, rare access to the

journals and letters from Captain Scott's polar exhibition. --

expedition. Later on the BBC News Channel,

could a threat of a credit downgrade be enough to spur Europe

into action? And the high street sees its

weakest growth in retail sales This is a view of what is happening

up to four miles beneath the surface of the ocean, in what is

known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. These images showed huge volcanoes

being slowly drag, one by one coming to a great ravine in the

seabed. They were taken by a joint project by the universities of

Oxford and Durham, aimed at better understanding the risk to the

region from earthquakes and Volcanoes erupting in the Pacific

Ocean. This was in Tonga two years ago. One of the most volatile

regions on earth. This is the second wave... Nearby, a tsunami

sweeps a sure on so Mark, the result of an earthquake also two

years ago -- sweeps ashore on Samoa. It is often violent and we don't

know much about it. A British research team went to investigate

last summer, using the latest sonar technology, they built up an

unprecedented picture of the sea bed and the huge forces at work.

The research was in part of the so- called Pacific Ring of Fire, the

fault-lines and volcanoes circling the ocean. It focus to the north of

New Zealand. He are those volcanoes near Tonga, and here is Samoa,

where that tsunami struck. All highly active, with the Pacific

tectonic plate moving westwards, colliding with the in though

Australian plate. The researchers wanted to know what happened when

this long line of underwater volcanoes approaches that fault-

line. Each is several miles high and ahead is one of the deepest

chasms on the planet. Now for the first time, they have captured how

these huge mountains are destroyed as they fall into the abyss. The

chasm is nearly seven miles deep. Mount Everest would easily fit

inside. The researchers from the universities of Oxford and Durham

say the next volcano doesn't stand a chance. Its ultimate fate is to

be carried down into that trench you can see here, and carried deep

down into the earth. It can't avoid that? It cannot avoid it. Once that

one has gone, there is another one in the line and that will be next.

A close-up image of the volcano that is right on the edge, about to

be destroyed. This is a mountain several miles five. This is the one

that is right on the lip, going down into the trench. You can see

the way it is getting sliced up, these parallel fractures going in,

cutting up this immense mountain as though it were a loaf of bread.

This matters anywhere that tsunamis could strike. The great wave that

hits Japan last March was the result of an underwater earthquake.

The more they are understood, the better the chance of early warning

Hundreds of people have defied the Russian authorities and taken to

the streets in Moscow, protesting that this weekend's elections were

rigged in flavour -- favour of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's

party. Dozens of people have been arrested. I know you have been out

and about with these demonstrators. What was it like? For a second

night, protesters have come onto the streets of Moscow. They shouted,

down with Putin, freedom to political prisoners. It is unclear

how many there were but it there was a massive police presence.

Hundreds of riot police and Interior Ministry troops, who were

determined not to let the protesters get through to one of

the city's central squares. Around 200 people were detained at the

protest. Yesterday, 300 people were arrested at what was one of the

largest anti-government demonstrations Moscow has seen in

years. This will be a major concern to Vladimir Putin, the Russian

Prime Minister. His popularity has been falling. In three months' time,

he wants to get elected as Russia's next president.

The National Audit Office has warned there is a danger that next

summer's Olympic Games in London will exceed the �9.3 billion budget.

They have called for rigorous action to control costs, and say

there is a real risk that additional funding will be needed.

The Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson, insists the game will be

delivered under budget. He's got his government has

announced a programme to improve road and rail links and build

schools and hospitals -- the Scottish Government has. The SNP

administration wants to spend �60 billion over the next 20 years but

the projects are dependent on it being able to borrow the money.

The government has rejected suggestions that a leading lobbying

firm was able to exert undue influence on policy. Undercover

reporters secretly recorded conversations with the managing

director, in which he spoke of his close links with the Prime Minister

and the chancellor, George Osborne. The past few minutes, the world

gunman's budget has been passed, after Labour struck a deal with

Liberal Democrats -- the Welsh government's budget. Opposition

parties say it is a budget that lacks any real urgency. Whales

editor has been to Newport to see what people think of the spending

plans -- our Wales editor. It prides itself on being the

gateway city to Wales. Experts predict grim reality will it

Newport. The Welsh Labour government says it wants to speed

up the economy, but can only spend the �14 billion it is given by

Westminster. It can't vary taxes, 0 borrow. It says that by putting

�272 million on the ground, to skills and job creation, will come

back coalition cards. For the boss of this local food praising --

processing business, it is welcome but nowhere near enough. If the was

government was really serious, I think they should ask for more

devolved power, especially on taxation. We are so close to

England, what we need to do is make our little country more business-

friendly. In two big spending areas, the was government calls the shots.

Of the �14 billion budget, more than �4 billion goes on education

and skills. The biggest slice of all, over �7 billion, is spent on

health and social services. A huge part of the overall budget, but

ministers argued they can't afford to fall in line with the rest of

the UK, and protect health spending. Jane leads a team of the city's

district nurses, but accepts ring- fencing health spending would lead

to fierce cuts elsewhere. If we take a cut in education but

protecting health, our generations coming up would be able to take on

board responsibility for their own health -- it won't be able to take.

Students know that was university students get a good deal in today's

Budget, but there dad is not happy that �600 less per head is spent on

pupils like them, than in England. My boys are having to do without

something. There is no way you can expect �600 less to be invested in

children in Wales and for them to have the same results as children

There is agreement that cities like England cricketer Alastair Cook was

presented with an MBE by the Queen today, for his outstanding

performance against Australia during the Ashes. Among those

joining him to be honoured was Dame Jenni Murray, host of BBC Radio 4's

Woman's Hour, who was made a Dame Commander for services to radio

broadcasting. It is almost 100 years since

Captain Scott's doomed expedition to the Antarctic ended in the

deaths of five men on their way back from the south pole. A new

expedition in -- exhibition in Cambridge has brought together

papers and journals, most of which have never been seen by the public

and which give a vivid record of the daily life of the expedition.

Miserable, utterly miserable. We are camped in the slough of despond.

The words were written on December 6th, it was the beginning of the

end, the final push by Scott and his four companions to reach the

South Pole. We know that story in extraordinary detail, because of

this. The letters they wrote, their final words, that were discovered

after their deaths. Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of

the hardy good, endurance and courage of my companions, which

would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes,

and our dead bodies, must tell that tail. There are also drawing. This,

the ice cave where one team lived for 21 months. A line drawn to

separate the men from the officers. There are even cartoons. But it is

the words that are most affecting. They were starving, racked with

frostbite, yet the handwriting is perfect. Letters written for both

their families and history, a history that has veered between

Scot, a tragic hero, and Scott, the stiff upper-lip bungler. 100 years

on, what do these letters suggest? What is coming out of some of the

less well known manuscript material, you get the sense of him having

this public persona of being a buttoned-up Edwardian, and then you

read his letters to his wife and you realise he he's a man of real

passion. 100 years on, the first public display of the private

letters, the words that turned the icy remains of history into a human

Time for the weather now. Wintry mix for many of us overnight,

particularly across the North. Rain for many places but a spell of

sleet and snow moving across Scotland, than the wind starts to

pick up. There is also the risk of eyes again, particularly in

Scotland. The band of sleet and snow moves in, the skies Clear and

then the showers come packing into the West. It could be quite I see

overnight, into the rush-hour, in Scotland. Fife, Lothian, Tayside --

quite icy overnight. Turning windy in Northern England, showers

blowing on to the Pennines, largely dry in the east. A bit of rain

overnight, long gone by the morning. It should starts chilly but nice

and bright and sunny. Some high temperatures for the south-west of

England. Showers continuing overnight, these will be of rain.

The showers in Wales, mainly affecting the west and north, will

also be of rain. The wind will be strengthening and it will be a

windy start in Northern Ireland, showers mainly towards the north

coast. Quite a windy day for most of us. It will feel pretty cold in

the wind. Not many showers, mainly coming into the western areas. A

good chance of staying dry. I think we will find more sunshine than

today. It will if feel cold but in the wind, colder still. The winds

strengthen again. A south-westerly wind for a time blowing in milder,

wetter weather. The rain doesn't last long, gone by the end of