13/12/2011 BBC News at Six

A lone gunman goes on the attack in the heart of the Belgian city of

Liege - he kills three people. Christmas shoppers run for their

lives as the man opened fire with a gun and threw grenades. More than

75 are injured. Then I saw in the markets all the people lying down

bleeding between the glass. I stopped my car to see if I could

help some people. Also on tonight's programme: The

Stephen Lawrence murder trial - the jury is shown "shocking" video

footage of the accused using extreme and racist language.

It's the countdown to Christmas and the rate of inflation falls to 4.8%,

but families are still feeling the squeeze. I do go to the supermarket

and if something has suddenly jumped by 20p I don't buy it.

The answer to the biggest question of all - scientists say they may

have glimpsed the first building block of the universe. What I

really want are solutions... And can Mary Queen of Shops work

her magic on Britain's failing high streets? She's got a bag full of

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six O'Clock.

A lone gunman has gone on the rampage in the Belgian city of

Liege. Officials say three people were killed and more than 70

wounded, including an 18-month-old baby, whose condition is critical.

-- more than 65 wounded. The man, armed with guns and grenades,

opened fire in a city centre square that was full of Christmas shoppers,

before killing himself. Our Europe correspondent, Matthew Price, is

close to the scene at Place Saint Lambert. Matthew, any sense of the

motive behind this attack? George. The police and if

prosecutors here are not giving any sense of that. They say they simply

don't know what led this 33-year- old man to carry this out. Think

have ruled out terrorism. I'm not sure what you can see behind me,

but I can tell you lights of the Christmas markets are still shining,

although the market itself has been sealed off, obviously, as the

police pick through the area looking for clues as to indeed what

did lead this man to apparently climb on to a low roof and then

start firing into the crowd and throwing hand grenades.

They ran for their live this is afternoon. 12.30 in a European city

centre. As rumours swirled of one, possibly two, or even three gunmen

on the loose. Shots were fired in the main square next to Liege's

Christmas market. Hand grenades were thrown. There were at least

two large explosions. It was very terrible, so I'm a little bit, I'm

still shocked. I saw just one man shooting people. Some explosions,

two or three. All the people running from there to here. Some

people going to the shopping centre. Special Forces swarmed the city

centre, cutting it off and sealing office and shop workers indoors.

The attack happened just outside the main courthouse here. Many of

the wounded were taken there, as ambulances struggled to get to them

in time. I saw in the market all the people lying down bleeding,

between the glass. I stopped my car to see if I could help some people.

Everybody, all the people must go inside. By this time it was

becoming clear there was just one gunman, and now he lay dead just

off the main square. He killed himself, the police said. A 33-

year-old, he had previous conviction force gun and drug

offences, according toe local media. This evening, the Belgian King and

Queen arrived in Liege to see the misery for themselves. Prosecutors

say they don't yet know why this happened. What everyone here does

know is that this was a day of panic, of death, that few will

forget. A frightening day here in Liege. We

do have now an update from medical sources on the number of people

killed. We know believe the number killed in addition to the gunman

has risen to five. Two teenagers, a 75-year-old, and the baby mentioned

at the beginning of the programme, it is our understanding that that

little girl has now also died. Matthew, thank you.

The Stephen Lawrence murder trial has been shown secretly filmed

police video of the two accused, Gary Dobson and David Norris,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 191 seconds

The trial continues with more examination of Gary Dobson as the

defence gets under way. At this stage it's not clear whether David

Norris will give evidence. Inflation has come down and stand

at 4.8%, some food prices have fallen including bread and

vegetables. But families are still feeling the pinch, as Hugh Pym

reports on the consumer and business reaction in Sheffield.

For hard-pressed households in the countdown to Christmas, it's the

key question, the cost of living. It was 4.8% increased over the year

to November. What is happening at this Sheffield cutlery maker

illustrates the problems caused by inflation. The boss has seen his

costs soaring and feels he can't pass them on to customers so as had

to hold back on staff wages. It's been a very tough year for us this

year because our metals have gone sky-high, all over the place,

increases in gas, electricity, and that has reduced our proper doubles

so, unfortunate, we can't give the staff pay increases we would like.

That means workers at the factory have suffered, no pay rise but the

cost of living rising at 5% annually. Back at home, he and his

wife have been finding it hard to make things add up for the family

budget. I do go to the supermarket and if something has suddenly

jumped, by 20p, I don't buy it, simple as that. I then look for an

alternative a or I cut it out, basically. We don't seem to have a

pot of savings, so if there is a problem, such as reduced hours at

work or Aigner made redundant, I would be concerned about how we

would cover the costs -- I was made redundant. The annual rate of

inflation has fallen a bit partly because bread prices were down 1%

over the month, though other food prices increased, meet for example

was 1.6% higher, petrol, Lola, 0.4% over the month. There's no doubt

shoppers will experience a continuing squeeze on the spending

power up to Christmas and the latest drop in inflation is not

much consolation but looking beyond the new year, the trend is likely

to continue and in fact most economists expect inflation will

This year's VAT increase pushed the cost of living up. That will not be

repeated next year. But people out Christmas shopping will not be

thinking about that. For them, price rises still seem much too

high. If you want to find out how inflation is effecting your

finances, you can, by logging on to the BBC website and accessing the

personal inflation calculator. Police have confirmed that a mother

and two sons who were found dead at her home on Sunday were stabbed.

Clair Smith, Ben, who was nine, and Aaron, who was one, were found at

their home in Pudsey, near Leeds. And happy portrait of a young

family. But there would appear to be no answers about why a rigid,

Aaron, Ben and Clair Smith were found dead in their home. It

appears that 37-year-old Richard Smith set a fire in the main

bedroom of the detached house after killing his wife and two children.

All four bodies were found lying together on a bed here. No note was

left. Detectives say the last Sime -- the last time the family were

seen together was on Friday evening at a social event at a cricket club

here in Pudsey. It is thought they died later that night, one clue

being that nine-year-old Ben's Advent calendar was not opened on

Saturday morning. But police refused to be drawn on what

triggered the killings. We do not want to go into motives or anything

like that, that will be the toast of the ongoing investigation which

will take place in the coming days and weeks. What the state of mind

of any of them was will be something we will be trying to

investigate. Relatives have described them as a perfect family.

Today, Clair's parents said she was a devoted mother, and her children

were her life. Our top stories tonight... A lone gunman goes on

the attack in the heart of a Belgian city. Six people have been

killed, including the gunmen. And the rate of inflation has fallen

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 191 seconds

slightly, to 4.8%, with the price It is perhaps the biggest question

in physics - how did the universe begin? Today scientists at the CERN

Laboratory in Switzerland say they may be close to an answer. They

believe they have found evidence of the mysterious particle known as

the Higgs boson. It's been nicknamed the God particle because

it's thought to be the original building block of the universe. Our

science correspondent, David Shukman, reports on what would - if

confirmed - be one of the most important scientific breakthroughs

of all time. In an underground laboratory near Geneva, the world's

largest experiment is homing in on one of the greatest mysteries of

the universe. It is firing particles to a circular tunnel, and

scientists are getting closer to understanding the basic building

blocks of matter, by causing collisions which reveal what is

inside. And this afternoon, a long awaited announcement... We're here

today to hear the latest results on this search. Some of the brightest

minds in physics were gathered in one room, comparing findings on two

different experiments, which both pointed to the existence of a

fundamentally important particle, hidden until now. We still need

many more collisions next year, to get a definite answer on this one,

to be, or not to be? We saw some tantalising hints today. Scientists

have been delving ever deeper into atoms, and the strange world inside

them. First, you have the nucleus, with electrons orbiting around it,

which has been known about for more than a century. Inside the nucleus

there are protons and neutrons. Inside them are quarks, but what

gives these tiny things substance almost? The theory is that they

travel through a force called the Higgs field, and they get slowed

down by it. This is how the Higgs boson works, you cannot see it, but

it gives particles substance, the creation of matter. That's why this

could be so momentous. Every particle in your body at every

moment is interacting with this field, it is almost like a cosmic

treacle which permeates the universe. That's what gives

particles matter, that's what ultimately gives you and me

structure. The key results come from two different channels.

results are being studied by physicists all over the world. Here

at Imperial College in London, the students watch the events unfold.

People have been waiting their entire lives for this, so I feel

like I am in a special moment. will remember that we were all here,

it is nice to have been part of the group which has been a part of this.

This machine is so vast, they lent me a bike to get round when I last

visited. It has not given as a definitive answer - that may come

next year. But vital clues have been revealed about how the

After yesterday's claims and counter-claims here about David

Cameron's veto at the EU summit last week, the argument has now

shifted to the European Parliament. A number of MEPs criticised the

Prime Minister's action. The President of the European

Commission said the UK's demand for its financial services be protected

would have harmed the EU's internal market. Our Europe editor, Gavin

Hewitt, reports. Today at the European Parliament, David Cameron

was the man everybody seem to want to talk about. Comment has come

from the French President and the German Chancellor already. Today,

it was the turn of the President of the European Commission to

criticise the British for demanding safeguards. The United Kingdom, in

exchange for leaving its agreement, asked for a specific protocol on

financial services, which, as presented, was a risk to the

integrity of the internal market. This made compromise impossible.

Downing Street denied the Prime Minister had any intention to

undermine the single market. But the prevailing view here was that

Britain was now on its own. politics, there is 1 golden rule -

you only walk away if you're sure that the others will come after you

to win you back. One French member of the European Parliament went

further, and demanded Britain should be punished for acting

selfishly. TRANSLATION: I think the British

rebate is now up the question. Citizens' tax money should be spent

on something other than compensating he was referring to

the rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher, which is worth about 3

billion euros a year to Britain. Britain is going to make the great

escape. We're going to get out of this union. We will be the first

European country to get our freedom back. There is no question that

David Cameron's use of the veto last week has irritated many people

in Europe. But increasingly, as time has worn on, other national

politicians and parliaments have raised concerns about the deal to

enforce budgetary discipline struck here last week. Back in London, the

Cabinet held its first meeting since the divisions emerged within

the coalition over Europe. Although the differences remain, David

Cameron insisted the coalition had not been damaged. The coalition is

very strong, it came together for a good reason, which was to put aside

party interests and to act in the national interest, particularly

while there are so many challenges facing our economy. Even though the

focus has been on the Prime Minister and the use of the British

veto, there are increasing doubts as to whether last week's summit

An e-mail chain has been released which shows James Murdoch was

copied into messages back in 2008, suggesting that phone hacking was

not confined to a single reporter at the News of the World. Mr

Murdoch insists that although he was copied into the e-mail chain,

he did not review its full contents and so was unaware of its

significance. Our Home Affairs correspondent, June Kelly, joins me

now. June - where does this leave James Murdoch has always maintained

he was not told by senior staff that potentially phone hacking

could go beyond one rogue reporter. Now we have this emaim chain. The

first is from Tom Crone, a company lawyer, to Colin Myler, the editor

of News of the World. He describes what he call as further nightmare

scenario, acknowledging that other reporters could be involved. Colin

Myler then sends this e-mail to James Murdoch and adds an e-mail of

his own. He section suful, it is as bad as -- he said, is unfortunately

it is as bad as we feared. James Murdoch's reply said, "No worries,

I am in in the afternoon." James Murdoch said he had not read the

bottom of the chain so was not aware of this nightmare chain

developing. Thank you. If you have been out

Christmas shopping this afternoon, where did you spend your money? The

chances are you opted for a shopping centre, and you are not

alone. The retail expert Mary Portas, the so-called Queen Of

Shops, has been asked by the Government to come up with new

ideas to bring back the bust toll the high streets. Empty shops, an

all too familiar sight on high streets fighting for survival.

PROBLEM WITH SOUND Well, I'm really sorry about that.

We seem to have lost that report. In a minute we'll talk to John

Hammond, who has the weather. Just a reminder though of our main story

today. A lone gunman has gone on the attack in the heart of the

Belgian city of Liege. Six people were killed. One of them was a baby,

as we heard from our correspondent Matthew Price. These are the

pictures we saw earlier. Christmas- time shoppers running in panic

through the streets of Liege after that attack.

As I was saying, John Hammond is As I was saying, John Hammond is

here with the weather now. A pretty wintry week. At the moment, it is

really the strength of the wind which is most concerning, and

potentially some snow. It is a messy mixture of rain and snow

across parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland. The winds gusting up

to 60-80 miles per hour in exposed coastal areas. Nasty conditions.

This band of rain and snow will check southwards. The trans-Pennine

routes could be badly affected by snow later, hence the amber warning.

For the latest updates on routes new year, check out your BBC local

radio station. Elsewhere, heavy squally showers rattling up the

English Channel, with hail and thunder. Tomorrow morning we could

see wintry showers pushing up the Bristol Channel into parts of the

south Midlands for example. It might give snow over the high

ground. A cold start. The breeze will have a chill in it. Some of

that rain and snow will be across the southern uplands in the morning.

It could cause local disruption. It is never going to get warm tomorrow.

A stiff old westerly wind. One clump of showers moves east. More

follow in exposed coastal areas. Some will drift inland. Sleet and

snow in some parts of Scotland. A cold day. 5-7. A big question mark

about the end of the week. There is the potential for severe weather.

We will firm up on the details over the next 24- 48 hours. We could see

damage winds and heavy rain and the damage winds and heavy rain and the