08/12/2011 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today. Another shooting at Virginia Tech

University. Two people are reported to have been killed at the scene at

of the most deadly camper shooting in the US for years ago. European

leaders arrive in Brussels for the latest in a series of crisis

summits to save the eurozone. Is this the one?

TRANSLATION: Everybody knows if there is no agreement, there will

be no second chance. J a return to the rhetoric of the

Cold War. Vladimir Putin accuses the US of fomenting unrest after

the country's controversial elections. Also coming up. Tackling

and ash cloud. I am flying over Europe's most

active volcano, where scientists are testing the device to help

pilots navigate their way through volcanic ash clouds. And the

photographer who turned her lens away from famous faces to their

favourite homes and places. Hello. Two people are reported to

have been killed after a shooting at Virginia Tech University, the

scene of one of the worst shootings in the United States. A state of

alert has been declared and people are advised to be -- remain indoors.

In 2007, a student shot dead 32 people on the campus before killing

himself. Our correspondent joins us from Washington. This is a

developing story. What is the latest? The latest is we have had a

statement from the University confirming two people, including a

police officer, have been killed. The suspect is at large. It does

not appear to be a case of a gun and walking on to campus and

opening fire, but some sort of traffic stop that turned fatal. I

can read some of the statement. Shortly after midday a police

officer stopped a vehicle on campus during a routine stop. -- stop.

During the stop, the officer was shot and killed. There were

witnesses to the shooting. It says that witnesses reported to the

police that the gunmen fled on foot heading towards a parking lot and

there are second person was found. It is said the second person was

also killed. We have update from Twitter from people on the campus,

including the local student newspaper, which reports a lot of

police activity right now. And also further shots Fayed. There was a

report of someone taken into custody. That was wrong. But it is

a fast-moving situation. There is a sense of nervousness, given what

happened four years ago. It was in 2007 that a South Korean born

student opened fire at the June the attack, killing 32 people and

wounding 24 others. It made it the worst mass shooting in modern US

history and provoked a lot of soul- searching. There were inquiries

into security provision. They did change their procedures as a result.

That is why when the first reports came in today, students immediately

heard an alarm and they received messages on their mobile telephones

and were told to stay indoors. After a summer and autumn of make

or break summits, European leaders are gathering in Brussels again to

try to hammer out a deal to save the euro. President Nicolas Sarkozy

said there will be no second chance. At the heart of the discussion is a

bit to change the treaty and there for a move to overcome political

and legal obstacles. It is Brussels today there is some Christmas cheer.

But mention the euro, and Bloom sets in. They are coming back to

meet. Will it make a difference? They are not moving forward, he

said. The leaders meet again and again but there is never anything

concrete. Some fear that the single currency might not survive the

crisis. We found them still making new coins at the Belgian mint. The

key problem for the eurozone is a crisis of confidence. Investors are

not convinced that if they lend a eurozone countries some money they

will get it all back. Until politicians can correct that

perception, the crisis will go from bad to worse. They will try to stop

that over a dinner that will last until the early hours. The leaders

will continue to set out a plan. The two big eurozone players,

France and Germany, have made progress on a compromise proposal.

It envisages new rules on tax and spending. Any country that breaks

them will face semi- automatic penalties. And eurozone countries

will have a national budget scrutinised by Brussels. The main

players were trying to build up support for the plan at a summit of

the main conservative parties. Britain's Conservatives were not

there after David Cameron pulled them out of that grouping two years

ago. Those who attended could not have been clearer.

TRANSLATION: Everyone knows if there is no agreement there will be

no second chance. We need compromise and quick decisions.

the world is watching us. Not more national problems but European

solutions. My eyes to agreed that such a solution will involve this -

- most agree. Today, the bank lowered interest rates across the

eurozone to help growth. But the head of the Bank disappointed

markets by playing down the prospect of any new financial

support for indebted countries. This evening, David Cameron arrived,

promising to protect the interests of Britain. These are important

talks. We need stability that is good for European countries and for

Britain. We need to protect the interests of Britain. The best

protection would be an end to the euro crisis.

We can go to Brussels and speak to Our correspondent. We have a lot of

warnings. Do you get a sense there will be a break through this

weekend so that things can be signed off next year?

If you listen to France and Germany, you get that. They have noted

police stepped up the level of rhetoric, in particular President

Sarkozy. I was in Paris when he met Chancellor Muckle. Today also. He

was speaking -- Angela Merkel. He was speaking about the

responsibility Germany and France have to prevent atrocities

happening again. He said they are not trying to have more rights.

Smaller countries are feeling they are being dictated to. He said they

have more responsibilities. He said both countries will suffer

domestically from some of the proposals they are putting forward.

They are willing to do that because the alternative is worse. We are

not leaving until we have a deal in place, but one official said, 25

out of 27 countries have a problem with some part of the plan. It will

be a long night. Given the Lisbon treaty, with

majority voting, the fear of those countries outside the eurozone is

what, that they will be in the slipstream and dictated to? And

caught up in the legal side. The countries outside face a choice.

You have countries like Britain that want nothing to do with the

euro. There are other countries, seven out of the ten countries that

do not use it at the moment are committed to joining it. Eastern

European countries, it was part of their accession negotiations.

Angela Merkel repeated when she came in this evening that if they

can't get an agreement with all 27, they will take one with 17 plus any

other countries that want to join. That is not comfortable listening

for David Cameron. It could mean that a few years of -- down the

line you have 24 countries in the inner circle. And a small number,

including Brighton, outside. -- Britain, outside. Everybody has

principles they say they will stick As the state of Europe's finances

are under close scrutiny, we revisited city is associated with

key treaties that form Europe. 20 years ago, it was the treaty of

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 99 seconds

We can go to Brussels and speak to a Liberal Democrat MP who is

president of Union of European Federalists. Will Europe be saved

in principle this weekend? In principle and practice, it is

not easy to speculate on the outcome. The preparation of this

has been chaotic. With Angela Merkel in her stolid way and

President Sarkozy in his rather mercurial fashion. Sort of flying

freelance, without speaking to bear partners or the commission. -- to

their partners. And ignoring Parliament, too. There is an awful

lot that needs to be achieved if market and Democratic confidence

can be restored. What seems to be clear, and you

could give your reaction, is that politically, they have been nowhere

near the speed of markets and business. Markets and business have

seen what politicians have not. That is right. It is wrong to

complain about the strength of the Berlin and Paris axis. The problem

is that it is weak, it is not sufficiently strong to plot and

programme a serious change of the treaties. And to install a credible,

discernible government of the economy. That is what we need. I

think the fact is that we are going into a fiscal union, with much

greater integration of the core group. If there is fiscal

solidarity between taxpayers, that has also to be managed, directed

and democratically legitimised. And we are going to move on, thank you

very much indeed for joining us. It has been a turbulent week for

the Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. First, his party did worse

in elections and then thousands of people took to the streets to

protest over his leadership. Today he blamed it on the United States.

He accused the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of

encouraging protests in this The protests this week. A sudden a

weakening of many people here in Russia. After a decade of a

authority again rule imposed by Vladimir Putin. These demonstrators

are disenchanted following allegations of fraud in the

elections and the prospect of another decade with Putin in power.

Today the Prime Minister responded by going on the offensive himself,

directly accusing the United States of stirring up the protests and

funding the opposition. TRANSLATION: The Secretary of

State set the tone for some of the personalities inside the country

and gave them the signal. They heard the signal and with support

from the State Department they have started at of work. Following the

vote on Sunday there has been a stream of reports including from

election officials themselves, alleging the ballots were rigged to

ensure the ruling party won. There was soon strong criticism from

world leaders including Hillary Clinton who expressed her dismayed

during a meeting on Tuesday that the organisation meeting on Tuesday.

There were efforts to call the election monitoring by the

respected independent civil society organisation. The work of that

company is exactly the type of activities that countries committed

to the rule of law should welcome but in the last few days, its

members have been hauled into court, its website has been subjected to

massive cyber attacks and its motives have been maligned. Despite

this, Government supporters have also been out on the streets here

in Moscow this week. They are determined to defend the election

result as a true representation of the will of the people. The true

question is whether the broader population believes this and

whether support for her the Government of Britain will ever

wane. In the battle between humans and nature there are times when

nature seems to win hands down. Last year these guys were closed,

the airline's counter the costs. Scientists are fighting back, they

now believe they can prevent a repeat of the disturbance of the

volcanic ash clouds in Iceland. When this Icelandic volcano erupted

in April last year, it looked like the end of the world. And for the

10 million passengers affected by a week of cancelled flights, it felt

a bit like it, too. So imagine, if there was a way in which planes

themselves could monitor eruptions and keep flying. Looming over the

Sicilian countryside is Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano. This

little microlight has been buzzing over it for weeks collecting ash

cloud data. We are now flying towards the ash bloom and this is a

situation any pilot could face, knowing there is activity in the

region but not knowing how dense the ash clouds are. This equipment

can measure the density of the clouds and help the pilot get

through them. The research is being funded by EasyJet and the system,

called AVOID, is still being refined. But eventually, the pilot

will see a scheme like this, showing how much ash is in the air

and how far away it is. At the moment we do not have anything on

board the aircraft to measure the ash clouds. This is almost like the

change we had when we had weather radar. During the first eruption we

discovered the levels of cash were extremely low. If we had realised

that I am sure 90% of the airspace would have been opened. This

plane's now being shipped off to step is to test the unit on an

Airbus. All the airlines will be offered the finished product and a

network of planes, combined with satellite data, could map the skies.

Children in the country about to be introduced to an American favourite.

Sesame Street goes on here on Pakistan on Saturday. It is not

cheap. US aid has committed $10 million over four years. Meet the

cast of Pakistan's sesame Street. Elmore is here but he is surrounded

by new friends. -- Elmo. A Pakistani village has been created

on set. Here is these that of the show, cricket-mad, energetic and

curious. She looks to the daughter of the village school teacher for

help. The Twelve-year-old to please her says the puppets are like

family. I feel Like They are my younger sisters and brothers

because I am telling them a lot of stuff and they are learning from me.

A do you think the children who watch the show would learn a lot? I

think they would get more educated than when they go to school.

pre-school educators will be strong female lead will win over the next

generation in this conservative society. In schools in general the

children take a step back but maybe by seeing our strong headed

character who is the captain of the cricket team and is not afraid to

ask questions, I am hoping the children will relate to that and

maybe take some courage and start to love her fra that. -- for that.

The Peter behind this production know all about courage. They have

been bombed by militants in the past but they know all about the

future for Pakistan's children. In this scene be child is asking where

does the sun go at night? The Pope to provide basic language and maths

skills. The Americans have made a very big investment in all of this.

They hope it will also teach lessons intolerance. This character

and his friends will celebrate holidays marked by different

religions, a message of togetherness rather than heat, a

message that is often missing here. Many in Pakistan never get the

chance to learn. One-third of young children do not go to school. This

programme may be their only teacher. Annie Leibowitz is one of the

world's most acclaimed photographers, best known for her

photographs of John Lennon and Queen Elizabeth. Today her

exhibition opens in London featuring a very personal set of

images associated with her own favourite people. I was definitely

going down a different trail. I just wanted to hit the road and get

out. Really, it was a kind of voyage of discovery. It was a very

personal set of pictures. I really did it not with the intention of it

being seen but it was to fill myself up. If I was going to hope

that anything could be gleaned from it is that these places are out

there for us all. You do not need a ticket. You can get so taken into

each of these subjects in a good way which is what is wonderful

about them. They is so much to know about them and you can live in all

of these subjects. I tried to pull myself in and out relatively fast,

little more than a tourist. I am not a big fan of the tripod. I am

used to moving. I had to learn how to put the camera on a tripod and

shoot an object. I tried to feel emotional with it. I was very lucky.

I received an award. I was receiving the award in Santa Fe at

a museum and the offered to take me out to a branch. I'll literally

take out of the corner -- came round the corner, I met this artist,

there was a single bed and a view out to the valley. There was a

frugality to it and the simplicity to it. I hadn't a weakening and an

understanding. I was preaching to myself, not anyone else. I was

trying to understand these subject myself. Photography has always been

a great tool for me in that way, a week to look at anything or

discover it for her journey to it. So, under the guise of using

photography I get to go deeper into Annie Leibowitz talking about her

new book. A quick reminder of our main news. Two people including a

police officer reported to have been killed at Virginia Tech in

Virginia. This be seen of the worst shooting in America two years ago.

Coming up there is more from me and Today's reign is sweeping away.

While it is felt -- still very windy in the north that is easing

away. There will be a high winds with snow in northern Scotland with

the higher risk of ice as well by the time we get to Friday. There

will be a few wintry showers running south from Northern Ireland

into North Wales but some did sunshine either side. There will be

some late sunshine returning to northern parts of England. A few

showers drifting down into Norfolk. Much of the south-east will have a

lovely day with lots of sunshine around. A less windy day for all of

us tomorrow. Plenty of sunshine for the south-west of England. Just one

or two showers. There will be more cloud and showers coming into Wales

over the hills. It should try Appin Northern Ireland with more sunshine

in the afternoon but it will be much colder. The wins will continue