:00:08. > :00:13.Two six-year-old boys are laid to rest as the first funerals for
:00:13. > :00:17.victims of the shooting at a school in America take place. The faces of
:00:17. > :00:23.the 20 children murdered alongside six school staff on Friday. One
:00:23. > :00:27.father spoke of the moment he discovered his daughter had died.
:00:27. > :00:31.point-blank found a state trooper and was like, "Are there any
:00:31. > :00:36.survivors? Are you telling me that standing here as a parent my child
:00:36. > :00:39.has gone?" The deaths reignite America's gun debate prompting
:00:39. > :00:46.President Obama to signal he may try to reform the country's gun
:00:46. > :00:50.laws. We can't tolerate this any more.
:00:50. > :00:55.These tragedies must end. And to end them we must change.
:00:55. > :00:59.We will be looking at the obstacles that stand in the way of change.
:00:59. > :01:03.Also tonight: Spot the difference. After five years as Liberal
:01:03. > :01:06.Democrat leader, Nick Clegg seeks to highlight divisions with the
:01:06. > :01:11.Tories. With the last Comet stores closing
:01:11. > :01:18.tomorrow, why the taxpayer may have to fund millions of pounds in
:01:18. > :01:25.redundancy payments. Guilty of hunting a fox with dogs.
:01:25. > :01:30.An Oxfordshire hunt is fined �4,000. For the first time in 27 years,
:01:30. > :01:36.England have won a Test series in India.
:01:36. > :01:46.Coming up in sport: We will see if Arsenal could come back from the
:01:46. > :01:59.
:01:59. > :02:04.disappointment of going out of the Good evening. The first two
:02:04. > :02:09.funerals for victims of Friday's mass shooting in the United States
:02:10. > :02:14.have taken place. Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both six-years-old,
:02:14. > :02:19.were among 20 children shot dead by a lone gunman in Connecticut. Six
:02:19. > :02:25.members of staff were also killed. Police are trying to establish what
:02:25. > :02:31.drove 20-year-old Adam Lanza to carry out one of the worst mass
:02:31. > :02:34.shootings in American history. President Obama may try to change
:02:34. > :02:39.the country's controversial gun laws.
:02:39. > :02:45.The agony of this small town is almost unbearable. The first
:02:45. > :02:49.funeral was held today, that of six-year-old Noah Pozner. His twin
:02:50. > :02:56.sister survived the murderous assault. Jack Pinto was buried as
:02:56. > :03:00.Christmas grows nearer. And the town will hold the funerals of 18
:03:00. > :03:07.more. The parents of one of them have been speaking of their
:03:07. > :03:14.desperation as they waited outside the school on Friday. I knew what
:03:14. > :03:18.she was wearing. I thought I would see her jacket and her black Uggs
:03:18. > :03:23.that she had on. I didn't see her. There was hope because the children
:03:23. > :03:27.were hiding. Then hope departed. There was so much panic and
:03:27. > :03:33.confusion when that announcement was made that life was sucked out
:03:33. > :03:38.of everyone in the room. And I point-blank found a state trooper
:03:38. > :03:44.and was like, "Are there any survivors? Are you telling me that
:03:44. > :03:49.standing here as a parent my child has gone?" And he said, "Yes."
:03:50. > :03:53.the drizzle outside the school, candles, cuddly toys and
:03:53. > :03:59.decorations, symbols of a season of joy pressed into service as
:03:59. > :04:03.memorials to grief. It is heartbreaking. It set off a bout of
:04:03. > :04:08.national soul-searching, about young men and violence, video games
:04:09. > :04:18.and mental illness. Above all, about guns as America asks what
:04:19. > :04:21.
:04:21. > :04:26.could have prevented this obscenity. Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia,
:04:26. > :04:30.Josephine, Anna... There were sobs as this father of two young girls
:04:30. > :04:35.read the names of the murdered. He said he had been to four memorial
:04:35. > :04:40.services like this one. He never said the words "gun control" but
:04:40. > :04:47.what else could he mean? We can't tolerate this any more. These
:04:47. > :04:57.tragedies must end. And to end them we must change. Because what choice
:04:57. > :05:00.
:05:00. > :05:08.do we have? We can't accept events like this as routine. Are we really
:05:08. > :05:16.prepared to say we are powerless in the face of such carnage? That the
:05:16. > :05:19.politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence
:05:19. > :05:23.visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the
:05:23. > :05:30.price of our freedom? If President Obama is serious about turning the
:05:30. > :05:34.emotion on display here into political action, it will be
:05:34. > :05:39.immensely hard. Against him, powerful politicians, lobby groups
:05:39. > :05:43.and America's Supreme Court. The American people themselves might
:05:43. > :05:48.not be the real problem. A ban on military-style assault rifles could
:05:48. > :05:53.be possible, but many see gun ownership as more than a right as
:05:53. > :05:58.the very symbol of their freedom and sales are booming. Yesterday
:05:59. > :06:06.was the biggest day we have done in 20 years. Today, we will probably
:06:06. > :06:10.eclipse that. Gun supporters are keeping silent. Many think this
:06:10. > :06:14.tide of emotion will ebb. We are the only industrialised country
:06:14. > :06:17.that has this problem in the whole world, the only one. And that is
:06:17. > :06:23.why we need immediate national action from the President and from
:06:23. > :06:32.Congress. It should be at the top of their agenda. Yet again, a
:06:32. > :06:38.heavily-armed young man has brought death to his hometown. America is
:06:38. > :06:41.agonising about whether its love affair with guns should end.
:06:41. > :06:48.We can speak to Mark now. More strong words from the President,
:06:48. > :06:52.but how likely is it that he will push for change? I think this is
:06:52. > :06:57.quite a moment for the President. Nothing is going to happen in the
:06:57. > :07:00.next few days, or indeed weeks. But I think in the New Year, because
:07:00. > :07:06.the electricion is over, we will see a newly-emboldened President
:07:06. > :07:09.Obama who is going to take bolder, more radical action and I think gun
:07:09. > :07:12.control could easily be part of that. Now, a lot of people are
:07:12. > :07:17.completely cynical about that. They think it won't happen. There's been
:07:17. > :07:23.talk in the past, there is talk now, and nothing ever changes. Against
:07:23. > :07:27.that, we are seeing straws in the wind. Four Senators have said that
:07:27. > :07:33.maybe in terms of assault rifles they would change their minds. You
:07:33. > :07:38.can understand why people are cynical. The forces against the
:07:38. > :07:43.President would be immense. The Supreme Court. It's loosened up the
:07:43. > :07:47.rules on guns in the last four years. It's struck down bans on
:07:47. > :07:54.handguns in Chicago and Washington DC. If he did decide to take on
:07:54. > :07:57.those who want liberal laws on guns, it wouldn't be a question of his
:07:57. > :08:01.remaining term, it would go on for years and years. If a President
:08:01. > :08:06.wants a legacy, dealing with America's attitude towards guns
:08:06. > :08:09.would indeed be something. Thank you.
:08:09. > :08:14.The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has marked his five years as
:08:14. > :08:24.leader of the Liberal Democrats by claiming that he's blocked
:08:24. > :08:26.
:08:26. > :08:30.Conservative plans for more Draconian cuts to welfare.
:08:30. > :08:34.Happy, or should that be unhappy anniversary, Nick Clegg? Elected
:08:34. > :08:41.leader of the Liberal Democrats five years ago. The good news, he's
:08:41. > :08:45.taken his party from opposition to power. The bad is he and they are
:08:45. > :08:49.more unpopular than ever. Which is why he has a new strategy, one
:08:49. > :08:55.which involves spelling out the arguments he has behind-the-scenes
:08:55. > :08:59.with the Conservatives. Today, on welfare. There are some that
:08:59. > :09:03.believe no-one could be out of work unless they are a scrounger. If you
:09:03. > :09:10.can't find a job, you must be lazy. If you are too sick to work, you
:09:10. > :09:13.are probably pretending. The siren voices of the Tory right could have
:09:13. > :09:17.pulled a majority Conservative Government in the direction of
:09:17. > :09:21.Draconian welfare cuts. His claim, that he stopped the Tories making
:09:21. > :09:26.deeper cuts to benefits for the under 25s and larger families and
:09:26. > :09:30.they stopped him from taking benefits away from the richest
:09:30. > :09:35.pensioners. A Government split? Oh no, he insists, just grown-up
:09:35. > :09:39.coalition politics. When he is not on camera, Nick Clegg puts it all
:09:39. > :09:43.more colourfully. He has told his staff it is time the public saw how
:09:43. > :09:48.the coalition makes its sausages. What he means by that is how they
:09:48. > :09:52.cook up the recipe for the policies which are served up to you. Making
:09:52. > :09:56.Government policy is a bit like a kitchen, Nick Clegg argues. All
:09:56. > :10:02.sorts of recipes are tried out, but not all of them make it on to the
:10:02. > :10:07.menu. He wants voters to give him, and to give the Liberal Democrats
:10:07. > :10:13.credit for all the ingredients that do make their way in, but also for
:10:13. > :10:21.all the ingredients that stay out. Is it a coincidence that this has
:10:21. > :10:26.happened after UKIP beat the Lib Dems? Oh no. People couldn't care
:10:26. > :10:32.less about how the sausages are made. They care about what is in
:10:32. > :10:37.them! You get a good British sausage with UKIP. If this is not
:10:37. > :10:46.the recipe for a revival, one of his advisers predicted the
:10:46. > :10:48.coalition could come to an end long before the general election.
:10:48. > :10:51.The Independent Police Complaints Commission has tonight issued a
:10:51. > :10:56.statement regarding the arrest of a serving police officer who was at
:10:56. > :10:59.the centre of events that led to the resignation of the former
:10:59. > :11:02.Government Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell. Nick Robinson is at
:11:02. > :11:05.Westminster. What more can you tell us? Let's remind you what this is
:11:05. > :11:10.all about. Remember, that Andrew Mitchell was the Government Chief
:11:10. > :11:13.Whip, a senior Minister, who resigned after admitting that he
:11:13. > :11:17.had shouted and sworn at a police officer on the gates of Downing
:11:17. > :11:22.Street. You may forget that he always insisted that the word that
:11:22. > :11:26.did him most damage, the claim that he called police officers "plebs"
:11:26. > :11:31.was untrue. Tonight, what we are hearing is that those close to Mr
:11:31. > :11:35.Mitchell are beginning to mutter, "I told you so". Why? The reason is
:11:35. > :11:39.this: Last night we learnt that a police officer had been arrested.
:11:39. > :11:44.Tonight, we learn a lot more about that arrest from the police
:11:44. > :11:54.watchdog, the IPCC. The man arrested is being questioned about
:11:54. > :11:58."the validity of his claim "and this officer we are also told was
:11:58. > :12:03.not on duty in Downing Street at the time. Add that altogether, what
:12:03. > :12:06.does it mean? It does look as though an officer who claimed to be
:12:06. > :12:11.a third party witness to corroborate the account of the
:12:11. > :12:16.officers at the time is being questioned as to whether they made
:12:16. > :12:20.the entire story up. It is extraordinarily serious. The
:12:20. > :12:24.officer has denied this and we will wait to see what happens now. But
:12:24. > :12:29.this is a serious claim. It is one that is being investigated. It is
:12:29. > :12:34.one that is likely to lead to really serious questions about
:12:34. > :12:43.whether Mr Mitchell might not have just been telling part of the truth
:12:44. > :12:47.The taxpayer may have to pick up losses of �50 million following the
:12:47. > :12:51.collapse of Comet. Half of the money would be used to fund
:12:51. > :13:01.redundancy payments. Administrators say there is insufficient money to
:13:01. > :13:06.fund the payouts to commit's employees. -- Comet's.
:13:06. > :13:16.It is the end of the road for Comet. Everything must go. Here in Reading,
:13:16. > :13:25.it was literally everything. You look completely wedged? At yes,
:13:25. > :13:28.just a little. A bargain for a television stand. I've got a
:13:28. > :13:32.television under the hood. There will be no shortage of customers.
:13:32. > :13:36.The stock is flying out of the door. So much so that they will be
:13:36. > :13:39.shutting for good tomorrow night. As of tomorrow evening, the entire
:13:39. > :13:44.chain will have disappeared from the high street. It has prompted
:13:44. > :13:48.questions about the private investment company, OpCapita, that
:13:48. > :13:52.bought the loss-making retailer less than a year ago. It was given
:13:52. > :13:58.�50 million to take it off the hands of Comet's parent company.
:13:58. > :14:03.The scale of the problems were made clear today. Comet racked up �126
:14:03. > :14:08.million worth of losses in the last 18 months. The collapse will also
:14:08. > :14:14.mean a �50 million hit for the taxpayer. That is �26 million in
:14:14. > :14:18.unpaid taxes like VAT and a �24 million bill for redundancy payment,
:14:18. > :14:24.something the Government is legally obliged to do if there are not
:14:24. > :14:29.enough funds when the businesses round-up. -- when the business is
:14:29. > :14:33.wound up. I am sure there is a need for an investigation to the goings-
:14:33. > :14:37.on in Comet. What happened to the money given to the venture capital
:14:37. > :14:39.company by the parent company? The investigation into how workers are
:14:39. > :14:44.treated and wider government is paying compensation when there is
:14:44. > :14:46.this money floating around. OpCapita said it did its utmost to
:14:46. > :14:52.turn around a failing business, keeping it going as long as it
:14:52. > :14:57.could. But this is a complicated, controversial deal that largely
:14:57. > :15:01.protected OpCapita if the business went bust. You could call it sharp
:15:01. > :15:05.or opportunistic. The problem is that it is legal. The fact is that
:15:05. > :15:09.it will cause a lot of heart- searching at government level and
:15:09. > :15:13.business in general about how deals like this had done in future.
:15:13. > :15:19.Comet's star was waning long before these recent events. But
:15:19. > :15:23.that is of little comfort to the 6600 workers who are out of a job
:15:23. > :15:28.before Christmas. The business ultimately ran out of time and
:15:29. > :15:32.money. Nine children have been killed by a
:15:32. > :15:36.landmine in Afghanistan. Officials say the girls were collecting
:15:36. > :15:40.firewood near their village when the mine was triggered. Three other
:15:40. > :15:45.children were injured in the explosion in the eastern province
:15:46. > :15:52.of Nangarhar. Coming to bury nine young girls who
:15:52. > :15:55.had gone out to gather firewood. Relatives said that most had been
:15:55. > :16:04.attending school and dreamt of being doctors, engineers or
:16:04. > :16:11.teachers. A whole community, touched by tragedy. Three families
:16:11. > :16:16.lost two daughters each. The locals tried to save them. I was having
:16:16. > :16:20.breakfast when I heard a bang, said this man. I ran to the scene and I
:16:20. > :16:26.lifted one child in my arms. Then I drove some of the wounded to
:16:26. > :16:31.hospital. Afghan security forces stood guard at the funeral. The
:16:31. > :16:39.Taliban are active here. It's unclear if they planted the mine
:16:39. > :16:44.war if it dated back to the Soviet occupation of the 1980s. Every day
:16:44. > :16:48.brings new victims of Afghanistan's deadly crop of landmines. At this
:16:48. > :16:55.hospital in Kabul, the International Committee of the Red
:16:55. > :17:03.Cross tries to rebuild shattered lives. It tries to give hope to men
:17:03. > :17:07.like this. He lost both legs seven months ago. TRANSLATION: A lot of
:17:07. > :17:13.things have changed. I am half a man now. I cannot do the work I did
:17:13. > :17:18.before. Like digging with the spade, using an axe. Afghanistan remains
:17:18. > :17:24.one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. It is the
:17:24. > :17:29.legacy of decades of conflict. More patients are arriving here all the
:17:29. > :17:34.time. Staff say they see 500 or 600 new landmine victims every year.
:17:34. > :17:37.There are double, even triple amputees. They say the new land
:17:37. > :17:43.mines in use today are more powerful and more devastating than
:17:43. > :17:50.those of the past. Back in the countryside, they don't were laid
:17:50. > :17:55.to rest. Most landmine victims are children. No one can say how many
:17:55. > :18:05.mines still lurk in the Afghan soil, waiting to kill. One bereaved
:18:05. > :18:09.
:18:09. > :18:12.father told me, we are paying for Coming up: Poverty in the oil-rich
:18:12. > :18:22.equatorial Guinea. The President denies allegations of corruption
:18:22. > :18:25.In the first case of its kind, a hand and two are former members
:18:25. > :18:28.have been fined after they admitted hunting foxes with dogs on four
:18:28. > :18:35.occasions in the courts. The Heythrop Hunt, based in Oxfordshire,
:18:35. > :18:44.was fined �4,000 and ordered to pay �15,000 in costs.
:18:44. > :18:49.The hunt is on. A fox, apparently running for its life as the hounds).
:18:49. > :18:54.-- close in. Several videos were taken by anti-hunt activists, who
:18:54. > :18:59.say they are clearer evidence of illegal hunting. The distress of
:19:00. > :19:04.those behind the camera, picked up on the microphones. There is a kill.
:19:04. > :19:08.The pictures we used to prosecute the Heythrop Hunt. Today, two
:19:08. > :19:13.former members and the hunt itself admitted unlawful hunting with
:19:13. > :19:17.hounds. Prosecution is always a last resort. I would rather people
:19:17. > :19:22.respected the law and were kind and decent towards animals. If they are
:19:22. > :19:26.not, the RSPCA inspectors are there to bring people to justice.
:19:26. > :19:30.Heythrop is among the leading hunts favoured by the so-called tripping
:19:30. > :19:34.Norton set. It is the Prime Minister's local hunt. Today's
:19:34. > :19:38.court proceedings were a private prosecution by the RSPCA. One of
:19:38. > :19:43.the guilty men claimed it was the result of a political agenda.
:19:43. > :19:47.is a charitable body, that they can take on this political thing and
:19:47. > :19:52.spend so much money of what people have given for a different reason,
:19:52. > :19:55.I just find that quite staggering, myself. Even now, years after the
:19:55. > :19:59.ban was introduced, it remains one of the most controversial issues in
:19:59. > :20:03.the British countryside. Hunt supporters insist that it should be
:20:03. > :20:08.scrapped completely. But those that are against hunting say that the
:20:08. > :20:13.law can only work if it is properly enforced. Today, the Heythrop
:20:13. > :20:19.admitted illegal hunting. It is the first time that a hunt, not just
:20:19. > :20:24.individual members, have been successfully prosecuted. Fines and
:20:24. > :20:30.costs total �19,000. But the case left the RSPCA with a bill for
:20:30. > :20:40.�327,000. In court, the judge questioned if those who donated to
:20:40. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:44.the charity would consider that One of Africa's longer serving and
:20:44. > :20:48.most controversial president has accused Western countries of
:20:48. > :20:53.levelling farcical allegations of corruption against his family.
:20:53. > :20:57.French and American investigators have accused the family of the
:20:57. > :21:07.President of Equatorial Guinea of diverting tens of thousands of
:21:07. > :21:09.
:21:09. > :21:14.dollars of oil revenues into A brand new highway, deep inside
:21:14. > :21:21.the West African rainforest. Deserted. It feels like a road to
:21:22. > :21:30.nowhere. And then we arrive, in the middle of the jumble a city is
:21:30. > :21:34.rising. This is to be Equatorial Guinea's new capital, Oyala. This
:21:34. > :21:38.has to be one of the most extraordinary construction projects
:21:38. > :21:43.I have seen. I am on the roof or a full hundred and 50 room, five-star
:21:43. > :21:49.luxury hotel, that comes complete with a full-size theatre, a
:21:49. > :21:53.convention centre and, carved out of the jungle, an 18 hole
:21:53. > :22:01.championship golf course. It is a spectacular vanity project in a
:22:01. > :22:07.country where most people live on barely $1 a day. Equatorial Guinea
:22:07. > :22:13.is a dictatorship, long run by this man, Teodoro Obiang. His family has
:22:13. > :22:18.been accused by critics of rampant corruption. The President's son,
:22:19. > :22:22.Teodorin, an extraordinarily extravagant playboy, has had the
:22:22. > :22:28.property and assets worth 100 million euros seized by the French
:22:28. > :22:32.government. Oil and gas are the keys to understanding the Obiang
:22:32. > :22:37.regime. Edward Laura Mockiene is the third biggest producer in sub-
:22:37. > :22:43.Saharan Africa. The oil bonanza certainly hasn't changed these
:22:43. > :22:47.people's lives. Average life expectancy barely tops 50. Public
:22:47. > :22:53.dissent is dangerous in this one- party dictatorship. But anger is
:22:53. > :22:57.close to the surface. TRANSLATION: The people of equatorial Guinea are
:22:57. > :23:02.suffering. The oil money is all taken by the President's family.
:23:02. > :23:07.But nobody can say anything. If you do, the secret police would come to
:23:07. > :23:14.arrest you. The President gave me a rare interview. He is 70, but in no
:23:14. > :23:21.mood for retirement. TRANSLATION: I have been in power for so long
:23:21. > :23:24.because of the will of the people. It is the people who decide. Thanks
:23:24. > :23:29.to the work I have done, they have always shown their appreciation and
:23:29. > :23:35.voted for me. What do you say to the people in your own country who
:23:35. > :23:38.say that you and your family have stolen, stolen the resources and
:23:38. > :23:45.the assets that rightfully belong to all of the people of this
:23:45. > :23:50.country, not to us to you? TRANSLATION: That information is
:23:50. > :23:53.false. On the contrary, my government has improved living
:23:53. > :24:01.standards of the people and provide a better infrastructure for
:24:01. > :24:05.everyone. The sun goes down on Oyala, the
:24:05. > :24:15.jungle city. Oil has gifted this country an historic opportunity.
:24:15. > :24:16.
:24:16. > :24:20.You can see HARDtalk's two programmes tonight and tomorrow on
:24:20. > :24:23.the BBC News Channel. The Queen is to attend tomorrow's
:24:23. > :24:29.cabinet meeting in Downing Street. She will be the first monarch to do
:24:29. > :24:32.so since Queen Victoria. During the weekly briefing, she will sit next
:24:32. > :24:34.to the Prime Minister. Downing Street says she will also be
:24:34. > :24:39.present but a gift to mark her Diamond Jubilee.
:24:39. > :24:43.For cricket, England have won a Test series in India for the first
:24:43. > :24:50.time in 27 years. Centuries from Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell helped
:24:50. > :24:56.England to cure a draw, enough to ensure they won the sea was overall.
:24:56. > :25:00.-- secure a draw. Try, try and try again. In India,
:25:00. > :25:06.England have had to persevere. However much the country changes,
:25:06. > :25:09.one thing remains. At home, India's cricketers are expected to win. The
:25:09. > :25:15.only faint chance they had was to grab wickets rapidly on Monday
:25:15. > :25:18.morning. They got one all day. Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott build a 200
:25:18. > :25:21.run partnership that sucked the life out of the test. For India to
:25:21. > :25:27.think about winning the match to level the series, they had to end
:25:27. > :25:35.the England innings. It never looked like happening. After tea,
:25:35. > :25:38.the inevitable could not be delayed. The series went to England, 2-1.
:25:38. > :25:43.The new captain had done what no England captain had managed here
:25:43. > :25:47.for nearly 30 years. Everybody contributed. I cannot praise them
:25:47. > :25:51.enough for their effort. The willingness to learn, to front up
:25:51. > :25:55.to what is a very tough challenge out here. England have beaten an
:25:55. > :26:00.Indian team in transition. Living conditions are far easier for
:26:00. > :26:03.tourists here these days. It all helps, up to a point. Don't let
:26:03. > :26:08.anybody take it away from them. They have earned it and they are
:26:08. > :26:13.right to celebrate that this is a good performance. This is probably
:26:13. > :26:18.second only to beating Australia in Australia for them. Of course,
:26:18. > :26:25.there are challenges and goals ahead for this team. 2013 is the
:26:25. > :26:27.Ashes again. But a series victory in India is a to be a defining