19/12/2011 BBC News at Six

The leader of North Korea - one of the world's most secretive nations

- has died suddenly. Kim Jong-il, who had ruled the nuclear state

since 1994, is said to have had a heart attack on a train. As North

Koreans weep in the streets, the international community says his

death could be a turning point. hope they new leadership will

recognise that engagement with the international community or put --

offers the best prospect of improving the lives of the Korean

people. Also on tonight's programme:

Signs of a breakthrough in the bitter public sector pensions

dispute. Guilty of attempted murder - the

man who buried his girlfriend alive in a cardboard box. A policewoman

describes the woman's trauma. still have nightmares that Marcin

Kasprzak will come back to find me and kill me. My only hope is that

he can accept that what he did to me was very wrong.

Redrawing the rules for Britain's banks - the Government agrees the

most far-reaching reforms in modern And showing fighting spirit - the

military wives battling to be the Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC

News Channel: the Scottish Premier League have announced that they

plan to relax the rules on standing Good evening. Welcome to the BBC

News at Six. The man who led North Korea, one of the world's most

secretive countries, for almost two decades, has died suddenly. State

media said Kim Jong-il had suffered a heart attack during a train

journey on Saturday. His young son has been hailed as the so-called

Great Successor. North Korea's neighbours are on high alert

tonight amid fears of instability in the region, heightened by

reports that North Korea tested a short-range missile today. It's the

most heavily militarised area on earth, with an army of just over 1

million soldiers and a further 8 million reservists. North Korea

been a nuclear power since the mid- 1960s and is believed to have

nuclear weapons. Our world affairs editor, John Simpson, looks back at

the Kim Jong-il era and the future This is the weird, reclusive figure

who ran the world's most secretive country, and did it as though it

was his own private property. Looking on was his son, Kim Jong-un,

who is around 28. No one knows for sure. He will take over.

The cult leader died on Saturday, but his people were only told today

-- the altar leader. The news unleashed a storm of emotion,

genuine or otherwise -- the cult In North Korea, you have do mourn

the lead as noisily as possible, especially if the cameras are on

But if you are a member of the political elite, you may well be

sorry he is gone. No one knows what will happen to the country now. For

17 years, Kim Jong-il was the leader of the last and most extreme

of the world's dictatorships. He was distinctly odd, sometimes

gentle, sometimes capable of frightening rages. He seems to have

been born in Russia, but he was always destined to succeed his

father, Kim Il-sung. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia stop

propping North Korea up financially. As a result, their national income

after in a decade. Mostly on Kim Jong-il's watch, and there was an

actual famine. It is an extraordinary failure of leadership

for one who laughingly styled himself as the Dear Leader and

later the great leader. He leaves behind him a country which is it

appallingly poor. This girl, filmed secretly by a South Korean

journalist last year, has been collecting grass to eat. There is

And this is where the money which might have been spent on better

living conditions actually does. On the world's fifth-largest army, 1

million strong. And even more worryingly, North Korea has now

developed long-range missiles, capable of carrying nuclear

warheads. We hope, of course, that it will be a turning-point for

North Korea. We hope that their new lives ship will recognise that

engagement with the international community offers the best prospect

of improving the lives of the North Korean people -- their new

leadership. For now, a pampered, wholly inexperienced 28-year-old

controls the future of North Korea. The fear is that Kim Jong-un's

spectacular promotion could end up in a nasty power struggle, with the

older military elite. And this, in a nuclear state, which seems

seriously out of control. John Simpson is here with me now.

Is there any hope that the region could become more stable now?

I think there is. It doesn't have to be a disaster. The great thing

about it is that there is no Cold War any longer, nobody is back in

North Korea, it is absolutely on its own. -- nobody is backing North

Korea. It has helped and implants from China but it shows the Chinese

that it does not want them to push north Korea around -- it has helped

and influence from China. There is a hope that China will be able to

play a greater part. But it is a dangerous place. It was only last

year since the North Koreans sank a South Korean naval ship. There is

always a chance that somebody will say, I want to be the leader, I am

going to show the other side how tough I am.

There are the first signs of a breakthrough tonight in the bitter

public sector pensions dispute. The health service union, Unison, has

launched -- reached an initial agreement which will be considered

by officials next month. The largest civil service union, the

Stick together to win, they say. For many months, they have. Trade

unions against the government. As union leaders meet to decide

whether or not to do a deal, it seems their solidarity is going

soggy. Will not compromise at all, we will fight until we win...

members a fight, not fault, others are sounding more conciliatory. Are

they about to do a deal? We see it as a career move to further talks.

These are complicated issues and we want to take the full package back

to our members, so we can explain it to them fully. A deal on the

local government scheme appears to have been reached. One of Britain's

biggest unions, Unison, says it will put the offer to its members.

Teachers are still in discussions and the civil service unions are

split. This is not a united movement and some are holding out

for more. No, we won't be signing up to the deal. We have written to

the government today, we are reminding them that 2 million

people went on strike because they are being forced to work longer,

pay more and get less. That has always been unfair. This is what

the unions have been unhappy about. They argue most of their members

are being expected to pay more, at least 3%, they will have to work

longer, until they are 67, and receive less when they retire. The

government says in this economic climate, cuts are needed, but they

have tried to sweeten the deal. They say the lower-paid are

protected and the over-50s will get to keep their current plan. Earlier

this year, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers brought to

their protests right here to the gates of Downing Street. Despite

this being the biggest confrontation with unions for many

years, the government has dug in because it believes it has public

support on its side and that they can get a deal. The unions always

have a typical case to make with rising unemployment and

particularly, a public sector shedding jobs -- a difficult case

to make. There was only a limited distance they could go and the

government was firm in its position. I don't think they had much road

and what they had has run out. unions had clarity, marching

against the government. Tonight, some are talking about strikes,

others want to settle with the government. The unity appears to be

Some signs of a breakthrough, but how likely is it that it will lead

to a deal? It won't lead to a deal in the sense of all unions in all

parts of the public sector agreeing with the government. The signs are

tonight that a majority of unions in a majority of parts of the

public sector look very likely to at least recommend a deal to their

memberships, to the executives. That is the crucial thing in a way.

The government's position has been, frankly, we are not budging on the

fact that we want people to work longer in the public sector to get

their pension, and to pay more for it. And yet they have been more

flexible on the issue of quite who gets what after they retire. Many

unions are saying, we don't like this, we want a completely

different settlement, but it is about as good as we think we can

get. Therefore, you may not be prepared to take more strike action.

Some critical players, like the PCS union and Civil Service are saying

no. The teachers' unions are still talking as we speak. Effectively,

tomorrow is a form of deadline. The government have said, if you are

not with us on a broad range of agreement, you will not be part of

more detailed negotiations. Ministers won't say it tonight, but

they think they are almost there. A man who attacked his girlfriend

with a taser and then buried her alive in a cardboard box has been

found guilty of attempted murder. Marcin Kasprzak attacked the mother

of his child at their home, before burying her in woods near

Huddersfield. She managed to cut herself free by using their

engagement ring. Our correspondent's report contains a

flash photography for a Michelina Lewandowska was tasered and buried

alive by the father of her 3-year- old child.

Marcin Kasprzak had become bored with their, and wanted to start

again. So he decided to place her in this cardboard box, wrap it up

in tape, and leave her for dead. Today, a detective read out her

reaction, after he was found guilty of attempted murder. The thought of

my son gave me the strength to fight my way out of the box and

save myself. For many years, I laughed Marcin Kasprzak very much,

but after his horrific attack -- I love to Marcin Kasprzak, but after

his horrific attack towards me, my feelings have turned to hatred. I

still have nightmares that Marcin Kasprzak will come back to find me.

Bad nightmare began at this home. He fired two shots to stun his

fiancee. His friend, Patryk Borys, was also there, and they put her

into the box. Michelina Lewandowska was then taken here, with her arms

and legs taped together. Both men dug a hole in the ground, covered

the box in soil and placed a branch on top. This police photograph

shows the exact area where she was buried. The jury was told she could

hear what was happening, but was too scared to shout out. But once

she was alone, the court heard how she used her engagement ring to

scratch away at the tape around her legs. She then found a small hole,

and with soil falling on to her face, she managed to tear the box

apart. She said, trying to escape Here is what saved her life, the

engagement ring she used to cut her way out of the box. Marcin Kasprzak

has showed himself to be an unpleasant, intimidating of a

vulnerable woman and I am pleased that he is behind bars, where he

belongs. Marcin Kasprzak will be sentenced next month. His former

fiancee says she hopes one day he will accept that what he did was

The most far-reaching reforms in British banking in modern history,

that is what the chancellor, George Osborne, has promised to date, in

an effort to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis. -- promised to

date. The Chancellor also announced a big reduction in the size and

scope of the investment arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

It is the most ambitious redesign of our big banks in the City for at

least 25 years, and it is needed because of a sharp recession caused

in large part by the 2008 banking crisis, and because taxpayers face

losses of more than �40 billion on the bail-outs of Lloyds and Royal

Bank of Scotland. We believe RBS' future is as a major UK bank with

the majority of its business in the UK and impersonal, SME and

corporate banking. Investment banking will continue to support

RBS's lending business, but RBS will make further significant

reductions in the investment bank. George Osborne was announcing big

cuts to the global investment bank, and new laws intended to make all

big banks safer. There are two important reforms. The part of a

big bank that looks after the savings of individuals and small

businesses, and provides them with overdrafts, will be protected by a

ring fence, or file all. That is supposed to make it cheaper and

easier to protect our money and keep vital services going in a

crisis -- firewall. A separate initiative would cut the cost for

taxpayers because more of the losses would fall on investors and

lenders. But the reforms will impose up to �8 billion of new

costs on banks'' shareholders and customers, says the Treasury. The

impact of those costs would reduce annual GDP by 1.8 billion poll --

�1.8 billion. But there are huge costs to the economy of banking

crisis, and the Treasury estimates that if the reforms succeed in

reducing the impact of those crises, we will all be �9.5 billion a year

better off. For customers, it should mean they can be confident

that the risky activities of investment banks won't bring down

the boring retail banking that we all rely on every day. The banking

industry, a bit glum about it all. As we made changes that required in

some respects, the banks to absorb costs which otherwise they could

use the money to support lending, that is where you start to get an

economic impact. It will take four years to redraw the City and

another three to reinforce the banks against losses. Unfortunately,

the crisis in the eurozone, to which our banks are exposed by

loans to other banks, is happening Our top story tonight:

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, one of the world's most secretive

nations has died suddenly of a heart attack.

Coming up: Rehearsing with the military wives

as they aim for a Christmas number The Royal Bank of Scotland is to

reduce its investment arm. Saab files for bankruptcy after

For three months anti-capitalist protestors have been camped outside

St Paul's Cathedral, but today the Corporation of London began High

Court proceedings to remove their tents. It says it wants "to protect

the rights and freedoms of others" not the banks. But the

demonstration there has prompted a wider debate about inequality and

consumerism. Mark Easton has been asking whether the protest has

Around St Paul's in the City of London are the streets where the

commercial rubs shoulders with the spiritual. But this Christmas,

austerity, anxiety and anger have infiltrated the crowds. Below thick

walls of Portland stone, flimsy shelters huddle, a scruffy

challenge to the towering orth Docksy of the city. The wind has

not dented the commitment of the protest, but are Occupy London's

demands for equality and sustainability more than a

temporary irritant to be swept aside by City City bailiffs? People

are dedicated. I have never seen anything like this in my life.

Dedicated, but can you really change the world? Of course,

history will show that people power, large people-led movements have

caused history to change and we believe because it is global,

that's what is happening with this movement.

In the shadow of the great cathedral, the Bishop of London

works on a sermon with questions about society's priorities and

values, spilling in through the deanry wind open. The City must not

underestimate the depth of diseye of disquiet and confusion.

For many people the hope is that we will go back to business as normal

and we will be able to forget about these things. I myself think that

with the tectonic plates shifting, you have got to prepare for our

place in a rather new world and that's why I think that this is a

moment of opportunity and serious need for reset.

Church has brokered contact between demonstrators and the City fathers.

There have been promises made about financial regulation and ethics.

The Lord Mayor of London wants the tents gone from Corporation land,

but says he recognises that public anger at institutional corpulence

and greed requires a response. Where there is success, there will

be the trapings of success I think, you will find fewer champagne bars

with fewer city workers in them than four years ago.

REPORTER: Because they are aware of the public mood? Because they are

aware of the public mood. Are we witnessing a new humility

settling on the City? Is capitalism as we know it under threat? At the

one new chain shopping centre, shoppers seem intent on pursuing a

bargain, not a revolution. I don't think there is much of a

change. I think everyone gets on with things themselves. I don't

know really. Keep calm and carry on? Yeah,

basically. As long as people have their X

Factor and cheap booze, there won't be much of a change of mood.

I hope people are starting to re- evaluate their lives, but I'm not

sure whether that is happening. With warnings of cuts and austerity

for years to come, perhaps there is no way back to business as usual.

The famous Mary Poppins books, an old woman sells bird seed on the

steps of St Paul's. Mary Poppins only stayed until the wind changed.

The question this Christmas is whether Britain's values are

Mortgage lenders are being urged to carry out tougher checks on people

applying for loans to buy property to make sure they can repay them

even if interest rates rise. It is part of efforts to avoid a repeat

of problems with so called sub- prime mortgages which led to the

financial crisis. Simon Gompertz It used to be easy to get a

mortgage in the boom that came before the credit crunch, half of

all new mortgages were approved without checking income.

Then starting in the US, came the financial crisis and the downturn

and too many loans went bad. Never again the lenders are now being

told. What they are trying to achieve is

that when conditions in the market improve, ie there is more funds

available, we don't go back to the situation we had prethe credit

crunch when some people were given mortgages when they shouldn't have

been. If you apply for a mortgage from

2013 all borrowers will go through affordability checks covering

income and household bills. Lenders will calculate whether they can

with stand interest rate rises of 1%. There will be restrictions on

interest only mortgages. So if the market revives, 11% of mortgages

will be blocked. Sally O'Neill is self-employed and

she told me she is being asked to put down a 35% deposit. She is

scared with this stricker regime she will never be able to buy.

In the future it will make it more difficult for people to borrow

money from the banks because it is going to give them more to pick at,

more to look at, more to say, "If the interest rates go up, you won't

be able to afford this." There is another worry - home-

owners who are called mortgage prisoners because they borrowed

before the credit crunch and would fall foul of the new new mortgage

rules if they tried to move house now. The FSA said today it would

waive the restrictions for them if they had good payment records.

I think that that for most borrowers they shouldn't find the

rules getting too much in the way of what they want to do. This is

against a very difficult economic backdrop, where confidence is low.

That's the current problem, lending has slumped anyway. One big lender

says the reforms are a distraction from the urgent task of helping

first-time buyers. Donald Neilson has died in Norwich

Prison. Neilson who lived in Bradford committed three murders

during robberies at sub Post Offices in the early 1970s and

kidnapped and killed a 17-year-old student in 1975.

The brother of a News of the World whistle-blower has been giving

evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on press standards. Sean Hoare, who

died earlier this year, had alleged that a former editor of the

newspaper, Andy Coulson, was well aware that phone hacking had taken

place. Mr Coulson strongly denied the claim. Nicholas Witchell has

been at the inquiry. What did his brother, Stuart say then, Nick?

giving evidence was Stuart Hoare. His brother Sean was a News of the

World show business reporter. He died from liver failure in July,

but before his death, he spoke out about the dark arts at News of the

World, the phone hacking, the pinging, that's tracking people via

their mobile phones and according to Mr Mr Hoare his brother told him

the practises went on at The Sun newspaper as well as the News of

the World. The inquiry heard from Matt Driscoll. He said the paper

blagd the medical records of a Premier League football manager and

he talked about the culture of bullying at News of the World under

Andy Coulson. Mr Driscoll was dismissed. He took the the paper to

an employment tribunal and won his case. He said both his health and

his career had been ruined. Just a few months ago they were

simply wives and mothers living on a military base while their

husbands were away fighting, but now the members of the Military

Wives Choir led by Gareth Malone have suddenly found themselves in

the full glare of the spotlight as they fight their own battle to top

the charts this Christmas. Lizo Performed by around 100 military

wives and girlfriends, Wherever You Are is based on letters between the

women and their partners, written while the men were deployed in

Afghanistan. And it looks certain to be in year's Christmas number

one. It is an unbelievable feeling and

it is surreal. It doesn't feel like it is happening to us. No, I agree.

If someone said, "You are going to be Christmas number one." We

wouldn't have believed them. I'm starting a choir.

Good luck with that one! The women were all brought together

by a musician, Gareth Malone for The Choir. Taking the group, many

of whom had never sung properly before and turning them into

potential chart toppers. The Christmas number one may not

have the high sales figures of the year, but it is seen as a

prestigious achievement for any artist being on top of the charts

on Christmas Day. It is usually the winning X Factor

Act that is is favourite, but it Little Mix was released two weeks

ago and it left the door open for The Military Wives.

Would my honourable friend be willing to to join me to give the

VAT proceeds to their nominated charities, namely the British

Legion. If they make it to the number one

spot, their journey from obscurity could be one of the most unexpected

Let's take a look at the weather Let's take a look at the weather

now with Alex Deakin. Hello there, Sophie.

There is a a better chance of that being number one than there being

any snow on Christmas Day. It won't be as cold as last night.

It has been cold and wet this afternoon, but the rain is heading

out into the North Sea. A few showers following on behind to

Northern Ireland, north-west, England and Wales.

As the skies clear, temperatures will dip close to freezing across

parts of the north and there maybe the risk of ice in the morning.

There should be sunshine in the morning. Further south, it may

start cloudy, but tomorrow is a dry and a bright day. The sunshine

lasts in the east. Just a few scattered showers for north-west

England and maybe one or two continuing to feed into parts of

Western Scotland. Eastern Scotland generally dry with

sunshine. Bright start maybe in Northern Ireland, but it will turn

cloudy here, some rain heading in by evening. Much of Northern

England dry and fine. A few showers to the West of the Pennines. Sunny

spells down the eastern side of England, but further West, again

after some brightness, it will turn cloudy through the afternoon. Some

rain spreading in here during the evening. That could fall as snow

for a time across Scotland, with still the cold air here. The band

of rain is changing things. A cold day tomorrow, but that cold air

getting ousted by mild air, swamping in often the Atlantic for

Wednesday and Thursday. The mild air brings moisture. It will be a

damp start on Wednesday. A cloudy day generally, but look at those

temperatures up to double figures for most places. Similar

temperatures, similar day on Thursday, a lot of cloud around.

The wet weather pushes southwards on Friday. It starts to turn colder