a gunman is feared to have killed at least two people and taken others hostage at a supermarket in france — it's being treated as a terrorist act. sirens armed police are at the scene. in a second incident in a nearby town, a policeman has been shot. we'll have the latest live from paris. also this lunchtime... the eu backs britain's position following the nerve agent attack in salisbury — it's recalled its ambassador from moscow, prompting angerfrom russia. stock markets have been hit by fears that president trump's plan for tariffs on chinese products may trigger a trade war. the campaign to have one of english football's first black players honoured as a world war one hero. and prince harry and meghan markle visit belfast, as part of the tour of the uk in the run up to their wedding. and coming up on bbc news... from england's wipeout to almost a wash—out — rain reduces the second day of the first test against new welcome to the special coverage.

reports from south—west france say a number of people have been taken hostage at a supermarket in the town of trebes. shots were fired and reports say at least two people have been killed. french specialforces are at the scene. prosecutors say the hostage—takers are at the scene. prosecutors say the hostage—ta kers claiming are at the scene. prosecutors say the hostage—takers claiming to be a member of the so—called islamic state group. the french by minister has said the situation is very serious. this is what we know so far about what has happened. in the nearby town of carcassonne, an armed man opened fire on several police officers who were outjogging at the time. one policeman was injured. we then had reports of a number of people being ta ken then had reports of a number of people being taken hostage at a supermarket. prosecutors say the hostage taker is claiming to be a member of the so—called islamic

state group. our correspondent in paris has the latest on the situation. our correspondent in paris has the latest on the situationlj our correspondent in paris has the latest on the situation. i can't see this situation lasting very long. this is now a hostage situation. the orders there are different from the orders there are different from the orders that would prevail if it was a classic hostage situation. i think the standing orders there will be to move fast. we have seen in the past how people who claim to be from

daesh are prepared to kill, and that this will not be taken by those who are in charge on the ground, so there will be an attempt to establish contact with the person, but it will not be with any kind of intention of entering a long, drawn—out negotiation to talk him down, i think it willjust be to give special forces time to deploy around and then there will be some move. it's not clear what situation is inside the supermarket, whether they're alive people inside there with them. but i have heard as there are two inanimate bodies inside visible to some outside. inside the supermarket, that would tally with reports of two people dead, but it could not be them. i have seen reports of several injured, but whether those people are injured inside managed to escape. i don't know if there was a release of people are just a panicked flight and most people got out. i have seen and most people got out. i have seen a report about some kind of contact being made with the gunman, but i'm not sure if that someone in there

with him or someone shouting from outside. we can expect that barack obama crumbled blue reflecting on this double attack. a little earlier we heard from defence analyst thomas withington who explained how prepared security forces in france are for this. this is the kind of attack will

people have been feeding for some time. this profile of a hostagetaking and shooting reg retta bly hostagetaking and shooting regrettably does follow the pattern of previous incidents we have seen around the country, particularly in paris, in the wake of the attacks on the satirical magazine. it's not something the french law—enforcement authorities familiar with. they will have very clearly drafted plans on how to to this. any incident with then france that's reachable by helicopter or military aircraft within hours of not shorter, so the response times are very, very rapid regarding where things happen in the country and the response to that. i would think that if special forces are not on the ground already, regarding this latest incident, they are certainly en route and could then be deployed as a possible response to what is happening. with me is the bbc‘s world affairs

correspondent naomi grimley. it seems as though the individual is known to the authorities. that seems to be the case from the wires. it seems he was on some kind of watch list. ever since those attacks in 2015 then the big attacks in paris, authorities have been trying to keep ta bs authorities have been trying to keep tabs on many suspects they believe might have links to jihadist groups. this man may have been one of those, but that watch list could be quite big. there are suggestions it may be as large as 15,000 or 16,000. obviously, it will be an embarrassment if it turns out that the authorities knew this man had the authorities knew this man had the potential to commit violent acts. that'll be something the french media will be particularly keen on, chasing that lead as to whether, how much was known about

him. it seems like he might have been more and a car was left at the scene, at the supermarket, so that is why they are now linking those two incidents, the shooting of the policemen in carcassonne and the supermarket incident. on the afp newswi re supermarket incident. on the afp newswire they're saying a moroccan around 30 years old. you mentioned the incident earlier on in carcassonne, the town nearby. how are they linked? about four policemen were supposed to have been ona policemen were supposed to have been on a morning jog, really, policemen were supposed to have been on a morningjog, really, and policemen were supposed to have been on a morning jog, really, and shots we re on a morning jog, really, and shots were fired at them. one policeman was hit in the shoulder. he was not seriously injured, but obviously, in the light of what we now know happened at the supermarket in trebes, all me 15 minutes away, no police will be looking at those incidents. it seems like the carcassonne incident may have been much more serious than they originally thought. the interior

ministry now seeing two people killed earlier. two presumed dead earlier, but this has now been confirmed by the interior ministry that they have been killed. they are also seeing several injured, including one of those seriously. what can you tell us about what is happening now, that is a lack of clarity about whether or not that is a police officer still within the supermarket with the gunman. a police officer still within the supermarket with the gunmanlj a police officer still within the supermarket with the gunman. i could only tell you what the newswires are saying at the moment, but the suggestion is that maybe this situation has shrunk in size. somehow it seems many of the hostages might have got away, though some of them might be injured. the latest suggestions that there might be two people now in the supermarket, as the hostage taker himself and a policeman and that the police man is being held at gunpoint. but obviously, things are very confused, so we don't know if other hostages are indeed still in the supermarket. it is a line coming in that the government that the

gunman shot someone in carcassonne. we don't know if the police officer reportedly still in the supermarket was one of the hostages or perhaps has gone on as some sort of negotiator. i think that's internally possible. if it was the case that shots were fired early on, you can imagine that the local police had rushed to the scene and that may be one of them has been caught up. it may have been that there was a more serious operation under way and somehow the hostage taker got the upper hand in that. what have we heard about what possibly the hostage taker has been seen to the police, to whoever he has been communicating with? he is supposed to have shouted out two things at the start of the siege, one was that he was going to kill a forbidding and the other one was that he wanted to avenge deaths in syria. we also believe he is calling

for the release of the man standing trial or facing trial for the release of the man standing trial orfacing trial in for the release of the man standing trial or facing trial in both belgium and france. he has been one of france's most wanted terrorists, because he is opposed to have been involved in those berries serious attacks in paris in 2015. the suggestion is he whispers to have blown himself up on that occasion, but escaped into belgium and slept through the hands of the police. he is also standing trial at the moment in belgium in connection with those attacks in march 2016, two years ago, which if you remember were on the airport and underground metro in belgium. thank you. let's go to brussels where our correspondent is at the european council meeting just winding up. really expecting to hear

from president emmanuel macron any time soon. that's right, the summit here just concluding now. time soon. that's right, the summit herejust concluding now. we have just heard that the leaders have finished their deliberations. news about this incident in france came through as the leaders were around the table, discussing issues this morning including the approach to the brexit negotiations. it was filtering through as they were in the middle of their meetings. what we we re the middle of their meetings. what we were told was that the french president emmanuel macron would be coming out and giving a joint press statement with angela merkel. we don't know if that will change, but thatis don't know if that will change, but that is what we are still expecting. the rooms were set up ready for that. it could be reduced to hear from him the next few minutes. we were expecting emmanuel macron

and angela merkel to give statements side by side. that was probably more to do with the fact that they had been dealing with issues of tariffs to do with the us, to do with brexit. plans and germany is a nap. those partners dealing with security issues, we saw their approach on russia just last night. on the poisoning in the uk were france and germany have been very closely working together on that. you would expect again a similar sort of closeness in their approach now.

france's state of emergency was lifted. a different system is now in place in terms of the rapidity of the authorities dealing with something like this. the earlier attacks have led to the state of emergency, the imposition of new regulations to deal with security threats. french authorities have therefore change their approach and develop their approach over time. this of course is something people now have been planning for, these sorts of incidents, and have become, we know, accustomed, because there have been several of these, dealing with this. mr macron himself, he now faces a pretty serious test. thank you very much.

let's get the latest now on the situation in france — andy moore has this report. shots were fired and hostages taken at the supermarket just after 11 o'clock local time. scores of officers and airborne units were sent to the scene. counterterror police are leading the operation. this shocked woman told reporters she could not see inside the supermarket. she said her children we re supermarket. she said her children were ina supermarket. she said her children were in a school about 300 metres away. earlier in the day, about 15 minutes away near carcassonne, a

group of police officers outjogging we re group of police officers outjogging were followed and then fired on five times by a man were followed and then fired on five times bya man in were followed and then fired on five times by a man in the car. one officer was injured. that incident has now been made to the hostagetaking at the supermarket. there are conflicting reports about the feet of the hostages. the french prime minister said it was a very serious situation. that was why he had to leave to monitor the incident. local media say at least two people have been killed. that has not been officially confirmed. there have also been unconfirmed reports that up to 12 people have been injured. yet another report says all the hostages have been freed apart from one police officer. let's cross to paris and speak to hugh schofield. had he been able to establish any more details about whether it is

just the gunman in the supermarket or also the police officer?” just the gunman in the supermarket or also the police officer? i am confused, but the latest i'm seeing is the gunman and one man. i don't know if he is a police officer, maybe he is or maybe he isn't. it is still a hostage situation. there we re still a hostage situation. there were other hostages, some of whom we re were other hostages, some of whom were injured in the initial shooting, which was about two hours ago now, but it seems they got out, either were let out managed to get out in the confusion, it's not clear. one other thing that has been reported now is there are three dead now, because it has been reported that after the initial shooting, the gunman hijacked a car and shot at the passenger in the car and may have killed that person, which would bring the death toll to three people. then the man drove to the supermarket and began his rampage inside the supermarket. but the latest imc now. he still unfolding situation with the gunman inside the

supermarket, with the hostage and others who have been released or who escaped, some of whom who are injured. he has been identified fairly quickly, said to be a man of moroccan origin, around 30 years old, known to the authorities. naturally know lots of questions about how well he was known to them. he was only watch list, how closely he was being watched? the expression, on a watchlist, is so vague it's almost without meaning. there are people on the list, it is several thousands long. the same in britain, it's unreasonable to expect them all to be followed around the clock by gun shooters, as it were. the man we know is of moroccan origin, we're told he is years old. we are told he is known to the

police and security forces for radicalisation and he also has a criminal background, looks like the classic profile we have seen so many times of people from that community who have a background in crime, living it up and on the edge. and then at some point switch into religion. but more than that, i don't know. we can speculate, but they know exactly where he lives and is so will write now be the focus of enquiry. police will be there, searching through his belongings and records and so on, to find out as much as they can about his current state of mind, whether she was acting completely alone of whether there is any evidence of some kind of gang orgroup there is any evidence of some kind of gang or group of people he has connived with. what more do you tell us connived with. what more do you tell us about the demands the gunman is making? we are courting the one source but says is requesting the

release of the man who escaped got away after their bataclan and other attacks in paris in 2015. he was the one taking people to and from paris and was possibly intending to carry out a suicide bomb attack himself with the suicide belt which didn't go off, either deliberately or accidentally, and he then went back to brussels and was arrested several months later when the belgian police cornered him. he is now on trial in brussels in relation to that brussels in relation to that brussels end of the series of events, and he will at some point face trial in france for the bataclan. the fact that this man should have called for his release is, ina should have called for his release is, in a sense, fairly predictable. if he is going to make any demand, it would be the kind of demand that

sort of person would make. it doesn't make any sense necessarily that he has any real links to daesh, because as we have seen from the past, most of these claims are done by people who have no actual connection with the group other than what they have come across on the internet. we have had reports that the nearby airport of carcassonne has been temporarily closed, all flights stopped temporarily. is there any suggestion that anybody else has been involved or is that caution in case was an accomplice?” am not sure of anything, but i suspect it is out of caution. i have not seen any report of accomplices being on the loose or feared to be on the loose, but of course, they do not know that. and i imagine part of the caution is to make sure they get a grip very, very quickly on his

known friends, accomplices, acquaintances, so that it is to see if there's any prospect of them acting. we have seen in the past that one act can trigger another act, either deliberately or because there are people out there who are waiting for something propitious in the general atmosphere of the country, to be tipped into action. it may be seeing something like reports of something exciting happening in carcassonne that content people into doing something. so there will be a heightened sense of awareness across the country know about the threat from islamist violence. it has been a while since we have had anything, it's been six months since the last attack which could be attributed to religion or religiously inspired by events. so i would not say the country has got

used to repay deed of calm, but there are certainly hasn't been much to report lately. now that there has been this attack, there will be a sense that you've got to be aware that attacks do breed other attacks. thank you very much for that. one mine from french dd saying that the mother and the two sisters of the gunman are at the scene. that would seem to suggest that he is from the local area, but the mother and the two sisters of the gunman, according to the french news channel, as they are. but surely what is going on in brussels, because that those two podiums, we're expecting the french president and the german chancellor to give a statement at the summit of eu leaders, which hasjust wrapped up eu leaders, which hasjust wrapped up there in brussels. they are there together. he has diverted from the other business on the agenda today to give a statement about what is

happening at home. let's stop to the bbc world affairs correspondent while we wait for that. tell us how events unfolded today. the situation is still very confused, so none of this has been confirmed. but it seems as if this morning, about four policemen, riot police, werejust out for a morning jog. not on official duty. and somebody shot at them from a car. we know one was shotin them from a car. we know one was shot in the shoulder, there's also the suggestion that maybe someone was killed in that incident. a car was killed in that incident. a car was that the incident that later turned up at the supermarket. a supermarket in trebes, and that is where this hostage situation is still unfolding. we know that some hostages seem to have got away, but we still don't know how many are in the supermarket. we know that there isa the supermarket. we know that there is a police man being held in that

supermarket, but we are not sure yet whether others are still in the building. as you mentioned before, the hostage—takers building. as you mentioned before, the hostage—ta kers it building. as you mentioned before, the hostage—takers it seems was known to the police, on a watchlist, though as hugh pointed out, there is this watchlist of people french security forces are trying to keep an eye on. his mother has apparently been taken to the supermarket to help negotiate, to help talk him down from that situation. he is believed to be around 25 years old, moroccan in origin, and there is also a suggestion that he is calling for the release of one of the surviving men who was involved in the paris attacks and the brussels attacks that happened at the back end of 2015 and the start of 2016, and he is awaiting trial. both in

france and is actually on trial at the moment in brussels. in terms of a sequence of events, we've had the shooting at police officers in carcassonne and then this new element, wejust carcassonne and then this new element, we just found carcassonne and then this new element, wejust found out carcassonne and then this new element, we just found out about somebody held hostage and shot dead, effectively, he took the car and made his way to trebes, where the supermarket situation is now unfolding. yes, it seems they have managed to identify him through that car, through the registration plate is probably how they came to discover what they believe is a moroccan man of about 25 years old. they are trying to get his family to help talking down from the situation. negotiators will be trying to reason with him, trying to argue that if he stops now, the situation will be better for him. that continues now you'll be causing

more death and destruction. you mentioned is the attacks in 2015 and 2016, there was a state of emergency in france for a very long time. that is no longer the case. they may look at this in retrospective and wondered which should have been lifted, the state of emergency, but that are greater powers for the authorities since that. yes, there are. it's noticeable that when you go intoa are. it's noticeable that when you go into a department store, you are asked to and do you caught on a winter ‘s day, that was because of looking for potential bombers. although there has not been an attack as big as the one hand and mouse injuly attack as big as the one hand and mouse in july 2016, attack as big as the one hand and mouse injuly 2016, there have been individual attacks, that distressing one where a priest had his throat cut two boys. really, the police have not been standing down in any way from this, they have been trying to learn from the british security

services about how to keep people monitored, but it is an extremely big job. you cannot monitor all of those people 2a hours a day. big job. you cannot monitor all of those people 24 hours a day. some will slip through the net. their response to what was going on in the supermarket in trebes was immense. we are hearing about 300 officers on the scene as well as special forces. indeed, they have counterterrorism police from paris town there very quickly. this is something we have seen from our own experience in britain that there is these rapid reaction forces that can get there very quickly by helicopter. you will have this back and forth between the main counterterrorism forces in paris and people on the ground and the local police around carcassonne. while we are talking to you, that surely the scene in russells. what we're waiting for is the french

president emmanuel macron, who has only been in office since may last year. this is one of the first major test for him of this kind naomi was obviously mentioning they are the french state of emergency lifted, but it's clear from the response time to this incident what sort of force is available to the french authorities to deal with an incident of this kind. as we wait for president macron to appearfor that as we wait for president macron to appear for that obedience with their german chancellor, the latest line we're hearing on the situation outside the supermarket is that the mother and two sisters of the gunman, thought to be 25—year—old man of moroccan origin, they are on the scene, suggesting possibly that he is from the locality. he certainly was identified fairly rapidly by the authorities, who said that he was known to them, that he

was only watchlist, although it has to be said that watchlist of potentially radicalised individuals is some 16,000 in length. we are learning that at least two people have been killed in this attack and we heard from our correspondent in paris if you minutes ago, there is also the question of a person who was driving a car, was hijacked by the attacker, shot dead, whose car was then taken to the scene of this hostage situation in trebes. yes, apparently the dead does include the passenger of that hijacked car, according to a television channel in france which has been following this story closely. the france hostage situation continuing to unfold.

you are watching bbc news, special coverage from here in london on what is going on at a supermarket in trebes in southern france, because an operation is still ongoing. you see on your screen two podiums in brussels where we expect to hear from the french president and the german chancellor. they are at the european union summit for leaders and we are expecting to get a statement from them in the next few minutes. but let's get the latest situation on what is going on in the south of france. andy moore has this report. shots were fired and hostages taken at the supermarket just after 11 o'clock local time. a large police operation was mounted.