i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: a navy veteran and a special—needs teacher were amongst the 59 victims killed in america's deadliest ever shooting. it's emerged the gunman set up cameras in the room where he launched the attack. catalonia will declare independence from spain in a matter of days according to the catalan president. the king of spain accuses political leaders in catalonia of being disloyal. translation: these authorities have placed themselves outside of the law and democracy. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme. the us defence secretary james mattis tries to play down differences in the white house over how to deal with north korea. and president trump visits puerto rico, thirteen days after hurricane maria. we report from the capital sanjuan. it's 6am in singapore,

”pm in london and 6pm in washington where president trump described the man who carried out the most deadly mass shooting in modern us history as a very sick individual. he said a debate on america's gun laws "perhaps" would come, but not for now. police in las vegas say the gunman stephen paddock put several cameras around the hotel room from which he launched the attack, and left about 50 guns there before he killed himself. our north america editor jon sopel reports. sirens. sunday night in las vegas,

and the first reports of something going terribly wrong. the stress in the voices of the police, evident. they have located where the firing is coming from, and the impact he's having. stephen paddock is now dead and police are searching the hotel room on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay, which had become his armoury. at a news conference police revealed paddock had set up cameras. there were cameras located outside the room and inside the room, along with the firearms.

he had set up how many cameras? i don't know specifically. what do you think? i anticipate he was looking for anybody to come and take him into custody. so what do we know about stephen paddock? the 64—year—old was a former accountant who had invested in property and was a serious high—stakes gambler. but he had no criminal record. he lived in this house in the quiet town of mesquite, 80 miles from las vegas, with his partner, marilou danley. his father was a bank robber, who, while on the run from the authorities, was described by the fbi as a psychopath with suicidal tendencies. the president, on his way to puerto rico, and who will be visiting vegas tomorrow, had this to say about paddock. he was a sick man, a demented man. a lot of problems, i guess, and we are looking into him very, very seriously. but we are dealing with a very, very sick individual.

but any review of gun law seems a long way down the line, if it will happen at all. meanwhile, more details are emerging about the massive arsenal that paddock had assembled. some came from this shop in utah. average, everyday joe blow. nothing stood out. it was just normal timing, for him to come in. he was talking about how he was new to the area, visiting all the firearms stores in the area, found something on our shelves that he really liked, and it took him a couple of different trips, you could say, before he ended up purchasing. and paddock came here, too, to buy a rifle and a shotgun. the owner of the shop said the background checks were fine. there were no red flags. an expert on the guns industry last night on television was asked, how much ammunition are you allowed to buy. the answer was simple — how much money have you got. last night, normal people did what normal people do in the face of such tragedy.

they came together to commune, to remember those killed and injured. america has been here many times before, and in all likelihood, will be here again. on this, history does repeat itself, regularly. jon sopel, bbc news, las vegas. well, earlier i spoke to our correspondent dave lee, who was outside the police headquarters in las vegas. he had more on sheriff lombardo's press c0 nfe re nce . you heard from the sheriff who seemed frustrated that there was still no clear sign of what the motive for these gunmen may have been. he said of the 59 people who died, three remain unidentified. he told us that marilou danley, the remade and girlfriend of the suspect is in the philippines. she is speaking with the fbi and in the

process of being returned to the united states for questioning. she isa united states for questioning. she is a person of interest, the police said. the cameras, they found several of them inside the suspect‘s room and in the corridor. one was in a hotel service car. they did speculate on why they were being used by the suspect. the sheriff said it was too early to talk about gun regulation but president trump will be in las vegas tomorrow and he will be in las vegas tomorrow and he will be in las vegas tomorrow and he will be meeting with the sheriff. that will be the next major stage in this story. of course, the big problem for police is that they still don't feel they are in a closer to figuring out what the motive may have been for this killing. from that report earlier, the streets of las vegas seemed to be empty. the community is still much in pain after two days, two days after the massacre. yes. the community is completely in shock,

still, and we see as we reverberate around the entertainment side of las vegas, what it is famous for. jennifer lopez has cancelled some of her upcoming shows so this is affecting normal business as usual on the strip. the community has been coming together to help the injured so coming together to help the injured so there are two sides to this but it will take a while for the city to comprehend what has happened and return to normality. what is the talk there about gun control? president trump declined to call the attack domestic terrorism and on the issue of gun control he said would be discussed as time goes by. yes. donald trump said that as time goes by. the sheriff said that now was not the time to talk about gun regulation. i spoke to a surge in earlier who was telling me about some of the wounds he treated. in his words they were not normal.

these people deal with gunshot wounds all the time. such was the ferocity of this particular weapon that even surgeons were taken back by what they encountered from those injured on sunday night. as we have heard over and over again, when there is a shooting like this in america, this conversation will come up america, this conversation will come up and whether the death toll, perhaps, all give it added urgency, that remains to be seen. i feel like that remains to be seen. i feel like thatis that remains to be seen. i feel like that is coming is not immediately, certainly in the next few days. and a little later we'll be meeting some of the survivors of the attack. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the us defence secretaryjim mattis has played down an apparent split between president trump and his secretary of state rex tillerson over relations with north korea. mr tillerson had said the us had direct channels of communication with pyongyang, but mr trump later said mr tillerson was "wasting his time". mr mattis told a congressional committee there was no contradiction.

i believe that secretary tillerson is accurately stating that we are probing for opportunities to talk with the north. all we are doing is probing, not talking, consistent with the president's dismay about not talking with them before the time is right, before they are willing to talk. so i do not see the divergences is strongly as some have interpreted it. at the same time, the president is has a responsibility to ensure that we go into this with our eyes wide open. numerous administrations in the past have been disappointed with this initiative. also making news, the english city of oxford, where the civilian leader of myanmar, aung san suu kyi, studied for a degree has voted to remove an honour

from her because of her government's treatment of rohingya muslims. oxford granted the nobel laureate the freedom of the city twenty years ago. the head of the city council said she was no longer worthy of the award. half—a—million rohingyas have fled myanmar since late august. a malaysian government pathologist says that it was indeed the banned vx nerve agent that killed kim jong—un's estranged half—brother. the confirmation came during testimony at the trial for the two women accused of administering the poison, during an attack at kuala lumpur international airport. the women, one from indonesia and the other from vietnam, have pleaded not guilty. a final report into the disappearance of a malaysian airliner three years ago says it's "unacceptable" that the world does not know what happened to the plane. the australian report makes it clear that the fate of flight mh370 will not be known for certain until the airliner is found and that seems unlikely. the search for the wreckage was called off injanuary.

the us government has expelled fifteen cu ban diplomats from washington. it's the latest move in a crisis triggered by unexplained sonic attacks against american embassy staff in havana. 21 people there have complained of hearing loss, nausea and dizziness. havana has strenuously denied any involvement in the attacks. this is the announcement of the nobel prize for physics. it's been awarded to three us scientists for their detection of gravitational waves, two years ago. they're minuscule ripples in space and time caused by the collision of black holes. sweden's royal academy of sciences said the discovery by rainer weiss, barry barish and kip thorne had opened up unseen worlds. gravitational waves were predicted by albert einstein a century ago but had, until recently, escaped detection.

let's return to our top story and the identities of some of the 59 people shot dead by stephen paddock have begun to emerge, among them an off duty police officer and a teacher. people who were caught up in the attack and who risked their lives to save the injured have been telling their stories. our correspondent james cook reports now on the victims of the las vegas shooting. lives wasted. families broken, futures stolen. the faces of the dead and missing tell so many stories. las vegas is a city in pain. how are you doing now? i think i'm 0k. it's also a city of heroes, like brian hopkins, the lead singer of the band elvis munro. when the shooting broke out he let people into a freezer to shelter from the bullets.

you see a guy go down in front, another guy go down over here. i turned, bang, bang and two girls go down behind us. it's like this behind us. we are running. it's like, we are going to be ok, just run. you can hear it hitting the metal on the stage. it's ricocheting off stuff. not sure what's going on out there. this was their refuge, where they shivered in fear that a gunman was about to burst in. some sort of shooting or something like that. it's got the two doors on it. i looked and there are some people in it. i'm like, let's go, everybody in. when they got out, there was only one thing to do. we are running and what do we see, body, body, the girls are starting to panic. nicole starts to say,

i need to call my dad. i said, you need to run. taylor winston is another hero. he was dancing with his girlfriend moments before the massacre. the former marine commandeered a truck to drive survivors to hospital. i saw a field with a bunch of white trucks, i tested my luck to see if any had keys in, and the first one we tried opening had keys sitting right there. i started looking for people to take to hospital, but there were too many, it was overwhelming how much blood was everywhere. once we dropped them off, we thought, let's go back for round two and get some more. this is where the most seriously injured people were brought on sunday night. surgeons say it was like a war zone as dozens and dozens and dozens of patients arrived. more than 100 in all. the battle to save lives here is continuing. but there is only so much anyone can do. bob paterson lost his wife in the massacre.

my wife was a great person. she was very active in the church. brought up my three kids. i was with her for over 30 years. i can't believe she's gone. i have my two older kids with me and my eight—year—old daughter is at home. i don't know how i will tell her. i have no idea. the grief is both personal and extensive, the scale of the suffering inflicted here is difficult to comprehend and even harder to bear. james cook, bbc news, las vegas. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, showing solidarity with the victims of hurricane maria. but comments by president trump about the high cost of reconstruction in puerto rico attract controversy. also ahead — a very expensive way to eat your breakfast. the chinese bowl that's sold at auction for a staggering

$38 million in all russia's turmoil, it has never come to this. president yeltsin said the day would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many people have feared for so long is playing out its final act here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility which produced affection from catholics throughout the world. but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. israel's right—winger ariel sharon visited the religious compound and that started the trouble. he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy sites, an idea that's unthinkable to palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's

biggest and richest nation. you're watching newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our main story: more details about the victims of america's deadliest ever shooting have been released by officials in nevada. amongst the 59 victims in las vegas were a navy veteran and a teacher who taught children with special needs. it's one of the seven modern day wonders of the world, but tourists officials in uttar pradesh have curiously decided to omit the taj mahal from a new tourist guide. more details at bbc.com/news.

in spain, the president of catalonia has told the bbc that a declaration of independence will come within days, following the referendum on sunday. but the legal status of that vote has been dismissed again, this time by king felipe of spain himself, who said in a rare televised address that the catalan leadership had behaved irresponsibly. during the day, huge crowds gathered in catalonia to protest against the spanish police's handling of the vote on sunday when hundreds were hurt. from barcelona, here's our special correspondent fergal keane. there was an energy today that felt as if it could shape history. a shared anger bringing hundreds of thousands the streets. why have you come here?

i came here because of the state, against the violence. are you here for independence? n ot exa ctly. but others were. against the occupying forces. since i was a child i was a separatist and i still am, this man says. his friend tells me we are different to spain in our culture, our way of acting and being, many things. "the roads will always be ours" shout this man. across catalonia, highways were blocked. firemen who guarded polling stations have become local heroes. this demonstration has drawn people from across the political spectrum. the question now is whether or not it prompts them into further confrontation with madrid. tonight, as the demonstrations continued, a highly unusual intervention.

faced with the threat of a broken country, king felipe went on television, taking a tough line against the separatists. we are living in serious times for democracy, he said, condemning what he called the illegal actions of catalonia's leaders and not once mentioning the violence used by police against voters at the weekend. but in a bbc interview tonight, the catalan president was defiant they would go ahead with the declaration of independence. translation: we will probably do this when we have the votes in from abroad. at the end of this week or thereabouts, so we will act at the end of the week, at the beginning of next week.

what is remembered is that people from outside catalonia were unleashed against them. it has created anger and a sense of hurt felt on both sides of the independence debate here. translation: i am not in favour of independence. i am not a separatist. the attitude the spanish government has left us all surprised in catalonia. we do not understand what the strategy of the government was when he sets thousands of police against defenceless people. spain and catalonia, a relationship relentlessly troubled by the past. the new ruler of spain rides into the city of this country. after the victory of the dictator franco, catalonia's identity was suppressed. this mass grave remembers those killed here by this regime. some were catalan nationalists, others leftists and republicans. in a time of growing uncertainty, the wounds of the spanish civil

war act as a warning. translation: this will be influential in the sense that people of conscience when people are demonstrating, protesting and asking for independence. but it cannot be violence. it has to be dialogue and peace. there is anger on both sides. look into the faces of these men. national police hemmed into their hotel. via l‘espanol! let us out, they shout. from this... to this. a vast gulf. the white house is reportedly finalising a request to congress for $29 billion in disaster aid. this would be for the damage caused by hurricanes in texas,

florida and puerto rico. the formal request could come as early as wednesday, and comes on the heels of president trump's visit to puerto rico. it's taken mr trump 13 days since hurricane maria to visit the island — the same amount of time it took president bush to visit new orleans after hurricane katrina. aleem maqbool reports from the capital san juan. 13 days after hurricane maria touring to puerto rico, donald trump sweep him. he was greeted by officials, some of whom criticised the time it took the us to take the disaster seriously. he might not have pleased people with his opening remarks on the island. have pleased people with his opening remarks on the islandlj have pleased people with his opening remarks on the island. i hate to tell you, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack. we spent a lot of money on puerto rico and we've saved a lot of lives. every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like katrina, and you look at the tremendous, hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened with really a storm

that was just totally overpowering, nobody has ever seen everything like this. what is your death count? 16. 16 people versus in the thousands. he did go out to meet some of those affected by the horror came. they told us they were sceptical about the visit. there are people who lost everything. i know that the united states is going through a lot with las vegas and everything, but we are as well. i am not infatuated with the idea, he is not really interested in helping of. over recent days, we have seen the kind of devastation that hurricane maria brought. thousands lost their homes, most of the three and a half million people here are still without electricity. donald trump may have drawn attention to puerto rico's plate, but many feel they have been

treated like second class citizens. they don't feel that the government took this disaster as seriously as they should have from the beginning, particularly as people are still suffering —— hurricane maria. you have been watching newsday. stay with us, we'll be looking at a new method of peach—picking in beijing. how artificial intelligence is playing a hand in harvesting that delicious crop. and if you're eating your breakfast from a bowl, it maybe from a bowl that looks like this. but i bet it's not as expensive. this bowl has just sold for $37 million at auction at sotheby‘s in hong kong. this unassuming but extremely rare bowl is 13 centimetres wide, and was commissioned and used by emperor huizong of the northern song dynasty, nearly 1,000 years ago. hello. wednesday's weather gets off

toa hello. wednesday's weather gets off to a fine start for some of us, but things will have changed by wednesday night. wet and windy again. a chilly start, an area of rainfall moving south of scotland overnight and stretching through parts of northern ireland. this weather front in this area of low pressure moving along across the central swathes of the uk on wednesday night, turning things wet and windy. along with this weather fronts searching through scotland and northern ireland, showers heavy and northern ireland, showers heavy and thundery in the far north some very gusty winds to begin the day. easing as we go through the day. across a large part of inland and wales, getting off to a chilly but fine start. a lot of sunshine around, showers running into parts of north—west england. increasing cloud across northern ireland, some outbreaks of rain particular to the north. stretching through parts of

south—west scotland and galloway. for much of northern scotland, some sunshine. very windy in the far north and northern isles to begin with. heavy showers, winds gradually easing during the day. elsewhere, when starting to pick up. cloudy and wet in northern ireland in the afternoon. south—west scotland, northern england, some outbreaks into northern england as well. temperatures mid— low teens. pressure bringing rain across many parts of the uk on wednesday, looking very wet into lancashire. we need to watch that. in the southern flanks, seeing some gales. could see gusts 50— 60 miles per hour. thursday is very windy. rain clearing away from southern england. a few showers into northern scotland and the irish sea coast, parts of the midlands as well. many places dry with sunny spells. temperatures

around mid— low teens. a windy day. on friday, high pressure building. things starting to cool down a bit. variable cloud, sunny spells, many places dry. into the weekend, another area of low pressure. not quite as strong, but weather fronts pushing across the uk. some outbreaks of rain as the day goes on. breezy, temperatures around 15— 16 degrees. on sunday, some sunny spells around. a quieter weather picture on sunday. this is bbc world news.

more details are being given about the victims of monday's mass shooting in las vegas. among the 59 people killed by gunman, stephen paddock, was a us navy veteran, and a special needs teacher. president trump has said the debate on gun control "will come but is not for now." catalonia will declare independence from spain in a matter of days according to the catalan president. earlier, the king of spain described political leaders in catalonia as being disloyal. and this story is trending on bbc.com. it's to do with a theory first proposed by albert einstein about so called gravitational waves. it's now been successfully proved by three scientists who jointly won this year's nobel prize for physics. congratulations to them. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.