this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. the headlines: the fbi's been questioning the gunman‘s girlfriend who says she had no clue of the carnage he was planning. he never said anything to me or took any action that i was aware of, that i understood in any way to be a warning. president trump pays tribute to the first responders and meets the survivors of the worst mass shooting in modern us history. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: a controversial figure in indonesia politics — we meet the minister with a unique approach to tackling illegal fishing. life through the lens in hong kong. we meet the man who told her story of a bygone era.

live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news — it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, ”pm in london and 3pm in las vegas it's 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 4pm in las vegas where president trump has visited those injured in the mass shooting. he said a motive for the worst gun massacre in modern us history had yet to be established. and he praised emergency workers and patients for their bravery. the fbi has been questioning the gunman‘s girlfriend, who was in the philippines at the time of the massacre. her lawyer has said she had no idea about stephen paddock‘s plans. i knew stephen paddoch is a kind,

caring client man. i loved him and hoped for quiet future together with him. he never said anything to me or took any action that i was aware of that i understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen. president trump is meeting the families of the victims and the emergency services that responded. it'sjust after 10pm, and the first shots have been fired. gunfire. police body—cam images capture the panic that is starting to spread in the concert ground. police are trying to identify the source of the firing.

and to shepherd people to safety. gunfire today, the president and first lady arrived in las vegas to meet some of the survivors and first responders. at police headquarters he was briefed on the investigation and then spoke to the people of las vegas and america. we cannot be defined by the evil that threatens us, or the violence that incites such terror. we are defined by our love, our caring, and our courage. key to the investigation will be this woman, stephen paddock‘s girlfriend. marilou danley was brought back from the philippines last night and is being questioned by the fbi. donald trump has described paddock as demented, and a madman. well, that's as may be, but as more details emerge, what becomes clear is that this was a meticulously planned and executed attack by a man

who had a massive armoury, all legally obtained. at the hospital, the president met medical staff and praised the way they had responded to the disaster. it makes you very proud to be an american when you see the job that they've done, and people that would not be around today, are up there, and they will be leaving the hospital in a week or two weeks or five weeks. though one question he didn't want to engage with. does america have a gun violence problem ? we're not going to talk about that, today. but in washington, no such restraint from those demanding a tightening of gun laws. gabby giffords, the congresswoman who nearly died after she was shot campaigning, leading the charge. now is the time to come together, be responsible. democrats, republicans, everyone. we must never stop fighting. fight, fight, fight. donald trump's motorcade passed

by the mandalay bay. today, he has fulfilled his role as consoler—in—chief, but on wider policy questions arising from this shooting, he chose silence. jon sopel, bbc news, las vegas. let's cross now to our correspondent gary o'donoghue, who has been following the events in las vegas. marilou danley, the girlfriend of stephen paddock has finally issued a statement through her lawyer. has she given any clue on why stephen paddock killed 59 people in las vegas? she is being questioned by fbi agents at los angeles airport, when she arrived back from the philippines around 12 hours ago. her

lawyer, matthew lombard, gave a brief statement and said she had no idea what stephen paddock was planning. she described him as a kind and caring and quiet man. she said he had wired her $100,000 while in the philippines and bought her a ticket to go home and seen her family. she came to the philippines on the 25th of the tamba. in a statement she said she thought it was him breaking up with us, giving us money was him breaking up with us, giving us money to buy a family is aprilia that to the breakup. she had no idea what she was planning. —— is. one of the questions and they will want to

ask and this is a key question, if she really knew nothing, this man a quiet 30 and guns, about 32 in the last year alone. she was living with this man. she not noticed 32 new firearms coming into the house, what they were for, what he was doing, what he was thinking about. that is the sort of thing the fbi is going to be asking about and the statement does not go to that. what is next for marilou danley? is she still under custody? yes, she is still being questioned. it is worth pointing out that she came back to the us of her reign freewheel. she wasn't obliged to do that. she is not a us citizen. if she had

refused, they would have had to go through an extradition process but the fbi spake to her in the philippines and persuaded her to come back and talk to them here and that will count in her favour. she is the best path, the best way to understand the motivation behind what stephen paddock indeed here on sunday night and they will not take what she says on her first statement at face value because they run so many unanswered questions, particularly about what she must have seen and heard in the previous months that led up to this. it did not come out of the blue when you are buying 30 odd guns over a period of the year as well as all the other gear he was accumulating. thank you so gear he was accumulating. thank you so much. rex tillerson has dismissed

suggestions he was considering resigning and that he described the president is a more on. he called it inaccurate rick —— reporting.” president is a more on. he called it inaccurate rick -- reporting. i have never considered leaving this post. i value the friendship and the council of the vice president and i admired his leadership with the president trump administration to address the many important agenda of president trump both foreign policy and diplomatic... sorry domestic objective. the leader of catalonia, carles puigdemont has criticised the intervention by the spanish king in the crisis over the disputed independence referendum. he said most catalans had been disillusioned by king felipe's remarks on tuesday, in which he called the referendum an act of inadmissible disloyalty.

in a tv address, mr puigdemont said the referendum must be respected but reaffirmed that he was open to mediation. president putin has said that any military strike against north korea designed to destroy its nuclear and missile programme might not succeed, because pyongyang could have hidden military facilities that nobody knows about. speaking in moscow, the russian leader said he thought president trump was listening to russia's views. forty people have been sentenced to life in prison in turkey for trying to assassinate president erdogan during last year's failed coup attempt. the defendants, mostly former members of the turkish special forces, were found guilty of attacking a hotel where mr erdogan had been staying. senior government members have rallied behind the british prime minister, theresa may, after she struggled to deliver a major speech at her party's annual conference. as well as being interrupted by a prankster, mrs may repeatedly paused to cough and

clear her throat. the deficit is back to precrisis level... it sounds as if my voice is not on track! applause i hope you notice of that, chancellor, giving something away free. she made it through the speech in manchester, just, but that episode went viral online. a dog from south dakota in america has entered the guinness book of world records after being measured with the longest dog tongue in the world. the st bernard, called ‘mochi', has a tongue the length of 18.58 centimetres. the dogs owners have had herfor six years after taking her in from a shelter. we have a security plan —

and we're racing through it — that's the pledge of the afghan president ashraf ghani. with nato forced to return troops to the country just two years after winding down their mission afghanistan appears locked in a violent stalemate. but in a bbc interview ashraf ghani has said things are improving and a corner has been turned. when do you think nato troops will be able to withdraw from afghanistan? we have a plan and we are racing through it. look at the ministry of defence. and look at it three years ago. this year, the war has been superbly managed. we were like 12—year—old is taking over the responsibility of a 30—year—old but

we learnt in the process and now in terms of management and leadership, things are really falling in place. 0ur security forces would be able to do their constitutional things and cling to the legitimacy of power. 7000 soldiers lost their lives, 12,000 were injured, 10% of your fighting force was lost, including desertion. no army can sustain losses like that and you're telling me the corner has been turned?m brea ks me the corner has been turned?m breaks my heart, but please understand, over 100,000, over 110,000 nato troops were suffering casualties. we are a developing country but i am extraordinarily proud of the sacrifices and the

reason it is changing is because of equipment. in 2014, it looked like an impossible task now it looks so the difficult task and difficult is within our grasp. we see the taliban extending our the area. if it does not have support how could it be doing that? it has not been able to ta ke doing that? it has not been able to take a single province. its aim was to overthrow the government ought to create two political geographies and it has failed miserably. helmand... low. helmand is a drug war. the taliban are the largest exporters of heroin to the world. why is the world not focusing on heroin was make kennett sustain without the harrow on component? —— heroin. you are watching newsday. still to

come: how one man captured the spirit of the 1950s in hong kong, on camera. we take a nostalgic look at how the city used to be. 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories. the investigation is now focused on the gunman's girlfriend — who says she was unaware of the planned attack

the violence has a caste dimension as the victims were apparently low caste dalits and their attackers upper class. more on that story at bbc.com across asia. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. as we reported earlier on newsday, the girlfriend of the las vegas gunman has just returned to the us from manila. that story is on the front page of the philippine star. the paper has a new photo of marilou danley, who it describes as ‘filipino australian' — during a visit to the country in 2013. the new york times looks at the impact of american fast food on ghana, in africa. unsurprisingly obesity is on the rise.

13% of the population are now obese compared to just two % in the 1980s. and lots of the papers — including china daily — have pictures from the mid—autumn festival — which is celebrated across china, korea and vietnam. making and sharing mooncakes is one of the main traditions. this photo is of one gigantic cake — made up over eight thousand smaller ones — in china's henan province. in trending, fear of public spaces is sparking discussions online? well rico — what do you do if you want to travel the globe but have a fear of public spaces — agrophobia in other words. jacqui kenny's solution is to use google street view. her unusual coping method has led to thousands of people following her travels on instagram. well its one way of getting to see the world. indonesia has never seen

a politician like susi pudjiastuti. the minister of marine affairs is a high school dropout, turned businesswoman and political icon. ms pudjiastuti has led a crackdown on illegal fishing and, because of this campaign, she is often depicted as half mermaid—half warrior. her carefully crafted social media image is shaking up indonesia's conservative political style. it turned her into something of a pop culture icon. and landed her on this year's bbc 100 women list. earlier ms pudjiastuti spoke to me about politics and the glass ceiling. i had grown up in a family that had never been, how you call it? my pa rents never been, how you call it? my parents never treat different between my brother or me, both the same. i think for me, women have the same. i think for me, women have the

same capability to achieve the same thing and do the same things. you should just not think that because you are should just not think that because you are a woman, you should just not think that because you are a woman, you get this ceiling to stop you to border you or to limit you or like that. i never see it as an obstacle. we can see that very clearly in what happened in 2016. the moment you co—ordinated campaign that meant it was very high profile, a number of illegalfishing boats were, as we can see, they exploded in the waters, highlighting an issue that you are very passionate about. social media went pretty wild with all kinds of comments. you said it was a very ugly comments. you said it was a very lace, comments. you said it was a very ugly place, social media, to be at politician at the time. how so? well, the action that it's taken is the only way, when you come to a

situation that is no other better options or decent ways to be done. unregulated fishing had become common crack this and daily occurrences were taking place. you can't just take it occurrences were taking place. you can'tjust take it one by one and sort it out in a normal way. i had the constitution to be executed so i just do it and i thought that's the only way for me to be sufficient and of course for the government to contribute big things to be happening. that was susi pudjiastuti, the minister of marine affairs in indonesia, speaking earlier to babita sharma. in the 1950's, lawrence kadoorie, an industrialist and amateur

photographer took photos of hong kong with a tiny spy camera. after decades in a dusty suitcase, the pictures have finally been presented to the public. let's take a look. i would describe it as a city that ran as a far slower pace. a period where you had time. my father was a very keen photographer. these pictures were taken with an 8mm camera so pictures were taken with an 8mm camera so they are a tiny frame blown up to the size you see here is the camera was a spy camera made during the war. and he had to have

it in his pocket so he could take pictures where normally he wouldn't have a camera because the camera is a heavy item. my father was a busy man but he loved to travel, he loved photography, he loved walking. i think it gave him a sense of rest, a sense of being able to have something different to his daily work. many of them didn't want to have their photos taken of themselves. there was a suspicion that it might bring bad luck. but others were curious. my grandfather arrived here at aged 15 in 1880. and in due course he was worked hard and in the right environment and the family became successful. i believe

the photos show the candid spirit of the photos show the candid spirit of the hong kong people. they have a lwa ys the hong kong people. they have always meant that challenges —— met their challenges. there is another photo of the little girl asleep in front of the new paper that says no progress. ——a newspaper stand. that was eisenhower. she was asleep for that very reason, i suspect. i think all the photos are memorable. they bring back, of course, for me, my youth but more importantly they show the growth of hong kong. if you look around today, you will see the differences. you will see what the community that works hard and police in the future can achieve. —— believes in the future. beautiful pictures of hong kong in the 1950s. archaeologists in turkey

say they may have found the grave of saint nicholas, considered the first sa nta saint nicholas, considered the first santa claus. it was found in the south—west province of and to lee r. until now, the rains —— remains were thought to be in italy. thank nicholas was known for his generosity towards children. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we'll be looking at google's big reveal of its latest pixel smarthphone, and whether the search giant has found a winner in its latest offering. and before we go, these gorgeous lanterns are on show in eastern china's zhejiang province during a national holiday. the area has a long history of holding lantern shows and these examples have been listed as part

of the nation's cultural heritage. but staging the display doesn't come cheap — it cost around four million yuan, that's around 600,000 dollars. the farmers may well have ploughed fields but that meant —— hasn't stopped our weather watchers from posting photos of the harvest moon. not quite a full moon. 98%. wiese will see the full moon tonight. the time being, the cloud has arrived and we will see strong rains but the next few hours and then that eases away through the south—east corner. it would be a damp old start first thing saturday morning. if you are travelling to work they will be outbreaks of rain and is still pretty blustery. behind it, quite a clea ra nce pretty blustery. behind it, quite a clearance and some decent spells of sunshine to look forward to. not a bad start through northern england, northern ireland and scotland.

scattering of showers to the north and west that they should be isolated. into the afternoon, we continue with the risk of a few showers and maybe one or two showers driven along a long do the north—westerly breeze to the north winslet —— north midlands. it should be dry with spells of sunshine. the winds lighter and we will see highs likely at 11 to 17 degrees. with the clearest skies by day, it will lead into clear skies by night. it could turn chilly and that is worth bearing in mind if you are going to watch the international matches. the reason for the chilly feel, high pressure is set to build further west. quite anything is down quite nicely but it means actually start to our friday morning before more wet and windy weather arrives at the start of the weekend. friday morning first thing, we could see a touch of

light frost and that is certainly worth airing in mind if you are a gardener or a grower. there will be lovely spells of sunshine coming through. temperatures will recover. 9- 16. through. temperatures will recover. 9— 16. by the end of the day, more cloud into the western scotland and northern ireland. a cloudy weekend ahead for many of us. they will be rain around and particularly into the north and west. the best of the bright spells into the east. saturday looks likely to be the most u nsettled saturday looks likely to be the most unsettled day after a misty, murky start, the showers will be light and by sunday, things will be that little bit quieter and any showers will be chiefly out to the north and west. highs again 11— 17. enjoy. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story: the fbi has been questioning the girlfriend of the las vegas gunman — who was in the philippines at the time of the massacre. marilou danley described stephen paddock as "kind,

caring, and quiet" — and said she had no clue of the carnage he was planning. president trump has visited las vegas in the wake of sunday's attack, to offer support and thank the emergency services. the mass shooting left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. people in india are changing their avatars and twitter displays to support two men who were attacked — apparently for having moustaches. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. it is half past midnight and now it is