welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: four days after the las vegas shooting, the white house and top republicans consider limited changes to us gun laws. australia's cardinal pell appears in court for a second time, but the abuse allegations against him still aren't known. tropical storm nate kills at least six people in costa rica. it's expected to strengthen as it heads towards the us. the oscar—winning film producer, harvey weinstein, apologises and admits he "caused a lot of pain" following claims he sexually harassed women for decades. and spain's constitutional court suspends monday's meeting of the catalan parliament, in a bid to block any push for independence. hello.

the powerful us gun lobbying group, the national rifle association, has backed calls to regulate rapid—fire devices for guns. stephen paddock, who killed 58 people in las vegas on sunday, used what's known as a "bump stock" to modify some of his firearms. the white house and senior republicans have also said they would support a review. our correspondent, james cook, reports from las vegas. the golden glass was shattered by a man intent on mayhem. why, police still don't know. they say there is evidence stephen paddock had planned to survive the attack, and that he may have had help. we know stephen paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood. so far, there has been a lot of attention paid to the actions of the man who was in that building and what he did,

firing down on this concert below. but what many people who were at that gig have told us is that they think the focus should be on the response and the bravery that was on display there. kristin babik showed immense courage. the 24—year—old kept running from the bullets, even after she had been shot in the back. i felt something hit me really hard and then i felt something splatter on my back, so i thought it was either somebody‘s drink, it kind of felt like a paintball or something like that. it's not fair and it's not right... and now i'll forever have to have a bullet in my back... ..for no reason. so i'm just sorry other people have to deal with similar or worse. the girlfriend of the man who inflicted such suffering says he was kind, caring and quiet. marilou danley has now been questioned by the fbi. in a statement she insisted she had

no warning that something horrible like this was going to happen. that horror was intensified by the rapidity of the shooting, made possible by a device called a bump stock, which increases the rate of fire on a gun. this advert for bump stock salutes the founding fathers who codified the right to bear arms. senior republicans, the white house, even the powerful national rifle association, are talking about a ban. in a statement tonight, the nra said such devices should be subject to additional regulations. but banning this accessory is not gun control, which is anathema to the nra and to the republican party it helps to bankroll. meanwhile, the killing continues. since 59 people died here, at least 87 more americans have been shot dead. that's a las vegas massacre every three days. james cook, bbc news, in las vegas. and you can stay up—to—date with all the latest developments

by heading to our website. there are pages dedicated to the stories of the survivors and the politics of gun law in the us. just go to bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. one of the most senior cardinals in the catholic church has appeared in court in australia, charged with historical sexual offences. 76—year—old, george pell, denies the allegations, which haven't been made public. our correspondent, hywel griffith, is following events in melbourne. the trial has not started. this is a preliminary hearing. yes, a procedural matter. but it has drawn a huge amount of attention from protesters and the media. he needed a police escort to make his way in

yet again. he was the vatican treasurer are one of the most senior catholics in the church. eventually matters got under way after security procedures. some had been queueing outside the door since 5am. in front of the magistrate, it was mostly legal issues, specifically the number of witnesses the court will hear from. number of witnesses the court will hearfrom. we number of witnesses the court will hear from. we understand there will be at least 50 witnesses who will be called. some have been asked to discuss matters from decades ago, because these are historical allegations. 20 minutes ago he made his way back out through the throng once again, not talking to anyone. the number of complainants has not in made public. we expect a long

wait until march before more details are known. the one thing he has made clear is that he has returned from rome in order to clear his name. and he will absolutely refute the charges laid against him. thank you very much for that. a powerful hurricane is forecast to hit the united states this weekend. it would be the country's third in three months. storm nate has already caused fatalities in costa rica, where several people are missing and thousands are in temporary shelter. the storm is expected to gain force over the next couple of days, hitting mexico and southern parts of the us. luxmy gopal reports. a trail of devastation, mudslides, and flooding in costa rica in the wa ke and flooding in costa rica in the wake of a powerful tropical storm. storm nate has already killed people and left several missing. the country has declared a national emergency, with more than 5000 having to leave homes, and the destructive power has onlyjust

begun. forecasters predict it will go north, gaining force to become a category i hurricanes when go north, gaining force to become a categoryi hurricanes when it lands against louisiana in florida. categoryi hurricanes when it lands against louisiana in floridali categoryi hurricanes when it lands against louisiana in florida. i have declared a state of emergency for new 0rleans. it is strengthening and producing heavy wind and above—average rainfall saturday and sunday. but models will change as this event draws closer. the current forecast is 3—6 inches of rain over the duration of the system, 36— 48 hours mode and potentially doubling back. all this after the us is still reeling from two powerful hurricanes in the last two months. hurricane harvey went through texas in august, killing three people. then hurricane irma brought destruction and 41

deaths. puerto rico is still without power and running water following hurricane maria. now, yet again, people in this part of the world are bracing themselves for more destruction. bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. president trump is again talking of "de—certifying" the international deal signed by the major world powers with iran, to limit its nuclear activities. he claims tehran has not lived up to the spirit of the agreement. but this week both his defence secretary and america's most senior military officer told a congressional committee iran is compliant, and said the deal is in america's national security interests. fierce storms in north and east germany have killed six people and injured at least ten. powerful winds ripped through the region, uprooting trees and lifting roofs. a number of trains have been cancelled leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in hanover. in the capital, berlin, volunteer fire crews have been called in to help answer emergency calls. us vice president mike pence has announced that us astronauts are going back to the moon more than four decades after the end of the apollo moonshot programme.

addressing the first meeting of the national space council in virginia, he said a base on the moon would be a first step towards a manned mission to mars and beyond. the 0scar—winning hollywood film producer, harvey weinstein, says he is taking a leave of absence and seeking the help of therapists, after it was reported that eight women had made sexual harassment claims against him. the new york times has reported that mr weinstein, who is 65, reached settlements with the women. 0ur correspondent, peter bowes, is in los angeles. well, he is a big player. tell us more. he is. he is usually influential and powerful and has beenin influential and powerful and has been in hollywood for many decades. of course, he was the co—founder of the mirror company. —— mirramax. he

and his brother have run it for the past 12 years. he has a string of very successful titles under his name, shakespeare in love, the artist, the king's speech. the list goes on. these are powerful allegations from the new york times. they say this is based on a clearly an intense investigation going back many decades, talking to past employees, current employees, legal documents, e—mails, painting a picture of a man at least according to this article is a serial abuser of women, who has behaved badly, inappropriate behaviour, sexual activities over many decades. he has reached settlements with eight of those women according to the new york times. people say hollywood has a lwa ys york times. people say hollywood has always been a seedy place. but he presented himself as a liberal, a

champion of women, promoting humanitarian and artistic causes. yes. and he reflects those sentiments to some extent in a statement he released. he has apologised and is saying sorry in a rambling statement he has released. he says he appreciates that he has caused pain in his interactions with collea g u es caused pain in his interactions with colleagues and sincerely apologises for it. he says he is trying to do better and knows he has a long way to go. he says he has a journey to conquer his demons. he says he respects all women and regrets what happened. thank you very much for that. and thank you to you for being with us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as author, kazuo ishiguro, wins the nobel prize for literature, he tells us about his unique perspective. ido

i do feel the japanese part of my upbringing is crucial to who i am as a person and as a writer. 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 bbc news.

the white house says it welcomes a conversation about the use of a gun accessory used by las vegas gunman, stephen paddock. the fbi is still trying to establish a motive for the attack. and topical store nate has killed 20 people in central america and is heading towards the us. let's return to our top story — republican politicians and pro—gun lobbyists in the united states apparently backing some limited new controls on the use of guns. what do you make of this move from

the white house and the nra?” what do you make of this move from the white house and the nra? i think it's probably a pretty smart move by the nra. i think they probably don't wa nt to the nra. i think they probably don't want to be defeated in a battle over banning or highly regulating these bumps stocks. it's probably not an important issue to them. it's better for them to get on the side of further regulation or even banning them to avoid a legislative defeat. not much chance of defeat in any other way for the nra and the gun lobby, is there? they poured millions of dollars into president trump's campaign and many other people in congress. that is absolutely right. we have never had absolutely right. we have never had a federal gun control law favourable

to the proponents of control, except when the democrats upheld the white house and both houses of congress. there are people suspecting this is an attempt to distract attention from the move by the nra and others to legalise silencers. i don't think people will get distracted. probably not the right time to push the repeal of the silencers, prohibition, they also have a very strong interest in a universal right to carry law. a person who has a licence to carry a gun in any state would be recognised as having the authority to carry it in every other state, like a driver ‘s licence. that has been at the top of the nra

agenda for several years. just very recently. bumps stocks, if people haven't heard, in effect, they turn a perfectly legal semi— automatic weapon into an automatic machine—gun? weapon into an automatic machine-gun? i never heard of a bumps stocks, even though i work in this area and nobody else has heard of them. i believe they have just come on the market in the last maybe 18 months, two years. i don't think they are extremely popular and there isa they are extremely popular and there is a big market for them, which is another reason... sales have been going up no end since sunday. i will have to leave it there for the moment. i hope we can talk again. thank you very much. next week's meeting of the parliament of catalonia — which had been expected to approve

a formal declaration of independence — has been suspended by spain's constitutional court. the session was cancelled after a challenge by the catalan socialist party which opposes plans to break away from spain. 0ur europe editor katya adler reports from madrid. wherever you go in spain at the moment, people argue, angst and vent about it. the catalan question, and how on earth it can be resolved. in the capital madrid there's talk of little else. translation: of course we are concerned about the situation, and so are a lot of catalans, who don't want independence. translation: a lot of us don't understand what's going on. the politicians on both sides are acting in their own interests. they should be looking out for us, the people. tension is mounting. today, spain's constitutional court banned monday's meeting of the catalan parliament, where lawmakers were expected to declare independence. but the catalan government has ignored constitutional rulings before and you get the feeling

they're going to do it again. translation: we condemn this ruling which violates the freedom of expression. we will not be censored. inside the spanish parliament meanwhile, he is famous for his wait and see approach, in this case a kind of cat and mouse waiting game of will they or won't they declare unilateral independence in catalonia? but he's coming under increasing pressure from those on the left who want him to start a dialogue with the catalan nationalists, and those on the right. who favour what spaniards have dubbed the nuclear option. translation: we have to trigger article 155 of our constitution, dissolving the catalan parliament, revoking catalan autonomy, until new regional elections can be held there. i asked him if he felt differently about the situation

because he is catalan. translation: i, like many catalans, are torn between our mother, that is catalonia, and our father, that is spain, but i believe, like gordon brown said before the scottish referendum, that we are stronger together. in a nod to those demanding action, spain's prime minister has warned catalan leaders to abandon their unilateral independence plans, orface greater evils. former nato secretary general and eu foreign policy chief javier sola na has offered to mediate. i lived many events in the balkans i saw breaking countries, i saw changing borders. it leads nowhere. we are in a century where we have to go together and i don't want catalonia to go another brexit in the european union, they want to be the european union and they are demanding to be in the european union with spain.

passion for the beautiful game unites all spaniards but tonight in a sign of national nervousness, football club fc barcelona appealed for the dialogue to end the catalan crisis, while big bank sabadell moved its legal headquarters out of the region. this is a country bracing itself for what might happen next. katya adler, bbc news, madrid. com in britain, senior ministers are doing their best to bolster the prime minister's position. after wednesday's blighted conference speech. it was an ordeal to deliver and difficult to watch. a prankster, a cough and a disintegrating set derailed theresa may's keynote speech to the tory party conference. she looked vulnerable and exposed, but battled on. and, just as they did yesterday,

her cabinet has rallied round. what did you think of mrs may's speech? very brave, very good speech. is there a plot against her? i should think not. "should think not", the brexit secretary snapped. she has my full support, thank you. there was already heightened tension in the tory party after the snap election that destroyed the conservatives' commons majority. and the prime minister's rotten luck yesterday has got her critics circling again. in public, most people are being pretty loyal. i think in private people are very concerned. i think there will be quite a few people who will now be pretty firm in the view that she should resign. the tory party conference was a great opportunity to reboot the party and, therefore, reboot the country, to give a clear sense of direction, and that didn't happen. foreign secretary, is the prime minister going to resign? in recent weeks there has been much speculation about borisjohnson's own leadership plans. but in the absence of a standout successor to theresa may, and fear of another general election running deep within the party, this senior mp from the tory backbenches thinks his colleagues must get a grip.

there are always tory members of parliament who have been grumbling about leadership. they grumbled about david cameron, they grumbled before that about michael howard. they‘ re now grumbling about theresa may. you always get that. what would you say to your fellow tory mps who think this is the moment to try and depose theresa may? well, i haven't found any yet and i haven't talked to any yet but next week when the house returns i will find them and i'll politely ask them to shut up. at the moment there doesn't seem to be enough momentum among a minority of tory mps to threaten theresa may, who is, of course, embroiled in brexit and bridging divisions within her party on the issue. most tory mps i've talked to are very sympathetic about the prime minister's struggles yesterday. one cabinet minister told me it was proper and fair to stand by her. number 10 scoffs at any suggestion theresa may might quit. so for now the embattled prime minister fights on. ben wright, bbc news, downing street. the british author

kazuo ishiguro says it's a ‘magnificent honour‘ to receive this year's nobel prize for literature. the writer who was born injapan and moved to the uk as a young boy is best known for the novel the remains of the day. the judges praised the great emotional force of his work. he's been speaking to our arts editor will gompertz. the nobel prize in literature 2017 is awarded to the english writer, kazuo ishiguro. i thought, in this age of false news, i thought it was perhaps a mistake. kazuo ishiguro has written seven novels in a 35—year literary career in which he's won numerous other awards to go with his nobel prize. his first novel, a pale view of hills, made an immediate impact when it was published in 1982. it, like his second book, an artist of the floating world, features a japanese protagonist. i do feel that the japanese part of my upbringing is crucial

to who i am as a person and as a writer. i'm a british citizen, i've lived in this country since the age of five, entirely educated in this country. but i did grow up in a japanese home. there was always this other dimension. i saw things through the eyes of japanese people. i saw british society through japanese eyes. he is perhaps best known for his 1989 booker prize—winning novel, the remains of the day, which was turned into a film starring anthony hopkins and emma thompson. mr stevens. yes. you mustn't take anything i said to heart. it's hideously easy to miss great opportunities in life. and i think that is something we all face, you know? and i think my books have often addressed that. people who didn't quite see love

when it came yes, mr stephens. it is one of the things i resort to, is to create a situation in which the character perhaps understate things, almost frustratingly, from the reader ‘s point of view. i want the reader ‘s point of view. i want the reader to say, how can you just, why don't you give us more? won't you screaming? why keep these things to yourself? he creates characters and worlds we can inhabit and believe in. of course, that's the novelist‘s job. i think many of them turned out to be true. it'sjust that he does it better than most. clear skies and light winds

out there right now. so certainly pretty chilly. but the good news is if you want a trouble—free day on friday, it is looking sunny through the country. a window of clear skies right now. a weather system is heading our way. that won't arrive until the weekend, unfortunately. there will be rain around on saturday. not in the short—term, in the short—term, high pressure is building as i speak. it will be brief, not around for very long. i hope you enjoy the calm weather. this is what it looks like on friday morning. not much happening out there. temperatures, eight degrees in towns and cities. rural spots and scotland, dipping down to around freezing. this is what it looks like first thing in the morning. a couple of showers and more of a breeze for orkney and shetland. but for mainland scotland, northern ireland, wales, and england, the weather is looking absolutely fine. glasgow and the south, sunny for most. temperatures around 7—9.

the winds will be very light. so really a beautiful start to friday for most of us. the weather isn't going to change a lot through the morning or the afternoon. however, later in the day, it looks like things will cloud over in northern ireland and western parts of scotland. some spots of rain getting over into the north—west and into the hebrides. possibly some light around about until sunset in belfast and late in the evening in glasgow. weather fronts increasing. saturday itself is looking very different. so after a beautiful friday, saturday is looking completely different. overcast, quite a changeable day. it's not going to be a wet day. there will be sunshine around, particularly around aberdeenshire,

the pennines, in the south. damp weather around in plymouth and london. it will not rain all day long. the weather will wax and wane and won't be especially heavy. a better day on the way for most of us on sunday. less of that cloud. pockets of rain here and there. 17 in london. more like 14 in glasgow. so, let's summarise the weekend. quite a lot of cloud, especially on saturday, with spots of rain. by the time we get to sunday, it should brighten up with some decent weather around then. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the headlines: the white house says it welcomes a conversation about the use of a gun accessory used by las vegas gunman, stephen paddock. the national rifle association says it might be willing to consider some form of gun control. the view‘s backed by some senior republicans. tropical storm nate has killed at least 20 people in central america. nicaragua looks to have

been hardest hit. costa rica and honduras were also affected. many more are missing and hundreds of thousands are without running water. the storm's expected to strengthen as it heads towards the us, possibly making landfall on sunday. the oscar—winning film producer, harvey weinstein, has apologised and admitted he "caused a lot of pain" following claims he sexually harassed women for decades. mr weinstein said he planned to take a leave of absence from his company and have therapy. now on bbc news, hardtalk.