there is no continue as normal and there is no immediate threat to anyjobs. you will remember more than a year ago, another outsourcing company, carillion, went into insolvency and unions have said it again raises questions about the model of giving private companies contracts for public services. a man in his 50s has been shot dead by police near the centre of birmingham. west midlands police says the shooting was part of an intelligence—led operation, but was not related to terrorism. the incident has been referred to the independent office for police conduct. the former liberal party leader, lord steel, has been suspended from the liberal democrats over allegations he did not do enough to tackle an mp over claims of child sexual abuse. lord steel told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse that in 1979 he asked the late mp sir cyril smith about claims he abused boys at a rochdale hostel in the 1960s. lord steel said he came away from the conversation "assuming" that smith had committed the offences but claimed it was "nothing to do" with him.

time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. it looks like our weather will get much worse before it gets much better. a lot of cloud is streaming in from the atlantic and underneath that we have a developing area of low pressure. today we have seen the cloud breaking up in many areas so we have a mixture again of sunshine and showers, a bit like this in worcestershire. in the far south of england and south wales, still cloudy and a bit damp. for all of us it remains windy this afternoon with strong to gale force gusts and a range of temperatures. chile in scotla nd range of temperatures. chile in scotland where the showers are wintry in the hills. 14 as it brightens up in the south—east of england. this evening we'll see showers in northern areas fade away but only because we have this cloud and rain in the south—west moving north. that's later in the night, and will turn to snow in the hills of northern ireland, the tops of the pennines and the southern uplands because we are bumping into cold air. northern parts of the uk, a

touch of frost and icy patches, more mild further south. heading into the weekend, a rapidly deepening area of low pressure that will strengthen the wind. most of the deepening ta kes pla ce the wind. most of the deepening takes place out in the north sea so we don't expect it to be a named storm, however there will be strong wind and quite a temperature contrast across the uk. some areas seeing rain and some seeing snow. i think in northern ireland to the tops of the pennines, the snow will not last long but we have sleet and snow continuing across much of scotland, a couple of centimetres easily, down as low as 100, 200 metres. it becomes drier in northern ireland but we keep wet weather across england and wales. wet weather over the hills, a threat of flooding and ahead of its strong winds with gusts of 50—60 mph. not as windy in scotland and northern ireland but a really cold day with sleet and snow in scotland, 12 or 13 in the south—east where it is dry until the evening. then we get heavy rain pushing its way through. the

deep area of low pressure continues to deepen and run away and take away that wintry mix from northern areas and things are more calm on sunday. it will be a windy day, very windy for a while across eastern scotland and we have a mixture of sunshine and we have a mixture of sunshine and showers once again. some of those showers could be wintry over the hills. it will feel cold in the wind but temperatures are where they should be at this time of year, around nine or 10 degrees. into the early pa rt around nine or 10 degrees. into the early part of next week and it could be chilly in the mornings. there might bea be chilly in the mornings. there might be a touch of frost and mist and fog as well. but ending on a more positive note, with thejet strea m more positive note, with thejet stream further north, higher pressure a bit closer to the uk, it will be much drier and not as windy as it has been. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime... at least 49 people have been killed, and more than 20 seriously wounded, after a gunman opened fire on worshippers at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. it is deeply shocking incident,

actually, it's beyond imagination. good afternoon, i'm azi farni, here with your latest sports news. there will be at least one premier league team in the last four of the champions league this season after tottenham were drawn against manchester city in an all—english quarterfinal. 0ur football reporterjohn bennett was watching today's draw. what was watching today's draw. a tie that is? but they'| going what a tie that is? but they're going to be sick of the site of each other, manchester city and totte n ha m , other, manchester city and tottenham, because it will play each other three times in the space of ten days. the two champions league ties and a premier league match as well. this will be crucial in both competitions. tottenham will be second favourites, manchester city have already beaten them at 1—0 this season. barcelona will meet

manchester united, a repeat of the 2009 and 2011 finals. barcelona probably not the team they were under pep guardiola, but they still have leo messi and are seven points clear at the top of la liga in spain. manchester city win, they could meet liverpool the semifinals. liverpool are playing at porto. also handed a tough tie in the europa league? tuffers possible drawl, the favourites for the europa league, napoli, second at the moment in serie a, managed by carlo ancelotti, who has won the champions league three times. chelsea have done well, slavia prague they will face in the quarterfinals. slavia prague, who knocked out sevilla, a dramatic centre win. thank you. let's look ahead now to one of the biggest events, notjust in racing,

but on the sporting calendar — the gold cup at cheltenham. lizzie greenwood—hughes is there for us. can the festival's signature event create even more drama, after bryo ny frost made history yesterday? i sincerely hope so. yesterday was a wonderful day. thursday not generally seen to be the best day of the festival, but yesterday at clips that week so far. wonderful stories, bryo ny frost that week so far. wonderful stories, bryony frost winning the ryanair chase. real fairy tale, bryony frost winning the ryanair chase. realfairy tale, we're bryony frost winning the ryanair chase. real fairy tale, we're used to seeing female jockeys win big races, but not win great one jump races, but not win great one jump races at the festival. she made history. other great stories yesterday, paisley park, a horse that nearly died, winning for his owner. we had a wonderful day yesterday, wonderful stories, hoping for the same today. the sport needed it, because it was a less than ideal build—up with the equine flu and

other issues. the big race, the gold cup, is the excitement building? people still coming in, actually. it's not longer due to get off, but people still arriving. record crowds all week. it is raining, this could make the gold cup is interesting. it was already wide open, and the three of note are among last year's winner native river aire. the course is a bit tacky on top, he loves the rain. then presenting per se, the irish enigma, he hadn't been seen in public and his trainer persuaded galway to turn the fences around circuit practice on a left handed trike. the third is another that people are talking about. gets under way on radio five live, should be a

wonderful race. thank you. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. let's return to our top story today, at least 49 people have died in targeted gun attacks at two new zealand mosques. dozens more were seriously injured in the shootings in the city of christchurch. authorities have called it a terrorist attack. here's a recap of how events unfolded. at 1:40pm local time, police responded to reports of shots fired in central christchurch. people were urged to stay indoors and report any suspicious behaviour. shortly afterwards, all schools in the city were placed into lockdown. at 2:30pm, police described it as an active shooter situation. later, at apm, new zealand police commissioner mike bush said there had been multiple fatalities at two locations, both mosques in christchurch. he said that one person had been taken into custody, but warned it was unclear if more than one person was involved. police also urged all mosques across new zealand to shut their doors.

new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern, called it one of new zealand's darkest days. at 5:30pm, police said that three men and one woman had been taken into custody. a short time later, australian prime minister scott morrison confirmed one of the people arrested is an australian citizen. at 7:30pm, prime minister ardern confirmed that a0 people had died and more than 20 were seriously injured. at 9pm, the death toll rose to 49. and it was confirmed that one person had been charged with murder. the male suspect will appear at a christchurch court on saturday morning. mohan ibrahim — originally from bangladesh — was inside the al noor mosque when the gunman began his attack. i was actually in the most place on the right side, not too close to the inside. so when i heard the sound of

the shooter, it was coming from the main doorand on the shooter, it was coming from the main door and on a video i have seen, he started shooting while he was out of the mosque and from the main entrance when he came inside, he was randomly shooting. there were ladies' entrance on the right hand side. so what i heard first, i thought maybe it was an electrical short circuit. but i saw it was continuously happening and people we re continuously happening and people were running everywhere, so i managed myself with other people to come out of the mosque by the windows, which were on the right side of the ladies' section entrance. so i went to the back, i

had to run a distance in the back of the mosque where people usually park their car, and the mosque where people usually park theircar, andi the mosque where people usually park their car, and i parked my car there are. soi their car, and i parked my car there are. so i had to run that way and to get out of the area, i had to jump are. so i had to run that way and to get out of the area, i had tojump a big wall from the mosque area. it was 10—15 minutes continuous shooting, so loud. lots of people just came out of the mosque on the backside area, theyjust came out on the streets. later on, the police and ambulance came. so from the backside, there was a road where you can go continuously to see the front side of the mosque. when i was going

there, i saw they were injured people with a shirt on his chest, and he was injured and the police and he was injured and the police and ambulance came to rescue him and gave him some medicine. this is one of the biggest mosques in the area, it's friday, lots of people get there, it's special day to pray. more than 200 people were would be inside. one more thing i want to tell you, the priors start at two o'clock, and this happened around 1:45pm, so still lots of people get to come inside the mosque. mostly people come earlier to listen to the lecture given from the imam. so if you come earlier, you can get inside

the mosque to park inside nicely. this is a regular mosque where i go every time. so i've seen many people. it's a big mosque, if you see the video made by the gunman, there are lots of people inside. i'm really lucky but speechless, i was shaking. i could have been a victim at that time. lots of people i know, i meet them regularly in the mosque, these people are not any more, and thatis these people are not any more, and that is unacceptable. i cannot believe my eyes what i saw today. i never expected it. because i've been living here for five years and i know new zealand is one of the safest countries, but i'm scared now. leaders from around the world have been reacting to the events in new zealand. theresa may tweeted to send her condolences following what she described as a horrifying terrorist attack. she said...

in a tweet, donald trump said... and the prime minister of pakistan, imran khan, said he was shocked by and strongly condemns the attack. the queen, who is new zealand's head of state, has expressed her sympathy in the following message... london's finsbury park mosque is one of the largest in the uk. it's chairman mohammed kozbar has been giving his reaction to the christchurch attack. it is a deeply shocking incident, actually, it's beyond imagination.

these innocent people who went to prayer being killed in cold blood and being filmed live on facebook — it is shocking. how worried are you, in terms of that, because he has got lots of... there are references online to events in britain, you know, this is a global problem with extremists. it could easily have been somewhere in britain, how worried about... ? this guy has been admired by terrorists, by extremists, like darren osborne, who attacked here about two years ago. he wants to send a message — be careful, muslim community, you are not safe anymore. but we, the muslim community, are resilient and we will not accept that. today, i believe more than 2000 people will be attending the player

here to show solidarity, and to show that we are not scared and we will get on with our life as normal. of course, we have to take extra precaution and take safety very seriously. we are speaking to the police, there will be police presence today. but we need reassurance in the future as well, because this might have been here, it might happen anywhere, it is a global issue and it has to be tackled globally. what would you like to see happen to tackle such extremism? well, i want to see the media, especially some of the media, stop spreading sometimes hatred campaigns against muslims and smearing the muslim community in a way that these far right extremists will take as a matter of fact. in a moment, we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news:

at least 49 people have been killed, and more than 20 seriously wounded, after a gunman opened fire on worshippers at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand. the gunman — named as brenton tarrant, an australian — livestreamed the attack on social media. security experts say it was widely shared. the democratic unionists hold what are described as significant talks with the government over brexit, after last night's commons vote to seek a delay to britain's departure. in the business news: the outsourcing giant interserve is expected to go into administration after shareholders voted to reject a rescue deal with its lenders. it's one of the country's biggest public services providers and employs 115,000 people in the uk. shareholders said no to a deal to give lenders a 95% stake in the company in lieu of money they were owed. the property listings website zoopla has banned adverts from landords

who refuse to take renters on housing benefits. a study by the national housing federation found that one in ten ads on the platform told people on benefits not to apply. it follows a campaign to clamp down on discrimination against benefit claimants. sales are up but profits are down sharply at the pub group jd wetherspoons. a 19% drop in profits over the six months to the end of january has been blamed on rising costs, particularly pay for staff. wetherspoons chairman tim martin, who is a prominent brexit campaigner, used the company's results presentation to criticise those who say a no—deal brexit would harm the economy. big questions for the outsourcing sector today with one of its big players poised to go into administration after shareholders rejected a rescue deal. interserve is a company that takes on outsourced contracts from other firms for things like cleaning and construction. management say it's in a critical financial situation because of debts built up after failed and delayed construction projects.

it employs 115,000 people here in the uk, but it's expected they will continue to work under new management. and this follows the collapse of carillion is few months ago. our business editor simon jack was at the meeting. what happens? is the chairman made an impassioned appeal to vote for the rescue deal which would see lenders writing off their debts in return for new shares and then the company could go forward with reduced debts. however, in the last hour or reduced debts. however, in the last hourorso, it reduced debts. however, in the last hour or so, it has been revealed that shareholders voted against the rescue plan at a backer two prominent us hedge funds voted their shares against the deal. a lot of people curious about what they were hoping to achieve with that, because now the company will go into administration. they would have got administration. they would have got a teaspoon of value under that rescue plan, now they will get

nothing at all. the government had been monitoring this company for some time, because it relies on 70% of its revenues for contracts on cleaning prisons and schools, etc. they are reassured that the planet to put this company into administration and then buy it straight back out again with the lenders being the new owners will mean, atan lenders being the new owners will mean, at an operational level, it will be business as usual. however, in the medium to longer term, you have lenders like banks and bondholders who now own, essentially, a government outsourced facilities service company, which they have no appetite to own or expertise to run. so it seems likely they will look to sell those businesses over a period of time, creating uncertainty for 115,000 employees of the company and some sole supplier is owed money by i nte rse rve sole supplier is owed money by interserve who told me that they are worried their bills will get paid.

—— some small suppliers owed money. and a big question in the political debate, is it the right thing to have these private sector companies deliver essential public services? i expect that debate to be reignited as it was in the collapse of carillion over a year ago. john tizard is an independent outsourcing consultant and former director of another outsourcing company capita. is the system broken, the idea of the private service doing so many of those contracts were public service work? the system if not broken is very seriously breaking. listening to simon there are talking about two american hedge funds, do we really wa nt american hedge funds, do we really want our public services reliant on decisions taken by hedge fund managers in the united states or anywhere else? unaccountable to the electorate, to taxpayers and to

service users. and although it may possible to transfer the interserve contracts possible to transfer the interserve co ntra cts to possible to transfer the interserve contracts to other providers or to ta ke contracts to other providers or to take them back in house, which may be the preferable roots, there will be the preferable roots, there will be disruption and uncertainty and these are critical services which people rely on it, day in day out. so post carillion, post interserve and a whole raft of other challengers to the orthodox approach to outsourcing, we're seeing in local government a decline in the number of new contracts left, and i think we'll see that more widely. let's explore what's wrong with a model. the shareholders at demanding maximum profits, why can't the public sector say to these companies, you have to provide a profit but also certain levels of service, these type of quality services for our sector, and then the company can work out whether it can makea the company can work out whether it can make a profit or not? firstly, you should make a comparison with

the public services loving those services with accountable systems and greater reliability, probably. if the private sector is going to a nswer if the private sector is going to answer is, it must be clear and the objectives it is seeking to achieve and it needs to be a really good buyer of the service, a good client. it shouldn't be buying services or letting contracts cheaply, not least because of austerity, prices driving the letting of contracts, contractors taking on contracts which they can't honour because of the low level of margin, particularly the difficulties arising, and at the same time, we are expecting greater demand. so i think, ina are expecting greater demand. so i think, in a sense, there's not enough money in the system and if you're taking profit out there's a change of owner or investor who wa nts change of owner or investor who wants greater profit and wants that faster, it undermines the relationship under which the

original contract was based. so were to go now? do wejust original contract was based. so were to go now? do we just say the private sector cannot do this, too many contradictions, to bejust private sector cannot do this, too many contradictions, to be just go back to the public sector?” many contradictions, to be just go back to the public sector? i would argue and have argued for years that the default option that should be publicly managed, publicly owned, publicly managed, publicly owned, publicly accountable services. yes, there will be a role for the for—profit sector, i think there's an even bigger role for charities, the voluntary sector, which have very different amounts, because they don't have shareholders, they're really about value for beneficiaries and service users. but when the public sector uses the private sector, it needs to be able to demonstrate, before it lets a contract, before it even starts procurements, there is a public interest in so doing. it then needs to have a robust system of letting contracts and holding the contractor to account. and i would suggest a

change of ownership or a significant change of ownership or a significant change of ownership or a significant change of investor should be a reason for revisiting and potentially terminating contracts. because the public sector may let a contract because the public sector may let a co ntra ct to because the public sector may let a contract to various companies, and then we may see, like with interserve, there will be different ownerships and relationships, that is not how the contract was set up. soi is not how the contract was set up. so i think the default should be publicly owned services and a significant and robust system to assess if and when there's a departure from the default option. thank you very much. other stories in the business news today: the ride—sharing service uber is reportedly planning to float on wall street in april. the financial newswire reuters says it will happen in april shortly after the flotation of its smaller rival, lyft. uber is expected to seek a valuation as high as £90 billion.

two high—level executives are leaving facebook as founder mark zuckerberg pledges to change the compa ny‘s focus to private messaging. chief product officer chris cox joined the social network in 2005 — the year after it launched — and helped build its news feed function. no reason has been given for the changes. the financial times reports that google could be fined by the eu once again, this time over its adsense business, which places its search box on other people's websites. brussels says the practice is damaging to other search engines. it would be the third european fine on google in the last two years. the us stockmarket regulator has accused volkswagen of massive fraud against investors. the securities and exchange commission has filed a complaint that the german car—maker issued more than £10 billion worth in bonds and other investments, at a time when senior executives knew that it had been selling diesel cars that grossly exceeded emissions limits.

and a quick look at the markets which will quickly arrive... no, they won't! let down at the last minute. that's all the business news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. thank you. our weather will get much worse before we see significant improvements next week. this cloud has been streaming our way and that hides a deepening area of low pressure, which will bring pretty horrible weather at the start of the weekend. today, a mixture of sunshine and showers, this is a typical picture. still more cloud in the far south of england and south wales, some rain here also. all of us wales, some rain here also. all of us seeing strong, blustery winds, but a difference in cold enough for a noticeable difference between north and south. the game was fading

away for northern areas, the rain in the south west are pushing northwards and turning to snow in the hills of northern ireland, the top of the pennines, southern uplands, because cold air is on its way. icy patches in the north, but milder in the south. we see a deepening area of low pressure, that will mostly take place out in the north sea, so not expected to be a named storm. however, strong winds and a temperature contrast across the uk, some areas seeing rain, some seeing more snow. across northern ireland and the tops of the pennines, the snow won't last long at all, turning to rain in some cases. but this sleet and snow makes continue across scotland, down quite low lying areas. this rain across england and wales heavy enough across the hills to bring the threat of flooding. and some strong winds, gusting up to 60mph. not as windy in

scotla nd gusting up to 60mph. not as windy in scotland and northern ireland, a cold day without sleet in scotland, up cold day without sleet in scotland, up to 13 in the south east of england. again, the rain here could be heavy. that low pressure in the north sea drugs await the wintering us north sea drugs await the wintering us from scotland, but it will still be windy on sunday, and particularly windy down the eastern side of scotland. sunshine and showers could be wintry again over the hills. feeling chilly in the winds, temperatures back to where they should be at this time of year, around 10 celsius. into the new week, watch out for chilly mornings, perhaps messiness as well. apart from that, more the weather looking better. jet stream, high pressure, not as much rain and not as windy as it has been.

hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm martine croxall. today at 2pm: at least 49 people have been killed, and more than 20 seriously wounded, after a gunman opened fire at two mosques in new zealand. ijust don't understand why someone would hurt us like this and in such a way just like an animal. why would you treat us like that? i think ithinkl i think i leaned across the seats to avoid getting shot and apparently a blood went over my car and struck the one behind. the gunman's been named as brenton tarrant, an australian. he live—streamed the attack on social media,

and security experts say it was widely shared.