good evening. this is bbc news. time for the latest headlines. a9 people are dead and dozens have been wounded in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of christchurch at least 49 people have been killed in new zealand. i was hearing the and dozens more injured after a gunman opened fire on two shooting. it went on about six mosques in new zealand. men, women and children were at friday prayers in christchurch when a man walked minutes or more. the suspect has in and began firing, filming and broadcasting it been identified as brenton tarrant. all live on social media. the 28—year—old australian who live everybodyjust ran to the back doors just to save themselves. streamed the attack on social media. i answered the phone and i said security experts say it was widely to her, "your husband has been shared. a man in his late 20s has shot outside the mosque, and don't come here to deans avenue, been arrested and charged with you won't get through but go murder. new zealand's prime minister to the hospital and wait for him." jacinda ardern says it is a sombre families wait for news as the list moment for the country. this is one of missing people grows — syrian refugees are thought to be of new zealand's darkest days. among the dead. new zealand's prime minister called it the darkest day. they have chosen to make clearly what has happened here is an new zealand their home and it is their home. they are us. extraordinary and unprecedented acts of violence. in other news, dup the person who has perpetuated this leaders in westminster say they have

violence against us is not. had good discussions with cabinet ministers ahead of a third of votes a man in his late 20s is due on theresa may's brexit deal. to appear in court in christchurch in the next few hours charged with murder. we'll have the latest from the scene. also tonight... ina in a moment it will be time for last minute talks in westminster to try to persuade sportsday. first a look at what else the democratic unionist party is coming up this evening. we will to back the prime minister's brexit deal ahead of a possible third have all the latest on the mass shootings in new zealand commons vote on it next week. interserve, one of the biggest providers of public services in prisons, schools and hospitals, is expected to go into administration. it employs 16,000 people in the uk. and try, try and try again. after years of being runner up, finally victory at the cheltenham gold cup for irish trainer willie mullins. coming up, came wales when a third grand slam under head coach warren gatland? grand slam under head coach warren gatland 7 to grand slam under head coach warren gatland? to do so they must beat ireland here at the principality stadium tomorrow.

good evening. at least 49 people have been killed and dozens more have been injured after a gunman opened fire during friday prayers at two mosques in christchurch in new zealand. a man drove up to the al noor mosque and began shooting as he entered the building at around 1.40 in the afternoon local time. there was then a second shooting outside the linwood mosque nearby. the gunman identified himself as a 28—year—old australian and filmed the shootings, broadcasting it all live on social media. the prime minister, jacinda ardern, described it as a well planned terrorist attack and one of new zealand 5 "darkest days". our correspondent hywel griffith is in christchurch for us. yes, that darkness and sense of

despair will take time to left as people here struggle to comprehend what they witnessed and the attacks which started at the mosque just behind the police cordoned down the road behind me. in all, 49 lives extinguished in minutes of terror and chaos and when morning arrives here in christchurch a 28—year—old man will appear here in christchurch a 28—year—old man willappear in here in christchurch a 28—year—old man will appear in court charged with all of those 49 murders. viewers may find some of the scenes in my report distressing. fear etched on theirfaces, people fled christchurch's mosques looking for safety as armed police searched the city's street trying to track down the gunmen. worshippers say he shot indiscriminately, walking from room to room, sparing no one in his path. i was hearing that shooting after shooting after shooting. it went on about six minutes or more, and i could hear

screaming and crying. i saw some people were dropped dead. when the firing started, i had a look from over the fence there. there was one guy, changing the gun and taking another one, because he parked on this side, next to the mosque house. and he just took the gun and then firing started again, you know. a man identifying himself as australian—born brenton tarra nt live streamed his attack on facebook. earlier, he had published a 73 page document full of anti—islamic hatred online, as well as images of his weapons, his slogan scrawled on them by hand. the attack targeted two mosques in christchurch. at around 1:40pm local time, police responded

to reports of shots being fired at the al noor mosque in the centre of the city. at least 41 people were killed here. the second shooting was a short drive away at the linwood mosque, where at least seven people were killed. one other died in hospital. police also defused several explosive devices attached to a vehicle. i heard and saw what i thought were firecrackers, and i saw young fellows running down the street. and then, all of a sudden, it got quite violent, and i thought, no, that's not firecrackers. and they started falling. and one fell just to the left of my car, and one fell to the right. and then the guy on the street, he was trying help his wife. and the other guy, i could see, he was in bad shape, but i couldn't get to him, because that was where directly the gunfire was coming from. and the guy i was compressing, he was trying to ring his wife, and i managed to get it. i answered the phone, and i said to her, your husband's been shot

outside the mosque. i said, don't come here, but please go to the hospital and wait for him. then i kept talking to him, and she was at the hospital waiting and he wasn't to give up. we did the best we could for him until we got him some help. the manhunt through christchurch eventually ended with a card being eventually ended with a car being rammed by the police and a suspect being wrestled to the ground. four people had been arrested. one has now been released. we never assume that there aren't other people involved. that's why we've got an immense presence out there across canterbury and right across new zealand, but we don't have named or identified people that we are looking for. it would be wrong to assume that there is no one else. the city's emergency services remain on high alert. christchurch's hospital has been treating dozens of people with gunshot wounds and is closed to all other admissions.

late into the night christchurch has remained a city on lockdown. there is genuine fear that there may yet be further attacks. across the country, all mosques have been ordered to close their doors. for the very first time, new zealand's terror threat level has been raised to high. new zealand's prime minister swiftly condemned the shootings as an act of terror and reassure the country's small and reassured the country's small muslim population that they should not have to live in fear. many of those who will have been directly affected by the shooting may be migrants to new zealand. they may even be refugees here. they have chosen to make new zealand their home and it is their home. they are us. the person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. the deep sense of shock felt in new zealand is echoed around the

world, messages have been sent from the pope, president trump and the queen. new zealanders are astonished that this could have happened. you don't think something like this could happen in new zealand or christchurch, we are such a small community, we are kind and loving. i do not understand why someone would hurt us like this in such a way like an animal. why would you treat us like that? in times of such sorrow there is little that can comfort people today as they confront the question of how such violent extremism could have been allowed to fester here. we are starting to learn a little more about the victims in this shooting and they came from the four corners of the globe and jordan and some were syrian refugees who started their lives here again. m essa g es started their lives here again. messages have been sent to comfort

and console people and to make them feel safe. there are home to please on several street corners here to try and ensure public safety. but there is still a sense of fear and there is still a sense of fear and the unknown. tomorrow the prime minister is expected to come and tell people what more she can do to try and ensure that nothing like this will ever happen again. so the gunman said he was a 28—year—old australian called brenton tarrant. our security correspondent gordon corera has been trying to find out more about the man and his motives. brenton tarrant, seen here in his car in an image he streamed live on the internet. moments later the 28—year—old would enter a mosque to kill. what do we know about him? both in australia he travelled widely, seen here it is thought in pakistan, and he also visited the united arab emirates. before the attack he published a 73 page document online. he describes

himself as an ordinary working class white man who had an ordinary family, but also as a racist, fascist and nationalist. he said he wa nted fascist and nationalist. he said he wanted to target what he called invaders to incite violence and spread fear. he showed an arsenal of weapons in the boot of his car and two there is he appears to have posted images of some of the weapons on social media and had written names on them, including other people who had attacked muslims and historic battles. he said he was not a member of any organisation or acting under orders, but had contact with many nationalist groups. should the authorities have known about him? it is a very good question. what i want to tell you right now is that we had no agency which had any information about these people. i can also tell you that i have been in contact with my australian collea g u es in contact with my australian colleagues and they have no

information on them until either. eight years ago norway was hit by one of the worst extreme right—wing terror attacks. dozens of left—wing teenagers shot dead. tarrant said this was an inspiration even claims to have had contact with the killer. he also says he supported the attack at finsbury park mosque in london in 2017 when darren osborne rammed a car into worshippers. and on one of the weapons is the word rather, a reference to the child sex abuse scandal in the north of england, leading to questions about whether he could have links in the uk. this is obviously an emerging and fast moving picture but we will be resolute in pursuing our lines of investigation if there are any links that need to be pursued. that is what we will do. there has been growing concern about the rise in extreme right—wing activity here in the uk over the last few years, that is why in the last six months for

the first time the security services m15 the first time the security services mis have become involved in investigating it. tarra nt mis have become involved in investigating it. tarrant says he only recently decided on christchurch as his target. the authorities in new zealand and others around the world will now be focusing on this threat with a new urgency. focusing on this threat with a new urgency. the attack was all the more shocking because it was filmed and broadcast live as it happened on social media. facebook, google and twitter say they are working to remove any clips or copies of the video but the footage is still online and has been widely shared. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones is here. is this just is thisjust a is this just a case of this is out there and there is too much of it or other companies are not doing their job? lots of pressure on social media companies over how it was allowed to be broadcast live in the first place and spread. facebook says it was alerted to the video shortly after the live streaming by the police, it was the police

spotted it not facebook. facebook and said they acted swiftly to move it. twitter and youtube all said they would remove the video as quickly as possible. but during the day we found two copies of this incredibly disturbing video on youtube. thousands of people were watching it and we alerted youtube and it took a couple of hours for it to be taken down. big questions about the processes. despite a lot of money being invested in technology to spot this, it is not good enough yet. they still have to employ hundreds of real people to look at this material and decide what to allow in those systems are under huge pressure at the moment. huge pressure as well from politicians. the home secretary tweeted, enough is enough, you need to do more to stop violent extremism being promoted on your platforms. this will lead to further calls for regulation. this will lead to further calls for regulation.

the queen — new zealand's head of state — has led tributes from around the world saying she'd been deeply saddened by events in christchurch, and that "at this tragic time her thoughts and prayers were with all new zealanders". the prime minister, theresa may, offered her "deepest condolences" saying "to target muslims as they were attending their place of worship is despicable. as new zealand has stood by us so we stand shoulder to shoulder with them." the labour leaderjeremy corbyn laid a wreath outside new zealand house in london, on it the message: "in their memory we must build a world which respects our diversity." and president trump said, "my warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of new zealand after the horrible massacre in the mosques. god bless all!" here security has been stepped up at mosques across the uk. our correspondent shabnam mahmood reports from bradford. friday prayers as usual at bradford central mosque. but the attack in new zealand is on the minds of many

worshippers here today. some told us they were nervous about what happened. it frightens me, absolutely frightens me, and i'm lost for words, waking up to something like this. coming to a mosque and having a peace prayer and it brought tears to my eyes when the imam was talking about this. people were very nervous, very emotional, even within our women's prayer area. some of the men were passing through and coming into the main hall and there was extra vigilance and just the anxiety was quite high today. in london too there was an outpouring of support from the muslim community. we just wanted to express our solidarity and companionship with all the people who are suffering, the families that are suffering, the victims who have been suffering from this heinous act of violence. that message of tolerance and peace

was echoed here in bradford today, alongside the call to end these acts of hate against all communities. as people across the uk reflect on events on the other side of the world, prayers continue to be said and vigils held for those who lost their lives. shabnam mahmood, bbc news, bradford. our top story this evening: a man in his late 20s is due to appear in court in new zealand in a few hours time charged with murder after at least 49 people were killed and dozens more injured. in shootings at mosques during friday prayers. and it's victory for al boum photo, ridden by paul townend, at the cheltenham gold cup. we are in for a tight finish at this

yea r‘s we are in for a tight finish at this year's six nations championship. wales must beat ireland here at the principality stadium here tomorrow. the prime minister is expected to bring her brexit deal back for a third vote in the commons next week. if mps finally support it, brexit could go ahead byjune 30th. if they reject it yet again, there could be a much longer delay. and that's why ministers have today been holding urgent talks with the democratic unionists as they try to get them to back the deal. the dup say the irish backstop — the insurance policy to avoid a hard border with the republic of ireland — remains the key problem and they do want further legal assurances. our political correspondent chris mason is at westminster for us. and getting the democratic unionists to back her deal is seen as the key to all this? yes, they are absolutely essential. they prop up the conservatives in government owned up to now they have said they do not like theresa may's

deal with the european union. for the government it is round three of the government it is round three of the persuasion game ahead of the third vote expected next tuesday. today the dup went into see senior government ministers, including the chancellor philip hammond. they were there for several hours and insisted this was not about money but about reassu ra nces this was not about money but about reassurances on the tricky issue of the backstop and a role potentially for the northern ireland assembly if the backstop was ever activated. but the backstop was ever activated. but the dup are necessary, but not sufficient for the government to win on this deal. they have to persuade dozens and dozens of conservative backbenchers. two of those who have opposed the deal up until now, including esther mcvey, described it today as both rubbish and obnoxious, but they might vote for it in the end because they feel otherwise brexit might not happen. some good news for the government but nowhere near enough yet.

two young brothers have died in a hit—and—run car crash in wolverhampton. sanjay singh, aged 10, and pawanveer singh, 23 months, were in a car being driven by their mother when it crashed with an audi. police have urged the driver of the audi, who left the scene, to come forward. the jury at the trial of the match commander at the hillsborough disaster, david duckenfield, has been told that the decision to prosecute him is "breathtakingly unfair". his defence barrister made the comments in his closing statement. mr duckenfield, who's 7a, denies the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 supporters who died in a crush at the football ground in 1989. our correspondentjudith moritz is at preston crown court. for the last eight weeks of this trail david duckenfield has sat in courtroom number one knot in the dock alongside his lawyers. today his barrister got up to speak in his

defence and gestured to the former chief superintendent saying to the jury, look at him, someone has to stand up for him. i do so, he said, andi stand up for him. i do so, he said, and i do so with vigour. i do so, he said, and i do so with vigour. the hillsborough disaster claimed 96 lives and affected many more. today, it was said that it must be one of the most heartbreaking cases ever to come before an english court. her her david duckenfield is accused of causing the deaths, but his defence say he's been singled out unfairly and held responsible for other people's incompetence. they say the hillsborough stadium was potentially lethal, badly designed and riddled with faults. defending david duckenfield, ben myers qc said, it's like giving a captain a ship that's already sinking and thenjudging him by how well he's sailing it. the jury were shown this photograph of crushing, eight years before the disaster. they heard there was a history of near misses at

hillsborough, but nobody had told mr duckenfield about past problems. in 1989, the crush was fatal when the terraces became dangerously full. this safety barrier collapsed under the pressure. 96 men, women and children lost their lives, the youngest a boy of ten, the oldest a pensioner. ben myers said, no matter how great the jury's sympathy may be, convicting david duckenfield as a way of expressing it would be very wrong indeed. he said he was being judged by different standards to others. earlier today, the prosecution said the trial was 30 years late, but it was about david duckenfield's failures, and not those of other people. judith moritz, bbc news, preston. it's one of the biggest providers of public services, in prisons, schools and hospitals. but now interserve is expected to go into administration after shareholders failed to approve a restructuring plan. the company employs 115,000 people in the uk.

its contracts are likely to continue and no job losses are expected. i'm joined by our business editor simonjack. what has gone wrong? debt, mountains of it. you could have bought this company at the beginning of the week for £10 million and you would have been taking on £650 million worth of debt. plenty of things did go wrong, contracts went bad, and so today there was a plan aid which was to get those lenders of money to write off that debt and swap it for new shares. they would end up with 95% of the company. the current shareholders would be left with only 596. shareholders would be left with only 5%. and a couple of big american shareholders didn't like that plan one bit and voted it down, so what happens now? it goes into administration. however, unlike the other failed contractor carillion, there was a plan b. in time, they

will look to sell the company off, so will look to sell the company off, so it will carry on as a going concern. in the short term, those jobs, those services should be protected. in the long term, these lenders do not want to own a government outsourcing company. they have no expertise or appetite for it, so they will look to sell. meanwhile, it will reignite and has done. labour and the unions say that the procurement model for public services is broken and more services should be brought back in—house. for years, the irish trainer willie mullins has been trying to win the cheltenham gold cup. he's been runner up six times. but today his luck finally changed as his horse al boum photo, ridden by thejockey paul townend stormed clear of the field. our correspondent andy swiss was there watching. a champion's welcome for al boum photo, but victory above all for the mastermind behind it. trainer willie mullins had been the gold cup's nearly man, and it seemed the

weighting would continue as last yea r‘s weighting would continue as last year's when i set the early pace. but come the last, al boum photo was clear, and i was simply no catching him. theresa willie mullins' first gold cup. delight forjockey paul townend, the biggest win of his career, and at last, mullins had done it. some people never win the big race in their sport, or they don't get a gold medal for whatever reason, so don't get a gold medal for whatever reason, so i had resigned myself to never winning it. a nice surprise today to get it. there were mixed emotions. it later emerged another of mullins's winners suffered a fatal injury after a fall. a somewhat bittersweet victory, then, for willie mullins, but that elusive gold cup is finally his. andy swiss, bbc news, cheltenham. this time for a look at the weather. here's darren betts.

white night before the weather gets better, it will get worse, i'm afraid. we have seen wintry showers in northern areas, which will fade away overnight. the cloud thickens in the south—west end rain is moving north. it will turn to snow over the hills of northern ireland, the tops of the pennines, and later into the southern uplands. we are moving into cold air. some icy patches and a touch of dharmic frost in the north, very much milder south. in the first half of —— in the first half of the weekend, a rapidly deepening area of low pressure. we are not expecting it to be a named storm, but it will bring some very windy conditions. a real contrast interim pictures across the uk. —— mike contrast in temperatures. the snow won't last long and will probably turn to rain, but sleet and snow will continue in scotland. drying off in northern ireland, but really wet weather coming into england and wales. very

heavy rain over the hills, and ahead of that, gusty winds, gusts of 50 or 60 mph. it would be as windy for scotla nd 60 mph. it would be as windy for scotland and northern ireland, but it will be a cold one with that wintry weather in scotland. 12 or 13 celsius in the south—east. there will be heavy rain on that weather front. the deepening low pressure is rushing away, taking the wintry weather, and we are back to square one for the second half of the weekend. it will be a windy day on sunday across eastern scotland, with a mix of sunshine and showers. wintry over the hills, and temperatures back up to 8—10dc. into next week, it may be chilly in the mornings, may be misty, but there is a ray of hope, because the jet strea m a ray of hope, because the jet stream will be further north, higher pressure to the south, meaning dry weather and much less wind. an improvement thank goodness for that. let's return now to our top story. the new zealand mosque attack — the worst mass shooting in the country's history.

our correspondent hwyel griffith is in christchurch for us tonight. hwyel, people are waking up, families desperately waiting for news of relatives. yes, and there are people desperately using a website to try to find missing people, fearing, of course, the worst, that potentially their relatives could be among the 40 their relatives could be among the a0 or so people we know are in hospital, some of them critically ill, and that somehow communication has been lost. we know, tragically, that a9 people have lost their lives, and there is still concern here that the threat may not be over. in the last few minutes, we have seen more armed policemen arrived here at the scene just up the road from the al noor mosque, and more officers promised to come in from across new zealand. some will be here for the massive investigation, but many will be here simply to offer a sense of security and safety that is much needed at the moment. in the next few hours,

the moment. in the next few hours, the attention will turn to the christchurch court where a 28—year—old man accused of these murders will appearfor 28—year—old man accused of these murders will appear for the first time. we will bring you more later tonight on the news at ten. thank you. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me. and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.