this is bbc news. the headlines at three: brenton tarrant, the main suspect in the new zealand mosque shootings in which 49 people were killed, has appeared in court on a single murder charge. new zealand police say they believe a lone gunman was involved in the attacks. prime ministerjacinda ar—dern has vowed — "our gun laws will change." new zealand is united in its grief and we are united in our grief. more than a0 people are injured and in hospital, as tributes are made in commemoration to those who have died. in other news — tory mp nick boles quits his local conservative association in the face of efforts to deselect him as the candidate for the next election. a leaked eu document appears to confirm that the uk will have to hold elections

for the european parliament in may, if brexit is extended beyond the beginning ofjuly. it's the decider in the six nations — who will win? wales are currently playing ireland, but both they and england are in the running to take the title. and coming up in half an hour, click presents a special programme from one of the most cutting edge tech nations in the world — japan. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. an australian man has appeared in court in new zealand charged with murder, after 49 people were killed in

shootings at two mosques in the city of christchurch yesterday. 28—year—old brenton tarrant did not enter a plea and has been remanded in custody. the prime minister of new zealand, jacinda ardern, has visited survivors of the attacks in hospital. she promised that gun laws will change. our correspondent sent this report. we stand as one. from flower tributes to hand written notes, the messages are clear. new zealand may be struggling to comprehend the tragic events that took place in christchurch, but people are determined to come together to pay their respects. this group of young men among them. one of them knew someone inside one of the mosques. your friend was shot in the leg? yeah, yeah. he went there for prayer. so, i don't know... so you knew people in the mosque? yeah.

i even tried to call him yesterday and he couldn't take my call. christchurch has seen tragedy like this before and is still rebuilding after a devastating earthquake eight years ago. that was mother nature at her worst. but this is a man—made one on a different scale. we had the earthquakes and the anxiety levels were at a high. and this triggered that same anxiety, people wanted to get home to see where their families were. their children, like caro said, at preschool. she had the children at preschool. like, people just wanted to get home. so it might take a wee while, but we will, yeah. memorials like this one have been springing up all over the city. people have been coming here to the botanical gardens in christchurch all day leaving their messages and flowers. there is a real sense of shock and horror at how something so awful could strike the heart of this community. new zealand's prime minister praised the efforts of police, and has called for a review of the countries gun laws after it was revealed that the suspect legally

obtained his weapon. new zealand is united in its grief. and we are united in our grief. and so i convey that message of love and support on behalf of new zealand. an australian man has appeared in court. 28—year—old brenton tarrant wasn't on any security watchlist. he didn't enter a plea and is due to appear in court next april the 5th. while the world awaits his fate, the outpouring of grief here will continue. but this is a resilient city that has seen tragedies like this before. and then, as now, the rallying cry in many messages of support is a maori phase that means, stay strong. sharanjit leyl, bbc news, christchurch. ali adeeba was in the moor mosque praying with his father and his twin brother when the shooting began. this is ali with his

father, adeeb sami. he was hit in the back while trying to protect his sons. he's now in hospital in a medically—induced coma. ali took the time to speak to my colleague krupa padhy, a little while ago, because he said he wanted the world to know what had happened. you may find some of what he has to say upsetting. it was just a normal friday. i was at prayers. i usually take an hour and a half lunch to go to prayers, and listen to the speech. so it was just straight after, the imam starts talking, and the speech begins. a few minutes after you hear gunshots. at the start i thought it was fireworks. and then i see people running. he pulled out a semi—automatic and started shooting. my first thought was to run forward because he was coming from the back and i was looking for my dad.

and so i ran and i stumbled across him and, honestly, i just don't remember after. i was going through the door and ended up in the right pile in the mosque. i missed the full first clip, i woke up in the second and all i hear is shooting. i'm sorry to say, but i couldn't do anything and i was trying to stay safe so i had to play dead. i was tensing all my muscles but with every shot my body had never shook that hard. that kept going on and then a few moments later it went quiet so i thought it was safe. i called 111 and then i hear him coming back so i hang up and he started shooting on the pile on top of me and i couldn't do

anything except lay there. he went four more times and after that it was all gone. i can hear you are so shaken, and my heart goes out to you, tell me how your father is. my father is in icu, he just had his second surgery and he is in a coma. he actually took a bullet for me. and thankfully i'm 0k. i was one of the few that walked out without a bullet wound. one went past my face and burned my face, didn't even touch me but it burned so i could only feel for the people that got shot by it. i hope all the best for anyone that made it out into icu and hope they make a good recovery. and our best wishes goes out

to all of them as well. we thank you for taking the time to speak to us at what is such a difficult time for you and your loved ones. we wish you all the very best, ali, thank you. the brothers of one of the christchurch victims have expressed their family's pain in the wake of the attacks. 50—year—old naeem rashid, and his 21—year—old son talha naeem, were among six pakistani citizens killed in the attack. our pakistan correspondent, secunder kermani, spoke to naeem rashid's brothers earlier. tell me, how long had your brother been living with his family in new zealand? he went to new zealand in 2010, so it's been nine years. so, he went to do his phd there, he couldn't finish his phd but he did start working there,

so he was doing his job there. and he liked living in new zealand? he loved living in new zealand, he just loved it. i've never been there myself but i believed it was supposed to be one of the safest places... i suppose that no one in the family could ever imagine something like this would ever happen? no, no way. we couldn't imagine it, not at all. how did you find out? well, my brother rang me about nine o'clock in the morning. i was not watching the television, somebody rang him. then we rang... one of my younger brother's brother—in—law also lives there in christchurch, so we rang him and my sister—in—law. that's when we found out things were going bad. then, in the evening,

we found out... and what was your reaction when you found out, if you can put it into words? there are no words, really. i can't really describe the feeling. we were just discussing... only a person who goes through this kind of thing can understand this thing. but i still... i feel really proud of my brother, really. i mean, the way he died, very few people... i mean, i wish i could die like him, really, dying like... he was a brave person, and i heard from people there, there were a few witnesses, and they said he saved a few lives there by trying to stop that guy.

me and my wife and my children, we all miss him because of his fun loving attitude. he was always after his nephews and nieces to improve themselves, he was taking interest in theirfamily and themselves, he was taking interest in their family and in our family. he was a person who was very committed to anything which he wanted to do. he is being hailed as a hero by many people across the world for trying to ta ke people across the world for trying to take down the attacker. have you seen the video, what was your reaction, did you feel an element of pride as well? i saw the video and the first thing i wanted to see was the luke in his eyes. i did not see one iota of fear in those eyes and that made me proud. what a brave man he was. i knew if i had any problem he would

be standing with me, i had no doubt about that, what to do it for others, when he could have ran away, and what i have been told is there was some other people whom he asked tojoin him but did not and he did it alone, i think. that speaks volumes about him. he is my hero, at least. well, meanwhile, an australian senator who blamed immigration for the mosque shooting in christchurch has attacked a teenager — who threw an egg at him while he was being interviewed. fraser anning hit the 17—year—old before a short scuffle takes place between the two. the teenager was then restrained and arrested, but has since been released. a petition calling for senator anning to be removed from office following his comments has attracted nearly a quarter of a million signatures.

the conservative mp, nick boles, has resigned from his local party association. mr boles said he had faced calls for his deselection because of his stance on brexit — having spoken out against leaving the eu without a deal. mr boles said he intends to remain as mp for grantham and stamford. we can speak now to the conservative mp, robert halfon. hejoins me via webcam from harlow constituency. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news this afternoon. i wanted to start by asking you what you make of nick boles's decision to resign from his local conservative association. can you hear me? can you hear me? i

don't think he can. hopefully we will come back to talk to him in a moment once we have re—established contact. a leaked eu document appears to confirm that the uk will have to take part in european parliament elections in may, if brexit is extended beyond the end ofjune. the memo has been circulated to eu ambassadors ahead of theresa may's visit to brussels on thursday, where she will ask eu leaders to delay brexit. the uk is presently due to leave the eu on march 29th. the department for transport may be forced to pay tens of millions of pounds to keep its emergency "no—deal" ferry contracts in place if brexit is delayed. one of the firms involved, brittany ferries, said it had already incurred large fuel and staffing costs, for which it would have to be compensated. a whitehall source said the contingency plans had to be in place

for the original brexit date of march 29th. the headlines on bbc news: brenton tarrant, the main suspect in the new zealand mosque shootings in which 49 people were killed, has appeared in court on a single murder charge. new zealand police say they believe a lone gunman was involved in the attacks. prime ministerjacinda ar—dern has vowed: "our gun laws will change". prime ministerjacinda ardern has vowed: "our gun laws will change". tory mp nick boles quits his local conservative association in the face of efforts to deselect him as the candidate for the next election. it's the final round of matches in rugby union's six nations championship. grand slam chasing wales are facing ireland in cardiff. they lead 10—0 after half an hour. hadleigh parkes with a tryjust over a minute into the match.

it's fa cup quarterfinal weekend, watford are through to the semi—finals after beating crystal palace 2—1, andre grey with the winner at vicarage road. and lewis hamilton will start on pole in melbourne for tomorrow's season opening australian grand prix. i will be back with more on all those stories within the next hour. i will see you then. the conservative mp nick boles has resigned from his local party and we will speak to robert halfon now. can you hear me this time? ican. i you hear me this time? i can. i want to start by asking you what you make of nick boles's decision? i think it's a very sad, nick boles is a great intellect and given a lot of service to the

conservative party, both politically and asa conservative party, both politically and as a minister in government. i've worked very closely with him on developing an alternative proposal to leave the eu byjoining the european free trade area, common market 2.0, as we call it. the party must accommodate people as diverse as nick boles and borisjohnson, we must be a church. the alternative you talk about was the problem for the association, ultimately, because at the end of the day bus represents a constituency that voted 61% to leave the eu, surely it needs an mp that reflects that viewpoint? i think nick did reflect the viewpoint of the public because he voted for the prime minister's deal both times, which is about leaving the eu and he came into parliament to vote for article 50 in the wheelchair when he was recovering

from very serious cancer. i think he is given incredible service. the brexit we are talking about, common market 2.0, delivers on the referendum result and get us out of all the political side of the eu, common fisheries policy, foreign policy but safeguard jobs and businesses by keeping us in the european economic area and members of the european free trade area which we helped found many years ago. white with the acting chairman of the local party association tell us nick boles had upset many people in the area which strongly backed leaving? i cannot speak for what's going on in his local association, i am not there, iam in his local association, i am not there, i am the mp for harlow but i suspect may be some of them want to leave without a deal but as nick has pointed out because the country is not properly prepared for that, it would be a huge risk to leave without a deal. we have to find a way of delivering the referendum

result but that does not mean we crash out. and also does not mean we have a second referendum which would bea have a second referendum which would be a political calamity and lead to huge mistrust in our political system. white smack as you say, you share similar views with nick boles, calf, do you have what is you might be deselected as well? i had my meeting this morning with the local conservative association and they were all very sympathetic. i voted against a second referendum, iam very i voted against a second referendum, i am very worried about the long delay for article 50, i will accept a short one but i worry about a long one andi a short one but i worry about a long one and i was readopted a few months ago. on the whole, most conservative members are very reasonable. i think it's a very sad day that nick feels he can no longer stand as a conservative mp in his area. theresa may is expected to bring her

deal back to the house of commons in the next few days for the third time, will it be third time lucky, do you think? i hope so, i voted against the deal the first time because i had huge worries but i would say two more ha rd core worries but i would say two more hardcore brexit people, we can choose to be very puritanical and wa nt choose to be very puritanical and want everything or we can choose to vote for at least leaving the eu to get some key measures which was promised by the prime minister's deal. otherwise, what will happen is parliament is mostly very strong remaining parliament and it could meana remaining parliament and it could mean a brexiteers end up with nothing so do not let perfection be the enemy of goods and i would urge people to support this time around in parliament so we leave on the 29th or a short time afterwards, and deliver the promises we made to the british people. given a large numbers of conservative mps have not supported

it, from conversations you are having with collies, are you getting any sense of how many might have changed their minds —— mac you are having with colleagues. i think there are those who change their mind, i change my mind between their mind, i change my mind between the first and the second vote. and i think it is time for people, they can choose to be puritanical or be pragmatic and accept if they want to leave the eu and deliberately referendum result, this is the deal currently on the table and if that deal is rejected for a third time i will continue to work with good people like nick boles to try and get others tojoin people like nick boles to try and get others to join the european free trade area and delivering the referendum result. i'll have a real common market 2.0. people voted for the common market many years ago and thatis the common market many years ago and that is what we thought we were going to do and i want to return to what they thought originally when we joined the eec.

robert halfon, we must leave it there but we are very grateful for you speaking to us here on bbc news. senior democrats in the us congress have accused donald trump of defying the constitution after he used a presidential veto for the first time since he came to offfice. mr trump vetoed a resolution from congress which was designed to block his declaration of a state of emergency on the border with mexico. he declared the national emergency last month, to try to secure billions of dollars for building a border wall. president trump said he had a duty to use his veto power in order to protect americans. congress's vote to deny the crisis on the southern border is a vote against reality. it is against reality. it is a tremendous national emergency, it is a tremendous crisis. last month, more than 76,000 illegal migrants arrived at our border. we are on track for one million illegal aliens to rush our borders.

people hate the word invasion but that is what it is. it is an invasion of drugs and criminals and people. a man has died after being stabbed in south—west london. scotland yard said officers were called to reports of a fight in fulham in the early hours of this morning. a 29—year old man was pronounced dead at the scene. there have been no arrests. violence has broken out on the streets of paris as protesters clash with police. demonstrators are said to have thrown smoke bombs and other objects at officers. police then used water cannon to try to disperse crowds. at least 20 people have reportedly been arrested. it's the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against president emmanuel macron which first started over a fuel tax rise and have now become about the cost of living. studies show the stress and pain experienced by very premature babies, can go on to cause mental

and physical illness later in life. aberdeen maternity hospital is preparing to trial pioneering techniques that could reduce that trauma. our correspondent laura goodwin has been to take a look. twins willow and nieve were born atjust 26 weeks weighing a little over 2le each. for mum zoe the first few months of motherhood in the neonatal ward were bewildering and at times frightening. there has been times i've thought one or two of the girls wasn't coming home. the past couple of weeks is when i have started to feel like a mum because i can go and pick up my own baby. i didn't realise how important that is until you can't do it. now aberdeen neonatal unit are trialling a new approach they hope will minimise the trauma of painful but necessary medical procedures for babies and to show parents how they can help. you could be that other pair

of hands and provide this kind of containment. friends of the neonatal unit raised £27,000 to bring mary coughlin, a neonatal expert from boston, to pass on the techniques that she has pioneered. two person care is basically one person is doing the procedure and the other person, their sole job is to make sure the baby is comfortable. the gold standard for the two—person approach is that other person, that comfort person, is the parent or a family member. there's lots of things that happen to these little people and their families that it's just an is thing, right? i mean, they are critically ill, they need the equipment, they need the procedures and stuff. but it's how we manage those experiences that can really reduce their short—term and long—term morbidity or complications as a result. it's the smaller things, the littlest things make the biggest difference. like a parent just talking to their baby whilst having a painful procedure done.

we might not have thought about it, it could be as simple as that. so really the parents being here and comforting their baby has been a huge eye—opener for us. baby ella was born eight weeks early, her mum says empowering parents to help their babies is hugely important. obviously you feel a bit helpless if they are crying and she was in an incubator so there's not much comforting you can do. so anything you can do to help, you want to do it. willow, nimah and ella are all making good progress and will be heading home soon. aberdeen neonatal unit hope adopting these new techniques will position them as a centre of excellence for neonatal care and ensure many more little miracles are given every chance to thrive. laura goodwin, bbc news. all this week, the bbc has been taking a look at life in bradford. it's a city where reading and writing skills are below average, across every age range. sabbiyah pervez has been to see how the city is trying to improve its literacy levels.

the gift of a book, arriving throug the post every month from a charity aiming to improve literacy here in bradford. a little boy is testing out his brand—new car... each story these kids read are building blocks their imagination and vocabulary. there is a shark in the park! their mum grew up in pakistan. her parents didn't read to her, but storytime is now a stable part of her life. when i started getting the books from imagination library, then to see how good the books are and somebodyjust giving me these really good gifts, so then i started reading regularly. in bradford, three in every ten five to seven—year—olds do not reach the expected meeting standards. this is below the national average.

there are a number of issues linked to poverty and which sort of present themselves intergenerationally, so why would you blame the child in those circumstances to believe that reading, writing, doing well at school aren't going to make any difference to them because it didn't make a difference to their parents and grandparents? at this school, in a bid to boost literacy and aspirations, pupils are partnered up with mentors, who read to them via the internet. it's rewarding for me because i am helping a child learn how to read and it's seeing her improvement. at school, i enjoyed reading and helping a child read and developing their reading skills, it is very rewarding. for the past five months, ana maria and nasim have been reading together. this is the first time they're

reading side—by—side. well done. there are still huge challenges with literacy in bradford, but the future of the students here has yet to be written, and with help, it can only be improved. sabbiyah pervez, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan. it has been one of those days when the weather has thrown us everything but the kitchen sink, snow to the north and heavy rain further south and shower us with some and stones and shower us with some and stones and thunder and the occasional glimmer of sunshine all thanks to this area of low pressure. risk of disruption continues for many through the evening with the snow becoming increasingly confined to northern scotland and rain putting eastwards and southwards, gusty winds are still across england and wales. it should start to ease moving further into the night. rain cleaning off to the continent and we are cleaning off to the continent and we a re left cleaning off to the continent and we are left with showers for northern scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, north wales and the north midlands. a smack could be

a problem anywhere across the northern half of the country in the morning. nowhere near as windy to the south tomorrow, a day of sunshine and showers, mild that for scotla nd sunshine and showers, mild that for scotland but chillier for england and