you are watching bbc news. i am babita sharma. our top story: new zealand's cabinet is meeting to look at ways of changing the country's gun laws, following the christchurch attacks. earlier, prime ministerjacinda ardern opened a book of condolence for victims of the attacks — writing: "together we are one. they are us". counter—terrorism police have raided two homes in australia — where the suspect, brenton tarrant, grew up. his family have said they're devastated — and apologised to the relatives of those killed and wounded. and many of you are following this story on bbc.com. rescue workers in papua province in indonesia have rescued a five—month—old baby trapped in a collapsed building after torrential rain triggered flash floods and landslides. at least 73 people have been killed in the floods. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: theresa may's brexit deal won't return to the commons this week — unless it has support

from the dup and tory mps, according to the chancellor phillip hammond. her plan is expected to be voted on for a third time in the coming days. finance megamerger. joe mennie‘s deutsche bank and commins back so they will hold hawks. and airline headwinds, the boss of cathay pacific discovers does make discusses the boeing grounding and the trade war. good morning. welcome to this monday edition of asia business report, live from singapore, with me renkert way. there is a potential merger in germany. the biggest lenders, deutsche bank and commerzbank said

they will hold formal talks about a tie—up. the announcement on sunday said that the two struggling banks would attempt to combine. a merger could involve massive cost savings, in particular by closing branches. critics say integrating the two firms will be complicated and risky. it is also a big week ahead for brexit and two of the well‘s most important central banks. let us show you what is happening this week. on wednesday, they vote for a third time en britain was my plan to leave the european union. on the same day, the european union. on the same day, the us federal reserve is due to make its latest monetary policy announcement. on thursday, british prime minister theresa may is scheduled to attend the european union summit in brussels. staying with britain, also on the day, we are due to get a policy decision from the bank of england. june from

tribeca investmentjoined me earlier. i asked about the global impact of the potential banking merger in germany. we believe that once that merger does go through it will create the fourth—largest european bank. and it can, if done properly, allow it to compete effectively with other global banks, say the ones in the us. of course, a lot of water has to pass under the bridge. especially how it is going to be funded. the expectation is equity raising will need to be done and to allow them to effectively be merged together. we move on to talk about brexit. it is another big week this week. last week we had a somewhat muted market reaction in asia. as this uncertainty drags on, what kind of an impact... i am reged ahmad. we want to take you live to wellington new zealand where the

national crisis management centre is holding a press briefing. released to families for burial. they deserve our respect and privacy to mourn their loved ones, including from the media. we hope people can understand and respect this. the national crisis management centre has been stood up to support the national security system and leading the wider response from government agencies. this allows the police to focus on their core duties. the full resources of the government are dedicated to this response and have mobilised their resources. this includes, but is not limited to, the ministry of health, the ministry of social development, acc, and the ministry of education, who are here with me today. police, the intelligence community, department of prime minister and cabinet, the ministry of civil defence and emergency management, the ministry of foreign affairs and trade, the department of internal affairs, the ministry of business, innovation, and employment. the defence force,

new zealand customs, and our transport agencies. this is the first of what will be a series of regular stand—ups with relevant agencies who are involved in the response. i will provide you with a brief operational overview and then hand over to my colleagues, who will provide overviews of their activities. please note i will not be providing or covering any police matters, because this is best addressed by them. central government agencies with a focus on supporting communities are working together to understand and assess community complexities and needs. this requires specialist expertise and consideration and work is being progressed as a priority for all agencies. the officials for domestic and external security co—ordination, is meeting regularly to ensure that the response is co—ordinated across agencies. this is a committee made up agencies. this is a committee made up of government agency chief executives. and all of government

tea m executives. and all of government team led by the ministry of civil defence and emergency management has been established at the christchurch justice and emergency services precinct to prioritise on the ground support to agencies. at the community level, a community support hub is currently operating at the community college. the support hub will be moving today to the canterbury horticultural centre at 57 riccarton ave, near the cricket oval at hadley park. that is so that the hadley college can reopen on tuesday. the hub includes representatives from acc, the new zealand red cross, canterbury civil defence emergency management group, the ministry of social development, canterbury district health board, and victim support. the ministry of business, innovation, and employments visa services are facilitating emergency visas for families of the injured and those

who have passed away. the ministry of foreign affairs and trade are communicating with international partners about information regarding the attack and providing travel advice and information on accommodation and venues where visitors can attend to pay their respects and sympathies. the footage related to the attack has been classed as objectionable, so it is an offence under new zealand law to possess , an offence under new zealand law to possess, shower, and or hosted. i understand the department of internal affairs is hosting to issue an updated media statement around digital safety so more information can be found there. public condolence books are available at parliament and the national library of new zealand in malta street in wellington. the national library is open from 9am until 5pm monday to friday and 9am until 1pm on saturday. the plane from here is i will take questions at the end, but

introduce each speaker and then we will have a period for questions. just make the plan. i had over to ashley bloomfield for the ministry of health it will provide an update. thank you. thank you. like sarah i would like to start by extending my deepest sympathies and strong support for their families, the victims, and, of course, the muslim community in christchurch and around new zealand. i also want to acknowledge and pay tribute to the work of people in the health sector in christchurch, the first responders from st john's, in christchurch, the first responders from stjohn's, and the amazing staff, both clinical and nonclinical, at the district health board, christchurch hospital, who have done nothing short of an outstanding job in dealing, notjust with the injured, but with their families and loved ones and friends.

there are two parts, really, that are important for the response in terms of psychosocial support. first of all, local support on the ground. that is being led by the district health board. they have excellent services there on the ground and fully involved in the co—ordination hub with other government departments. the second part of the response is at a national level. and as you will be aware we have been directing people to use the 1737 healthline. it can be phoned or directed via a web chat. what i can say is there has been a significant increase in use of that line, from people both in canterbury and around the country. and that is great to see. that includes a wide range of people, including individuals who we re people, including individuals who were directly caught up in the

attacks in one or other of the mosques, through to ordinary new zealanders around the rest of the country. so, just to give you an idea of the volume of work that the mental health helpline is dealing with, yesterday they had 544 contacts from around the country. about 60% of those calls were answered within 20 seconds. and the average length of those calls was 38 minutes. so these are notjust average length of those calls was 38 minutes. so these are not just a fleeting interventions, they are substantial discussions and providing real support to people, both in canterbury and in wider new zealand. and the other part of that psychosocial support is the resources that are available on both the ministry of health website and the ministry of health website and the 1737 website. and this is really helpful information that is there to

support people really in terms of self—care, but also some excellent resources to assist parents and having conversations with their children. and that has been the most widely accessed page on the ministry of health website. so it is great to see parents accessing that information, which is robust, evidence—based, it has been developed by clinicians and i strongly commend those resources to the people of new zealand. and thank you for your assistance in getting that information out. and i guess, finally, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge all of you from the media in the room and just remind you, too, and your colleagues, to be aware of the stress or your own responses to the events and to look after yourselves. and i strongly encourage you to do that. finally, canterbury dhp will be issuing its own update,

presently, about the clinical condition of the injured people who are still in the hospital. and i point you to their release which, if it hasn't gone out, is due out at any moment. thank you very much. thank you, ashley. i pass over to deborah from acc. good afternoon. on behalf of myself and acc we would like to extend our deepest condolences to the victims, their families at the community, and eve ryo ne families at the community, and everyone in christchurch, and, indeed, around new zealand. since the incident, acc has set up a dedicated team in christchurch to support the victims and families of this incident. we have also increased our frontline resources to ensure that urgent help is provided to families as and when they need them. and, where we can, we are working proactively with colleagues across government and then the local christchurch community to support

people seamlessly behind—the—scenes. i willjust people seamlessly behind—the—scenes. i will just take people seamlessly behind—the—scenes. i willjust take you through now a series of what we are offering to these people, because we have received a large number of requests about that. in order to provide parity and to let you know that on our website we have a fact sheet that has been translated into a number of languages and we have set up number of languages and we have set upa number of languages and we have set up a dedicated 0800 number. it is for people domestically and internationally that will ring through to our dedicated christchurch team of experts to help people work through their entitlements. importa ntly, people work through their entitlements. importantly, for everybody with injuries in the shootings and the families of those who were killed, you are entitled to

receive support from acc irrespective of your residency status. so anyone who has been working in new zealand will be entitled to weekly compensation while you recover. there are also a range of support such as home health, transportation assistance, and child where this is required. for all those with acute medical injuries, we are working with the district health board and providers around the area to support these victims and their families. for families of those who have lost, people who have lost their lives, we will provide a funeral grant and a survivor grant for partners and families. there is also additional support where there are children and other dependents. our team in christchurch is connected with the police family liaison officers who are directing victims and families to work with us. we are fast tracking all claims so that there are no delays to any working compensation or other payments. when we have sent two specialists from

our accidental death unit down to christchurch to work with victims. in terms of what is available from us in terms of what is available from us to support families and victims, we pay a tax—free funeral grant of up we pay a tax—free funeral grant of up to $6,219 and an additional $4000 of funding from the department of justice. we will be working with funeral directors behind the scenes in order to support this so that it is seamless for families. this money can also be used for repatriation purposes. we also pay a 1—off tax—free survivors going to the deceased's partner, children, and dependence. approximately $6,600 for partners, $3300 for children, and if the child or dependent is under 16, this money will go to their parent or caregiver. if the deceased had children living in new zealand, those caring for the children can also receive a weekly payments to help with childcare. if the deceased was earning an